At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia was all set to make space history today with the launch of its first locally made rocket – but things didn’t quite go to plan. Gilmour Space Technologies, a Gold Coast-based company, had been gearing up for the big moment: the launch of its Eris TestFlight1 rocket from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in North Queensland. The mission? To send the first Australian-built rocket into orbit, something that hasn’t happened in over 50 years. If successful, it would also put Australia on a very exclusive list – only 12 countries in the world currently have the ability to launch their own rockets into orbit. But today’s scheduled launch hit a snag. “No launch today,” Gilmour Space said in a statement. The team discovered an issue with the ground support system during overnight checks and decided to pause the launch to sort it out. They’re now aiming for tomorrow morning, and thanks to a two-week launch window granted by the Australian Space Agency, there’s still plenty of time to try again. Gilmour Space’s CEO and co-founder, Adam Gilmour, wasn’t too surprised by the delay. He’s said before that setbacks are normal, especially for a rocket’s first flight. “These kinds of delays can last hours, days, or even weeks,” he explained, pointing to things like weather, technical hiccups, or safety concerns. “Safety is always the top priority,” Gilmour added. “We’ll only launch when we’re ready and when conditions are right.” The Bowen Orbital Spaceport, located near Abbot Point, has marine and aerial exclusion zones in place to keep the surrounding area secure during the launch window. So, while today wasn’t liftoff day, the countdown is still ticking — and Australia’s moment in space could come as soon as tomorrow. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Sri Lankan community informed with timely updates. ශ්‍රී ලංකාව විසින් කන්කසන්තුරේ වරාය සංවර්ධනය සඳහා ඩොලර් මිලියන 62කට වැඩි ප්‍රමාණයක ආධාර මුදලක් පිළිගන්නාද යන්න ව්‍යාපාරික ව්‍යාපාරික ශක්‍යතාව මත පමණක් තීරණය කරන බව වරාය හා සිවිල් ගුවන් සේවා නියෝජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ජනිත කොඩිතුවක්කු මහතා පැවසීය. ඉන්දියාව මේ වනවිටත් උතුරේ පිහිටි මෙම වරාය සංවර්ධනය සඳහා එම ආධාර මුදල ලබාදීමට යෝජනා කර ඇති අතර, එම වරාය ඉන්දියාවට ආසන්නයෙහි පිහිටා ඇත. ශ්‍රී ලංකා වරාය අධිකාරිය දැනට වරාය පිළිබඳ ශක්‍යතා අධ්‍යයනයක් සිදු කරමින් සිටින බව නියෝජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරයා පැවසීය. “අපි ව්‍යාපාරික සැලැස්මක් සකස් කරන්නෙමු. එහිදී ලැබෙන ප්‍රතිඵලය අනුව අපට එම ආධාරය පිළිගන්නාද නැද්ද යන්න තීරණය කෙරේ,” යැයිද ඔහු සඳහන් කළේය. ඉන්දියාව ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුළ විවිධ සම්බන්ධතා ව්‍යාපෘති සංවර්ධනය කිරීමට උත්සාහ දරන අතර, ද්විපාර්ශවික බලශක්ති ජාල සම්බන්ධතාවය සහ බහුනිෂ්පාදන ඛනිජ තෙල් නල මාර්ගයක් පිහිටුවීම සඳහා දැනටමත් යෝජනා ගිවිසුම් හුවමාරු කරගෙන ඇත. දැනටමත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සහ ඉන්දියාව අතර යාත්‍රා සේවාවක්ද ක්‍රියාත්මක වේ. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Sri Lankans .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. EnergyAustralia, one of the country's largest energy providers, is currently embroiled in a landmark greenwashing lawsuit in the Federal Court of Australia. The case, brought by the advocacy group Parents for Climate, centers on allegations that the company's "Go Neutral" program misled over 400,000 customers by claiming their electricity and gas usage was "carbon neutral." This claim was based on the purchase of carbon offsets, despite the energy being primarily generated from fossil fuels. The Core Allegations Parents for Climate argues that EnergyAustralia's marketing was deceptive under Australian Consumer Law. They contend that the carbon offsets used—often international and of questionable quality—do not effectively negate the emissions produced by burning fossil fuels. Therefore, labeling the energy as "carbon neutral" gives consumers a false impression of environmental benefit. EnergyAustralia's Response In its defense, EnergyAustralia denies making misleading claims. The company asserts that its "Go Neutral" program was based on established carbon offset schemes and that detailed information was provided to consumers to make informed choices. A spokesperson stated, "We deny the claims made by AP4CA that we have misled consumers, and we are disappointed to have been singled out for our genuine efforts to engage our customers in the energy transition." Significance of the Case This lawsuit is significant as it marks the first time an Australian energy company has been taken to court over greenwashing claims related to carbon neutrality. The outcome could set a legal precedent, influencing how companies market environmental claims and potentially leading to stricter regulations against misleading environmental advertising. Current Status The case commenced on May 12, 2025, and is expected to run for two weeks. Parents for Climate is seeking a declaration that EnergyAustralia misled customers, a corrective statement to be issued, and restrictions on future marketing practices. A ruling is anticipated later this year. As the proceedings unfold, the case is being closely watched by environmental groups, legal experts, and the energy industry, given its potential to reshape the landscape of environmental marketing and corporate accountability in Australia. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. ආනයන ප්‍රමාදයන් සහ දේශීය නිෂ්පාදනයේ බාධා හේතුවෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව දැඩි ලුණු හිඟයකට මුහුණ දී සිටින අතර, සිල්ලර මිල කිලෝග්‍රෑමයකට රුපියල් 400 දක්වා ඉහළ ගොස් තිබේ. ලුණු නිෂ්පාදකයින්ගේ සංගමයේ සභාපති ගනක අමරසිංහ මහතා පැවසුවේ රජය විසින් අනුමත කරන ලද අයඩීකරණය නොකළ ලුණු මෙට්‍රික් ටොන් 30,000 ක් ආනයනය කිරීම තවමත් වෙළඳපොළ සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම ලිහිල් කර නොමැති බවත්, මන්දගාමී ආනයන සැකසුම් ප්‍රධාන ගැටළුවක් ලෙස සඳහන් කරන බවත්ය. රජයේ ප්‍රකාශකයෙකු පැවසුවේ ඉන්දියාවෙන් නැව්ගත කිරීමක් ඉක්මනින් අපේක්ෂා කරන බවත් සති දෙකක් ඇතුළත තත්වය සාමාන්‍ය තත්ත්වයට පත් විය යුතු බවත්, මිල පහත වැටීමට ඉඩ ඇති බවත්ය. මේ අතර, දේශීය ලුණු නිෂ්පාදනය වේගවත් කිරීමට උත්සාහ කරමින් සිටින බවයි. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Sri Lankans .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is investigating how nearly 2,000 ballot papers from the federal seat of Barton ended up being left behind at a transport worker’s house after the election. A whole container of votes went missing on election night and was only found days later… at the private home of a temporary AEC transport officer. The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) says the mix-up was “inadvertent” and insists it didn’t affect the result. Labor’s Ash Ambihaipahar comfortably held the seat with 61.66% of the two-party preferred vote. Still, it’s a pretty serious slip-up. “This shouldn’t have occurred, and we’re deeply concerned that our process didn’t catch it earlier,” a spokesperson said. So how was it discovered? Turns out, it was the AEC’s internal tracking system that raised the red flag. During the mandatory second count, staff noticed that one ballot container had never shown up at the counting centre. That kicked off a multi-day search. Eventually, the AEC confirmed that the container had been accidentally taken home by a transport officer and simply forgotten. The good news? When they finally located it, the container was fully intact, the security seals were unbroken, and all the ballot papers were accounted for. They were quickly returned, rechecked, and counted. The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) says there were some communication difficulties with the staffer involved, but they’re confident it was not a deliberate act. “We believe this was a genuine mistake,” the spokesperson said. “But we’ll be reviewing our return procedures to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” No word yet on exactly where in the house the ballots were found — but this will no doubt raise more questions about election logistics and oversight in the future. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. 2025 මැයි පළමු සතිය තුළ විදේශීය සංචාරකයින් 33,910 ක් මෙරටට පැමිණ ඇති බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා සංචාරක සංවර්ධන අධිකාරිය (SLTDA) වාර්තා කරයි. නවතම SLTDA සංඛ්‍යාලේඛනවලට අනුව, මේ දක්වා වසරේ මුළු පැමිණීම් 930,794 දක්වා ඉහළ ගොස් තිබේ. ශීත කාලයෙන් පසු සාමාන්‍යයෙන් දක්නට ලැබෙන බටහිර රටවලින් පැමිණීම්වල සෘතුමය අඩුවීමක් තිබියදීත්, සාමාන්‍ය දෛනික සංචාරක පැමිණීම් 5,000 ක් පමණ පවතී. කෙසේ වෙතත්, 2025 මැයි පළමු සතිය සඳහා පැමිණීම් පෙර වසරවල එම කාලපරිච්ඡේදයේ වාර්තා වූ ඒවා ඉක්මවා ගොස් ඇත - 2023 දී 18,761 ක් සහ 2024 දී 28,526 ක් - වසරින් වසර කැපී පෙනෙන වර්ධනයක් පෙන්නුම් කරයි. මේ අතර, 2025 ජනවාරි සිට අප්‍රේල් දක්වා සංචාරක ඉපැයීම් ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 1,379 ක් වූ බවත්, එය 2024 එම කාලය තුළ වාර්තා වූ ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 1,251.6 ට සාපේක්ෂව 10.2% ක වැඩිවීමක් පිළිබිඹු කරන බවත් ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව පවසයි. මහ බැංකුවට අනුව, 2025 අප්‍රේල් මාසයේ සංචාරක ඉපැයීම් පමණක් ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 646.1 ක් විය. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Despite some of the best inflation figures we’ve seen in years and an interest rate cut on the horizon, Aussies are still feeling pretty glum about the economy. Westpac’s latest consumer confidence index, released yesterday, came in at 92. That’s a small improvement over last month, but still firmly in the “negative territory” (anything under 100 means pessimism outweighs optimism). In fact, the index has been stuck below 100 for more than three years. AMP economist My Bui says confidence had been trending upwards in 2024 thanks to a strong jobs market and cooling inflation, but lately that momentum has hit a wall. “Sentiment’s now back where it was at the start of the year,” she said. So what’s going on? Last week’s ABS data revealed a big reason: living costs are rising faster than inflation. While core inflation dropped to 2.9% and the headline CPI hit 2.4% in the March quarter — both great signs — the actual cost of living for many households rose by up to 3.5% over the last year. In simple terms: even though inflation’s down, life still feels expensive. Households are being hit hardest by higher mortgage repayments, soaring insurance premiums, rising food prices, and energy bills. Only self-funded retirees have seen their living costs stay roughly in line with inflation. ABS acting head of prices, Neel Tikaram, explained that the ongoing pain for mortgage holders is partly because more people are now rolling off their low fixed-rate loans into much higher variable rates. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, though. The RBA’s February rate cut should start flowing through to household budgets in the June quarter, and another rate cut is widely expected next week. In fact, some market watchers are betting on a rare “double cut”, which would drop the official cash rate from 4.10% down to 3.60%. Bui says the consumer confidence numbers only strengthen the case for more cuts. “Confidence — both from consumers and businesses — is still fragile,” she said. “Add that to the risk of a global trade slowdown, and it’s clear the RBA needs to keep easing.” Her forecast? Two more cuts — one this month, and another in August. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. In the week after the election, auction clearance rates jumped to 70%, according to fresh numbers from property analyst Cotality (you might remember them as CoreLogic). That’s a 10% rise compared to mid-April. What’s driving the bounce? A mix of political stability, buyer confidence, and growing expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is about to cut interest rates again next week. “This is a clear sign of renewed optimism,” said one market watcher. “Buyers are back — and they’re bidding.” Across the country, 1,784 homes went to auction last week — the busiest it’s been since just before Easter. Melbourne led the pack, with 830 auctions and a clearance rate of 73.2%, only slightly down from the week before. Sydney, meanwhile, clocked in at 67.7% from 665 auctions. That marks eight weeks in a row the Harbour City has remained under 70%, but signs of momentum are building. Economists now believe house prices could outpace wage growth through the rest of 2025 — and into next year, especially when Labor’s homebuyer assistance packages begin rolling out. As for interest rates, there’s growing speculation the RBA could cut the cash rate by 25 basis points from its current 4.1%, with some even tipping a double cut to 3.6%. Back in February, the RBA made its first rate cut in nearly five years — and it may not be the last. Analysts are expecting at least three more cuts this year, especially now that inflation has dropped back into the bank’s target range for the first time since 2021. Adding to the positive outlook, world markets are also buzzing over renewed US-China trade talks, particularly around Donald Trump’s tariffs, which had been casting a shadow over global economic confidence. So, what does this all mean for homebuyers? With the election behind us, interest rates looking likely to fall, and government support on the way, there may never be a better time to act — if you can get in before prices rise again. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. කොළඹ වරායේ ජය කන්ටේනර් ටර්මිනලය (JCT) සහ නැගෙනහිර කන්ටේනර් ටර්මිනලය වෙතින් කම්කරුන් පැවැත්වූ පැය හතරක වර්ජනයක් හේතුවෙන් අවම වශයෙන් රුපියල් මිලියන 300ක ආර්ථික හානික් සිදුව ඇති බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා වරාය අධිකාරියේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ නිලධාරියෙකු සඳහන් කළේය. මෙම වර්ජනය වෙසක් පෝයා නිවාඩු දිනවලදී සේවය කළ අත්‍යවශ්‍ය සේවකයින්ට ගෙවූ දිරිදීමනා අඩු කිරීමට ගත් මතභේදාත්මක තීරණයක් හේතුවෙන් ඇති වූ අතර, ඊයේ රාත්‍රී 8.00ට ආරම්භ වී මධ්‍යම රාත්‍රී 12.00 දක්වා පැවතුණි. කම්කරුන් අද උදේ 12.30ට පමණ නැවත සේවයට එක්වූ අතර, එවිට වරාය අධිකාරි පරිපාලනය විසින් පසුගිය පද්ධතියට අනුව අතිකාල දීමනා ගෙවීමට තහවුරු කරන ලිපියක් නැවත නිකුත් කළ බවත් එම නිලධාරියෙකු පැවසීය. වර්ජනය ආරම්භ වන අවස්ථාවේදී, කාර්යභාරයට ලක්ව සිටි ටර්මිනලයන්වලට නැංගුරම් තබා සිටි නෞකා හයක කටයුතු සම්පූර්ණයෙන් නවතා දැමුණු බවත් ඔහු කියා සිටියේය. මෙම ගැටුම ඇති වූයේ, වෙසක් පොය දිනය වූ අප්‍රේල් 12 වනදා සඳහා ගෙවිය යුතු අතිකාල දීමනාව රු. 10,000ක් සහ එහි පසුදා වූ අප්‍රේල් 13 සඳහා රු. 5,000ක් ලෙස සීමා කිරීමට වරාය අධිකාරියේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ නිලධාරියෙකු විසින් ගත් තීරණය නිසාය. මෙම තීරණය වසර ගණනාවක් පුරා ක්‍රියාත්මක වූ විශේෂ නිවාඩු දින සේවය සඳහා ගෙවූ පරිපාලන රීතිවලට පටහැනිවිය. මෙම තීරණය ගෙන ඇත්තේ වරාය සේවකයින්ගේ වැටුප් සම්බන්ධයෙන් මාධ්‍ය වෙත ප්‍රකාශ කිරීමක් කළ ලෙස පෙර සිට විවේචනයට ලක්ව සිටි ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ පරිපාලකයෙකු බව වරාය අධිකාරියේ නිලධාරියෙකු සදහන් කළේය. මෙවැනි තාවකාලික කාර්ය නවත්වීම්වලින් ජාතික ආර්ථිකයට ඇතිවන හානි සහ කම්කරු සබඳතා කළමනාකරණය පිළිබඳව නැවතත් ප්‍රශ්න නැගී සිටින බවද මෙයින් අනාවරණය වේ. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Sri Lankans .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. In a bold move, the former US president signed a sweeping executive order aimed at cutting prescription drug costs in America. His plan? Force drug companies to either voluntarily slash prices within 30 days or face stricter price controls tied to what other countries are paying. “We’re going to equalise,” Trump said at a press conference. “We’re all going to pay the same — what Europe pays.” That means countries like Australia, the UK, and Sweden — where medications are often much cheaper — could end up paying more so that Americans can pay less. Trump was clearly fired up as he rattled off comparisons: “One breast cancer drug costs Americans over $16,000 a bottle. The exact same drug — same factory, same company — is one-sixth the price in Australia and one-tenth the price in Sweden.” He also pointed to an asthma medication that costs nearly $500 in the US but less than $40 in the UK. At the centre of this new push is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now heading the US Health Department, who’s been tasked with trying to negotiate cheaper prices. If he can’t get drugmakers on board within a month, he’s expected to roll out a “most favoured nation” pricing rule — meaning the US will only pay what the cheapest country is paying. Trump didn’t shy away from calling out Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) either, which helps keep medication prices low for Aussies. “Europe and the rest of the world are going to have to pay a little bit more, and America is going to pay a lot less,” he said. Exactly how this will affect Australia is still unclear. The PBS is protected in trade deals — Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said it’s “off the table” in any negotiations with a Trump administration. And while Trump has threatened tariffs on Australian pharmaceuticals before (a $1.6 billion export industry), this latest move isn’t a tariff — but it does signal more pressure coming from Washington. As for the millions of Americans with private health insurance, the executive order might not have a direct impact yet. The biggest changes would likely apply to Medicare and Medicaid, the federal programs covering seniors and low-income Americans. Still, Trump’s message was loud and clear: He wants other countries to chip in more — even if that means higher prices overseas — so the US can stop footing the global bill for drug research. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. ජපානය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දූෂණයට ගොදුරු වූ බව ජපාන තානාපති අකියෝ ඉසෝමාටා පවසන අතර විදේශ ආයෝජන ආකර්ෂණය කර ගැනීම සඳහා විනිවිදභාවයේ අවශ්‍යතාවය අවධාරණය කළේය. පසුගිය සතියේ Pathfinder Foundation ආයතනය විසින් සංවිධානය කළ වටමණ්ඩල සංවාදයකදී කතාකරමින්, තානාපතිවරයා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංවර්ධනය සඳහා ජපානයේ සහයෝගය නැවත තහවුරු කළ අතර ජාතික දූෂණ විරෝධී ක්‍රියාකාරී සැලැස්ම දියත් කිරීම සාදරයෙන් පිළිගත්තේය. මාර්තු මාසයේදී තානාපතිවරයා අල්ලස් හෝ දූෂණ චෝදනා විමර්ශන කොමිසම සමඟ සාකච්ඡා පැවැත්වූ අතර, දූෂණ විරෝධී උත්සාහයන් සඳහා සහයෝගීතාව ශක්තිමත් කිරීමට දෙපාර්ශ්වයම එකඟ විය. ජපානය මෑතකදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සමඟ ඩොලර් බිලියන 2.5 ක ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කිරීමේ ගිවිසුමක් අත්සන් කළ අතර, එය ප්‍රධාන සංවර්ධන හවුල්කරුවෙකු ලෙස එහි ස්ථානය තවදුරටත් තහවුරු කළේය. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. NSW might finally be catching up with the rest of the country when it comes to e-scooters.  Under a new plan from the state government, people aged 16 and over would be legally allowed to ride e-scooters on shared paths and public roads  — something that’s been mostly banned outside of trial zones until now. If the plan goes ahead, scooters would be allowed to travel up to 20 km/h on roads  where the speed limit is 50 km/h or less , and between 10–20 km/h on shared paths . That’s actually a bit faster than the 15 km/h cap that was recommended in a recent inquiry — but the government says it’s taking a “balanced” approach. According to Transport for NSW, these updates would bring NSW into line with most other Australian states and territories , which already allow e-scooters in some form. Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison  admitted the current rules are “confusing” and said it’s time for a more consistent approach.“We’ve seen some dangerous behaviour, so we’re urging people to exercise caution,” she said. The changes are part of the government’s response to a Parliamentary inquiry into e-scooters, e-bikes and other micro-mobility devices , which called the current laws “outdated and ineffective.” That same inquiry also raised concerns about safety — from device modification and battery fires , to shared e-bikes left dumped on footpaths , and riders behaving recklessly . The government says it’s addressing these issues too, with plans for safety standards and better regulation , including fire risk reduction for batteries. What about e-bikes? The government also has new proposals for e-bikes , especially around cutting down on street clutter  — a growing issue in high-traffic suburbs like Bondi , where Waverley Council just started impounding abandoned bikes . Currently, e-bikes in NSW are pedal-assisted and can legally go up to 25 km/h . Right now, riding them on footpaths is only allowed for kids under 16, but that might change — the government is reviewing rules that could allow e-bikes on footpaths at up to 15 km/h . The inquiry had suggested mandatory safety training  for food delivery riders and shared bike users, but the government is leaning towards voluntary tests  instead — a move that may not satisfy everyone. One big concern is battery safety: last year alone, there were 275 lithium battery fires in NSW . The government says it’s working on minimum safety standards  for all e-micromobility devices to help prevent these incidents. Transport bosses estimate that around 1.35 million  scooters and e-bikes are already in homes across NSW, with the biggest user group being people aged 18–29 . So it’s no surprise the government’s trying to find a better way to manage them. Meanwhile, Victoria recently banned shared e-scooters in Melbourne’s CBD  after a string of accidents, but other suburbs are still introducing dedicated parking spots  for both scooters and bikes. The full report on these proposals is expected to be tabled in Parliament today. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .