In 2002, Australia was a prosperous and stable country located in the South Pacific region with a population of approximately 19 million people. It had a strong and diversified economy which had been growing steadily since the mid-1990s. Despite this, there were still some economic challenges in 2002 such as high levels of unemployment, particularly among young people and those living in rural areas. In addition, there were concerns over rising levels of poverty and inequality within the country. According to computerannals, Australia was a stable democracy with strong government institutions which enabled it to address pressing issues such as crime and corruption. Furthermore, Australia also enjoyed close diplomatic ties with other countries in the region which enabled it to remain an important player in international affairs. In terms of development, the government began to focus on improving infrastructure and providing basic services such as healthcare and education which provided a glimmer of hope for a better future for Australians.

Yearbook 2002

Australia. The Australian government’s policy of blocking asylum seekers continued to attract criticism, including from the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR. The criticism was particularly true of the harsh conditions in the camps in Curtin and Woomera located in inaccessible desert areas.

Attention was also drawn to the fact that children were also kept imprisoned. The processing of asylum applications can take several years. In April, riots broke out in Curtin after information that the refugees would be deported. Most of them were Afghans, Iraqis, Iranians and Palestinians. At the end of the year, a number of fires broke out in four different refugee camps. Authorities accused asylum seekers of being behind the fires. Prior to this, restrictions on women and children had been eased by giving them the right to live outside the camps in supervised homes.

An inquiry by the Senate suggested that the government had mislead the public in the fall of 2001, claiming that boat refugees threatened to throw their children overboard if they were not admitted into Australia. The video images shown to prove this represented refugees who were about to leave a sinking ship.

According to Countryaah website, national day of Australia is every January 26. Pauline Hanson, of the xenophobic One Nation, was indicted in May for fraudulent election fraud for his party. Hanson resigned as party leader in January.

Having had a surplus in government finances six years in a row, it looked as if it would end up minus the 2001/2002 financial year. One reason was said that the Conservative-led government raised its spending before last year’s parliamentary elections. promised more money to the pensioners, while a great effort was made on the defense.

In June, Australia declared that it did not intend to sign the Kyoto Agreement, which aims to reduce industrialized greenhouse gas emissions unless the United States and developing countries such as China and India are also covered by the agreement. Otherwise, the costs would be too great for the Australian industry, said Prime Minister John Howard. Earlier reports showed that Australian emissions had increased by almost 17% in 1990-98.

Around 100 Australians were killed in a terror attack on Kuta Beach, Indonesia, on October 12. About a week after the deed, Australia held a national day of mourning to honor the dead. Australian police were sent to Indonesia to assist their colleagues in the criminal investigation.

In January 2006, Australia and East Timor signed an agreement to share revenue from oil extraction in the Timor Sea between the two countries. The agreement postponed negotiations on the sea border between the two countries.

In 2006, the country was hit by the worst drought in 100 years. The drought exacerbated the unrest in the population over the global climate change.

In April 2007, the government decided to double Australia’s troop quota in Afghanistan in 2008. According to Prime Minister Howard was far from being weakened in Afghanistan by the Taliban, so a “renewed and stronger force” was needed to win the war.

That same month, Howard announced that the country’s immigrant laws will be amended to prevent the entry of immigrants and refugees infected with HIV or AIDS. The number of HIV/AIDS cases has increased by 41% in 2000-05.

In July, Secretary of Defense Brendan Nelson admitted that the background to the presence of Australian troops in Iraq is the desire to secure the oil supply. It was the first time since the occupation of the country in March 2003 that this relationship was publicly admitted.

In November, the Labor Party won the parliamentary election by a landslide victory over the incumbent Liberal-Conservative government, and party chairman Kevin Rudd took the post of prime minister in December. His first act as prime minister was to sign the Kyoto Protocol. The previous government had stood on the United States side and had refused to fight CO ₂ emissions and climate change. Yet Australia will no longer move away from its traditional ally the United States. Rudd supports the deployment of Australian troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In February 2008, the Australian government, and thus the Australian government, offered an official apology to the country’s indigenous people, Aborigines, for the persecution they had been facing for centuries.

In December 2008, the government released its Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme – a program to reduce Australia’s CO ₂ emissions by 5-15% by 2020 (according to the 2000 emissions). As early as May 2009, however, the Rudd government had to announce that the reductions would be postponed for several years as a result of the global economic crisis.

The government removed some of the anti-payer legislation that the former Conservative government had implemented: the legislation on unfair layoffs now also applies to companies with less than 100 employees, the right to strike is reinstated, unions must have access to jobs, and secondary boycott actions are made legal again.

By July 2009, Australia had withdrawn all combat troops from Iraq. In April 2009, however, the government sent another 450 Australian soldiers to Afghanistan, bringing the number to 1550. In April 2010, however, it refused to send more troops to replace the Dutch troops who were then withdrawn from Uruzgan province.

Australia implemented two packages to rescue the banks and stimulate the economy as the international financial crisis broke through in 2008. The first was worth $ 10.8 billion. AU $ and the next one published in February 2009 had a value of 42 AU $. In May 2009, the government estimated that the state budget deficit for 2009-10 would be $ 57.6 billion. AU $ and in 2010 was budgeted with a deficit of AU $ 40.8 billion.

The government changed the internment policy towards refugees introduced by the former Conservative government. It decided from 2008 to allow 300,000 emigrants to Australia, leading to a drastic increase in the number of boat refugees in 2009. The increase was attributed to both the changed policy, the violent repression in Sri Lanka and Afghanistan where most refugees come from, and unscrupulous middlemen in refugees trade. In April 2010, the government decided to suspend the processing of applications from refugees from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan for 3 and 6 months respectively. 80% of the refugees who reach Australia come from these two countries.

In January 2010, terrorists from the state-run Israeli terrorist organization killed Mossad Hamas’ representative in Dubai, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. Israel mostly murders Palestinians inside the occupied territories, but has also liquidated dozens of Palestinians outside Palestine over the past 40 years. However, the new aspect of the Dubai liquidation was that the terrorists had used counterfeit passports from Australia, Ireland and the UK to enter Dubai. That led to a diplomatic crisis between the three countries on the one hand and Israel on the other, and to the expulsion of several Israeli diplomats. Australia decided to expel the Israeli ambassador to the country. The situation was further aggravated as pirates from the Israeli navy on May 31, 2010, attacked a ship in international Mediterranean waters en route to Gaza. During the Israeli attack, an Australian was injured. The Australian government condemned the attack.

After becoming the country’s most popular prime minister, Rudd’s popularity plummeted in 2010. This was partly because it failed to obtain a majority for CO ₂ reductions, and a planned 30% tax on the country’s mineral exports – especially of iron and coal. The mineral tax triggered an intense propaganda campaign by the country’s powerful mining industry that wanted Rudd removed. At the same time, dissatisfaction with Rudd’s authoritarian leadership style rose internally in Labor, and in June convened an extraordinary national meeting to choose between him and Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Rudd had to admit not to have the backing of the party, and Gillard took over the prime minister post that month. She also printed election elections in August.

The new prime minister negotiated a change to the proposed mineral tax in place with the largest mining companies at the beginning of July, but opposition remained high in the mining industry.

In the opinion polls up to the August 21 elections, the Labor Party made progress, but still declined 11 seats. The biggest increase was the Greens, who went 3.8% to 11.6%. However, neither of the two major blocs was able to obtain a parliamentary majority, which threw the country into a parliamentary crisis that ended with Gillard forming a minority government.

In January 2012, Prime Minister Gillard was attacked by Aboriginal protesters during an awards ceremony at a restaurant alongside opposition leader Tony Abbott on Australia Day. The protests were targeted mainly at Abbott, who was accused of being a racist, but they were also directed at Gillard, who had declared the day before that she thought the natives’ tent camp in front of Parliament should look to move on. Gillard was dragged away from the restaurant under the protection of his bodyguard.

Gillard brought his rival Rudd into the government as Secretary of State after the change in 2010, but the split between the party’s wing continued and in February 2012, Rudd resigned from the post after unsuccessfully trying to overthrow Gillard. However, they succeeded in June 2013, when the party once again voted on who should be chairman. Gillard then withdrew from politics as she did not subsequently stand in the parliamentary elections.

Australia was hit by the global economic crisis in 2008, with growth falling to 0%, but in 2012 economic growth again reached over 3% and the IMF estimated that year it would be the best performing developed capitalist country in the following years. It is especially the country’s mineral resources that are driving this economic growth. Almost 30% of the country’s exports go to China, which is predominantly raw material.

Tony Abbott won the lead of a liberal-conservative coalition parliamentary election in September 2013 over Labor parties led by Kevin Rudd. The Labor Party lost 17 seats while the Coalition won 18. The Labor Party was still marginally the country’s largest with 33.4% of the vote in the House of Representatives election, but the split and power struggles in the party had cost it dearly. Australia is Murdoch country – the right-wing media mogul who controls much of the world’s media. Only one newspaper supported the Labor Party, while the rest supported the right wing. Rudd acknowledged the party’s defeat, resigned as its leader and declared that he would not take part in later elections for the presidency. Nova Maree Peris won the senatorial election in the Northern Territory and thus became the first Aboriginal woman in the country’s parliament.Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange ran for his party Wikileaks Party in Victoria, but the party only got 0.62% of the vote, so he was not elected. It was Assange’s attempt to return to his homeland with parliamentary immunity and thus security against being extradited to the United States.

The new Prime Minister Abbott’s coalition had primarily led refugee camps, and after his accession, he announced that the government would implement a “enforce the country’s borders” policy, which meant that all boat refugees should be rejected. At the same time, he cut 4.5 billion. Australian $ in the country’s aid to developing countries and abolished the tax on CO ₂ emissions. He was congratulated on the election of US Barrack Obama and Britain’s David Cameron.

Australia Country Overview

Visas
Finns need to apply for an electronic visa to Australia in advance. Please check the instructions for applying for an electronic visa. The passport must be valid for 6 months after the end of the trip.

• According to ABBREVIATIONFINDER.ORG, AUS stands for Australia.

Insurance
Everyone participating in the trip must have a valid travel insurance that covers medical expenses in the event of illness or other similar need. Please check the validity of your own insurance and the terms and conditions of the insurance cancellation cover.

Please pay attention to the special nature of your trip and check the coverage of the insurance in that respect as well. In many locations, the insurance must also be valid when moving at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters, in which case it also covers mountain sickness.

Many hiking or diving trips require more extensive insurance, which covers, for example, diving or moving on a glacier. Please check the contents of your insurance with your insurance company.

Vaccinations
Check the vaccination requirements at your health center

Currency
The Australian currency is the dollar. Australian dollars can already be purchased in Finland, eg www.forex.fi

Banks and travel vouchers
Banks are open Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 17:00. You can withdraw cash from ATMs around the clock. All international credit cards are accepted as a method of payment (American Express, Diners, VISA and Mastercard). Travel vouchers can be exchanged at banks and hotels.

VAT
VAT is 10% and is usually included in the prices.

Gratuities
Giving tips is not a common practice in Australia. The tip is discretionary and depends on the service received. The customer is not obliged to give a tip, but in most cases about 10% of tips are expected in restaurants.

Store Opening Hours
The general store opening hours throughout Australia are 09:00 to 17:00 on weekdays and either 09:00 to 12:00 or 09:00 to 17:00 on Saturdays. You can also usually shop on Sundays.

Mobile phones
Check with your network operator for the coverage of your mobile phone. You can buy a per-paid subscription at the airport or from any store, allowing you to use the Internet anywhere.

Electric
current The voltage of the Australian electric current is 220/240 volts. The plugs are three-headed. The adapter can be used, but it does not convert voltage.

Security
We stay in safe areas during our trip, but pickpocketing is possible and moving around certain areas at night can be unsafe. However, general caution within common sense is desirable throughout the journey.

In an emergency
The general emergency number is 000

Health services
The level of public and private health services in Australia is high. Larger hotels often have an on-call doctor on call. Telephone numbers for doctors and other health services can be found in your local telephone directory.

Medicines
Medicines are available from pharmacies during their normal opening hours. Most cities have drug distribution points outside of normal pharmacy opening hours. The hotel receptionist can provide a list.

Sun protection
Due to Australia’s high UV radiation, it is recommended to use sun protection, such as sunglasses and / or a hat, and to apply sunscreen (SPF 30+) on the skin even on a cloudy day.