An Australian Senate candidate at the centre of a gun control controversy has resigned from his party after footage emerged of him touching dancers and making sexist remarks at a strip club.
The videos of Steve Dickson, of the anti-Islam One Nation party, were filmed in the US last year and broadcast on Australian TV on Monday.
Mr Dickson, who had been the minor party's leader in Queensland, apologised for his actions.
Australia will hold an election in May.
In the videos, Mr Dickson can be seen touching dancers and making derogatory comments about Asian women inside the club in Washington DC.
On Tuesday, he said he was "deeply remorseful" and that "the footage shown does not reflect the person I am".
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson accepted his resignation, describing his behaviour as "unacceptable".
However, Mr Dickson's name will remain on ballot papers for the 18 May election because it is too late for parties to announce new candidates.
Gun controversy
Mr Dickson was embroiled in a scandal last month when secret recordings, made by media organisation Al Jazeera, showed him and another senior party official allegedly seeking political donations from US pro-gun groups.
MPs across the political spectrum expressed concerns that One Nation may be seeking to water down Australia's strict control laws, introduced after a mass shooting in Tasmania in 1996 killed 35 people.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
Ms Hanson, however, has denied that her party is seeking to soften gun laws. One Nation won four seats in the 2016 election but it has since been plagued by defections and infighting.
The footage broadcast by Australia's Nine Network on Monday was recorded during Al Jazeera's investigation. It said Nine had used the footage without its consent.
Ms Hanson criticised the timing of the video's release so close to the election, but said Mr Dickson's actions "cannot be ignored or condoned".
Last month, Mr Dickson accused Al Jazeera of "interfering" with Australian politics by employing an Australian journalist to covertly record him in the US.
An Australian Senate candidate at the centre of a gun control controversy has resigned from his party after footage emerged of him touching dancers and making sexist remarks at a strip club.
The videos of Steve Dickson, of the anti-Islam One Nation party, were filmed in the US last year and broadcast on Australian TV on Monday.
Mr Dickson, who had been the minor party's leader in Queensland, apologised for his actions.
Australia will hold an election in May.
In the videos, Mr Dickson can be seen touching dancers and making derogatory comments about Asian women inside the club in Washington DC.
On Tuesday, he said he was "deeply remorseful" and that "the footage shown does not reflect the person I am".
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson accepted his resignation, describing his behaviour as "unacceptable".
However, Mr Dickson's name will remain on ballot papers for the 18 May election because it is too late for parties to announce new candidates.
Gun controversy
Mr Dickson was embroiled in a scandal last month when secret recordings, made by media organisation Al Jazeera, showed him and another senior party official allegedly seeking political donations from US pro-gun groups.
MPs across the political spectrum expressed concerns that One Nation may be seeking to water down Australia's strict control laws, introduced after a mass shooting in Tasmania in 1996 killed 35 people.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
Ms Hanson, however, has denied that her party is seeking to soften gun laws. One Nation won four seats in the 2016 election but it has since been plagued by defections and infighting.
The footage broadcast by Australia's Nine Network on Monday was recorded during Al Jazeera's investigation. It said Nine had used the footage without its consent.
Ms Hanson criticised the timing of the video's release so close to the election, but said Mr Dickson's actions "cannot be ignored or condoned".
Last month, Mr Dickson accused Al Jazeera of "interfering" with Australian politics by employing an Australian journalist to covertly record him in the US.
An Australian Senate candidate at the centre of a gun control controversy has resigned from his party after footage emerged of him touching dancers and making sexist remarks at a strip club.
The videos of Steve Dickson, of the anti-Islam One Nation party, were filmed in the US last year and broadcast on Australian TV on Monday.
Mr Dickson, who had been the minor party's leader in Queensland, apologised for his actions.
Australia will hold an election in May.
In the videos, Mr Dickson can be seen touching dancers and making derogatory comments about Asian women inside the club in Washington DC.
On Tuesday, he said he was "deeply remorseful" and that "the footage shown does not reflect the person I am".
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson accepted his resignation, describing his behaviour as "unacceptable".
However, Mr Dickson's name will remain on ballot papers for the 18 May election because it is too late for parties to announce new candidates.
Gun controversy
Mr Dickson was embroiled in a scandal last month when secret recordings, made by media organisation Al Jazeera, showed him and another senior party official allegedly seeking political donations from US pro-gun groups.
MPs across the political spectrum expressed concerns that One Nation may be seeking to water down Australia's strict control laws, introduced after a mass shooting in Tasmania in 1996 killed 35 people.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
Ms Hanson, however, has denied that her party is seeking to soften gun laws. One Nation won four seats in the 2016 election but it has since been plagued by defections and infighting.
The footage broadcast by Australia's Nine Network on Monday was recorded during Al Jazeera's investigation. It said Nine had used the footage without its consent.
Ms Hanson criticised the timing of the video's release so close to the election, but said Mr Dickson's actions "cannot be ignored or condoned".
Last month, Mr Dickson accused Al Jazeera of "interfering" with Australian politics by employing an Australian journalist to covertly record him in the US.
An Australian Senate candidate at the centre of a gun control controversy has resigned from his party after footage emerged of him touching dancers and making sexist remarks at a strip club.
The videos of Steve Dickson, of the anti-Islam One Nation party, were filmed in the US last year and broadcast on Australian TV on Monday.
Mr Dickson, who had been the minor party's leader in Queensland, apologised for his actions.
Australia will hold an election in May.
In the videos, Mr Dickson can be seen touching dancers and making derogatory comments about Asian women inside the club in Washington DC.
On Tuesday, he said he was "deeply remorseful" and that "the footage shown does not reflect the person I am".
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson accepted his resignation, describing his behaviour as "unacceptable".
However, Mr Dickson's name will remain on ballot papers for the 18 May election because it is too late for parties to announce new candidates.
Gun controversy
Mr Dickson was embroiled in a scandal last month when secret recordings, made by media organisation Al Jazeera, showed him and another senior party official allegedly seeking political donations from US pro-gun groups.
MPs across the political spectrum expressed concerns that One Nation may be seeking to water down Australia's strict control laws, introduced after a mass shooting in Tasmania in 1996 killed 35 people.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
Ms Hanson, however, has denied that her party is seeking to soften gun laws. One Nation won four seats in the 2016 election but it has since been plagued by defections and infighting.
The footage broadcast by Australia's Nine Network on Monday was recorded during Al Jazeera's investigation. It said Nine had used the footage without its consent.
Ms Hanson criticised the timing of the video's release so close to the election, but said Mr Dickson's actions "cannot be ignored or condoned".
Last month, Mr Dickson accused Al Jazeera of "interfering" with Australian politics by employing an Australian journalist to covertly record him in the US.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, trailing in opinion polls ahead of a May 18 election, on Sunday campaigned on the hot-button issue of immigration, promising to cut annual migrant numbers and freeze the country’s refugee intake.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, April 11, 2019. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas via REUTERS
The pace of migration and the over crowding of Australia’s major cities is a sensitive issue amongst voters in a nation where 29 per cent of the 25.3 million people were born overseas and where migration levels now outstrip the birthrate.
“Managing our population growth is very important to the quality of life that we have in our cities,” Morrison said from a Liberal party rally in Sydney on Sunday.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics says net overseas migration in the year to September 2018 was 240,100.
The prime minister said if his government was re-elected it would cap annual migrant numbers at 160,000 people per year for the next four years.
The restriction does not include more than 350,000 foreign students granted visas each year, the majority of whom end up staying and who pump millions of dollars through the nation’s universities, according to Department of Home Affairs figures.
Voters in the largest cities of Sydney and Melbourne where most migrants settle have growing concerns over congestion, inadequate infrastructure and the rising cost of living.
Morrison also said the annual refugee intake would be frozen at 18,750 people. The Labor opposition intends to increase the refugee intake to 27,000 by 2025.
Labor’s campaign has focused on increased spending for education, health and welfare and on Sunday its leader, Bill Shorten, promised A$4 billion ($2.82 billion) worth of childcare to a million low-income families, including 15 hours a week of free pre-school, if elected.
“It’s time that we rewarded mums for participating in the economy instead of penalizing families,” he said from a rally in Melbourne. He also promised free dental care for the aged.
Morrison’s government entered the campaign well behind Labor in opinion polls but has closed the gap with the latest poll showing his Liberal-National party coalition up two points on the primary vote to be level with Labor at 37 percent.
But the poll, conducted by YouGov/Galaxy for News Corp media and published on Saturday, showed the coalition still trailed Labor 48-52 on a more important two-party preferred basis.
Reporting by Alison Bevege; Editing by Michael Perry
People wait for the Dawn Service ceremony at the Anzac Cove beach, the site of World War I landing of the ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) on April 25, 1915, in Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey, early Thursday, April 25, 2019. As dawn broke, families of soldiers, leaders and visitors gathered near former battlefields, honouring thousands of Australians and New Zealanders who fought in the Gallipoli campaign of World War I on the ill-fated British-led invasion. The doomed Allied offensive to secure a naval route from the Mediterranean to Istanbul through the Dardanelles, and take the Ottomans out of the war, resulted in over 130,000 deaths on both sides.(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
People attend he Dawn Service ceremony at the Anzac Cove beach, the site of World War I landing of the ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) on April 25, 1915, in Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey, early Thursday, April 25, 2019. As dawn broke, families of soldiers, leaders and visitors gathered near former battlefields, honouring thousands of Australians and New Zealanders who fought in the Gallipoli campaign of World War I on the ill-fated British-led invasion. The doomed Allied offensive to secure a naval route from the Mediterranean to Istanbul through the Dardanelles, and take the Ottomans out of the war, resulted in over 130,000 deaths on both sides.(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
CANBERRA, Australia – Australia's prime minister on Thursday played down any potential link between the arrest of a suspected Islamic State group member in Turkey and a World War I battle commemoration attended by hundreds of Australians and New Zealanders at the Gallipoli peninsula.
A Syrian national was detained in Tekirdag province before the annual gathering for a dawn service at ANZAC Cove to mark the April 25, 1915, landing of Australian and New Zealand Army Corps troops in an ill-fated campaign to take the Dardanelles Straits, according to media reports.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the arrest took place three driving hours from of the Gallipoli service and no changes to security had been made as a result.
"The reports that we are receiving are inconclusive about any link between that arrest and any possible planned event at Gallipoli itself," Morrison told reporters. "In fact, to make that assumption would be, I think, making a very big assumption."
Morrison said Australian Defense Force Chief Gen. Angus Campbell was representing Australia at the service and had nothing but praise for the work of Turkish police and military to provide security.
"I'd simply say this: It's fairly routine for Turkish authorities to arrest people with suspected terrorist links," Morrison said.
Concerns about Australians and New Zealanders' safety at Gallipoli escalated last month when a diplomatic row flared between Turkey and Australia after an Australian was arrested in the killings of 50 worshippers at two mosques in New Zealand on March 15.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Australians and New Zealanders going to Turkey with anti-Muslim views would return home in coffins, like their ancestors who fought at Gallipoli.
Morrison slammed the comments as "highly offensive," but later said tensions had eased after Erdogan's office explained the president's words were "taken out of context."
ANZAC Day services were held throughout Australia and New Zealand on Thursday, with Britain's Prince William laying a wreath in the New Zealand city of Auckland.
The Duke of Cambridge will on Friday visit the mosques in Christchurch where 50 Muslims were killed and another 50 wounded.
Australia would stand alone as the only member of the Five Eyes alliance – aside from the US – with an all-out ban on Chinese telecoms equipment; Australian ...
One of Australia's most popular tabloids has blamed a printing error after pages from a rival newspaper appeared in its Thursday edition.
The Sydney-based Daily Telegraph, a right-leaning tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch, accidentally printed two pages of the liberal Sydney Morning Herald.
The pages include a letter calling for action to tackle climate change.
The Telegraph has apologised for the mistake and said it happened during the production process.
"Both papers share the same printing facility in Sydney's west," it said in a statement posted to Twitter. "We apologise for any confusion this has caused."
The mistake was spotted by a number of readers who were quick to see the funny side.
"No need to apologise," wrote Sydney Morning Herald journalist Kate McClymont. "Having some [Herald] pages is a reader bonus."
"Might have been someone's last day on the job," one Twitter user joked.
"Extreme cost cutting? From sharing printing facilities to now sharing [the] same newspaper," another wrote.
In 2018, the company that owned the Herald, Fairfax, agreed to share printing facilities with News Corp, which owns the Telegraph.
"The printing arrangements make the production of newspapers more efficient for both publishers," Greg Hywood, the former head of Fairfax, said at the time.
Fairfax later merged with another business, Nine, which is the Herald's current owner.
One of Australia's most popular tabloids has blamed a printing error after pages from a rival newspaper appeared in its Thursday edition.
The Sydney-based Daily Telegraph, a right-leaning tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch, accidentally printed two pages of the liberal Sydney Morning Herald.
The pages include a letter calling for action to tackle climate change.
The Telegraph has apologised for the mistake and said it happened during the production process.
"Both papers share the same printing facility in Sydney's west," it said in a statement posted to Twitter. "We apologise for any confusion this has caused."
The mistake was spotted by a number of readers who were quick to see the funny side.
"No need to apologise," wrote Sydney Morning Herald journalist Kate McClymont. "Having some [Herald] pages is a reader bonus."
"Might have been someone's last day on the job," one Twitter user joked.
"Extreme cost cutting? From sharing printing facilities to now sharing [the] same newspaper," another wrote.
In 2018, the company that owned the Herald, Fairfax, agreed to share printing facilities with News Corp, which owns the Telegraph.
"The printing arrangements make the production of newspapers more efficient for both publishers," Greg Hywood, the former head of Fairfax, said at the time.
Fairfax later merged with another business, Nine, which is the Herald's current owner.
One of Australia's most popular tabloids has blamed a printing error after pages from a rival newspaper appeared in its Thursday edition.
The Sydney-based Daily Telegraph, a right-leaning tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch, accidentally printed two pages of the liberal Sydney Morning Herald.
The pages include a letter calling for action to tackle climate change.
The Telegraph has apologised for the mistake and said it happened during the production process.
"Both papers share the same printing facility in Sydney's west," it said in a statement posted to Twitter. "We apologise for any confusion this has caused."
The mistake was spotted by a number of readers who were quick to see the funny side.
"No need to apologise," wrote Sydney Morning Herald journalist Kate McClymont. "Having some [Herald] pages is a reader bonus."
"Might have been someone's last day on the job," one Twitter user joked.
"Extreme cost cutting? From sharing printing facilities to now sharing [the] same newspaper," another wrote.
In 2018, the company that owned the Herald, Fairfax, agreed to share printing facilities with News Corp, which owns the Telegraph.
"The printing arrangements make the production of newspapers more efficient for both publishers," Greg Hywood, the former head of Fairfax, said at the time.
Fairfax later merged with another business, Nine, which is the Herald's current owner.
One of Australia's most popular tabloids has blamed a printing error after pages from a rival newspaper appeared in its Thursday edition.
The Sydney-based Daily Telegraph, a right-leaning tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch, accidentally printed two pages of the liberal Sydney Morning Herald.
The pages include a letter calling for action to tackle climate change.
The Telegraph has apologised for the mistake and said it happened during the production process.
"Both papers share the same printing facility in Sydney's west," it said in a statement posted to Twitter. "We apologise for any confusion this has caused."
The mistake was spotted by a number of readers who were quick to see the funny side.
"No need to apologise," wrote Sydney Morning Herald journalist Kate McClymont. "Having some [Herald] pages is a reader bonus."
"Might have been someone's last day on the job," one Twitter user joked.
"Extreme cost cutting? From sharing printing facilities to now sharing [the] same newspaper," another wrote.
In 2018, the company that owned the Herald, Fairfax, agreed to share printing facilities with News Corp, which owns the Telegraph.
"The printing arrangements make the production of newspapers more efficient for both publishers," Greg Hywood, the former head of Fairfax, said at the time.
Fairfax later merged with another business, Nine, which is the Herald's current owner.
One of Australia's most popular tabloids has blamed a printing error after pages from a rival newspaper appeared in its Thursday edition.
The Sydney-based Daily Telegraph, a right-leaning tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch, accidentally printed two pages of the liberal Sydney Morning Herald.
The pages include a letter calling for action to tackle climate change.
The Telegraph has apologised for the mistake and said it happened during the production process.
"Both papers share the same printing facility in Sydney's west," it said in a statement posted to Twitter. "We apologise for any confusion this has caused."
The mistake was spotted by a number of readers who were quick to see the funny side.
"No need to apologise," wrote Sydney Morning Herald journalist Kate McClymont. "Having some [Herald] pages is a reader bonus."
"Might have been someone's last day on the job," one Twitter user joked.
"Extreme cost cutting? From sharing printing facilities to now sharing [the] same newspaper," another wrote.
In 2018, the company that owned the Herald, Fairfax, agreed to share printing facilities with News Corp, which owns the Telegraph.
"The printing arrangements make the production of newspapers more efficient for both publishers," Greg Hywood, the former head of Fairfax, said at the time.
Fairfax later merged with another business, Nine, which is the Herald's current owner.
People wait for the Dawn Service ceremony at the Anzac Cove beach, the site of World War I landing of the ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) on April 25, 1915, in Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey, early Thursday, April 25, 2019. As dawn broke, families of soldiers, leaders and visitors gathered near former battlefields, honouring thousands of Australians and New Zealanders who fought in the Gallipoli campaign of World War I on the ill-fated British-led invasion. The doomed Allied offensive to secure a naval route from the Mediterranean to Istanbul through the Dardanelles, and take the Ottomans out of the war, resulted in over 130,000 deaths on both sides.(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
People attend he Dawn Service ceremony at the Anzac Cove beach, the site of World War I landing of the ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) on April 25, 1915, in Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey, early Thursday, April 25, 2019. As dawn broke, families of soldiers, leaders and visitors gathered near former battlefields, honouring thousands of Australians and New Zealanders who fought in the Gallipoli campaign of World War I on the ill-fated British-led invasion. The doomed Allied offensive to secure a naval route from the Mediterranean to Istanbul through the Dardanelles, and take the Ottomans out of the war, resulted in over 130,000 deaths on both sides.(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
CANBERRA, Australia – Australia's prime minister on Thursday played down any potential link between the arrest of a suspected Islamic State group member in Turkey and a World War I battle commemoration attended by hundreds of Australians and New Zealanders at the Gallipoli peninsula.
A Syrian national was detained in Tekirdag province before the annual gathering for a dawn service at ANZAC Cove to mark the April 25, 1915, landing of Australian and New Zealand Army Corps troops in an ill-fated campaign to take the Dardanelles Straits, according to media reports.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the arrest took place three driving hours from of the Gallipoli service and no changes to security had been made as a result.
"The reports that we are receiving are inconclusive about any link between that arrest and any possible planned event at Gallipoli itself," Morrison told reporters. "In fact, to make that assumption would be, I think, making a very big assumption."
Morrison said Australian Defense Force Chief Gen. Angus Campbell was representing Australia at the service and had nothing but praise for the work of Turkish police and military to provide security.
"I'd simply say this: It's fairly routine for Turkish authorities to arrest people with suspected terrorist links," Morrison said.
Concerns about Australians and New Zealanders' safety at Gallipoli escalated last month when a diplomatic row flared between Turkey and Australia after an Australian was arrested in the killings of 50 worshippers at two mosques in New Zealand on March 15.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Australians and New Zealanders going to Turkey with anti-Muslim views would return home in coffins, like their ancestors who fought at Gallipoli.
Morrison slammed the comments as "highly offensive," but later said tensions had eased after Erdogan's office explained the president's words were "taken out of context."
ANZAC Day services were held throughout Australia and New Zealand on Thursday, with Britain's Prince William laying a wreath in the New Zealand city of Auckland.
The Duke of Cambridge will on Friday visit the mosques in Christchurch where 50 Muslims were killed and another 50 wounded.
A father and son who were volunteer lifesavers have drowned while trying to rescue a tourist swept out to sea off the Australian state of Victoria.
The boat carrying Ross Powell, 71, and his son Andrew, 32, overturned as they tried to reach the man near limestone stacks known as the Twelve Apostles.
The 30-year-old tourist was winched to safety by a rescue helicopter along with a third lifesaver from the boat.
Australian PM Scott Morrison paid tribute to the Powells.
"Surf lifesavers are selfless and brave," he said on Twitter.
"We thank them all for their service and extend our deepest sympathies to Ross and Andrew's family and friends."
The incident has shocked the tourist town of Port Campbell, south-west of Melbourne, where the men were experienced members of the local surf lifesaving club. Floral tributes have been left at the club and flags there are flying at half mast, Australian media reported.
The tourist, who has not been named, was said to have got into difficulties while wading at the mouth of the Sherbrook River.
The lifesaving team set off in their boat but it flipped over in the rough surf, local officials said.
Andrew Powell's partner, Amber Griffiths, described the father and son as "two of the most beautiful people to ever exist - always putting others first".
The rescued lifesaver is in a serious condition in hospital, Australian media reported. The tourist suffered hypothermia and is in a stable condition.
FILE PHOTO - A man runs across a hill in front of the Sydney city skyline under a smoke tinted sky at daybreak September 5, 2012. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The environment has emerged as a major issue for Australian voters, a poll showed on Sunday, but healthcare and the cost of living are the top concerns ahead of next month’s elections.
For 32 percent of Australians, access to affordable health services is the biggest worry, followed by the cost of living at 31 percent and crime at 25 percent, according to the Ipsos Issues Monitor, cited by the Sydney Morning Herald.
But the monitor, Australia’s longest running survey of community concerns, found that 23 percent of respondents cited the environment as one of their biggest concerns, making it the fourth top issue.
At the last federal election in 2016, the environment ranked ninth at 14 percent.
“Now there is a real momentum around it,” the newspaper cited Ipsos social researcher Daniel Evans as saying.
According to government agencies and environmental organizations, Australians are paying increasingly more attention to climate change, renewable energy, drought, environmental regulation and protection of natural habitats, such as the Great Barrier Reef, under threat from global warming.
Two-thirds of Australians believe their country is already being affected by climate change and 46 percent agree that the change is “entirely or mainly” caused by human action, an annual climate survey issued by Ipsos this month suggested.
Australia’s A$1.87 trillion ($1.3 trillion) economy is slowing, but the number of voters for whom it is a major worry has fallen since the last election to 23 percent from 30 percent. It ranked as the fifth major concern in this month’s poll.
Australians vote on May 18, with opinion polls showing Bill Shorten’s center-left opposition Labor party well ahead and the coalition of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s Liberals and the rural-focused Nationals heading for a resounding defeat.
BRETT BROWN WAS 25 and lost. It's not an unfamiliar place for many.
He was single and stir-crazy, unfulfilled in a sales job, a few years out of Boston University -- where he played for Rick Pitino -- and with an itch to see more. He had made some sound investments and worked all hours for too long. He was the son of two schoolteachers and he had already made what he considered "a significant amount of money."
Something was missing.
"A purpose-driven life? I didn't feel that at all," the Philadelphia 76ers head coach said at his desk before the playoffs.
He had the means ... and an epiphany.
"The reality that I just didn't want to do this," he said. Searching for something more, something different, he ended up in Australia.
But it was a fateful phone call that kept him there. Kept him there for almost two decades, through a rise up the Australian basketball coaching ranks that paralleled the sport's rise in the vast country. Kept him there until the NBA beckoned and now to the NBA Playoffs and the Sixers' current series with the Brooklyn Nets.
Land of make and believe
BEFORE THE CALL, there were close calls.
He left for the South Pacific in 1985 with a one-way ticket and no plans. His family was back home in Maine, where his father, Bob, was in the midst of a high school and college coaching career that would land him in the state's sports hall of fame. He knew a coaching job was always there if he wanted it. He had already served as a graduate assistant for a season at his alma mater.
That could wait.
He went abalone hunting off Bondi Beach, "with just a snorkel and a big knife. You just peel them off, put them in the mesh net, pan-fry them in some olive oil -- delicious."
He met new people. One new buddy invited Brown to his family farm. Part of the planned breakfast was an emu-egg omelet, so they woke up early and hopped on a dirt bike to go egg hunting. They spotted an emu nest -- jagged sticks everywhere -- and Brown grabbed two of the eggs and went to get back on the bike, and he noticed his friend's eyes bulge.
"He's like, 'We gotta go!' and I look back and I could see this emu coming from probably 30 yards away, and, I mean, they move. I had this decision -- do I let go of these eggs?" Brown held onto those emu eggs like his breakfast depended on it.
"We just booked it, and we ended up losing the emu. Good breakfast," he said.
And then he was traveling on Great Keppel Island on the Great Barrier Reef with just a backpack and a tent, and he met a girl. Anna was pretty, fun, and, he says, "I could have a laugh with her, have a beer with her. It was just good fun."
They parted company then, but kept in touch. She went back to Victoria, and he to Bondi Beach, where he was a volunteer coach for the Sydney University basketball team. Brown got his his coaching start in New Zealand with Altos Auckland after getting a ringing endorsement from his former college coach. After Sydney's appearance in the Intervarsity tournament -- then Australia's version of the NCAA's March Madness -- he planned on going from Melbourne to Sydney and back home to the United States, perhaps to coach with his father.
But he felt for Anna. So he made the fateful call.
"She said, 'I have a holiday, meet me in Melbourne, I'll drive you to the family farm in McArthur' -- and it's green, it's rugged ocean, I mean, it's Ireland -- and I did," he said. "I stayed. I changed my Qantas flight, stayed there two or three weeks, got deeply connected with her and stayed. Had she not picked up, I would've gotten on the train 15 minutes later and I would've flown home, written a few letters. Who knows what would've happened?"
They stayed for 17 more years. He married Anna, had two daughters with her -- later, a son -- and slowly, and then suddenly, ascended the Australian basketball coaching ranks.
Paralleled success
EARLIER THIS SEASON, a day after a 23-point home victory over the Los Angeles Lakers and a day before a crushing loss to Eastern Conference-rival Boston, Brown was still trying to get a feel for his 76ers team. Just three months after pulling off a stunning trade for Minnesota Timberwolves star Jimmy Butler, his team had acquired former LA Clippers forward Tobias Harris, adding yet another 20-point scorer to a potent starting lineup which includes Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and JJ Redick. Addressing a horde of reporters after practice, Brown joked that it felt like he was coaching his third team this season.
An hour later, relaxing in his office after the long session, he laughed again as he recalled his humble coaching origins in Australia. The sand all over the locker room floor, the surfboards tied to half of his players' cars, "Practice would end and BAM! -- they'd hit the beach," he said.
"There was this streetball, hip-hop, urban feel that the Australian youth was very much attracted to. ... It was almost like now there was another area the youth could be attracted to that wasn't just Billabong."
Brett Brown on the rise of basketball in Australia in the 1980's
In 1988, Brown was hired by Australian coaching legend Lindsay Gaze as an unpaid assistant for the Melbourne Tigers, also working in the marketing department. In five years, he was named the head coach of the North Melbourne Giants, guiding the Giants to a National Basketball League title a year later.
When Brown began his coaching career in Australia, the sport had started to attract players and attention. American college players were finding a home Down Under, and staying for years.
"There was this streetball, hip-hop, urban feel that the Australian youth was very much attracted to," Brown recalled. "Hat on backwards, skateboards, hip-hop. It was kind of cool to play. The country was such a surfing nation, it was almost like now there was another area the youth could be attracted to that wasn't just Billabong."
Brown saw as the country dedicated more and more resources toward the sport, with the thriving Australian Institute of Sport youth program and an increasing number of Australians making it to the NBA.
Melbourne-born Luc Longley's debut for the Chicago Bulls in 1992 marked the first Aussie to play in the league in nearly two decades, and he was the first Australian-born first-round pick.
Longley begat Chris Anstey, who played three years in the league from 1997 to 2000, and he begat Andrew Bogut, who rose from relative obscurity to become the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NBA draft. Since Bogut's debut, a dozen native Australians or New Zealanders have made it to the NBA.
And not just made it.
Both the 2011 No. 1 pick -- Kyrie Irving -- and the 2016 No. 1 pick, Simmons, were born in Australia, and both to American-born former college players who eventually played for Brown. Three first overall picks in a dozen years, and Brown had a connection to all three, having coached Irving's father, Drederick -- also a Boston U. graduate -- and Simmons' father, David, in Australia.
"[Drederick] was my starting point guard and during that season, his son Kyrie was born," Brown said. "And David [Simmons], I was an assistant coach with Lindsay Gaze, and I had five years or six years coaching David. I knew Ben's mom before they were even married. She was actually a cheerleader for the Melbourne Tigers. Those guys, with Joe Ingles, Matthew Dellavedova, Aron Baynes -- this is gonna be Australia's most potent team they ever had."
As a former Australian Olympic team head coach, Brown had a hand in that.
An assistant coach for the team between 1995 and 2003, with a visit to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the 2000 Sydney Games, Brown was hired as the head coach in 2009. Brown oversaw a Boomers squad that finished 10th in the 2010 FIBA World Championships and went to the quarterfinals of the 2012 London Olympics before losing to the eventual gold medal-winning United States.
"That connection to the land and the country, we saw it come out of him as coach," said Canberra-born Spurs guard Patty Mills, who played for Brown in London in 2012. "He took the reins of the whole federation. It meant something to him. You saw it in every game, every practice, every interview. That's the type of leader we needed."
Dellavedova, one of 10 current Aussies playing in the NBA, first played for Brown in 2009, when he was 18. Brown cut him twice in 2010, but kept him with the senior national team in 2011 and in 2012 at the Olympics.
"He was massive for my development, and he gave me a good road map of what it would take to make it in the NBA and be successful here," Dellavedova said. "He was great in building a strong base for the national team that we're building off today. His passion for Australia and Australian basketball -- you can feel it when you talk to him. He's excited to see he left it in a better place than when he found it."
Brown recalls his time with the national team fondly, from helping to institute a national depth chart through the youth ranks to leading to the Olympics the best group of "10 bartenders" he's ever seen. "They fought, man," he said, breaking into a grin. "They fought. Holy s---, did they fight."
Dellavedova attributed the fight to the fact that so many eventual Australian basketball players trace their roots back to either Australian rules football in the south of the country or rugby in the north.
"We're not scared of contact," he said, "we've been hit before. We know how to deal with a bump. Part of Australian attitude and mindset is you never back down and you always have your mate's back. On our national emblem, there's a kangaroo and an emu -- and those are two animals that can't take a backwards step."
Life coach, not coach for life
BROWN'S CAREER HAS has been one big forward step since his time in Australia.
Spurs general manager R.C. Buford met Brown at an Adidas camp in Australia, and a year later, after Brown's Australian team merged with another -- leaving Brown paid, but jobless -- Buford brought him to San Antonio as an unpaid basketball-operations staff member. That year, 1999, the Spurs won their first NBA championship in a strike-shortened season.
"You could tell then, he clearly knew the game, and he clearly knew Australian basketball," Buford said.
After returning to coach the Sydney Kings from 2000 to 2002, Brown rejoined the Spurs in 2002 as director of player development and was eventually promoted to assistant coach, and he'd help guide the team to titles in 2003, 2005 and 2007 before being hired by the 76ers in 2013.
"It was awesome, mate, not only having the chance to play for him Australia, but in San Antonio as well," Mills said. "He's the main reason I'm still here in San Antonio."
But from San Antonio to Philadelphia, a part of Brown indeed remains in the Outback.
His office is filled with relics from his past life, from the Australian rules football over his shoulder to the pictures of his wife and kids in front of another pristine beach. A room in his home is dedicated to indigenous art.
He even brings a bit of Australia with him to Sixers practice.
"You hear him say 'mate' a good bit," 76ers point guard T.J. McConnell said. "I think it's just natural for him."
He visits with his family every summer, and the routine is the same. Lands in Melbourne and heads four hours straight to Port Fairy. Brown says there are a few good restaurants, a grocery store, a bar, a deli and a gym where he gets shots up with his son. And he fishes -- lots of fishing.
Every time Brown visits, he learns something new. He describes himself as having "a world-class curiosity," and "maybe it's in my DNA to not be afraid of much."
One day, and it could be sooner than one might think, he'll be back on one of those beaches. This time, for good.
"I'm gonna be 58 quite soon, and I've been able to do a lot in our sport that I'm proud of," he said.
"If I wasn't doing this, the chances of me being somewhere on the ocean -- or on a lake fishing -- are strong. I tell my team all the time, 'Ooh, you will never see me again.' I'll send you an email and give you a fist bump, but there's a hermit in me for sure."
A senior Australian official says his country is “now ready to confirm” a chain of events between the high commissioner to the UK and a Trump campaign adviser that led to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, according to a report.
Alexander Downer, Australia’s former high commissioner to the UK who famously met George Papadopoulos at a London bar, claimed last year that the Trump aide had told him Russia had political dirt on Hillary Clinton.
A senior Australian foreign official now says his department is ready to confirm the meeting and release redacted documents, because special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe has ended and his redacted report is about to be released, according to BuzzFeed News, which filed a Freedom of Information request.
“I have again reviewed these matters and, while standing by the validity of the original decisions at the time they were made, the Department has reassessed its position in relation to Mr. Di Stefano’s three requests in light of the recent conclusion of the U.S. Special Counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential Election,” the official wrote to Australia’s Information Commissioner Gillian Cameron.
“Notably, in light of the conclusion of that investigation, the Department is now ready to confirm that a meeting occurred between Mr. Downer and Mr. Papdopolous (sic), on 10 May 2016, whilst Mr. Downer was High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.”
Included in the materials released to BuzzFeed is a calendar invite and a diplomatic cable Downer wrote about the sit-down.
The senior foreign official said Downer’s cable had been heavily redacted because the full document could “reasonably be expected” to damage Australia’s relationship with the US.
Papadopoulos served 12 days in jail after he admitted lying to the FBI in October 2017 about his contacts with a British professor, Joseph Mifsud, who claimed to have dirt on Clinton.
“My lawyers are handling it. My lawyers have formally applied for a pardon,” Papadopoulos said in an interview. “I don’t have expectations to be pardoned.”
In 'Conan Without Borders: Australia,' which aired Wednesday night on TBS, the late-night host learned how to speak like a native Aussie, become a Bondi Beach lifeguard and play Australia Rules football.
Conan O'Brien has traveled to the likes of Cuba, Korea, Mexico, Japan, Israel, Haiti, Italy and many others for the sake of entertainment, and now he's taking over the land down under.
In Conan Without Borders: Australia, which aired Wednesday night on TBS, the late-night host learned how to speak like a native Aussie, survive the Outback, become a Bondi Beach lifeguard and play Australia Rules football, or "footy."
His surprise inspiration for the trip came from none other than famous Hollywood Aussie Hugh Jackman, who sent him a "threatening" video in which Jackman mentioned that O'Brien has been "everywhere around the world — except Australia. It's almost like you're going out of your way not to go to Australia."
O'Brien, in response, told the audience about an old rule of show business: "When Hugh Jackman tells you to do something, you do it."
Embarking on his trip, he sat down first with voice and dialect coach Gabrielle Rogers, who explained the ins and outs of an Australian accent, and introduced the late-night host to key Australian slang terms like "brekkie," "budgie smugglers" and "root rat" (that's "breakfast," "Speedos" and "someone who enjoys sex" for U.S. viewers).
In addition to the dialect expert, O'Brien sat down with some locals to try out their speech patterns. They informed him that Aussies frequently add the letter "o" to the end of their names when talking about friends. "Would I be Conan-o?" he asked them, to which they replied that he'd be "Con-o." The three men then pretended to be friends and used as much local slang as they could — complete with O'Brien's exaggerated Australian accent.
Dusting off his his vest from the New York '80s club scene, O'Brien met up with wildlife expert Kevin Newton to learn about the nation's deadly spiders, insects and snakes before (mostly unsuccessfully) venturing out to find some of the creatures themselves. Other wildlife he encountered included a Tasmanian devil, a wombat, kangaroos, emus and wallabies.
Later, he prepped for a day at Bondi Beach by trying out sun gear, including a giant tub of SPF 50, at a Cancer Council shop. At the beach, he found a kid who looked like him "in 1969" and jokingly warned him "this is what you're going to look like when you get older" if he continued to hang out in the sun. O'Brien then met up with a trio of Bondi lifeguards to "get a good rescue montage" out of them in which O'Brien needed rescuing while attempting to surf.
During his trip, he was also invited to the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence to take part in a traditional "Welcome to Country" ceremony. He also met up with Briggs, an indigenous rapper and activist. "It's about changing the perceptions of what an indigenous artist can be," he told O'Brien of what he hopes to accomplish with his work.
He closed out his trip to the land down under with a live show featuring Australian comics Steen Raskopoulos, Becky Lucas and Rhys Nicholson.
Colen Nulgit, 20, and his girlfriend Shantelle Johnson, 18, went fishing on Sunday in Keep River National Park, in the Northern Territory near the border with Western Australia. There are saltwater crocodiles in all waterways around the park, according to the Northern Territory government.
But Nulgit said their day of fishing turned into a freezing, sleepless overnight stay when their truck became "bogged" -- Australian slang for getting stuck in mud.
"Our hearts sank," Nulgit told CNN. "Just the feeling of getting bogged ... it's just pretty scary."
Nulgit said they had seen crocodile tracks in the area earlier and, as the waters rose and the sun set, became afraid of being swept away by a large tide -- or being attacked by crocodiles or dingos.
"These crocodiles that we get here, they're not afraid of humans, they're not afraid of anything," he said. "Food's food for them. Anything is food."
In their home town of Kununurra, 1.5 hours' drive away from the park, Johnson's mother called the police when they failed to return that night.
Nulgit said the pair huddled under a sheet away from the river, but couldn't get any sleep. They wrote "help" in large letters in the dry mud with a fence post at about 4 a.m. Monday, hoping to attract attention from a passing plane. However Nulgit admitted he was worried about being stranded for a long time, adding: "Hardly anyone goes out that way."
On Monday, Kununurra police coordinated a search party using a plane from a local company to find the pair, the Western Australia Police Force said in a statement.
Nulgit said he and Johnson lit a fire as soon as they heard the plane to help draw attention.
"If they had not lit the fire and advised family members details of when they were departing and an expected return time, the couple may not have been located," the police statement added.
Nulgit said the adventure wouldn't deter the pair from heading out again -- although next time they'll have a recovery kit organized beforehand.
"I'm just grateful for everyone who pitched in and helped and came out to look for us," he said. "We're pretty lucky surviving and getting out of that."
MELBOURNE, Australia — A man was killed and his wife critically injured on Wednesday when they were attacked by their pet deer on a rural Australian property, police said.
The 46-year-old man entered the stag’s enclosure in the morning at Moyhu in Victoria state, Police Sergeant Paul Pursell said.
“His wife and son heard the commotion and went out to see what was going on,” Pursell told reporters. “His wife entered the enclosure to assist her husband and she was also attacked.”
Police shot the deer before a paramedic treated the couple.
The husband died at the scene and his wife was flown by helicopter to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne where she condition was described as critical.
The stag was a cross between a red deer and an elk, Pursell said. The family had kept the animal for about two years.
Pursell warned that deer behavior could be unpredictable.
David Voss, president of the Australian Deer Association, a hunting and deer management organization, said farmed deer tend to be more aggressive than wild deer, but he had only heard of similar attacks “very occasionally.”
Deer were introduced to Australia by British settlers in the 19th century and have established wild populations.
SYDNEY: A pet deer killed a man and left a woman critically injured at a rural property in Australia on Wednesday (Apr 17), police said.
Emergency services were called to the outback home in Victoria state early in the morning and found the badly gored couple, both aged 46.
"The man died at the scene," police said in a statement.
"The woman has been airlifted to a hospital in Melbourne with life-threatening injuries and remains in a critical condition."
National broadcaster ABC said the man was attacked when he went to feed the animal and his wife was injured when she came to his rescue.
A teenage son saved his mother by hitting the deer with a lump of wood, it said.
The animal was then killed "due to concerns for the paramedic's safety on scene", police said.
ABC reported the stag had been kept at the property for six years.
The Australian Deer Association said it was rare for deer to attack people.
"It is unusual, but not unheard of, for captive deer to attack humans, particularly during the Autumn mating season," the association said in a statement.
Deer were introduced into Australia in the 19th century, largely for hunting purposes.
But feral populations have since expanded across the country with increasing calls for greater controls in many areas where they are considered a pest.
Zoustar will stand for AU$154000 (US$104000) in the Southern Hemisphere, while multiple group 1-winning newcomer Trapeze Artist will begin his first season ...
A fundraising campaign in Australia has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop Aboriginal women from being imprisoned because of unpaid fines.
Campaigners say the "unjust" law in Western Australia is having a crippling impact on families living in poverty. It affects a hugely disproportionate number of indigenous Australians.
The BBC met some women in Perth who have been jailed or fear imprisonment.
A fundraising campaign in Australia has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop Aboriginal women from being imprisoned because of unpaid fines.
Campaigners say the "unjust" law in Western Australia is having a crippling impact on families living in poverty. It affects a hugely disproportionate number of indigenous Australians.
The BBC met some women in Perth who have been jailed or fear imprisonment.
A fundraising campaign in Australia has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop Aboriginal women from being imprisoned because of unpaid fines.
Campaigners say the "unjust" law in Western Australia is having a crippling impact on families living in poverty. It affects a hugely disproportionate number of indigenous Australians.
The BBC met some women in Perth who have been jailed or fear imprisonment.
A fundraising campaign in Australia has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop Aboriginal women from being imprisoned because of unpaid fines.
Campaigners say the "unjust" law in Western Australia is having a crippling impact on families living in poverty. It affects a hugely disproportionate number of indigenous Australians.
The BBC met some women in Perth who have been jailed or fear imprisonment.
A fundraising campaign in Australia has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop Aboriginal women from being imprisoned because of unpaid fines.
Campaigners say the "unjust" law in Western Australia is having a crippling impact on families living in poverty. It affects a hugely disproportionate number of indigenous Australians.
The BBC met some women in Perth who have been jailed or fear imprisonment.
A fundraising campaign in Australia has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop Aboriginal women from being imprisoned because of unpaid fines.
Campaigners say the "unjust" law in Western Australia is having a crippling impact on families living in poverty. It affects a hugely disproportionate number of indigenous Australians.
The BBC met some women in Perth who have been jailed or fear imprisonment.
A fundraising campaign in Australia has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop Aboriginal women from being imprisoned because of unpaid fines.
Campaigners say the "unjust" law in Western Australia is having a crippling impact on families living in poverty. It affects a hugely disproportionate number of indigenous Australians.
The BBC met some women in Perth who have been jailed or fear imprisonment.
A fundraising campaign in Australia has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop Aboriginal women from being imprisoned because of unpaid fines.
Campaigners say the "unjust" law in Western Australia is having a crippling impact on families living in poverty. It affects a hugely disproportionate number of indigenous Australians.
The BBC met some women in Perth who have been jailed or fear imprisonment.
A fundraising campaign in Australia has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop Aboriginal women from being imprisoned because of unpaid fines.
Campaigners say the "unjust" law in Western Australia is having a crippling impact on families living in poverty. It affects a hugely disproportionate number of indigenous Australians.
The BBC met some women in Perth who have been jailed or fear imprisonment.
A fundraising campaign in Australia has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop Aboriginal women from being imprisoned because of unpaid fines.
Campaigners say the "unjust" law in Western Australia is having a crippling impact on families living in poverty. It affects a hugely disproportionate number of indigenous Australians.
The BBC met some women in Perth who have been jailed or fear imprisonment.
A fundraising campaign in Australia has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop Aboriginal women from being imprisoned because of unpaid fines.
Campaigners say the "unjust" law in Western Australia is having a crippling impact on families living in poverty. It affects a hugely disproportionate number of indigenous Australians.
The BBC met some women in Perth who have been jailed or fear imprisonment.
A fundraising campaign in Australia has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop Aboriginal women from being imprisoned because of unpaid fines.
Campaigners say the "unjust" law in Western Australia is having a crippling impact on families living in poverty. It affects a hugely disproportionate number of indigenous Australians.
The BBC met some women in Perth who have been jailed or fear imprisonment.
A fundraising campaign in Australia has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop Aboriginal women from being imprisoned because of unpaid fines.
Campaigners say the "unjust" law in Western Australia is having a crippling impact on families living in poverty. It affects a hugely disproportionate number of indigenous Australians.
The BBC met some women in Perth who have been jailed or fear imprisonment.
A fundraising campaign in Australia has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop Aboriginal women from being imprisoned because of unpaid fines.
Campaigners say the "unjust" law in Western Australia is having a crippling impact on families living in poverty. It affects a hugely disproportionate number of indigenous Australians.
The BBC met some women in Perth who have been jailed or fear imprisonment.
A fundraising campaign in Australia has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop Aboriginal women from being imprisoned because of unpaid fines.
Campaigners say the "unjust" law in Western Australia is having a crippling impact on families living in poverty. It affects a hugely disproportionate number of indigenous Australians.
The BBC met some women in Perth who have been jailed or fear imprisonment.
A fundraising campaign in Australia has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop Aboriginal women from being imprisoned because of unpaid fines.
Campaigners say the "unjust" law in Western Australia is having a crippling impact on families living in poverty. It affects a hugely disproportionate number of indigenous Australians.
The BBC met some women in Perth who have been jailed or fear imprisonment.
