June 2005 in Australia and New Zealand

This page deals with current events that take place in or are of interest to Australia, New Zealand, and/or the territories of those countries (such as Norfolk Island and Ross Dependency), and/or current events that involve Australians and/or New Zealanders. __NOTOC__

June 29, 2005 (Wednesday)

*In this morning's 2005 NBA Draft (held on the evening of June 28 in the United States), Melbourne native Andrew Bogut is selected first overall by the Milwaukee Bucks. [http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2005/news/story?id=2096471 (AP/ESPN)]

June 28, 2005 (Tuesday)

*Paul Tully, a city councillor, wants to exhume the bodies of outlaws Steve Hart and Dan Kelly, two members of Ned Kelly's gang, because he suspects they may have survived and fled to Queensland. [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200506/s1401855.htm (ABC)] [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15754179%255E29277,00.html (Australian)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4630361.stm (BBC)]

June 26, 2005 (Sunday)

*The Israeli Foreign Minister, Silvan Shalom, apologises to New Zealand for the actions of two Israeli citizens, believed to be Mossad agents, who attempted to gain New Zealand passports under false pretences in 2004. The apology allows diplomatic relations between the two countries to return to normal. [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10332767 (NZ Herald)]

June 23, 2005 (Thursday)

*The New Zealand cricket team announces that it will tour Zimbabwe in August, despite calls for a boycott due to Operation Murambatsvina. The New Zealand government will not stop the tour going to Zimbabwe, but says a return tour by the Zimbabwe team will not be welcome. [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10332439 (NZ Herald)]

June 21, 2005 (Tuesday)

*500 residents of the town of Takaka in the northern South Island are evacuated after a major fire at the town's dairy factory. Evacuation was through fear of an explosion in vats containing caustic soda and sulphuric acid, which could have released toxic gases. [http://www.tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411319/593374/]
*Two fibre optic cables failed in the southern North Island of New Zealand, cutting Telecom New Zealand's cellular and Internet services, disrupting EFTPOS transactions, and closing the New Zealand Stock Exchange for five hours. [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10331826 (NZ Herald)]
* International Whaling Commission meets in Ulsan, South Korea. Japan tries to ease its restrictions to whaling but its suggestion to exclude proposed creation of whale sanctuaries is voted down [http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/06/20/whaling.meeting/ (CNN)] [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=8833514 (Reuters)] [http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=340879 (Japan Today)]

June 20, 2005 (Monday)

*Michael Campbell holds off Tiger Woods to win the U.S. Open, becoming only the second New Zealander to win a major championship in golf. (The event finished at approximately 2300 UTC on July 19.) [http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/usopen05/news/story?id=2089836 (AP/ESPN)]

June 15, 2005 (Wednesday)

*Brian Tamaki, leader of the charismatic New Zealand Destiny Church, will be ordained as a bishop on the church's seventh birthday, on Saturday June 18 2005. [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10330850 (NZ Herald)]
*Douglas Wood, the Australian construction engineer held hostage in Iraq, is freed, following a raid by US and Iraqi troops. [http://www.theage.com.au/news/Iraq/Firefight-as-Wood-rescued/2005/06/15/1118869016252.html (The Age)]

June 14, 2005 (Tuesday)

* In Indonesia, lawyers of Schapelle Corby file appeal in Bali court [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15618241%255E2702,00.html (Australia)] [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=8784870 (Reuters)]
* The New Zealand High Commissioner to Canada, Graham Kelly, apologises to all New Zealanders for remarks he made to a Canadian Senate committee in April. Kelly insulted Māori, Pacific Islanders and Asian immigrants to New Zealand in an attempt at humour. [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10330802 (NZ Herald)]

June 14, 2005 (Monday)

* The last Australian peacekeeping troops leave East Timor. [http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=113685&region=2 (SBS)] [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200506/s1390873.htm (ABC)] [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SYD210975.htm (Reuters)]

June 10, 2005 (Friday)

* A Queensland government inquiry states that medical doctor Jayant Patel should be charged with murder, fraud, negligence and medical malpractice due to the death of 87 of his patients. Jayant Patel has left the country and his current location is unknown. [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200506/s1389531.htm (ABC)] [http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=113521&region=7 (SBS)] [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SYD168043.htm (Reuters AlertNet)]

June 9, 2005 (Thursday)

*New Zealand MP Sue Bradford introduces a private member's bill to outlaw the smacking of children. The present law requires that physical discipline of a child use no more than "reasonable force". As a private member's bill, this will be a conscience vote. [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10329981 (NZ Herald)]
* In Australia, Parliament House and the embassies of the USA, the UK, Japan and South Korea receive suspicious packages containing white powder. Federal Police later state that analysis showed the powder to be "harmless", and was sent as a hoax, following similar events in the past week. [http://www.abc.net.au/ra/news/stories/s1388251.htm (Radio Australia)] [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200506/s1388265.htm (ABC)] [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000081&sid=a9_CPm_H5jRY&refer=australia (Bloomberg)] [http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-06-09T052856Z_01_N09554102_RTRIDST_0_INTERNATIONAL-AUSTRALIA-EMBASSIES-POWDER-DC.XML (Reuters)]

June 8, 2005 (Wednesday)

* The Sale of Liquor (Youth Alcohol Harm Reduction) Bill, which seeks to raise the minimum alcohol drinking age to 20, passes its first reading in New Zealand. The minimum age was lowered to 18 in 1999, but teenage alcohol-related problems have increased since then. The next vote on the bill will be after the general election later this year. [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10329759 (NZ Herald)]

June 7, 2005 (Tuesday)

* In Australia, Hao Fengjun, second Chinese defector, backs claims of Chen Yonglin about a large Chinese espionage network in the country [http://www.abc.net.au/ra/news/stories/s1387060.htm (Radio Australia)] [http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-06-08T011616Z_01_N07474018_RTRIDST_0_INTERNATIONAL-AUSTRALIA-CHINA-DEFECTOR-DC.XML (Reuters)]

June 6, 2005 (Monday)

* In Australia, Chinese defector Chen Yonglin claims that the Australian government rejected his request for political asylum without interviewing him. China states that his claims about large espionage ring in Australia are false [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200506/s1385007.htm (ABC)] [http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/06/06/2003258174 (Taipei Times)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4612497.stm (BBC)]

June 4, 2005 (Saturday)

* At the start of the Queen's Birthday long weekend in New Zealand, rain, snow and ice closed several major highways. State Highway 1 (known as the Desert Road) was closed in the morning between Waiouru and Rangipo in the central North Island, and State Highway 4 between Wanganui and Taumarunui was also closed for some time. A series of slips in the Manawatu Gorge has caused delays to traffic. The year's first major snowfall in Dunedin has caused problems for motorists there. [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10329057 (NZ Herald)]

June 3, 2005 (Friday)

* In Australia, a suspicious package containing white powder sent to Foreign Minister Alexander Downer led security guards to close the mail-room of Parliament House in Canberra and enact decontamination procedures. Federal Police later deemed the package harmless, but analysis continues. [http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15494919-2,00.html (News.com.au)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4605607.stm (BBC)]
*New Zealand electricity supplier Meridian Energy plans to build one of the world's largest wind farms at Makara, west of Wellington. The farm is planned to have 70 turbines, each over 100 metres high, and to generate 210 MW, which would be sufficient to power the whole of Wellington, Porirua, and Lower Hutt. [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?ObjectID=10328779 (NZ Herald)]

June 2, 2005 (Thursday)

* An Australian man of Vietnamese origin has been jailed for 20 years in Vietnam after being convicted of trying to smuggle 200g of heroin from Vietnam to Australia. [http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15486568-2,00.html (News Limited)]

June 1, 2005 (Wednesday)

* In Australia, embassy of Indonesia was closed after it received a package containing suspected "biological agent". The case is speculated to be related to the sentence of Schapelle Corby [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000081&sid=ao3uqttcI10U&refer=australia (Bloomberg)] [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP80256.htm (Reuters AlertNet)]

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ee also

*2005 in New Zealand
*2005 in Australia