Australia & Pacifics

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Using a helicopter to catch a falling rocket is such a complex task that Peter Beck likens it to a “supersonic ballet.”

Rocket Lab, the company that Beck founded, partially pulled off the feat Tuesday as it pushes to make its small Electron rockets reusable. But after briefly catching the spent rocket, a helicopter crew was quickly forced to let it go again for safety reasons, and it fell into the Pacific Ocean where it was collected by a waiting boat.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s central bank on Tuesday lifted its benchmark interest rate for the first time in more than 11 years. The cash rate rose from 0.1% to 0.35% in a move potentially damaging to a government that will seek reelection on May 21.

A rise was widely expected after official data released last week showed that Australia’s inflation rose to 5.1% in the year through March. It is the highest annual rate since 2001, when a newly introduced 10% federal consumption tax created a temporary spike.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian man was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison Tuesday for the 1988 murder of an American who fell off a Sydney cliff that was known as a gay meeting place.

The death of mathematician Scott Johnson was initially called a suicide, but his family pressed for further investigation. A coroner in 2017 found a number of assaults, some fatal, where the victims had been targeted because they were thought to be gay.

Scott White, 51, pleaded guilty in January and could have been sentenced to up to life in prison.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s opposition party officially launched its election campaign on Sunday with an emphasis on cutting costs of living for voters as inflation surges to its highest rate in 21 years.

The center-left Labor Party started campaigning in the west coast city of Perth for the first time since World War II, in a demonstration of how important Western Australia state is to the party’s ambition to win control of government in the May 21 elections.

SYDNEY (AP) — Ian Chesterman has moved up from vice president to president after voting was held Saturday to replace departing Australian Olympic Committee chief John Coates.

Chesterman defeated former Olympic swimmer Mark Stockwell 67-26 in the vote held during the AOC’s annual general meeting.

Coates was the official responsible for delivering two Olympic Games to Australia — the 2000 Sydney Games and the 2032 version set to be held in Brisbane. But he has relinquished his role following 32 years as president.

SYDNEY, Apr 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Australia’s cruise industry, which is just resuming business following a two-year hiatus caused by the pandemic, has hit a setback with a dozen COVID-19 cases on a ship docked in Western Australia (WA).

WA health authorities confirmed that 10 passengers and two crew members of the Coral Discoverer tested positive to the virus, after the ship docked in the popular tourist destination of Broome yesterday, having completed a 10-day trip from the Northern Territory capital, Darwin.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Uber agreed to pay a 26 million Australian dollar ($19 million) fine for misleading riders by falsely warning they could be charged a cancellation fee and for inflating estimates of comparable taxi rides, the ride share company and Australia’s consumer watchdog said Tuesday.

Uber B.V., a Netherlands subsidiary of San Francisco-based Uber Technologies Inc., admitted breaching Australian Consumer Law by making false or misleading statements in its app, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in a statement.

SYDNEY, April 24 (Reuters) - Australia's government on Sunday defended its response to China's courtship of nearby Solomon Islands which culminated in a security pact, ahead of a general election next month where it had hoped to highlight its national security credentials.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton in a television interview attributed China's success to an uneven playing field involving tactics with which no Australian government could compete.

WELLINGTON, Apr 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) – New Zealand reported its first case of Omicron XE variant at the border, said the Ministry of Health, in a statement today.

A person who has travelled from overseas to New Zealand has been confirmed as having the XE variant of Omicron, said the ministry.

This is the first known detection of the Omicron XE variant in New Zealand, it said.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s opposition leader said he tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday in the second week of a campaign ahead of the May 21 election.

Anthony Albanese, the 59-year-old leader of the center-left Labor Party, said he was feeling fine and would isolate at his Sydney home for a week.

“While at home, I will continue my responsibilities as alternative prime minister and will be fighting for a better future for all Australians,” Albanese said in a statement.