Senator becomes first to breast-feed on floor of Australia’s Parliament
Australian Greens party Sen. Larissa Waters breast-fed her baby, Alia Joy, during a session in the Senate Chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia.
Australia & Oceania
South Australia heading to 80% wind and solar by 2021/22
South Australia is not just likely to have already met its target of 50 per cent renewables some eight years ahead of time, it is now heading for an extraordinary penetration rate of 80 per cent wind and solar by 2021.
Philippines unanimously votes to ratify Paris Agreement
The Philippines Senate has voted unanimously to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change, four months earlier than previously expected.
Pacific Islands nations adopt Suva Declaration on Climate Change
In an unprecedented action, Pacific Island national leaders called for “the implementation of an international moratorium on the development and expansion of fossil fuel extracting industries.”
New Zealand’s prime minister Helen Clark formally apologizes to Samoa
New Zealand’s prime minister Helen Clark formally apologized for two incidents during the period of New Zealand’s administration: a failure in 1918 to quarantine the SS Talune, which carried the ‘Spanish ‘flu’ to Samoa.
Western Australia’s Western Rock Lobster industry becomes world’s first fishery to be certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council
A fishery that obtains Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) accreditation has met the world’s leading benchmark for sustainable management and provides consumers with certainty and assurance that the products they buy are sourced, harvested, and fully traceable through the chain of custody from ocean to plate. The fishery has maintained continuous certification since that time.
New Zealand passes groundbreaking law establishing it as a nuclear and biological weapon-free zone
The significance of the Act lies in its affirmation that New Zealand exists as an independent and proud democracy concerned about the future of the planet.
Micronesia signs a Compact of Free Association with the U.S. marking its emergence from trusteeship to independence
The Compact of Free Association is an international agreement establishing and governing the relationships of free association between the United States and the three Pacific Island nations.
Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, Yap ratify the Constitution of the Federated States of Micronesia
The Constitution of the Federated States of Micronesia is the supreme law of the Federated States of Micronesia.
Howard Florey conducts the first-ever clinical trials of penicillin
Florey’s discoveries, along with the discoveries of Alexander Fleming and Ernst Chain, are estimated to have saved over 200 million lives, and he is consequently regarded by the Australian scientific and medical community as one of its greatest figures.