At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia’s construction sector is under pressure as soaring fuel costs force companies to cut staff and delay projects. Builders say rising diesel prices and higher costs for materials are squeezing margins, pushing some businesses close to shutting down. Without government support, the impact could flow through to home buyers and household bills. New data from the Civil Contractors Federation shows the strain is widespread. Nearly one in three firms are considering scaling back or closing within six months. About 45% plan to reduce staff, while more than a quarter may pause projects until costs stabilise. The crisis has been driven in part by global supply disruptions, including the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which cut a significant share of the world’s oil flow. Costs have surged across the board. Diesel prices have jumped sharply in recent months, while materials like concrete and plastic piping are also rising due to fuel-linked surcharges. Industry leaders are calling on the federal government to step in with targeted support in the upcoming budget. Key requests include temporary fuel tax relief, faster payments on government contracts, and financial support for projects hit hardest by rising costs. Some businesses are already feeling the impact. Contractors report cost increases of up to 20% on ongoing projects, forcing difficult negotiations with clients to share the burden. There are also human costs. Some operators say ongoing economic shocks from the pandemic to global conflicts have made it too risky to continue. The government says it is monitoring the situation and working with industry to improve fuel supply and reduce costs. However, builders warn urgent action is needed to keep projects moving and protect jobs. Source : ABC News More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. හිටපු සමගි ජන බලවේග පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී එරන් වික්‍රමරත්න මහතා නව ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රිකට් (Sri Lanka Cricket - SLC) පරිවර්තන කමිටුවේ සභාපතිවරයා ලෙස පත් කර තිබේ. නවකමිටුවේ අනෙකුත් සාමාජිකයන් ලෙස රොෂාන් මහනාම, කුමාර් සංගක්කාර, තුෂිර රදෙල්ල, සිදත් වෙත්තමුනි, අවන්ති කොළඹගේ, ප්‍රකාශ් ෂාෆ්ටර්, උපුල් කුමාරප්පෙරුම සහ දිනාල් ෆිලිප්ස් යන අය නම් කර ඇත. මෙය සාමාජිකයින් 09 දෙනෙකුගෙන් සමන්විත කමිටුවකි. මෙම පත්කිරීම සිදු වන්නේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රිකට් ආයතනයේ සභාපති ශම්මි සිල්වා මහතා සහ විධායක කමිටු සාමාජිකයන් සියලු දෙනා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යවරයා වෙත තම ඉල්ලා අස්වීම් ලිපි ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුවය. ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් නිල නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශය සඳහන් කළේ ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍ය සුනිල් කුමාර ගමගේ මහතා විසින් එම ඉල්ලා අස්වීම් භාරගත් බවයි. 1973 අංක 25 දරන ක්‍රීඩා නීතියේ 31 සහ 34 වගන්ති මගින් අමාත්‍යවරයාට පැවරී ඇති බලතල යටතේ, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රිකට් පරිපාලනය වහාම ක්‍රියාත්මක වන පරිදි තාවකාලිකව යෞවන කටයුතු හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශය යටතට පත් කරන බව අමාත්‍යාංශය තවදුරටත් පැවසීය. ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාවේ වත්මන් ගැටළු සඳහා විසඳුම් හඳුනා ගැනීම සහ පාලක මණ්ඩලය තුළ ව්‍යුහාත්මක ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම සඳහා කමිටුවක් ඉක්මනින් පත් කරන බව එම නිවේදනයේ වැඩිදුරටත් සඳහන් වේ. Source : Newswire More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia is seeing a sharp rise in illicit drug use, with new data placing the country among the world’s highest consumers of methamphetamine. A latest report from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission shows Australia ranks second out of 34 countries for meth use per person, behind the United States. Wastewater analysis reveals meth consumption has nearly doubled over the past decade. It has grown from 8.4 tonnes in 2016 to a record 15.7 tonnes in 2025. The drug now makes up about 59% of the total use of major illicit substances, including cocaine, MDMA and heroin. Despite high prices, demand remains strong. The estimated street value of meth consumed in a year has reached over $11 billion, forming the bulk of Australia’s $14.3 billion illegal drug market. Use is consistently higher in regional areas than in major cities. Regional Western Australia recorded the highest levels overall. Among capital cities, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth ranked the highest. Authorities say organised crime networks continue to drive supply, keeping large volumes flowing into the country. New South Wales remains the biggest overall market, while Queensland has recorded a notable recent surge. Other drugs, including cocaine, MDMA and heroin, have also hit record levels. The ACIC warns the trend is likely to continue, with drug use expected to rise further through to 2027. Source : 9 News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia is facing a growing shortage of GPs, especially in regional and remote areas, where demand for healthcare continues to rise. Groups like the Australian Medical Students' Association say one major barrier starts early the cost of getting into medical school. The GAMSAT, required for postgraduate entry, costs $568 per attempt. Many students sit the exam multiple times, with average costs reaching around $1,700 just in fees. Extra spending on study materials and tutoring can push this even higher. Student leaders warn these costs hit hardest for those from rural and low-income backgrounds. Yet these are the very candidates most likely to return and work in underserved communities. Federal Health Minister Mark Butler says Australia has long relied on overseas-trained doctors to fill gaps, particularly outside major cities. Efforts are underway to train more local doctors, but challenges remain. Critics argue the system lacks accessibility. Some also question whether the GAMSAT effectively identifies the best future doctors. Students say the financial burden adds pressure to an already difficult process. Meanwhile, the Australian Council for Educational Research, which runs the exam, says the fees reflect the cost of delivering a secure and high-standard test. Health authorities acknowledge workforce shortages remain a long-term issue. Programs like scholarships aim to support students from regional areas, but demand for doctors continues to outpace supply. Source : 9 News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. රටේ සංචාරක යටිතල පහසුකම් වැඩිදියුණු කිරීමේ උත්සාහයන්හි කොටසක් ලෙස ශ්‍රී පාද (ආදම්ගේ කඳු මුදුන) ඇතුළු ප්‍රධාන සංචාරක ගමනාන්ත කිහිපයක කේබල් කාර් පද්ධති හඳුන්වාදීම සඳහා වන යෝජනා කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමු වී තිබේ. විදේශ කටයුතු, විදේශ රැකියා සහ සංචාරක අමාත්‍ය විජිත හේරත් මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් ජනාධිපති ලේකම් කාර්යාලයේ ඊයේ (28) පැවති සංචාරක කාර්ය සාධක බලකා රැස්වීමකදී මෙම කරුණ සාකච්ඡා කෙරිණි. ජනාධිපති මාධ්‍ය අංශයට (PMD) අනුව, ශ්‍රී පාදස්ථානය අසල කේබල් කාර් ව්‍යාපෘතියක් ස්ථාපිත කිරීම සඳහා විවිධ පාර්ශ්වකරුවන්ගෙන් දීර්ඝ කාලීන ඉල්ලීම් රැස්වීමේදී සමාලෝචනය කරන ලදී. ඊට අමතරව, කිකිලියාමන සහ ඇල්ල ද සමාන සංවර්ධනයන් සඳහා සුදුසු විභව ස්ථාන ලෙස හඳුනාගෙන ඇත. යෝජිත ස්ථාන සඳහා ශක්‍යතා අධ්‍යයනයන් සිදු කිරීම, මූලික අනුමැතිය ලබා ගැනීම සහ ව්‍යාපෘති ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය තාක්ෂණික හා පාරිසරික වාර්තා පරීක්ෂා කිරීමේ අවශ්‍යතාවය පිළිබඳව නිලධාරීන් අවධානය යොමු කළහ. වෙනම සංවර්ධන-නැඹුරු සාකච්ඡාවකදී, මැයි 25 සිට රටවල් 40 ක පුරවැසියන් සඳහා වීසා රහිත පහසුකමක් හඳුන්වාදීම ඇතුළුව පුළුල් සංචාරක පහසුකම් සැපයීමේ පියවරයන් කෙරෙහි ද අවධානය යොමු විය. මෙම පියවර සංචාරක පැමිණීම් සැලකිය යුතු ලෙස ඉහළ නංවනු ඇතැයි බලධාරීන් අපේක්ෂා කරයි. යාල ඇතුළු ජාතික වනෝද්‍යාන 19 ක සනීපාරක්ෂක පහසුකම් වැඩිදියුණු කිරීමේ ප්‍රගතිය ද රැස්වීමේදී සමාලෝචනය කරන ලදී. පවතින වැසිකිළි පහසුකම් නඩත්තු කිරීම පෞද්ගලික ආයතනයකට පැවරීමේ වැඩසටහනක් දැනටමත් ආරම්භ කර ඇති බව ජනාධිපති මාධ්‍ය අංශය පැවසීය. නව සනීපාරක්ෂක පද්ධති ස්ථාපනය කිරීමේ සැලසුම් ද සාකච්ඡා කරන ලදී. මේ අතර, කොල්ලුපිටියේ සිට වෙරළබඩ ප්‍රදේශය දිගේ කැපවූ සංචාරක කලාපයක් ස්ථාපිත කිරීමේ සංකල්පය නිලධාරීන් විසින් ගවේෂණය කරන ලදී. යෝජිත සංවර්ධනය මගින් සංචාරකයින්ගේ ආරක්ෂාව ශක්තිමත් කිරීම සහ ප්‍රදේශයේ ආකර්ෂණීය ස්ථාන වැඩිදියුණු කිරීම අරමුණු කර ඇති අතර, සංචාරකයින් 2,000 ත් 3,000 ත් අතර සංඛ්‍යාවක් ආකර්ෂණය කර ගැනීමේ අපේක්ෂාව ඇත. Source : Daily Mirror More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Fresh data suggests an El Niño is forming in the Pacific, increasing the chance of a warmer and drier winter across much of Australia. According to Weatherzone, ocean temperatures in the tropical Pacific have risen in recent weeks. Seas warmed by 0.5°C over the past two weeks, including a 0.3°C jump in just seven days. El Niño occurs when ocean waters become unusually warm, disrupting typical weather patterns. Forecasters say this year’s event could be particularly strong, possibly reaching “super” levels. However, conditions need to persist for several more months before it is officially declared. Atmospheric signals are also starting to align. The Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), which tracks air pressure changes, has dropped below key thresholds. At the same time, trade winds in the Pacific are weakening another early indicator. If El Niño develops, eastern Australia typically sees less rainfall and higher temperatures during winter and spring. This can increase the risk of drought, reduce snow levels in alpine areas, and shorten the ski season. Cooler mornings are also possible due to clearer skies. Despite these signs, experts stress the outlook is not certain. Even a strong El Niño does not guarantee major impacts, and conditions can still shift in the months ahead. Source : 9 News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. The Albanese Government is set to consider major tax changes in the upcoming May 12 budget, with reforms to negative gearing and capital gains tax still under discussion. The focus is on steering property investors toward building new homes, rather than buying existing ones. Keeping both measures on the table signals a broader push for tax reform in the government’s second term. Source : News.com Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. Opposition MP Harsha de Silva has questioned the legal status of the government’s “Rebuilding Sri Lanka Fund,” claiming it has not been formally created. In a post on X, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP challenged remarks by Deputy Finance Minister Anil Jayantha Fernando, who said the fund remains secure. De Silva argues there is no legal basis for the fund, as it has not been established through an Act of Parliament. He noted that under Sri Lanka’s programme with the International Monetary Fund, only legally approved statutory funds can operate. According to him, repeated queries to the government have been met with responses that the fund is still “in progress,” suggesting it is not officially in place. Despite this, the government says money has already been deposited. Deputy Minister Fernando stated that as of April 24, 2026, the fund holds Rs. 9,583 million and is secure. He also said Rs. 500 billion has been allocated through a supplementary budget for post-disaster recovery following Cyclone Ditwah, though much of it has not yet been spent. The fund will be used as needed, he added. The minister rejected criticism, accusing some opposition figures of spreading misleading claims. He said more detailed information about the fund will be released after the financial year, while investigations into related concerns are ongoing. Source : Daily Mirror & News.lk More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Rail workers in Queensland are set to take industrial action over the next two weeks after pay talks broke down. The Rail Tram and Bus Union confirmed rolling stoppages will go ahead after failing to reach a wage deal with Queensland Rail during talks at the Fair Work Commission. The union says the latest offer was too similar to a previous proposal that workers had already rejected. Limited progress was made, but not enough to secure an agreement. The action will involve selected groups, including maintenance crews and signal staff. The union says it does not plan to fully shut down train services, but disruptions remain possible. Commuters could feel the impact, especially with the busy NRL Magic Round approaching in mid-May. The event typically draws large crowds and adds pressure to the transport network. Queensland Rail says it has planned extra services for the event but warns industrial action may affect reliability. The operator maintains its offer is fair and is urging unions to return to negotiations. Passengers are advised to expect potential delays and check for updates. Source : 9 News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. In 2024, the transition was moving fast. The state backed seven solar and wind projects and seven storage developments, adding 3,202 megawatts equal to about four mid-sized coal plants. It was a record year for clean energy investment. But things changed after the 2024 election, when the Liberal National Party led by David Crisafulli came to power. The new government scrapped renewable energy targets and introduced a more coal-focused plan. State-owned coal plants are now expected to operate until at least 2046 about a decade longer than previously planned. Approvals for some renewable projects have also been paused to review local community support. Broader decarbonisation plans have been delayed by several years. Industry leaders say the policy shift has slowed investment. In 2025, only two projects reached financial close, delivering just 510 megawatts a steep drop from the previous year. The Clean Energy Council says uncertainty around policy and approvals has made investors cautious, with some funding moving to other states seen as more stable. The government says its approach ensures fairness and community backing. Critics argue it risks delaying the state’s clean energy transition. Source : Guardian Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. At dawn this morning, a quiet gathering was held at the Liveramentu Commonwealth War Cemetery to mark ANZAC Day. Attendees paused to honour the men and women who served and lost their lives in the pursuit of peace and freedom. Their sacrifice remains deeply remembered. The ANZAC values of courage, mateship, and selflessness continue to inspire communities, including those in Sri Lanka. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. Rising Sri Lankan squash talent Sithumli Mendis has delivered a stellar performance on the international stage, securing two prestigious podium finishes during her April 2026 tour in Melbourne, Australia. Representing Sri Lanka, the young athlete captured third-place finishes in the Girls' Under-17 category at both the Australian Junior Open and the Oceania Junior Open Squash Championships, cementing her status as a formidable competitor in the region. Competing against a highly competitive 32-player draw at the Australian Junior Open, Mendis showcased her resilience and tactical prowess. Her campaign opened with a thrilling five-set victory over New Zealand’s Maebh Manning, followed by a commanding straight-sets win against Australia’s Chelsea Paule. In a major tournament upset, she then dispatched top seed Olivia van Zon in the quarterfinals. Mendis ultimately sealed the Second Runner-Up position with a decisive victory over New Caledonia’s Agathe Buchon-Laynaud. Mendis carried her exceptional momentum into the 2026 Oceania Junior Championships, held from April 17th to 19th. Navigating a massive tournament field of over 400 participants, she consistently outperformed heavily favored opponents. Her remarkable run featured high-profile victories over the reigning Australian Junior Open U17 champion, Isabella Wilcox, and Australia’s 3/4 seed, Kayla Clarke. After advancing to the semifinals, Mendis secured her second bronze of the tour by overcoming Australia’s No. 2 ranked player, Ruby Foo, in the third-place playoff. Sri Lanka Squash commended Mendis for her outstanding achievements. Securing two international podium finishes in a single, highly competitive overseas tour is a rare feat that underscores her talent, determination, and commitment to athletic excellence. As she continues to develop her game and conquer higher-seeded opponents, Sithumli Mendis is rapidly establishing herself as a promising ambassador for Sri Lankan sports on the global stage, bringing immense pride to her country. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.