Federal Election

Australia has a federal election on Saturday. Will our first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, retain her position, or will the Coalition win power? Wikipedia has quite a good entry on Australia's electoral system (which is different from that of the USA), while the Australian and The Age newspapers are good places to go for up to date coverage of the current election.

Water in Australia

A recent article in the New York Times on several desalination projects in Australia will give you an idea of one of Australia's most pressing long-term problems, that of a lack of sufficient fresh water.



Melbourne has been in the grip of a long-term drought for a number of years now, and water restrictions are in place - while this is unlikely to affect you too much, you may find a little timer stuck on the wall of your shower to remind you not to stay in there too long!