Some Alternative Spots To Visit In Australia

For those who have an Australian travel visa and visit the country a lot, going to the same places over and over again can get quite boring. After all, you can only do so much in one place. Luckily though, the Land Down Under has tons of places that you can head to.

So, where can you head to for a more unique vacation? Here are some of the places that you might want to head to for your next vacation. Note that you won't find attractions like Uluru or the Whitsundays here because they are already quite too familiar (and you have probably visited them already).

Forty One Restaurant, Sydney

If you are hungry, then you can head to one of the several hundred restaurants around the city of Sydney. But this one is also something that you might want to see if you are a movie or sci-fi fan. Why so? Well, if you have already watched the film Matrix (then again, who haven't?), then you will likely recognized this restaurant at the top of the Chifley Tower. This is where one of the movie's crucial scenes was shot. And by the way, the food they serve are really great.

Obelisk Beach, Sydney

Since Sydney is located at the coast of the continent, there are many beaches here. But the Obelisk Beach on the southern part of the Middle Head National Park will surely be an interesting place to visit. This beach is actually one of only three legal nudist beaches in the city. This means that you can go literally skinny dipping without care about others. And of course, if you are shy to go all the way, you are still welcomed to take a dip here.

Mt. Augustus, Western Australia

If you are an avid hiker or mountaineer, consider this one as heaven. Mount Augustus is one of the most beautiful rock features in Western Australia. And since it is quite near the city of Perth, then you can easily visit this one on the go. The mountain is often compared to Uluru since they have the same features, though Mt. Augustus is twice as large as Uluru.

Bicheno, Tasmania

This one is a definitely must for animal lovers. Every year, penguins do their regular move to the shores and this has been known as the Bicheno Penguin Parade. Here, you will get the chance to see hundreds of these cute birds as they hang out at the beach. This one will surely be a wonderful sight to see.

Julia Gillard Retains Leadership Of Australia

If you are planning an Australian migration, then you are probably keeping a close eye to the country these past two months. And one of the things that you might be paying a lot of attention in would be the recent federal elections. Indeed, this one was quite a cliffhanger event because of the results.

But now, two weeks after the election, things are slowly going back to normal in the country's political scene. And with that, the leadership issue is now also being settled. It is now clear that Julia Gillard will still remain as the country's Prime Minister.

It can be recalled the Gillard called for elections last July 17. this was then promptly held on August 21, with more than 14 million Australians heading to the polling precinct. And as of the latest results on Aug. 30, both Gllard's Labor Party and the Liberal Party, headed by Tony Abbott, were able to secure 72 seats each in the House of Representatives, with the remaining five seats going to to an Australian Greens member and four independents.

As this one has resulted into a so called hung parliament, both parties raced to convince these independents to side with them. In the meantime, in accordance to the Australian constitution, Gillard and the Labor Party remained in power, albeit this time only as a caretaker government until the leadership question has been resolved.

The lone Greens Representative Adam Bandt was the first one to swing his support to the Labor Party. He has already said prior to the elections that he is going to align himself with Labor in case of a hung parliament. As he made his declaration official a few days back, his colleagues in the Greens party have also decide to throw their support to Gillard.

On the other hand, independent Representatives Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor earlier said that they will back the party who will be able to form a stable government. On Sept. 8 both Oakeshott and Windsor announced that they will be giving their support to the Labor Party, after securing funding agreements for several key rural projects. On the other hand, Bob Katter is the only independent that swung to the favor of the Liberal Party.

However, some political analysts cautioned that, despite being able to form a government, Gillard's administration is still far from stable. As the Greens and the independents now hold the balance, it is likely that they will use this to influence government policies. Thus Gillard will still have a hard time devising policies solely based on Labor's perspective.

Population and Immigration: “2 different issues”

Population and Australian immigration are two topics hotly debated in the country's current election campaign. During that time, Prime Minister Julia Gillard demanded that Population and Immigration were two different issues. However, the federal opposition think this statement was ridiculous.

According to Scott Morrison, opposition immigration spokesman, the two issues were inseparable. "She made the ridiculous statement that immigration has nothing to do with curtailing population growth," Mr Morrison uttered. "She says she wants to do something about sustainable population but she doesn't want to address the primary reason that population is growing so significantly. And any prime minister who says they want to do something about getting population growth under control obviously has to address immigration”, he added.

The Prime Minister doesn't agree with the fact that Australia's immigration rate is the main reason why the population is forecast to reach 36 million by 2050. "I don't believe that this is an immigration debate. I believe it's a debate about planning and policy choices for the nation's future, about where we want to see growth. We do need skilled migrants, definitely," she stated.