SBS Hindi

Hindu Council of Australia has expressed a mixed view on the Religious Discrimination Bill passed in parliament early Thursday. Vice-President of Hindu Council Surinder Jain said there was a need for this Bill to protect religious freedom in the country. However, he said the Bill in its current form provides religious organisations with an opportunity to exploit its provisions to hire people from their faiths over the others in schools, aged care and hospitals run by them. The Australian Sikh Association Chairman Ravinderjit Singh expressed his community's concerns over section 12 of the Bill. Mr Singh said the chances are that the Sikh community could face discrimination under section 12 or religious statement of belief. Listen to the podcast to hear their views. 

In this latest Fiji news: Thirty-two Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) soldiers left Australia to assist in the rehabilitation efforts in Tonga; RFMF and the Fiji Navy to benefit from a week-long visit by the US Coast Guard Cutter Stratton.

Australian Minister of Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan is in India this week to sign an agreement to promote travel and tourism between the two sides. The move comes just after Australia announced the reopening of its borders to all double-vaccinated visa holders including tourists from 21 February.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef, one of the seven wonders of the natural world, is under threat. Rising ocean temperatures can cause coral bleaching when the coral turns white, making it vulnerable and stressed. Researchers in Australia and Hawaii have been conducting experiments to breed super corals that can withstand global warming. They have devised an 'assisted evolution' plan to help save the Great Barrier Reef.