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Many politicians have supported plans for a Big Australia for almost 20 years, but the survey found people no longer believe it is 'possible' to accommodate more immigrants
Commuters are seen at Town Hall train station in Sydney, Friday, August 23, 2019
A study found that half the Australian electorate want a reduction in immigration due to the belief it affects the way of life (pictured: A packed Bondi Beach on October 5, 2020)
Travellers refused entry at WA border despite
having approved G2G pass ABC Kimberley /
By Tyne Logan
Posted 1hhour ago
There are reports more than 50 people have been refused entry at the Kununurra checkpoint despite having a pass.(ABC News: Jon Daly)Share
Australians who have had their entry passes into Western Australia approved by the state are being refused at the border after travelling thousand of kilometres to get there, leaving them baffled and at times out of pocket.
Key points:A hotel owner on the NT/WA border says more than 50 people have been refused entry into WA despite having their G2G pass approvedWA's hard border remains in place with strict rules on who can enterThere are calls for the G2G system to be made more clear and more consistent
Despite the rest of Australia agreeing in principle to open their borders by Christmas,
WA's strict border controls remain in place. You cannot enter WA unless you are an exempt traveller determined through an application for what is known as a G2G pass.
But several people who have gone through the stringent process of getting their G2G pass approved say they were still refused entry into the state by police at the final checkpoint, despite providing clear and honest reasons for their entry in the application.
It has prompted concerns about a lack of clarity on applications and a lack of consistency between those approving the passes and police on the ground.
Paul Maddison, originally from Albany in Western Australia, left the state two years ago to travel and work around Australia.
But when discussion began in July about when WA's hard border would come down, he and his partner, Kate, decided it was time to move back home.
Travelling through several states, and quarantining in the Northern Territory for 14 days, they eventually made their way to Katherine where they applied for a G2G pass under the "persons otherwise seeking approval to enter into WA" category.
Paul Maddison and his partner, Kate Sullivan, planned to come back to WA to work and live after travelling around the country for two years.(Supplied: Paul Maddison)
Supporting statements outlined their plan to get farm work in Western Australia while making their way back to their home town on the south coast.
Mr Maddison said they further provided evidence of their WA drivers' licences, a storage locker in WA containing their belongings, and WA-registered vehicles.
When their pass was approved within half an hour, Mr Maddison said they were surprised and but overjoyed.
"We've got a granddaughter who we haven't met yet and we wanted to see her on her [second] birthday in late April," he said.
"We'd heard horror stories and we were actually pinching ourselves. We thought, 'Well, this was really easy, this was beautiful, thank you very much'."
But that feeling was short-lived.
Knocked back at Checkpoint Charlie
After a 500-kilometre drive to Checkpoint Charlie in Kununurra, they showed their G2G pass and supporting documents to the police and were told they could not enter the state.
"They basically said that we didn't fit any of the exemptions and that we didn't need to come into the sate," he said.
"We were absolutely dumbfounded.
"To think that one or two people can make a decision like that in less than five seconds … I was appalled, but you can't argue. You've got to accept the umpire's decision, turn around and make other plans."
Consolidated Pastoral Company, which has 300,000 cattle and nine pastoral lands across the Northern Territory and Queensland, was scooped up by multi-millionaire Guy Hands.
Rugby fans have hailed an African singer's version of the Australian national anthem at the Bledisloe Cup the 'best ever'. David Nduwimana (pictured left) sang Advance Australia Fair before the third match of the rugby series between the Australian Wallabies and New Zealand All Blacks (pictured bottom right) at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night. His passionate rendition of the anthem had the Wallabies (pictured top right) up in arms and roaring the lyrics before their clash with their arch rivals. Fans on social media proclaimed Mr Nduwimana's national anthem was one of the best of all time. Mr Nduwimana left his family behind and fled from African country Burundi seven years ago, in the leadup to a military coup, before settling in Australia. He arrived with an economics degree and a guitar and did not know a single person in the country.
Annastacia Palaszczuk has refused to budge on her decision to keep the border closed to Sydneysiders. But with parts of New South Wales already included in the Queensland government's travel bubble, many residents have found an ingenious way of reuniting with their loved ones from the Sunshine state without falling foul of the law. Even though Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has been returned for another term in the state's top job, she has ruled out any immediate relaxation of her ban on five million people from Greater Sydney crossing the border, saying any decision will be reliant on advice from chief health officer Jeannette Young.
The world's largest pink diamond mine began when a group of geologists stumbled across a stone in the Kimberley region of Western Australia in the 1970s.
Twinkling from rose through magenta to purple, the stones have commanded some of the diamond market's highest prices.
The 12.76 carat Argyle Pink Jubilee pictured in 2012. This rough fancy pink gem is typical of the Argyle mine which has produced more than 90 per cent of world supply since 1983
A selection of beauties from last year's Argyle Pink Diamond Tender. The last of the mine's rough stones are now on sale in a trade tender
Some diamond colours are caused by trace elements such as nitrogen (yellow) or boron (blue), but pink diamonds have not been found to have trace elements.
Instead, scientists believe the pink hue comes from a distortion in the crystal lattice caused by intense heat and pressure.
The pink stones have accounted for less than 0.01 per cent of Argyle's total output, with the mine producing more than 865 million carats of rough diamonds over its life.
In 2019, Argyle employed 373 people and produced 12.9 million carats of gems.
Most of the diamonds mined at Argyle are browns of which only 5 per cent are gem quality, however it has consistently produced high-quality pink diamonds making it a unique deposit.
But Rio Tinto has decided to close the mine as the supply of pinks is running out and the it is now too deep to excavate beneath and extract them.
'The drilling costs are growing, and profits deriving from the diamonds produced are not enough to cover operation costs,' subsidiary retailer Argyle Diamond Investments said on its website.
Specialist jewellers are to be offered some of the mine's last pink stones which are on show now in Antwerp, Belgium, and Tel Aviv, Israel. Pictured: a pave-diamond-set pendant
The company only had enough reserves to mine to the end of the year.
When Argyle closes it will take 75 per cent of Rio TInto's diamond output down, but the impact on the mining giant's earnings will be less than 2 per cent as diamonds are a small part of their overall business.
Rio Tinto estimates it will take five years to decommission the mine and to start rehabilitation works, followed by rehabilitation and monitoring.
Kimberley Fine Diamonds proprietor Frauke Bolten-Boshammer, based Kununurra, 200km north of the mine told Bloomberg in July that pink diamond prices had quadrupled in the last 10 years already.
The 28.8 carat Argyle Octavia, a colourless diamond produced at Argyle. The mine supplied more than 865 million carats since 1983, Rio Tinto said in a release on its website 
After the Argyle Mine (pictured) is decommissioned, it will be rehabilitated
Jewellery historian Vivienne Becker told news.com.au that Argyle pink diamonds would 'emerge as the new Faberge egg, the thing jewellery myths are made of' in the next decade.
Rio Tinto managing director for operations, copper and diamonds, Sinead Kaufman told the ABC that over the past 20 years, Argyle pinks had risen in value five-fold.
'Demand for Argyle pink diamonds has continued unabated,' she said.
'Rarity, uniqueness and a finite supply has driven the strong value appreciation we have seen, and continue to see.'
The last Argyle pink diamonds are being sold to specialists round the world this month in a trade sale known as a 'rough tender', Rio Tinto said on its website.
The 'Specials' tender will sell off diamonds larger than 10.8 carats.
A total of 28,399 carats of rough stones will be shown before November 9, both online and in the global diamond hubs of Antwerp, Belgium, and Tel Aviv, Israel.
It will include Argyle's famous coloureds together with an enormous 26-carat white diamond plus a 74.5 carat fancy yellow named 'Diavik Helios' from Rio Tinto's Diavik mine in Canada.
A separate sale tender is offering pink, violet and blue diamonds to collectors and jewellers including Argyle Eternity, a 2.24 carat vivid purplish/pink diamond.
https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMKZ0P_St_Johns_Anglican_Church_Northam_Western_Australia