Anthony Albanese

Australia has told China of its "outrage" over a suspended death sentence handed to Chinese-Australian dissident writer Yang Jun, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday.

Yang was sentenced to death on Monday with a two-year suspended execution and had all of his property confiscated, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

Microsoft announced yesterday a 5 billion Australian dollar ($3.2 billion) investment in Australia focused on cloud computing and artificial intelligence, saying it would boost the country's economy and cyber defences.

Australia will hold a historic Indigenous rights referendum on October 14, the prime minister said Wednesday, setting up a defining moment for the nation's relationship with Aboriginal minorities.

"On that day, every Australian will have a once-in-a-generation chance to bring our country together," Anthony Albanese said as he announced the date for the compulsory and binding vote.

The U.N.'s cultural agency UNESCO welcomed on June 6 commitments from Australia to protect the Great Barrier Reef, with the government pledging 4.4 billion Australian dollars ($2.9 billion) to safeguard the natural wonder.

Australia's prime minister on Monday defended an obscure and longstanding protocol that bars the nation's parliament from sitting for 15 days following a British monarch's death.

Lawmakers will reconvene on Sept. 23 to debate a condolence motion for Queen Elizabeth II, the earliest date that the protocol allows, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday rejected calls for him to publicly demand the United States drop its prosecution of WikiLeaks founder and Australian citizen Julian Assange.

Australia's new government has urged China to lift trade sanctions if it wants to reset a bilateral relationship that plumbed new depths under the previous administration.