mineral its and energy but also australian grains and cattle? >> certainly. china is our ally trading partner. it has become more and more important each and every year. to give a perspective on that it's ge fm representing around 7% of our total exports at the start of last decade to over 41% by the end of 2010. so a considerable rise in demand from china for our key commodities which includes agriculture commodities. >> tom: john, does that put the western australian economy really at risk to the ripple effect if china is successful in slowing its economy down? >> certainly if china is our greatest opportunity, but also our greatest risk because it has become so important to our onomic prospects. and wa is not alone in that regard. i think if china was to slow down sharply then ultimately the global economy would suffer. but our members, our business community suggests that overall the prospects are still sound, even if there is a mild slowdown. >> tom: so this is the demand side. what about the supply side? what are you experiencing in terms

nhk world reports from sydney, on what australian companies are doing. >> reporter: australia is a major agricultural producer. the eastern state of new south wales is a well known rice growing region. its climate, a vast gap in morning and evening temperatures, for instance, makes it an ideal place for growing rice. australia is now in the midst of harvest season, using large equipment, farmers are busy. peter draper has been growing rice here for nearly 30 years. he's hoping to see his high-quality rice boost the country's exports of the grain to japan. >> the japanese like our style of rice because it's very similar to theirs, and it's very good quality like their rice. a very good quality. the fact we can grow rice without using any small amount of chemicals very early in the crop. >> reporter: since last year's major disaster which hit one of japan's rice producing regions, australia's rice shipments to the asian country have nearly doubled. australia's making every effort to pitch its rice to japanese people. >> at sunrise, we got rice from all over the world growing here in austra

australia grows a wide range of different quality types and it's in the australian industry and it's important to have japanese style rices in amongst to cater for changes in market demand. >> reporter: this is a newly developed variety. it's considered as good as kashiokari. the stem is short, which keeps the rice plant from falling in bad weather and helps boost the harvest. australia is pinning high hopes on this rice. it's hoping that the grain will grab a lead in the japanese market. >> a number of companies have come out publicly and explained they're going to use australian rice and i guess that's developed a little confidence amongst others to come and ask questions about rice as well. so, breeding the right varieties that they want, milling it to the right quality, and then delivering it in a timely fashion. >> reporter: the australian government and private farmers are expected to join hands in the future in intensifying efforts to carve out a larger share of the japanese rice market. janina sugano, nhk world. >>> for the weather forecast, mai shoji with the update. mai? >>

but interestingly must have, the australian dollar seems to be holding unreasonably well. to our panel now. how much is really about political adjust ters given there are no market stressors unlike in europe and they're forcing it on to themselves? it's very critical, they might lose that one seat majority in parliament. >> this is 95% politics. economics has very little to do with this. whether we chief a surplus in five mints or two years, that is not a here nor there to the ratings agencies. this is about the political capital and today we get a surplus next year. >> i couldn't agree more. i think will this is a pure electioneering. masquerading as economic prudence. i think the liberals have pushed the labor party into this position after they've effectively spent the surplus they inherited and trying to make lil capital out of a sur husband. hard to ch achieve because they won't meet the revenue projections. and the market is largely cynical. so i don't expect to have a big impact on the currency market or the aussie dollar. whether it can steer the economy is debatab

right former australian diplomat gregory quark live with us on the line from tokyo we have broadband thank you. now the fate being forecast for another so-called rogue state iran is the topic of our exclusive interview coming up in about fifteen minutes we'll speak to israel's deputy prime minister about the ongoing furor golfing tehran's nuclear program here's a look at what's to come there are things that are against syrian nuclear capabilities by all players. from the west and other countries probably is on the table for it under the table thing for going or not everything should be made public but i think that the theory is better. it's a very serious matter and the think it should be taken care of very seriously and this includes all sorts of actions and i don't speak of war here. now is d.-day for renowned whistleblower giuliano songs as he awaits a crucial u.k. court ruling over his extradition to sweden he's wanted there for questioning over alleged sex crimes the wiki leaks founder has been held in britain under house arrest without charge for more than five hundred days now

from the czech republic while australian open quarter finalist you got that in a car crash that sloane stephens of the usa. lost to local wildcard boyish dion and world number three at nashbar grounds got dropped just one game as the informed poll steamrollered serbia's for you have an office in forty nine minutes one next play venus williams. while in the men's side top seed now that drop it was a little slow out of the blocks is still soft but it is that arch italy in straight seven six six three six one the finest. while meanwhile there's the roger federer it was in sizzling form against lesser known german tobias kanka the swiss master was always in control including this long final rally to win six two seven five six three in just under two hours the victory means better equals jimmy carter's record of two hundred thirty three match wins in grand slams and this year's french open is also federal reserve the right to. immediately see one of the greats of all time you know and. i was around for twenty years you know this is my thirteenth or fourteenth through french open as well it

their beliefs, their similarities, and their differences and we were so lucky to have the great australian director because lure man film a short film that opens the exhibition which shows the real prada talking to judy davis, the great australian actress playing scaparelli. >> stephen: we have a clip of that. >> that's very smart of you. >> if we live together at the same time would we be friends or foes? >> i think friends. >> so maybe now we can agree that designers are artists? >> no, never! i think you have to do your job and who cares about the title. sal lewd. (applause). >> stephen: is there ever a time when you can not care about fashion? do you ever just say to yourself to hell with this, put on your zebra striped sweat pants and go to long john silvers and just lose yourself in a pile of batter-fried shrimp? (laughter) >> well, i haven't done it recently but maybe now you suggested i should try. >> stephen: perhaps you and i... >> together! >> stephen: could go bobbing for french fries. (laughter) >> why not? it's a date. (cheers and applause) >> stephen: thank you so much, ms.

today two syrian diplomats -- the australian foreign minister bob carr ordered the syrian diplomats to leave. the australians saw the bodies and said anyone who could orchestrate the killing of the men, women and children, with the way they deal and the way to deal with it so expel the syrian diplomats from there. >> the olympic torch relay. these are the pictures on top of mount node at any highest peak in whales. even there, there is a crowd gathered, waving the welsh flag awaiting the torch. the mother flame in a miner's lantern. there they will take over the torch and carry it up the last leg. you can see there. there he is. right at the peak. surrounded by photographers. carrying the torch to the top of noden. it is a beautiful, sunny day, despite that this is northerlyly one of the wettest parts of the country, and people have made their way up right to the top to help welcome the torch after its huge journey around the whole of the u.k. fantastic view there. it's been traveling previously through where prince william is based and traveling through many parts of whales before it

some say they're trying to prove to the australian public that they can balance a budget and it's not all about spending. >> speaking of spending and austerity, thank you very much. the leader of the far left try to form a party, failed to assemble a coalition . to get some analysis from athens -- the greek public sector trade union has been urging protests for much of the last two years. will you be calling for more protest at this stage? >> [inaudible] >> your analysis of the current situation? >> [inaudible] they said they do not want a imf in theemorandum or the country. the politicians could not hear us. they heard us loudly on sunday. >> what is next? >> what is next? we are waiting to see what happens with the government. if they are trying to make another government, a coalition government, we will be out on the streets. we will not let them do something like that. we want a government -- not only government, but we want everyone to understand in the whole of europe that the imf policies and the eu cuts not lead to anywhere. they just lead to crisis and more help for rich peop

australian prime minister julia gillard and japanese government officials attended a ceremony to mark the start of the project on friday. japanese resources developer inpex has been leading preparatory work on the $33 billion project off the australian coast. >> we have worked together with a spirit of optimism. we came out of the global financial crisis strong. and it's investments like this one that are going to get us to the next stage. >> production of 8.4 million tons of lng a year is scheduled to begin in late 2016. about 70% of it will be shipped to users in japan through tokyo electric power company and osaka gas. the lng is expected to cover about 10% of demand in japan. it will help the country to secure a stable source of energy after the fukushima nuclear power plant accident in march last year. >>> japan and the u.s. have launched a joint project for research and development on next generation smart grid electricity networks. it is a power network that uses a combination of storage batteries and high technology to control supply and demand. >> one, two, three. >> the smar

had quite a bit of momentum play on the australian markets. aud currently hovering at about two month lows against the u.s. dollar and also australian ten year bond, interesting given that the yield is at 60 year low. something that we haven't seen for quite some time. just before i go, a quit note that hsbc will be coming out with a revised and final read of its pmi. it focuses on the small and medium sized companies. that's been sitting below the key threshold of 50 for nine out of the past ten months and section consecutive months, as well. so whether that number continues to stay below 50, that will certainly trigger a lot of concern about the extent of the chinese slowdown. probably not a hard landing, but certainly the conditions not looking all that great either. and that will do for me here in asia. thanks so much for joining us and we'll be back tomorrow with much more. >>> have a good evening in singapore. here in europe, the traditional may day protests. public and private sector unions marching in ath thens. you're looking at a liv

japanese foreign minister koichiro gemba and australian counterpart bob carr signed the treaty in tokyo. japanese officials have concluded similar packets with the u.s., france and nato. >> translator: through the use of this agreement, japan wants to strengthen trilateral security cooperation with australia and the united states. >> this information security information is another key step in building the legal framework for our cooperation, for our rapidly growing strategic partnership. >> gemba and carr agreed to meet again soon along with the japanese and australian defense ministers. they want to discuss common approaches to security, terrorism and military exercises. >>> visitors to the world's fair are finding out how they can live in better harmony with the world's oceans. they learned about this in a conference in yeosu, korea. nhk world's anna jeung explains. >> reporter: i'm at the gallery on the main street of the expo, it's a good spot for watching visitors from south korea and so many other countries. since the opening day on may 12th the event has attracted 156,000 visito

and the australian who makes a million every half hour. why the land down under may earn a spot at the top of the heap. stay with us. i have three daughters and my son, and then i have eleven grandkids. right when you see them, they're yours, it's like, ah, it's part of me. it's me again. now that i'm retiring they all have plans for me. i'm excited. and then treats day after day... who gets heartburn well, shoot, that's like checking on your burgers after they're burnt! [ male announcer ] treat your frequent heartburn by blocking the acid with prilosec otc. and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn. >>> for more on our show and guests check out wsjr.cnbc.com. follow me on twitter and google plus @mariabartiromo. >>> look at the stories coming up that may move the markets and impact your money. monday, memorial day, may 28th, markets are closed. tuesday, we get a look at housing with prices across the country coming out. in the 20-city s&p case shiller index. the gross dome dome

that is why we are live here this morning, at the australian embassy they are helping us kick off thisal celebration we will tell you how you too can immerse yourself in the culture stay with us  >>> passport dc celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. >> good morning. >> good morning to you you know this is a month long celebration, truly embracing the internash fall culture that dc has -- international culture dc has to offer it is only in its fifth year but they have come a long way in a short amount of time which goes to show you this is one great idea the people behind it cultural tourism dc and executive director linda harper. good to see you >> how exciting. >> this is exciting because we have been here for these five yearwe have just watched this, blossom, into this destination event. >> it is destination event last year we had about 180,000 people from all over the united states we know in one of our events, we had 40 out of 50 states represented so people are coming people in the area are coming and inviting their friends and family it is a great event

in the late game elsewhere top most could leapfrog australian to third with a win a struggling aston villa and at the other end of the table third bottom bolton and fourth bottom q.p.r. both need victories to ease their relegation fears but all eyes are on city who were kicked off the difficult day of action and then managers not used the title is in sight. these giants. would be united i think that is really important these. but i think at the end there change these one say that we work well for the war if it can happen you can lose it you can win i don't know but now we have a big chance. is because the guy said what they really were and i'm proud for this . and in the meantime chelsea captain john terry says his team deserved to lift the f.a. cup for the seventh time after baby liverpool two won in the final at wembley on saturday remember as i have been to the blues off the eleven minutes between goalkeeper to play raina his new post and then early in the second home did a drug but he's always scored when he plays at wembley maybe it's two nil however andy carroll came off the be

and the australian who makes a millioion every half hour. math and science kind of makes the world work. in high school, i had a physics teacher by the name of mr. davies. he made physics more than theoretical, he made it real for me. we built a guitar, we did things withlectronics and mother boards. that's where the interest in engineering came from. so now, as an engineer, i have a career that speaks to that passion. thank you, mr. davies. [ male announcer ] aggressive styling. a more fuel-efficient turbocharged engine. and a completely redesigned interior. ♪ the 2012 c-class with over 2,000 refinements. it's amazing...inside and out. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services.  mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families i

top seed victoria azarenka conceded just to games as the australian open champion thrice german quota for a dean up facing meyer six one six one in less than an hour but the belorussia says life at the top is anything but easy. being number one is it's a difficult job because everybody wants to want to catch you you want to move you from the smarts so you have to be number two number three number four and number one hundred two you know you still have to put in a lot of work nothing is going to come easy just because you are number one you know you have more people trying to more people motivated trying to be true while there was a huge disappointment for the home crowd as a world number eight and marion bartoli won crushing out a great just that from mark at six two three six six three was the final score. i think i don't know much in the first set to be honest was you i really start to play when i was down which is it be late. and then at the end it was really. some points here and there i didn't see where it is third said she surveyed are better than me but i really thought i'd. sa

what australian politicians will say they don't cater to the bases. they know their side will be there, the other side's base will be there, they focus on the middle. they don't focus on issues like gays, guns. they look at economy, jobs, bigger things like education. they don't use inflammatory language in their election campaigns that would turn off those voters in the middle. this is a tough sell, the mandatory thing. we don't like mandatory things. so our alternative is a mega lottery. do mega millions where your ticket is your vote stub. given we have people waiting in line for two nights to get a ticket to the last mega millions lottery, that alone might get our turnout up enough that we could have that broad base and change the dialogue. >> you also turned your opinion to campaign finance reform. >> we do, indeed. the system of money and politics has exploded. we're back to the wild west, stated nature on the heels of citizens united decision and then a subsequent d.c. circuit court decision and actions by the s.e.c. it's now possible for any i

experience just is if one citizen one dollar one vote is so radical that it's got me written up in australian security mag you know tied to al qaeda and i'm getting private messages from other security contractors that have relationships with the f.b.i. telling me that you know be careful you're somehow connected to al qaeda that tells me at least. it's an intimidation tactic you know essentially. well u.n. investigators have only just begun to piece together exactly what happened during the bloody massacre in the syrian township of who but some nations are waiting for conclusive proof before declaring president also the guilty opinion based largely on a number of unverified accounts on the situation is further confused by a plethora of witness reports but i mean rebel islam is a gangs for the slaughter. explains. the united nations secretary general and the u.n. supervision mission in syria have been tasked with the responsibility of investigating who was responsible for last week's massacre in syria but in the meantime the u.s. and its allies are taking unilateral moves that some critics sa

experience just if if one citizen one dollar one vote is so radical that it's got me written up in australian security you know tied to al qaeda and i'm getting private messages from other security contractors that have relationships with the f.b.i. telling me that you know be careful you're somehow connected to al-qaeda that tells me immediately. it's an intimidation tactic you know essentially. and if you missed any of the shows or you can find them in our special section on our website songe. dot com still to come on the program here on our to you know just a few minutes away the world u.k. citizens chase every available job where you can see the country's economic troubles and leave the labor just in time to those. top of the hour here in moscow u.n. investigators have only just begun to piece together exactly what happened during the bloody massacre in the syrian town ship of houla but some nations are not waiting for conclusive proof before declaring president assad guilty opinion based largely on a number of unverified accounts the situation is for the confused by a plethora of witness

what has been the women's draw topsy victoria azarenka conceded just two games as the australian open champion thrashed german qualifier visiting my six one six one. that's the better russian says life at the top is anything but easy. being number one. is a difficult job because of her body want to want to coach you don't want to move you from the smarts so you have to. number two or number three number four number one hundred you know you still have to put in a lot a lot of work nothing is going to come easy just because you're a number one you know you actually have more people trying to. be really trying to be true. while there was huge disappointment for the home crowd after world number eight marion bartoli went crushing out to croatia. six two three six six three as the final score. for much has been spared large because that's over and an advantage of both advanced in straight sets while u.s. open winners some stars that needed just over an hour to dispatch american irina six one six four and the australian is wary of next opponents nadia petrova to have the better of south afr

drowned down under and there's a drought going on in australia right now and it's not in the huge australian desert according to father tony karon of the archdiocese of melbourne australia is suffering through a man. because women in the country are being too picky choosing mates father karen's comments come after a new demographic study showed that of one point three million men in australia only eighty six thousand are considered marriage material but the man drought down under is nothing new in two thousand and eight the b.b.c. reported there were there are around one hundred thousand more women than men in australia and the gender imbalances are particularly bad in the nation's coastal cities imbalances are caused primarily by australian men in their twenty's and thirty's leaving the country to travel or find work or find less picky women rumor has it the prominent republicans newt gingrich herman cain and david vitter have assembled a delegation to go to australia and thoroughly investigate the too many women problem them selves. next as americans get heavier so does our national debt t

australian new australian does it with their house of representatives and also cities like san francisco and i minneapolis minnesota portland maine use it yeah the green party's got it over three hundred communities around the united states if i think that they do it for. there are internal elections as well ok and that's something that also would not require a constitutional amendment any state could put that into place right and it depends on your state constitution but as far as the united states house is we have to decide what we want are we going to take it that these political insiders are gerrymandered every state ok so now we've gone through redistricting ok and so you have these insiders are colluding and they basically just hack up these states and they make these safe seat districts so if you ever wonder why is this election uncontested why is this election uncompetitive it's because the results are skewed before any ballot was even half right the distributor in the christian doing great work thank you keep it up as you. crist oversell are. now moving on from moving on from ho

that is he's an australian citizen in the custody of britain fighting extradition to sweden julian assanget feet plays out like a game of chess and no one wants the king of wiki leaks more than america wiki leaks wiki leaks wiki leaks wiki leaks since january two thousand and eleven washington has had plans for a song by secret uncovered earlier this month after five million confidential e-mails from the global intelligence company strafford were published by guess who when a defendant is outside of the u.s. they'll get an indictment which is secret they'll see all the charging documents the indictment they will ask or an arrest warrant and that matter will also be so you know that why the u.s. stands behind a big large boulder if you will and then jumps out from that boulder and arrest someone under house arrest for more than a year a songe has not been charged with any crime in any country though sweden wants to question him over sex related allegations the u.s. meanwhile is determined to punish the forty year old who do play different guns but he back for exposing confidential cables re

looking to defend his world match play title this weekend the thirty six year old is up against australian john senden and portugal masters winner tom lewis in the first round in spain and with the ryder cup on the horizon is the perfect chance to get so much play under his belt. for the games and she. recovered nicely after having the money early in the year so i feel you know my best golf to come this summer you know very much looking forward to playing match play this week and then obviously get into north on its own three u.s. open and then later on in the open championship now to tennis where both serena and venus williams have beaten russian opposition to reach the third round of the italian open in rome serenus or of not be able to throw in three sets four six six two six three the russian had never lost to the thirteen time grand slam winner how they wanted both their two previous meetings and things appeared to be going to plan is to travel to the first set six for the twenty nine year old then squandered three break points early in the second allowing her american opponent to sto

on top targets manuevers says winning races is the key to this year's formula one title the australian triumph at the monaco grand prix to become a record six point out so far this year. but first to tennis where russia is viewed as one over has pulled out of the french open due to a shoulder injury while while the more victoria azarenka has survived a major scare in her opening match the top ranked by the russian face it is our team whose rank outside the world's top one hundred but as our and at last a closely fought the first set on a tie break and struggled for love in the second however the top seed then wheeled up six straight games to finish the decider which she. cruised through six two is our account winning despite a massive sixty unforced errors. while it was a much easier day for defending champion not only the chinese thrashed remain inside on a six two six one in less than an hour now ali has not wanted to michael since they have made the rounds from the prison court last year. and also through is twice for my seven finalists not you but they're all about falling a straig

australian sam stosur also with an easy out saying on did say barely breaking a sweat against get out of touch on britain's highest ranked player though looking solid in the first set but still sort of helping ground through the adventure to secure the crash six four six love that's one hundred ten runner up now aiming to go one better this year on the red clay so the french open is underway at tournaments maria sharapova has never won it's also the only slam that's eluded the siberian native to date richard and portly now takes a look at her chances. this the title maria sharapova wants more than anything on a quiz that solves one it's as did not leave last year but the furthest a russian number one has ever gone says beset me finals she's moving at home on hard courts such as fees but it's claimed which is the twenty five year old's achilles heel however her fifth cup captain showed me a copy ships' says should i put her has every chance of completing our sets by winning all four slams when the game has really improved recently she had problems with her serve but she's managed to im

we need another person. >> reporter: all that led to a series of parts on australian tv shows.s he ran into over the years fascinated him. >> i liked the americans. i think it was because i was shy and they weren't. and they weren't afraid to say what they felt. and if you did something good or felt good about something, good for you, man. good for you. we wouldn't do that really. you might get too big for your boots. just a different cultural thing. i took a shine to that. i thought, i need to go to that place. >> reporter: so in 1995, he decided to try his luck in l.a.. it must have felt a little bit like a different planet to you for a while. >> it did. but like any place that you go, you figure out what it is that makes the place stick. >> reporter: he figured it out enough to land a small role in the acclaimed 1997 film "l.a. confidential." >> you know me. i'm keeping the streets safe, boys. >> take these two and get them dressed and book them. >> i thought this is fun. then i did three films that never saw the light of day. you come crashing down. that's what i like about

more cuts to go in the australian economy. that's going to weigh on the australian dollar.o the benefit will be the u.s. dollar. something interesting happened this morning after the ism. the ism came out strong. stocks and a u.s. dollar rally together. a new phenomenon that's starting to take hold. as u.s. economy powers ahead you'll see the dollar strengthen and with australia cutting rates it's going to pressure the aussie. >> seb.k., you're our other big currency expert here. weigh in. >> i guess so. the only thing that concerns me about this trade -- >> you don't have to like it, b.k. tell todd he's crazy. >> here's what concerns me. the rba surprised with a bigger cut than expected. yet the currency really didn't break any new lows. and somewhat rebounded. so it's got me confounded. >> aussie is the biggest loser today. the australian dollar and australia against the yen as well. >> it's not breaking any significant levels. it's not even breaking the levels that it rallied last week from. to me, it's not that exciting. >> aussie is a good one. here's another one if yo