SBS News in Easy English 9 June 2025
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830 Australians have been recognised as part of the King's Birthday Honours. Former Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, is one of 14 people named as a Companion of the Order of Australia. The title has been offered to every Prime Minister since 1975. Mr Morrison says he is proud.
"I am very humbled by the recognition and thankful to the Australian people who gave me the opportunity to serve as Prime Minister during one of the most difficult periods in Australia's history. Everything from natural disasters to the COVID-19 pandemic, the recession it caused. The threats we faced in the Indo-Pacific and the assertions and coercions of China - and our response to that. But through all of that, the Australian people were absolutely amazing."
A former federal politician who lost her seat at the recent election, says she wants to move into Tasmanian state parliament. Last week, Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff lost his job, when other politicians voted against his leadership - and now there will be a sudden election. Former Liberal M-P Bridget Archer wants to be chosen to represent a seat in the Bass electorate. "I'm not going to be anybody's stooge or anybody's puppet."
"Bridget is a fighter. Bridget, understands the importance of being part of Team Tasmania."
Today is SBS 50th birthday. The national public broadcaster started in 1975 as an experiment to share information about a national health care program, to Australians from non-English speaking backgrounds. Today, SBS broadcasts in 63 languages. NITV began in 2012 - a channel made by, for and about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Managing Director of SBS, James Taylor, says there is a lot to celebrate.
"We've got the highest volumes of multilingual content than ever before in our history. And in 60 languages. We're also being acknowledged across a number of other fronts. We've got the Australian streaming platform through SBS On Demand, and we are the podcaster of the year, three years in a row. These are all things to really be celebrated. We're a public good, we are in part funded by the public, and it's really important for us to be delivering more and more value each year to Australians."
In Tennis, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz has defeated Jannik Sinner in the French Open final. This is his fifth Grand Slam trophy. Alcaraz said kind words about his rival, Sinner, who had wanted to win his third major tennis trophy.
"Honestly, I know how hard you're chasing this tournament or every tournament. I'm pretty sure you're going to be champion not once but many, many times. It's a privilege to share the court with you in every tournament, making history with you."
That's the latest SBS News in Easy English.
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