The idea of a trip to Australia has become increasingly unattractive — and it has nothing to do with the high dollar and fact that it's too far from just about everywhere.

Even some of the planet's most-desperate people have been turned off the idea of seeking a better life in the "lucky country," with a 9 percent drop in asylum seeker claims last year, according to the UNHCR.

That's against the global trend of increased asylum seeker claims in such countries as the US, France and Germany.

Australia's ruling center left party, Labor, is on notice.

A devastating defeat of its party at a state level — in a weekend election held in Queensland — has sent Prime Minister Julia Gillard a strong message: a large number of Australians are unhappy with their political leadership.

Queenslanders didn't just vote out the party — they obliterated it, leaving the opposition Liberal National Party poised to take 78 seats in an 89-seat Parliament, once all votes are counted.

Billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer has added "slightly unhinged" to the list of descriptives typically association with his name.

His accusation that the CIA, as well as a "foreign power," are funding the Australian Greens party to cripple the mining industry in his home state of Queensland and undermine the Australian economy.

His statements quickly superseded the news that the Australian Parliament had passed a law imposing 30 percent tax on iron ore and coal miners' profits.