Usenet 1994 October/usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicoctober1994disk1.iso/answers/australian-faq/part2

Text File | 1993-12-07 | 106KB | 2,428 lines

Newsgroups: soc.culture.australian,soc.answers,news.answers
Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!nic.hookup.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!uunet!brunix!aen
From: [e-mail] (Ann Nicholson)
Subject: soc.culture.australian FAQ (Part 2 of 2) (monthly posting)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Followup-To: soc.culture.australian
Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked
          Questions (and their answers) on soc.culture.australian,
          mainly information about Australia, including studying
          in Australia, immigration, songs, recipes, where to
          find Australian things overseas, and so on. It should be
          read by anyone who wishes to post to the soc.culture.australian
          newsgroup.
Sender: [e-mail]
Reply-To: [e-mail] (s.c.a. FAQ maintainer)
Organization: Brown University Department of Computer Science
Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1993 18:19:13 GMT
Approved: [e-mail]
Expires: Fri, 7 Jan 1994 00:00:00 GMT
Lines: 2405
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu soc.culture.australian:15219 soc.answers:706 news.answers:15553

Archive-name: australian-faq/part2
Last-modified: 5 Nov 1993
Version: 1.1



Contents:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
PART I (separate posting)
1. About soc.culture.australian
2. How to find Australians, Australia Information
  2.1 on the net
  2.2 elsewhere
3. Studying in Australia
  3.1 Postgraduate Study
  3.2 Miscellaneous Questions
  3.3 "Classification" of Australian Universities
  3.4 Addresses of Australian Universities
4. Coming to Australia
  4.1 Immigration Addresses
  4.2 Immigration Criteria
    4.2.1. Getting a Job in Australia
    4.2.2. Academic Addresses
  4.2.3 Immigration Points System
  4.3 Quarantine
  4.4 Standards
  4.5 Prices
  4.6 Cars
  4.7 Shipping Information
  4.8 Spouse/fiance(e) immigration
  4.9 Re children
  4.10 Housing
  4.11 Public Transport
  4.12 Roads
  4.13 Shopping Hours
  4.14 Crime
5. For Australians Overseas
  5.1 Radio Australia
  5.2 Public access sites
  5.3 Newspapers:
  5.4 Australiana in the USA
  5.5 Video Conversion
  5.6 Expatriate organisation

PART II (this posting)
6. Information about Australia
  6.1 Australian (Dual) Citizenship
  6.2 Political System; Current governments
  6.3 National Holidays
  6.4 Geographic Facts and other statistics
  6.5 Sport
  6.6 Travel
       - Answers to Questions
       - A view on Travel in Australia
  6.7 Health Care
  6.8 Miscellaneous
        - spelling of Sydney
        - Tasmanian aborigines (who was Truganinni?)
        - What is Mabo?
        - Tasmanian devils and Tasmanian Tigers
        - Australian Flag
        - Why is Australia called Australia?
        - What is the source of ".oz" in internet addresses
        - Viller-Bretonneuve
        - What visas do you need for France?
        - What is vegemite?
        - skin cancer
7. Culture
  7.1 Songs and Poetry
    - "Waltzing Matilda", by Banjo Paterson
                (3 versions :-)
    - "Advance Australia Fair", National Anthem
    - "My Country" by Dorothea McKellar
  7.2 Recipes and food
  7.3 Language
        - pronounciation of "Aussie"
        - origin of "Pom"
  7.4 National heroes
8. Contributors

-----------------------------------------------------------------

6. Information about Australia

6.1 Australian (Dual) Citizenship [CW]

Here are some excerpts form the "Hints for Australian Travellers"
booklet produced by the Dept. of Foreign Affairs - its the little
booklet you get when you get your passport (at least it was a
year ago...) I had a part- icular interest in this as when I
became an Australian Citizen I wanted to keep my NZ citizenship
(which fortunately I could...).  I don't have any details on
exactly what the requirements for gaining Asutralian citizenship
are, but I know that 21 years of permanent residency was good
enough...

Portions in [...] are my comments. [CW]

Nationality or Citizenship

Each country is free to determine who it will regard as its
citizens, and under what conditions its citizenship can be
aquired or lost.  Citizen- ship laws are often complex and they
can be quite different from Australiann laws.

In many countries, for example, citizenship is not considered to
be lost simply because the person has acquired Australian
citizenship.  The laws of some countries require people who wish
to renounce their citizen- ship to make formal written
application to do so.

Because of such laws many Australian citizens are also citizens
of other countries and therefore, possess what is internationally
referred to as "dual nationality".

[translation - dual citizenship is possible; whether or not you
retain your original citizenship upon becoming an Australian
depends on the laws of the original country.]

Dual Nationality

Australian citizens who hold another citizenship are likely to be
those who:

o   were not born in Australia;
o   were born in Australia but had one or both parents or grandparents
    who were not born in Australia;
o   are married to a person with another citizenship.

[stuff deleted about being citizen of certain countries may make
you subject to certain laws if you return...]

Loss of Australian Citizenship

Australia provides in its own citizenship law that an Australian
citizen, who is 18 years of age or over, who does an act or
thing, the sole or dominant purpose of which is to acquire the
citizenship of another country, ceases to be an Australian
citizen from the date he or she becomes a citizen of that
country.

If you marry a citizen of a foreign country you may, under the
law of that country, automatically become a citizen of that
country. Under these circumstances you will not lose your
Australian citizenship provided you are not required to take any
further action yourself (eg.  registration) to acquire your
spouse's citizenship.

If you lose Australian citizenship as a result of doing an act or
thing to acquire another citizenship, you can apply to regain it
by grant any time after 12 months from the date of loss, provided
you are in Australia and have been present there as a resident
for 12 months in the 2 years immediately prior to lodging your
application.  Alternatively, you can apply to resume Australian
citizenship by making a declaration to the Minister for
Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs that at the time
you did the act or thing:

1)  you did not know that by doing it you would cease to be an
    Australian citizen; or

2)  if you had not done it, you would have suffered significant hardship
    or detriment.

The person making the declaration must:

1)  have been legally present in Australia for a period, or periods,
    amounting in aggregate to not less than 2 years; and

2)  intend to continue to reside in Australia or, if living overseas,
    intend to return to reside in Australia within 3 years of making
    the declaration; and

3)  have maintained a close and continuing association with Australia
    whilst abroad.

If the Minister believes the statement is true, he may register
the declaration and you may become an Australian citizen again.

Persons needing up-to-date information should consult the
Department of Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs or
an Australian mission overseas.

A child under 18 years of age loses Australian citizenship if
his/her responsible parent or guardian ceases to be an Australian
citizen, and

o  he/she possesses another citizenship at the time, and

o  his/her other responsible parent is not an Australian citizen
   at the time.

Should you lose Australian citizenship before your 18th birthday,
as a result of a responsible parent ceasing to be an Australian
citizen, you can, within one year after your 18th birthday (or
later if special circum- stances apply), make a declaration that
you wish to resume Australian citizenship on the date the
declaration is registered.

Anyone who loses Australian citizenship is no longer entitled to
hold an Australian passport. If you think you may acquire another
nationality in some way, you should seek advice about the effect
this would have on your Australian nationality from Australian
authorities.

Children born overseas

A child born outside Australia may be registered as an Australian
citizen by descent at the time of birth of the child.
Registration must be made within 18 years of the child's birth by
a responsible parent or guardian.  Applications can be obtained
from any Australian mission overseas or the department of
Immigration (etc.) in Australia.

[translation - if an Australian deliberately acquires citizenship
of a foreign country, they lose citizenship for at least a
year... if it is involuntary then there is no problem...]

[SW] Personal experience on dual citizenship for Australians with
children born abroad.  The child automatically has the citizenship of
the foreign country. To register as an Australian by descent, you have
to provide originals of both parents birth certificates, the child's
birth certificate, the parent's marriage certificate (if appropriate)
and parent's passports. Send all of this plus the correct form and $80
USD (in the USA) to the appropriate consulate for the region you live
in and then eventually you get a Certificate of Australian Citizenship
by Descent for the child.  To get a five (5) year child's passport you
must present yourself (in Person) at a consulate with the passport
photos, the application form and the appropriate endorsement on the
photos. They'll then give you the passport.

6.2 Political System; Current governments

Australia is an independent commonwealth of 6 states, 2
territories and a number of island and territorial dependencies.
It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, United Nations,
ANZUS, OECD.  The form of government is a constitutional
monarchy. The Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain is also Queen
of Australia, and Head of State. Her representative in Australia
is the Governor-General, Bill Hayden since 1989.

The federal parliamentary system consists of two houses of
Parliament.  The lower house is the House of Representatives. The
party which has the most representatives in the lower house forms
a government.  The leader of that party becomes Prime Minister,
and he (no women PMs as yet) forms a Cabinet. The current Prime
Minister is Paul Keating, and we have a Labor government. They
have been in power since 1983 (mostly with Bob Hawke as PM). The
usual term of office is 3 years, although the PM may call an
election early.  The Upper House is the Senate, consisting of 12
senators from each state and 2 from each territory.  They have 6
year terms and half face re-election every 3 years.  The upper
house is generally a house of review.

The main parties are the Labor Party, the Liberal Party (who are
actually conservatives) and the National Party (formerly the
Country party) who represent mainly rural electorates and are
also conservative. The Liberal and National parties usually form
some sort of coalition. The current leader of the Liberal party
is Dr. John Hewson (a New Right person); current lead of the
National Party is Tim Fischer.

The most recent federal election was held on March 13th, 1993. The
Labor Party, lead by Paul Keating was returned with an increased
majority, to the surprise of many. The unpopular GST tax being
proposed by the Opposition was considered a major factor in the
outcome, as Labor came from behind in the polls at the start of
the campaign.  Hewson is still the leader of the Liberals, but
the GST has been dropped from their platform.

State Goverments (Length of Term 4 years, except Qld 3 years))

State        Party     Premier        Election due by
Vic.        Lib/Nat    Jeff Kennett    Nov '96
NSW        Lib/Nat    John Fahey    25 March 1995**
Qld        Labor    Wayne Goss    1996
SA        Labor    Lyn Arnold    Soon
WA        Lib/Nat    Richard Court    Feb 1996
Tas.        Lib     Ray Groom       late 1995

**NSW now has fixed 4 year parliamentary terms.  The next
election is to be held on Saturday 25 March 1995.  Subsequent
elections will be on the last Saturday in March every four years
thereafter.

To cast a postal vote. Write to the nearest embassy or consulate,
or call them.  They will send you a form to fill in (which has to
be witnessed by an Australian citizen). They then send you the
postal vote slip, which you have to return by a date usually
before the election.

The Australian Republican Movement is a non-political
organisation.  Membership is $35. They can be contact at:
    Australian Republican Movement
    GPO Box 5150
    Sydney, NSW 2001
    [phone]

Peter Butler ([e-mail]) and James
Mullens ([e-mail]) have part of the Constitution online.

                   The House
                   ---------
State of the parties in House of Representatives:

State           Labor       Lib      Nat    Ind   Total

NSW              33          8        8      1     50
Victoria         17         17        3      1     38
Queensland       13          7        5      -     25
Western Aust.     6          8        -      -     14
South Aust.       4          8        -      -     12
Tasmania          4          1        -      -      5
ACT               2          -        -      -      2
N.T.              1          -        -      -      1

Total            80         49       16      1    147


                  The Sentate
                  -----------
State of Parties in the Senate from July 1:

Party      NSW   VIC   QLD   WA   SA   TAS   ACT   NT   TOTAL

ALP         6     5     4     4    4     5    1     1     30
LIB         3     5     4     6    6     5    1     -     30
NAT         2     1     2     -    -     -    -     1      6
DEM         1     1     2     -    2     1    -     -      7
OTHER*      -     -     -     2    -     1    -     -      3

Total       12    12    12   12   12    12    2     2     76

* Includes two WA Greens (Chamarette and Margetts) and Tasmanian
Independent Brian Harradine.

(Other tables indicate that only 36 out of the 76 senate seats
were contested this election (the senate term is twice the length
of the house of reps term BA).

6.3 National Holidays

(a) General Descriptions.

Australia Day: January 26th (holiday often taken on the nearest
Monday to this date to make a long weekend.)  Jan 26th 1788 was
the day the First Fleet arrived in Sydney Harbour to establish
European settlement.

Religious holidays:
Good Friday, Easter Monday, Christmas (Dec 25th), Boxing Day (Dec 26th)

Anzac Day: national holiday, April 25th (if it falls on a
Sunday some states move it to Monday, most don't [JB]?).
To remember those who died serving their country.
April 25th, 1915 was the date of the first landing of ANZACs at
Gallipoli.

Other holidays (varies depending on State): New Year's Day (Jan 1st),
- Queen's Birthday (June), Labour Day. Each state also has "Show Day".

(b) Holidays for 1993 (as posted by DE)

Jan 1:    New Years Day
Jan 26:   Australia Day in the states of Qld, WA, NT and NSW
Feb 1:    Australia Day in the states of SA, Vic and Tas.
March 1:  Labour Day in WA, Eight Hour Day in Tas.
March 8:  Labour Day in Vic.
April 9:  Good Friday
April 12: Easter Monday
April 13: Easter Tuesday in Vic.
April 25: ANZAC Day
April 26: ANZAC Day holiday everywhere except Tas and Vic.
May 3:    Labour Day in Qld, May Day in NT
May 17:   Adelaide Cup Day in SA
June 7:   Foundation Day in WA
June 14:  Queen's Birthday everywhere except WA
August 2: Picnic Day in NT
Sept. ?:  Melbourne Show Day in Melbourne only, (probably only in afternoon).
Oct. 4:   Labour Day in SA, Queen's Birthday in WA
Nov. 2:   Melbourne Cup Day in Melbourne only (same as election day in US)
Dec. 25:  Christmas
Dec. 26:  Boxing Day
Dec. 27:  Christmas Day holiday (Monday) in SA, Tas, Vic, WA.
        Boxing Day  holiday in NSW and Qld.
Dec. 28:  Boxing Day holiday (Tuesday) in Tas, Vic, WA, NT.
        Proclamation Day in SA.

6.4 Geographic Facts and other Statistics

AUSTRALIA - POPULATION
======================

Source for all the following data:  Australian Bureau of Statistics 1994
Year Book.  n/a = not available.

State and territory populations are estimates as at June 1992.  City
populations are estimates as at June 1990.


State/Territory        Population    Capital            Population
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
AUSTRALIA        17 528 982    Canberra           310 000*

New South Wales         5 974 146    Sydney             3 656 500
Victoria         4 458 895    Melbourne         3 080 900
Queensland          3 037 405    Brisbane         1 301 700
Western Australia     1 662 777    Perth             1 193 100
South Australia         1 459 622    Adelaide         1 049 800
Tasmania           471 118    Hobart               183 500
Aust. Capital Territory       296 376    Canberra           284 000
Northern Territory       168 643    Darwin                73 300
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXTERNAL TERRITORIES

Norfolk Island             2 000    Kingston               n/a
Christmas Island         1 275    Flying Fish Cove           n/a
Cocos Islands               586    Bantam                   n/a
Aust. Antarctic Terr.        c. 100    Mawson                   n/a
Coral Sea Islands Terr.             3    South Willis                 3
Heard and McDonald Is.             0    -                     -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Includes Queanbeyan in NSW.


AUSTRALIA - AREA, COASTLINE and HIGHEST POINTS
==============================================

State/Territory        Area (sq km)    Coast (km)    Highest Point (m)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AUSTRALIA         7 682 300     36 700        Mt Kosciusko (2228)

Western Australia     2 525 500     12 500        Mt Meharry (1251)
Queensland         1 727 200      7 400        Mt Bartle-Frere (1611)
Northern Territory     1 346 200      6 200        Mt Zeil (1510)
South Australia           984 000      3 700        Mt Woodroffe (1440)
New South Wales           801 600      1 900        Mt Kosciusko (2228)
Victoria           227 600      1 800        Mt Bogong (1986)
Tasmania            67 800      3 200        Mt Ossa (1617)
Aust. Capital Territory         2 400         35        Mt Bimberi (1912)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXTERNAL TERRITORIES

Aust. Antarctic Terr.     6 119 800        n/a        spot height (4270)
Heard and McDonald Is.           412        102        Mawson Peak (2745)
Christmas Island           135        139        Murray Hill (356)
Norfolk Island                35         32        Mt Bates (319)
Cocos Islands                14         43        Horsburgh (6)
Coral Sea Islands Terr.             3       3095        South Willis (7)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STATE TERRITORIES
-----------------
Lord Howe Island is administered by New South Wales.
Macquarie Island is administered by Tasmania.
Ashmore and Cartier Islands are administered by the Northern Territory.
Jervis Bay Territory is administered by the Australian Capital Territory.

ORDER OF FOUNDATION
-------------------
The foundation date given for the states is the date of formal proclamation of
the original colony as a self-governing political division in its own right.
For territories, it is the date of proclamation as a Commonwealth territory.

Order    State/Territory            Foundation Date
-----    -----------------------------    -------------------------
  1    New South Wales            7 February 1788
  2    Tasmania            14 June 1825
  3    Western Australia        18 June 1829
  4    South Australia            28 December 1836
  5    Victoria            1 July 1851
  6    Queensland            10 December 1859
  7    Northern Territory        1 January 1901
  8    Australian Capital Territory    1 January 1911
-----    -----------------------------    -------------------------

* Climate Information for each city [JO]

               January
               Temperature               Rainfall
               (mean in Celsius)       (mean in mm)
____________________________________
Sydney           22                         102
Melbourne        20                          47
Brisbane         25                         164
Adelaid          23                          20
Perth            24                           8
Hobart           17                          48
Darwin           28                         409
Canberra         20                          60
____________________________________
                     July
Sydney           12                         101
Melbourne        10                          48
Brisbane         15                          57
Adelaid          11                          66
Perth            13                         174
Hobart            8                          53
Darwin           25                           1
Canberra          5                          39

Sydney in September October (useful for Sept Sydney 2000)

Quoting from the 'Australian Weather Calendar':[MJ]

                      September     October
av max temp                  20.2        22.3
av min temp                   9.8        12.8
days > 35C                    0           0
days < 2.3C                   0           0   (no frosts)
av hrs/day of sunshine       7.8        8.0
av monthly rainfall (mm)      60          76
no of rain days (av)         10         11


[MJ] The following climate data was copied from the Australian
Weather Calendar.  If you see a number that is clearly wrong it
is because I mistyped it.  Please note that these are statistical
averages over (long) records (more than 100 years for the state
capitals).  As such they do not indicate what you may necessarily
expect.  Much of Australia has variable weather, particularly the
south (e.g. Melbourne in January has an average maximum
temperature of 25.7 but can expect 4 days over 35).

Also note that over the 100+ years of data there have been "cool"
and "warm" decades.  Average temperatures for the last 20 years
will, for several cities at least, be a little higher than the
figures quoted here.  Finally, the column giving number of days >
35 refers to maximum temperature, and the column of days < 2.3
refers to the minimum temperature.  This corresponds to an
expected number of days of frost. A "rainday" is any day on which
at least a trace (0.1mm) of rain is recorded in a standard rain
guage.
                                   January

Where          av max   av min   days>35  days<2.3   Sun   rainfall  raindays
                 C        C         #       #      hrs/day    mm        #

Adelaide        28.5     16.6       5       0        10.6     20        4
Alice Springs   36.0     21.2      21       0        10.2     35        5
Brisbane        29.1     20.9       0       0         8.3    164       13
Canberra        27.7     12.9       2       0         9.7     58        7
Darwin          31.7     24.8       0       0         5.7    414       21
Hobart          21.5     11.7       0       0         8.0     48       11
Melbourne       25.7     14.0       5       0         8.6     48        8
Perth           31.5     16.7       9       0        10.7      8        3
Port Headland   36.3     25.3      19       0        10.5     56        5
Sydney          26.2     18.4       1       0         7.5    100       11
Townsville      31.2     24.1       1       0         7.8    283       15
Weipa           31.9     23.9       1       0         5.5    448       21

                                   February

Where          av max   av min   days>35  days<2.3   Sun   rainfall  raindays
                 C        C         #       #      hrs/day    mm        #

Adelaide        28.5     16.8       4       0        10.3     21        4
Alice Springs   34.9     20.6      16       0         9.9     42        5
Brisbane        29.0     20.8       0       0         7.7    174       14
Canberra        27.0     12.9       1       1         9.3     56        7
Darwin          31.4     24.6       0       0         5.9    349       20
Hobart          21.6     11.9       0       0         7.2     39        9
Melbourne       25.7     14.3       3       0         8.5     47        7
Perth           31.7     17.4       7       0        10.2     14        3
Port Headland   36.2     25.3      17       0        10.2     98        7
Sydney          26.2     18.7       1       0         7.4    111       11
Townsville      30.9     23.8       0       0         7.1    296       16
Weipa           31.4     23.9       0       0         4.8    410       20

                                   March

Where          av max   av min   days>35  days<2.3   Sun   rainfall  raindays
                 C        C         #       #      hrs/day    mm        #

Adelaide        26.0     15.2       2       0         8.4      24        5
Alice Springs   32.5     17.4       9       9         9.7      37        3
Brisbane        28.2     19.2       0       0         7.6     142       14
Canberra        24.4     10.7       0       0         7.9      55        7
Darwin          31.8     24.4       0       0         6.7     312       19
Hobart          20.1     10.7       0       0         6.3      47       11
Melbourne       23.8     13.0       1       1         6.8      52        9
Perth           29.5     15.7       4       0         9.1      15        4
Port Headland   36.7     24.4      22       0         9.8      44        4
Sydney          25.2     17.2       0       0         7.0     127       12
Townsville      30.4     22.8       0       0         7.3     212       14
Weipa           31.6     23.5       0       0         5.3     337       20

                                   April

Where          av max   av min   days>35  days<2.3   Sun   rainfall  raindays
                 C        C         #       #      hrs/day    mm        #

Adelaide        22.1     12.7       0       0         7.2     44        9
Alice Springs   27.9     12.5       1       0         9.4     14        2
Brisbane        26.4     17.1       0       0         7.4     94       11
Canberra        19.7      6.7       0       4         6.9     52       12
Darwi           32.6     23.9       1       0         8.7     99        9
Hobart          17.2      8.9       0       0         5.2     52       12
Melbourne       20.2     10.6       0       0         5.6     58       12
Perth           25.2     12.7       0       0         7.3     46        8
Port Headland   35.1     21.1      17       0         9.8     22        2
Sydney          22.8     13.9       0       0         6.6    109       11
Townsville      29.4     20.4       0       0         7.7     68        8
Weipa           31.9     22.6       0       0         7.1    112       10

                                   May

Where          av max   av min   days>35  days<2.3   Sun   rainfall  raindays
                 C        C         #       #      hrs/day    mm        #

Adelaide        18.6     10.4       0       0         5.3     68       13
Alice Springs   22.9      8.3       0       2         8.4     18        3
Brisbane        23.5     13.8       0       0         6.4     87       11
Canberr         15.2      3.1       0      13         5.5     49        9
Darwin          31.9     22.1       0       0         9.5     21        2
Hobart          14.3      6.9       0       1         4.2     49       14
Melbourne       16.6      8.5       0       1         4.4     58       14
Perth           21.4     10.3       0       0         6.0    108       13
Port Headland   30.3     17.1       2       0         8.9     29        3
Sydney          19.9     10.5       0       0         5.8     98       11
Townsville      27.4     17.5       0       0         7.3     37        6
Weipa           31.5     21.3       0        0        7.5     16        3

                                   June

Where          av max   av min   days>35  days<2.3   Sun   rainfall  raindays
                 C        C         #       #      hrs/day    mm        #

Adelaide        15.8      8.5       0       0         4.6     72       15
Alice Springs   19.8      5.2       0       9         8.4     14        3
Brisbane        21.2     11.0       0       0         7.3     76        8
Canberra        12.0      0.9       0      18         5.0     38        9
Darwin          30.5     19.9       0       0         9.9      1        1
Hobart          11.9      5.2       0       4         3.9     56       14
Melbourne       13.9      6.7       0       3         4.0     50       14
Perth           18.7      9.0       0       1         5.0    177       17
Port Headland   27.4     13.9       0       0         8.7     19        3
Sydney          17.4      8.2       0       0         6.1    129       11
Townsville      25.4     14.3       0       0         7.9     22        4
Weipa           30.6     19.6       0       0         7.4      4        1

                                   July

Where          av max   av min   days>35  days<2.3   Sun   rainfall  raindays
                 C        C         #       #      hrs/day    mm        #

Adelaide        14.9      7.5       0       0         4.8     67       16
Alice Springs   19.4      4.0       0      12         9.0     15        3
Brisbane        20.6      9.5       0       0         7.5     66        7
Canberra        11.1     -0.2       0      22         5.6     42       10
Darwin          30.4     19.3       0       0        10.0      1        0
Hobart          11.5      4.5       0       6         4.4     54       15
Melbourne       13.3      5.8       0       4         4.5     49       15
Perth           17.6      8.0       0       1         5.4    163       18
Port Headland   26.9     12.0       0       0         9.1     10        2
Sydney          16.8      6.6       0       1         6.6     69        9
Townsville      24.8     13.6       0       0         8.4     15        3
Weipa           30.5     18.9       0       0         7.5      2        1

                                   August

Where          av max   av min   days>35  days<2.3   Sun   rainfall  raindays
                 C        C         #       #      hrs/day    mm        #

Adelaide        16.1      8.0       0       0         5.8     62       16
Alice Springs   22.3      6.1       0       7         9.7     11        2
Brisbane        21.7     10.1       0       0         8.5     43        7
Canberra        12.7      1.0       0      19         6.6     48       12
Darwin          31.2     20.6       0       0        10.2      7        1
Hobart          12.9      5.1       0       4         5.0     52       15
Melbourne       14.8      6.5       0       2         5.2     51       16
Perth           18.3      7.9       0       1         6.4    116       16
Port Headland   28.9     13.0       0       0        10.2      4        1
Sydney          18.0      7.7       0       0         7.9     80       10
Townsville      25.9     14.7       0       0         8.3      2        1
Weipa

                                   September

Where          av max   av min   days>35  days<2.3   Sun   rainfall  raindays
                 C        C         #       #      hrs/day    mm        #

Adelaide        18.4      9.2       0       0         6.6     51       13
Alice Springs   26.6      9.9       1       1        10.0      9        2
Brisbane        23.8     12.6       0       0         9.1     32        7
Canberra        15.9      3.0       0      13         7.4     51       10
Darwin          32.4     23.1       2       0         9.8     17        2
Hobart          15.0      6.3       0       1         5.9     52       15
Melbourne       17.1      7.8       0       1         5.7     59       15
Perth           20.0      8.8       0       0         7.4     68       13
Port Headland   32.2     15.2       5       0        10.8      1        1
Sydney          20.2      9.8       0       0         7.8     60       10
Townsville      27.5     17.1       0       0         9.5     10        2
Weipa           33.3     20.0       4       0         8.6      6        1

                                   October

Where          av max   av min   days>35  days<2.3   Sun   rainfall  raindays
                 C        C         #       #      hrs/day    mm        #

Adelaide        21.3     11.1       0       0         8.4     44       11
Alice Springs   30.8     14.7       7       0        10.0     21        5
Brisbane        25.7     15.7       0       0         8.5     98       10
Canberra        19.2      5.9       0       6         8.7     66       11
Darwin          33.1     25.0       2       0         9.5     71        6
Hobart          16.9      7.7       0       0         6.4     64       16
Melbourne       19.6      9.3       0       0         6.8     68       14
Perth           22.3     10.1       0       0         8.8     48       10
Port Headland   34.5     18.0      15       0        11.5      1        1
Sydney          22.3     12.8       0       0         8.0     76       11
Townsville      29.3     20.5       0       0         9.8     23        5
Weipa           34.8     21.4      15       0         9.2     27        2

                                   November

Where          av max   av min   days>35  days<2.3   Sun   rainfall  raindays
                 C        C         #       #      hrs/day    mm        #

Adelaide        24.4     13.1       2       0         9.1     31        8
Alice Springs   33.5     17.8      13       0        10.2     26        5
Brisbane        27.3     18.0       0       0         8.5     95       10
Canberra        22.5      8.5       0       2         9.1     62       10
Darwin          33.1     25.3       2       0         8.4    142       12
Hobart          18.6      9.2       0       0         6.9     55       14
Melbourne       21.8     11.0       1       0         7.4     59       12
Perth           25.4     12.4       1       0         9.9     26        7
Port Headland   36.1     21.1      18       0        11.8      3        1
Sydney          23.9     15.0       1       0         8.1     83       11
Townsville      30.7     22.8       1       0         9.4     53        7
Weipa           34.6     23.2      13       0         9.1    105        8

                                   December

Where          av max   av min   days>35  days<2.3   Sun   rainfall  raindays
                 C        C         #       #      hrs/day    mm        #

Adelaide        26.8     15.1       4       0         9.5     26        6
Alice Springs   35.4     20.1      18       0        10.3     37        5
Brisbane        28.8     19.9       0       0         8.7    126       11
Canberra        26.0     11.1       1       0         9.4     53        8
Darwin          32.6     25.3       1       0         7.2    229       16
Hobart          20.2     10.7       0       0         7.3     57       13
Melbourne       24.1     12.7       2       0         8.1     59       11
Perth           28.5     14.6       4       0        10.7     12        4
Port Headland   36.6     23.7      20       0        11.4     19        2
Sydney          25.6     17.2       1       0         8.3     77       10
Townsville      31.4     23.9       1       0         8.9    127       10
Weipa           33.3     23.9       5       0         7.4    253       15

Here's some statistics from "Australia in Brief" from the
Commonwealth Bookshop: [TN] "Weather in Australia's capital" (A
rain day is a day on which rainfall is 0.2 mm or more)

    Hours    Rain-    # of    Mean temp    Mean temp
    sun    fall    rain    hottest        coldest
    /day        days*    month        month
Adel    7.6     559    122    23.0        11.1
Bris    7.9    1217    123    25.0        15.0
Canb    7.5     629    108    20.3         5.4
Darw    8.5    1669    110    29.2        24.8
Hoba    5.9     628    160    16.5         7.9
Melb    6.3     655    147    19.9         9.5
Pert    7.9     869    119    24.0        13.2
Sydn    6.7    1219    139    22.1        12.0

Online weather informationr [IC]

It's possible to find out the current weather for any state of
Australia from the Victorian Bureau of Meterology via telnet.

% telnet vicbeta.vic.bom.gov.au 55555
|           ************ VIC WEATHER - MAIN MENU ************
|
|           1  = CURRENT MELB FORECAST
|           2  = CURRENT VIC FORECAST
|           [...]
|           9  = INTERSTATE FORECASTS .................(menu)
|           10 = INTERSTATE CITIES MET OBS
|
|enter choice => 1
|
|***********************START MELBOURNE FORC*********************
|
| Forecast for Melbourne issued by the Bureau of Meteorology Melbourne
| at 2145 on 21/09/1993 for WEDNESDAY.
|
| CLOUDY PERIODS WITH A FEW SHOWERS. COOL WITH A MODERATE WEST TO
| SOUTHWEST WIND.
ie Typical Melbourne Weather :-) [IC]
| MIN = 8  MAX = 16
|
| OUTLOOK THURSDAY.  FINE.                              MAX = ABOUT 17
| OUTLOOK FRIDAY.    FINE.                              MAX = ABOUT 19
| OUTLOOK SATURDAY.  MAINLY FINE.                       MAX = ABOUT 19

| CURRENT OBSERVED TEMPERATURE  (within last hour)
| MELB       MELBOURNE CITY           10.5

For anyone chasing facts and figures about Australia I would
recommend The Book Of Australia Almanac, "The essential
information book on everything Australian". (524 pages) My copy
is the 1991-92 Ed. which cost me $2 at a sale in Melbourne, so I
assume that there is a later edition out now.  Published by
Hodder & Stoughton, 10-16 South St, Rydalmere, NSW, 2116 [JN]

Relative sizes of countries.  Before the breakup of the USSR, the
order was: USSR (by far the biggest, more than twice the size of
any other country), then Canada, China, USA (inc. Alaska), Brazil
and Australia, making Australia number 6 in area. That Brazil was
slightly bigger than Oz was a bit of a surprise to me.  I haven't
seen the stats for Russia, but given that in round figures it was
something like 22 for the USSR to 9 for Canada, the order seems
unlikely to have changed. [JH]

Time Zones. Australia has three basic time zones; Eastern Central Time
(EST) (NSW, Vic, Qld, Tas) GMT+10, Central (SA, NT) GMT+9 1/2, and the
west coast GMT+8.  NSW, SA, Vic, Tas, ACT put their clocks forward an
hour for "Daylight Savings" over the summer. (WA, Qld, and the NT do
not.  [SW] Queensland had a referendum for Daylight Saving in 1990
after a trial summer the year before. Due largely to the country vote,
the referendum failed by something like 53%/47%.)

6.5 Sport

Australian Rules Football.

This is the main football code played in Vic, SA, WA and Tasmania.
The Australian Football League consists of 10 teams based in
Melbourne, plus Geelong, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. (It was
established a few years ago from an expanded VFL.) Fixtures, results,
statistics and match reports are available from
rec.sport.football.australian. Pre-season night competition begins the
end of February. Main season is end of March to August, with finals
series in September. West Coast won in 1992, Essendon won the flag in
1993.  (Carn the Ds in '94! [AN] :-).

There is a competition of about 8 women's teams in Melbourne, and the
sport does not seem to be growing.

(If it isn't obvious, Melbourne is the home of this "sport".
Melbourne's winter football mania is one great reason NOT to be
there in winter! [CP, who probably still has cleat marks on his
back from his school days] :-P.)

Rugby.

The main football code in NSW and Qld is rugby. Rugby League is the
professional sport (reigning premiers are the Brisbane Broncos, who
beat St. George 14-6 this year), rugby union is still "amateur".
Rec.sport.rugby contains some postings about rugby in Australia
(though is dominated by discussion of the rugby union 5 nations
competition and the World Cup).

As far as I know there is no organised women's rugby in Australia
(we did not send a team to the 1991 World Cup held in Wales).

[SW] Rugby League is played by girls up to age 12 or 13 in both
schools and weekend competition in mixed teams with boys. I believe that
after that age they are no longer allowed to play mixed.
However, I did see an article on Wide World of Sports on Channel 9 in August
1993 depicting a Rugby League for Women Grand Final out of Sydney.

Cricket.

The most widespread summer sport is cricket. Australia plays
regulars Tests against England (for the Ashes), NZ, India, the
West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and now that they have been
re-admitted to the fold, South Africa.  Each summer there are two
touring teams which play in a 3-way One-Day series.  The state
competition is for the Sheffield Shield (4-day matches), which is
only semi-professional.  (Qld has never won this :-).  Many men
and boys play club cricket on the weekends (usually Saturday).

Women's cricket has been established quite a long time (first
Test versus England in 1934) but continues to be a minority sport
for women. There are about 100 club sides in Melbourne. The
Australian women's team is the best in the world; I believe there
has even been some TV coverage of Test and/or One-day cricket
recently.

Note: live commentary of cricket matches is available via IRC
(Internet relay chat). It is available on the channel #cricket
and people discuss the match on #crickettalk. Information on this
is posted reguarly to rec.sport.cricket. There is a cricket
information service, called CricInfo, available on gopher - see
rec.sport.cricket also for how to access it.

Baseball.

There is the ABL (Australian Baseball League). It is only 3-5
years old.  There are 8 teams - Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney, 2
from Melbourne, Adelaide, Waverley and Perth. The season consists
of 14 games of regular season played in January and February of
each year. [SW]

Basketball.

NBL consists of 16? 18? teams.  Season is usually from
March/April until September. Each team is only allowed 2 imports
(i.e. non Australian citizens). NBL was created in the late 70's
and has expanded since then, with several of the original teams
either leaving or being renamed/relocated. [SW]

Athletics.

Horse Racing.

Is everywhere. Traditionally Australians love to gamble. The
Melbourne Cup is the biggest race of the year. There is a holiday
for it in Melbourne.  For a few minutes on the Tuesday after the
first Monday in November the whole country stops to listen
(supposedly).  Work place sweeps proliferate. Phar Lap, which won
the Melbourne Cup in 1930, is a national hero, and his stuffed
body may be seen in the Melbourne musuem.

Netball.

There are over 1/2 million registered netball players in
Australia, so it is by far the most popular women's sport.

Softball.

Is the most popular women's summer sport.

Soccer.
    [contributions? AN]

Other Sports.

Field hockey is very popular for both men and women, and we do
well in International competition. Many people play squash.
Other sports played include badminton, volleyball, table tennis,
yachting, rowing, swimming, cycling... [any more? AN]

6.6 Travel

These 3 questions were posted at one stage. Here are a summary
of answers.

1. How are the conditions of the streets (or roads?) in Australia
in January?  I heard that the roads in the North are often
overflowed. Is this right?

2. We want to rent a car (or jeep or motor home) to go through
Australia.  Which kind of car is required or recommended
(especially for the desert in the center of Australia)?

3. Maybe we want to fly within Australia. Which airlines are
recommended and how much are the prizes (examples are enough)?

Answers

(1)

Roads are O.K. around here - but I live in Sydney :- I don't know
about the roads up north because I have never been there..

I've never heard of roads being overflowed, unless you mean
flooded (with water). This has happenned over the last couple of
summers in the northern tropics, but roads are generally only cut
for a few days.  If you want to travel north, it is usually best
to do that May to November when it is dry and travel south
September to April. [FS]

The monsoon hits the far north of australia, so the roads may be
flooded and only usable by boats. however this only is a problem
north of townsville in queensland and around darwin in the
northern teritory the rest of the country is in summer HOT and
dry for the most part but its is much colder in the southern
parts and you may have some rain down there...  IT IS A BIG PLACE
and spands a large part of the earth!! [FW]

The term 'condition' usually implies whether they are good for
driving on or not.  The term 'streets' usually means the roads in
the cities.  The term 'roads' usually refers to the highways,
etc.  So, to answer your question: they are generally in a good
condition to drive on (the government has spent a lot of money
lately fixing up the roads).  I'm not sure where you mean exactly
when you say 'north' since there is a lot to the north half of
Australia (covering three states and many thousands of
kilometres).  If you mean Queensland (North East) then the roads
are usually busy with holiday travellers.  If you mean Northern
Territory (North Central of Australia) then the roads are usually
busy before Christmas (although there are still a number of
people about on the roads).  If you mean in Western Australia
(North West) then you will find a lot of outback, very few
people, few roads, and few cars.  I think you mean Northern
Territory ? [IC]

No worries. Stay on the highways and you'll have no problems. It
often rains a bit, but it is rare these days to have major
holdups. But don't go off on to unsealed roads. [RC]

(2)

Almost every area in Australia is accessible by any car. That is,
as long as you stay on the bitch (bitumen) you can go anywhere.
If you really want to go off the beaten track you will need a
4WD, but I've never owned one and I've never felt that I've
missed anything. If you want a cheap form of accommodation that
you can take almost anywhere, hire a motor home. If you can
afford the outlay, and you are staying long enough, the cheapest
way by far is to buy something civilised and semi reliable, then
sell it before you go (you could pick up a half decent mid range
car for A$3-4,000. [FS]

Unless you have driven a four wheel drive (4WD) in sand/mud
before then stick to a conventional car/motor home they are
cheaper and you will probably not have enough time to spend
exploring the rougher areas. If you want to see a sight that is
only avaliable by 4WD then there is probanbly a tour that will
get you there and back for less trouble than hireing a 4WD. [FW]

I would recommend a four-wheel drive vehicle for driving around
through the desert in the centre of Australia.  A motor-home will
probably slow you down and use up a lot more petrol, a jeep will
probably mean you will get sunburnt very easy. [IC]

A bloody big one mate.! Rent a car, Ford or Holden from a
reputable company, with air conditioning. Stay in motels and
hotels. Don't leave the main roads, and even then, carry a 15ltr
can of water if you go more than 200 km inland from any city on
the coast. Travel with other vehicles in convoy if you can
arrange it. Does this sound bad? keep in mind that there are only
17 million people in Oz, and most of those live in Melbourne,
Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide, then Darwin.  That doesn't
leave many to spread out over a country that is the size of
Europe, plus England, plus lower Medetranian etc. Try it on a
map.  It can be many days between passing cars in central
Australia, and if you are broken down, you MUST stay with your
vehicle.  My advice ? See Australia by bus tour, the only way to
go unless you are prepared to face the last frontier and all the
hardships that that entails.  And wear a hat. The temperature can
be 40+ C in the shade. [RC]

(3)

I never fly when going on holidays in Australia. This is because
everything is so spread out. You fly somewhere then you have to
hire a car to get out and see something, unless you want to ride
on a sheep truck (tourist bus). Also when you fly you miss out on
all the good things in between major centres where the airports
are built. [FS]

You should arang this as part of your air ticket to australia as
it will be cheaper than buying the air tickest here.  All of the
australian air lines are very good one of the best safety records
in the world sometimes the service may not be the best but its a
lot better than some of the service I have had in other parts of
the world.  Basicly pick out what you want to see ask where it
is, there may be a number of sites eg desert, we have about 5,
sandy, stony etc then plan your trip it would take 4 days to
cross the country east west 3 days to cross north south by fast
car, with no stops for sight seeing... [FW]

[IC] I presume you are not going to book these flights until you
get to Australia (so you can ask around and get the best price at
the time).  However, the problem with this may be that many
airlines will be heavily booked and getting a flight during the
holiday season in Australia may take some time.

Unfortunately, a local airline company (called Compass) went
broke for the second time and a lot of really cheap flights
within Australia have gone. (There are 3 main local airlines now
- Ansett, Australian Airlines, East-West Airlines and Qantas
[mainly international flights])

I don't have any actual information handy,so I am guessing here
and these are my own approximate guesses (Prices in Australian
Dollars):

* Sydney - Perth.  This is a long trip. Probably $700 - $900
Apparently it is cheaper to fly to New Zealand than to fly to Perth
from Sydney.
* Sydney - Darwin Approximately $400
* Darwin - Perth Approximately $600
* Flights to Tasmania (or is going by ship better?)  If you don't
think you'll get sea sick, then a ship (from Melbourne) will probably
end up being cheaper.

I have from a paper some exact figures from Melbourne:- (This is
Ansett Airlines and the price is for a return ticket).

    Melbourne <-> Sydney    $179
    Melbourne <-> Adelaide  $189
    Melbourne <-> Canberra  $199
    Melbourne <-> Brsisbane $289
    Melbourne <-> Perth     $419
    Melbourne <-> Cairns    $489

Another paper I have quotes this price (it is a 17 day package) :-
* Darwin <-> Perth (Aeroplane and Bus) 17 days $3973
  [includes hotel accommodation, plane, bus fares and most meals]

Travel in Australia and New Zealand (JO)

This gives some comments on travel in Australia and New Zealand.  I have some
definite biases and will admit them as appropriate.  Also, I am assuming that
the reader has an atlas with maps of Australia and New Zealand.

I include New Zealand because anyone making the trip down here would be
insane to miss it. It is small but has very varied scenery and is well worth
the time.  Flying time from Los Angeles to Sydney is about 17 hours. I happen
to be tall and wide shouldered and find economy class seats very uncomfortable.
(I have a theory that they were designed by a small, sadistic feminist).
Consequently, I arrive very tired and jet lagged so I allow 3 to 4 days for
recovery before doing anything.  If you can sleep on the plane, you will be
better off but don't plan on sightseeing the day you arrive. Allow at least one
day to rest up from the flight.

My biases:
- I don't like large cities, deserts or rainforests.
- I do like small cities, mountains, beaches and seacoasts.
- I think that the US and Canada have some of the most beautiful
scenery and interesting cities in the world.  Australia needs your
money and I would love to meet you but honesty compels me to say you
should see the US and Canada first.

New Zealand: Two islands unimaginatively called North and South
Island.  The North Island has some high volcanic mountains, lots of
rolling pastoral scenery, and an area called Rotorura with gysers, hot
spings etc.  Sort of a minature Yellowstone.  It also has an area
called the Bay of Islands which is supposed to be very nice but I've
never seen it.  I love the South Island.  It contains Mt Cook and the
Southern Alps which are gorgeous.  A mountain resort called Queenstown
is very scenic and pleasant.  If you like skiing, come in August and
ski the Southern Alps.  There is a coastal area with a town called Te
Anu near a place called Milford Sound. This is like a Norwegian fjord
and very well worth visiting.  It has a world famous hiking track
called the Milford Trail with guided expeditions of 3 to 5 days (NZ
summers only).  Finally, the city of Christchurch is very attractive -
very English with lots of gardens and parks.
Time: 5 days to a week for one island, 2 weeks for both islands

Australia (working from south to north)

I have never seen Adelaid or Western Australia so make no comments.
Also note that Australia is large.  You will need to fly unless you
like long train or bus trips.  Don't plan on intercity driving.  The
roads are poor and there is nothing like the US interstate highway
system.

Hobart in Tasmania is a small but very nice city.  It has a beautiful
harbor, steep hills and some very good seafood restaurants and a
colony of artists and craft workers.  (San Francisco in minature).  It
is a popular tourist area for Australians but most overseas visitors
miss it.  Tasmania itself is popular with Australians because it is
very different from the mainland.  Cooler and wetter, greener and has
more trees and some heavily forested low mountains.  People from the
eastern or northwest US would probably not see much point in visiting
it.  If you are from the plains or southwest US than it will be
different from home.

Melbourne - Sydney and Melbourne have a long standing feud (like San
Franciso and Los Angeles).  Its a nice city if you like cities of 3
1/2 million.  It does have a beautful art gallery with a good
collection, some lovely parks, and a number of wildlife preserves
nearby in the Dandenong mountains.  It also has a good public
transport system of trams (streetcars) which are fun to ride.  There
are a lot of good restaurants and I think there is an "Eating Out in
Melbourne" guide book which is supposed to be reliable.  Eating in the
major hotels is a recipe for bankruptcy. (Just like the US.)

Sydney - Its slightly bigger than Melbourne, suffers from a horrible
urban sprawl, driving is terrible (no freeways) but there is good bus
and train service.  The harbor and Opera House are just as beautiful
as you have heard.  There are harbor ferries which are fun to ride.
The ferry service has several guided tours of the harbor which are
relatively inexpensive and worth the time.  The Opera House also has
guided tours. There is an historical area near the harbor called "The
Rocks" which is fun to wander through. Note that down here anything
older than 100 years is "historical.  My unimaginative but practical
suggestion is that the best way to see Sydney is to take one of the
bus tours like Grayline.  They all go to the same places .  There is a
public zoo (Taronga Park) which can be reached by ferry.  That is the
easy way to see koalas and kangaroos.  There is also a "Koala Park"
that I've never been to. I think its included in many of the sight
seeing tours.  Sydney also has an "Eating Out" guide and plenty of
good restaurants of all nationalities.  It lacks chains such as
Denny's or Sizzlers but the take away snack bar food is fairly good.
Not gourmet but they won't poison you.

Outside Sydney, the major tourist area is the Blue Mountains.  They
are not high (1500 meters/5000 feet) but are scenic. If you like
caves, try the Jenolan caves near Katoomba in the Blue Mountains.
There are coach tours from Sydney to the Blue Mountains and the caves.
Alternatively, take a train to Katoomba (2 hours, $8) and than catch
one of the coach tours there.  I believe the railroad organizes this.
You might want to stay one or two nights.  There are plenty of good
motels.  I can also recommend the train trip to Wollongong as very
scenic but then I am biased since I live there!

The Whitsunday Islands: Now we jump 1500 km to central Queensland.
The Whitsunday Islands are a group of small, semi-tropical islands at
about 20S latitude.  You may be able to find the largest (Whitsunday
Island of course) in an atlas.  The nearest towns are Bowen and
Proserpine.  Two islands, Hamilton and Hayman, have been developed as
international standard resorts at international standard prices.  A
number of other islands have "family style" resorts aimed at the
ordinary Australian.  Hamilton Island has an airport.  You can fly
directly to it and take a boat to the other islands.  All the other
islands have check in counters at the Hamilton Island airport.

The islands are inside the Great Barrier Reef.  All the resorts
provide high speed catamarran trips to the outer reef (about 2 hours
to get there).  There you can snorkle, take glass bottom boat trips or
take a ride in a "submarine".  These don't submerge.  You sit inside
the underwater hull and look out through big windows.  The Whitsunday
Island region is world famous for scuba diving and sailing.  There are
dive boat operators for qualified scuba divers.  The island resorts
also have dive courses. Yachts can be rented for bareboat cruising and
there are tour operators who take people on 5 to 7 day cruises of the
islands using 45 to 55 foot yachts . You sail in the daytime and camp
on the beaches with tents, sleeping bags and air mattresses at night.
The operator provides the camping gear, crew and cook.  This is a bit
of "pot luck" since you will be with strangers and the boat might have
6 passangers or 18.  The cooking is also "pot luck" because the cook
will probably be a young woman who is touring Austarlia and has signed
on for only one trip.  With luck, she may know how to cook!  I did
this once and liked it.  For details, ask your travel agent for
brochures on the Queensland Islands, Whitsunday Islands or Northern
Queensland.

Cairns and Cape York: Now jump another 1000 km north.  Cairns is in
the tropics at about 9S latitude and is also inside the Great Barrier
Reef.  It has access to the reef and the rainforest of Cape York.
When I went there it was small and very lovely.  There are no beaches
in Cairns but some beautiful tropical beaches to the north of it and
around Port Douglas (an hour drive to the north).  Since I was there,
it has been developed as an international tourist resort (mostly for
Japanese).  I don't know what the town is like now but the reef and
rain forest are still there.  Cairns is an international airport with
flights to Japan, New Zealand and the US.  You could go skiing in NZ
in August and than fly to Cairns for swimming and sunning on the reef.
Warning: Don't go to Cairns or the Whitsunday Islands between December
and March. That's the cyclone (hurricane) season.

The Outback: I've never been there and have no interest in it.
However, if you want desert, kangaroos, or dingoes than Alice Springs
and Uluru (Ayers Rock) are supposed to be very good.  There is also a
tropical park called Kakadu in the Darwin area.  Its reported to have
lots of crocodiles and birdlife and be very interesting if that's your
thing.  Watch the weather.  The rainy season is said to be awful -
roughly November to March.

*Accomodation at Uluru (Ayers Rock) [GR]

1) If you are a group 4/5/6 ++ people look at the possiblity of
renting a mobile home... It is stationary but cost about A$50/day.
2) Pioneer Outback Hotel (A$80/night bed/bath)..booked through AAT
Kings travel agency..very pleased
3) Kitchenettes... somewhere in the 60 to 100 dollar range... double
bed, a/c, share bathroom...best choice at price
4) Check with NT beaureau

* Place of interest in Tasmania?

[JL] Things I would look at:

The Gorge in Launceston
Hellyer Gorge on the West Coast
Ocean Beach at Strahan
day walks at Lake St Clair (overnight if you're set up)
SW rainforest (might be difficult - check out adventure tours out of Hobart)
scuba diving at Bicheno
fishing on the East Coast

Tas Redline Coaches, who have some sort of Tassie Pass for out of
state travellers (008 006 006). However [MP] Just be careful to
investigate the Red Line Tassie Pass a little more carefully.  I spent
several weeks in Tassie and loved it with one exception: actually
getting around.  The Pass doesn't even go to certain parts of the
island and when it does it's usually once a day, every other day, and
things like that.  It's possible to rent a VW bug for A$25 per day or
something which really works well if there are two or three of you.
Four, five or six might be pushing it a little.  Simply drawing out
your itinerary beforehand and then pricing it on individual tickets
actually competes with the Pass within a few dollars believe it or
not!

6.7 Health Care

[Anyone want to write a paragraph or 2 describing out health care system?]

6.8 Miscellaneous

* Sydney is spelt with a "y", not Sidney. It was named after
Baron Sydney of Chislehurst, the Home Secretary at the time when
the First Fleet arrived.  Actually, they named Sydney Cove and
the city was supposed to be called Albion, but it didn't come out
that way. [HG]

* Tasmanian Aborigines and Trugannini

The "tradition" view [AD]:

The last hundred survivors of the Tasmanian aborigines were
rounded up in an operation known as the "black line" about the
1850s.  They were all moved to a settlement on Flinders Island at
a place called Wybalenna.  They were forced to adopt "christian"
society clothing/behaviour..  They gradually died out fron the
european diseases until, when there were only about 30 left they
were moved to Oyster Cove in southern Tasmania.  They gradually
died out.

The last male survivor was William Lanney.  He was murdered
during a boat trip across a river.  He was thrown from the boat
and his hands cut off as he tried to return to the boat.  After
he was buried grave robbers removed his head to sell to British
Scientists.

The last female survivor was Trucaninni (or Truganinni) who was
also known as Lallah Rookh.  She died in about 1878.  There are
unconfirmed reports of two elderly ladies living on Kangaroo
Island (i think) South Australia until about the 1890s.

There are NO full blood aborigines alive today.  A fair few
aborigines live on Cape Barren Island, just south of Flinders
Island (in Bass strait between Tasmania and Victoria).  Racisim
on the islands is rife IMHO.

White sealers often stole aboriginal women for their sex slaves,
and half-castes were generally descended from these situations.
The women were known as " gins" and were roughly treated.

An interesting facet of this story is that in 1984, the Tasmanian
Museum discovered an Edison Cylindrical Phonograph record in it's
coffers which had recordings of a half-caste lady (who claimed
she was full blooded).  She was singing traditional aboriginal
songs.  The recording was made in 1902.  A very stirring feeling
listening to this 90 year old recording of a vanished culture and
it makes me feel very ashamed to be a white Tasmanian.

[XXX Can someone write a paragraph about how there really
are Tasmanian aboriginals left? AN]

* What is "Mabo"?

The High Court, in the "Mabo" decision, eliminated the previous
terra nullius principle of land ownership in Australia, and
stated that there was a Common Law ownership by the indigenous
people, unless that title had been extinguished by a valid Act of
the imperial. colonial, state, commonwealth or territorial
parliamnts. They also said that common law ownership depended on
a demostrated continuos link between the people and that land.
[JB]

* Tasmanian Devils and Tasmanian Tigers [KB]

The Tasmanian Devil population is relatively large and is on the
whole very healthy. There is some problem with a heartworm type
parasite which has (of course) originated from introduced
species.  The government authority is aware of this and are
maintaining close watch and quarrantine on infected groups. It
shouldn't be too great a problem. Tasmanian Devils are a quasi
animal emblem some suggest ambassador for the state so any threat
to their survival is taken very seriously.

A bit about the TD, they do hunt, even climb trees, but generally
prefer to consume carrion aka dead wallabies, livestock, etc.
The TD species appears to one of the few natives that actually
have thrived and increased in population with the arrival of
European man.  Especially now we have a brutally efficient means
of producing carrion aka the motor vehicle which leaves plenty of
road kill for the devils.  We also have the tendency to aggregate
large numbers of live food such as hens and sheep for the devils
to maraude occasionally.

Historically the devils used to follow the now extinct Tasmanian
Tiger.  Looked much more like a large dog actually.The TT was a
notoriously inefficient hunter which just used to lay in wait for
prey and lunge onto them as they passed, normally only managing
to wound them and then tracking the animal until it was so weak
from blood loss etc that it was able to be slaughtered. It is
suggested that the TT would then feed off its kill until the
devils arrived on masse and drove it away. Consequently when
European man arrived with their sheep the TT soon adapted to this
new abunndant and tractable food source and got a reputation for
killing livestock. In my opinion the new settlers own dogs were
much more likey to have killed most of the livestock, they still
do. As history will show the government of the day reacted to the
hysteria about the TT and offered a sizeable bounty for each TT
scalp. The last known TT died in captivity in 1933.

* The Australian Flag

In vexillogical terms, the Australian flag is a defaced blue
ensign.  In the upper hoist (top left corner) is the Union Flag
(ie the flag of the United Kingdom). On the fly (right) of the
flag, are 5 white stars, representing the Southern Cross, a
constellation of stars generally only visible in the southern
hemisphere.  Each of these stars has 7 points except for the
smallest star which has only five.

Directly below the Union Flag is a large 7 pointed white star
called the Federation Star, representing the federation of the
colonies of Australia in 1901 to become an independent nation of
the British Commonwealth.  There is one point for each of the six
states, and one to represent all of Australia's internal and
external territories.

The length:height ratio of the flag is 2:1.

* History of the Australian Flag

Australia's national flag was chosen from a national flag
competition held in 1901.  Initially started by a Melbourne
newspaper, the competition was taken up by the new Federal
Government, and it attracted 32 823 entries.  Although not a part
of the official entry rules, the judges proscribed that the
design *must* contain the Union Flag.  The winning design was in
fact shared by five people who submitted almost identical
entries.  Australia's first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton,
announced the winning design in Melbourne on 3 September 1901.
The design had a mixed reception and caused much controversy at
the time.

The original design was as described above, except the Federation
Star contained only 6 points and the Southern Cross was
represented by stars ranging from 5 to 9 points to indicate their
relative apparent brightness in the night sky.  The design was
modified to the current design on 22 May 1909, but in fact the
flag did *not* have official sanction as Australia's national
flag, and wasn't always flown as such, until the Flags Act of
1953 was passed by the Menzies Government.

There is some agitation to change the current design to one that
does not include the Union Flag in view of Australia's changing
relationship with Britain.

* National emblem

[BJ] The Australian Coat of Arms shows a kangaroo (left) and an emu
(right) holding a shield that contains the six state badges (left to
right on first row: NSW, Vic and Qld, below are SA, WA and Tas).
Underneath the shield is a spray of Golden Wattle blossoms,
Australia's floral emblem.  Above the shield is the seven pointed
federation star.

* Why do the stars on the Australian flag have 7 points?

(See 6.8 *The Australian Flag)

* WHY IS AUSTRALIA CALLED AUSTRALIA?

"Terra Australis" was the land of the south.  The portuguese
Fernandez de Quiros, in the serive of Philip III of Spain, named
it Australia del Espiritu Santo (Southern Land of the Holy Ghost)
"Australia" was used to flatter the King who was a Prince of the
Austria Ruling house. [VS]

* What is the source of ".oz" as an internet address representing
Australia?  (is it any different from ".au"; and why do some
addresses have ".oz.au" both, or is that just harmless
redundancy?)

[KRE] No, its certainly not the same as AU, nor is it redundant
in addresses where it appears, its required, and can't be used in
others.

Long ago when we were first setting up addressing for Aust we
were always going to use domain addressing - this is way back
when xxx.arpa was the standard name for US hosts on the arpanet
(& milnet).  That is, the use of domain names wasn't new, but
there was not yet any organised structure for domain naming (ie:
the edu, gov, ... and the two letter country names didn't yet
exist).

We knew we wanted a domain name that represented Australia in
some way, and things like AU and AUS were suggested, but we also
knew that our (then) small group fo sites couldn't really ever
claim to represent all of Australia, and do anything that would
effectively take over the entire Australian namespace leaving
nothing for anyone else unless they could fit themselves into our
naming scheme.

I should also mention that at this time we were already using
domain names, the domain we used was "SUN" which meant "Sydney
Unix Network" (and sometimes "Sydney University Network") - the
Australian net was an outgrowth of a network that started in
Sydney at Sydney University, and linked UNIX systems.  The
network started before Sun Microsystems was created - still they
asked us if we could use something other than "SUN" as our name -
and since our net was no longer just in Sydney, that seemed
reasonable (though the software used remained called "SUN" then
SunII and SunIII, until comparatively recently when SunIV was
renamed MHSnet).

In any case, needing a name, something Australian, but not to
pretend to represent the whole of Australia, someone (it
certainly wasn't me, but I don't recall who) suggested "oz".
That sounds like the "Aus" part of "Australia" or "Aussie" when
spoken by an Australian (rather than an American, who pronounce
the thing in some totally wild way), and is fairly commonly used
by various people to represent things Australian (and has no
relationship I know of with the wizard), and was adopted.

Eventually, the two letter country naming stuff was invented, and
AU of course became Australia - the "oz" part, which was always
just a subset of Australia fitted very neatly as a sub-domain of
AU, and so that's what was done with it.  In time, other
sub-domains of AU were created, including the edu.au com.au etc
domains, that serve basically the same community as oz.au does,
but also telememo.au and otc.au (which match the X.400 naming
"ADMD=telememo; C=au") that are used by commercial e-mail systems
in Australia, which has retrospectively justified the decision to
confine our naming within a subset of the Australian namespace,
and not even pretend to take over the whole thing.

There's another version of the "creation of oz" story, which
relates to the very first international e-mail connection that
the academic community had here, which ran between the University
of Sydney (home of the Sydney University/Unix Network) and Bell
Labs.  It was implemented using a maildrop on an IBM mainframe at
the University of Waterloo in Canada, Bell labs would dial there,
and leave mail for Australia in a file, then the University of
Sydney would call, using X.25, and pick up the mail in the file,
and leave another for Bell Labs the next time they called.  This
was set up by Ian Johnstone, initially from UNSW, but then at
Bell Labs - the theory is that "oz" was the name of the account
at Waterloo, or one of the file names, or something like that.
This may indeed be what sparked the suggestion to use "oz" as the
domain name, I don't know, I certainly don't recall that name
being in any visible use in that e-mail system though, whatever
use it had, if there was one, must have been internal I

* What is the village in northern France where the Australian presence
in WW1 is still celebrated?

In a little town called Viller-Bretonneuve, just outside Amiens,
there's a memorial to Australian soldiers a couple of kilometres
outside town, signposted from the main road. There's also a cafe on
the main road called the Boomerang Cafe, which makes me feel it's the
right area. :-) [HJ]

I can confirm that Villers-Bretonneux appears to be the town that
you have in mind. A large Australian contingent was situated in
or near the town during WW1. There remains a number of overt signs
of this presence [MS]:
- some of the streets and shops bear Australian names
  (e.g., Melbourne Street)
- there is a large Australian War Memorial just outside the town on a
rise. It contains a lookout and wall with the names of the Australian
soldiers lost (and, for the most part, never found) in the battles of
northern France and Flanders. On the wall, it is noted that 11,000
Australian soldiers died between 1916-1918, so this gives you an
indication of the size of the wall!
- At the entrance to Villers-Bretonneux, is situated Adelaide Cemetery
containing the graves of some of the Australian soldiers.
- In fact, the region contains a number of Australian and British
Commonwealth war cemeteries, all of them immaculately kept with cut
lawns and red roses!
- Villers-Bretonneux has an Australian "twin town" (Robinvale, Vic.
if I remember correctly).
- I spoke with the mayor, who showed me around the local school, which
was apparently built after WW1 with donations from Australia. The main
hall is panelled in Australian wood, and has a number of large wood
carvings of Australian animals.  The mayor said he visits Australia
every year, to maintain the contact between the Villers-Bretonneux and
Australia.

In the cathedral of nearby Amiens, there is a commemorative plaque
that states: "...to the memory of The Australian Imperial Force who
valiantly participated in the victorious defense of Amiens from March
to August 1918 and gave their lives for the cause of justice, liberty
and humanity..."

* What visas do Australians need for France? [JB]

Yes, Australians need visas fro France. In 1986 (je croix), it might
have been 1987, there were some bombings in Lyons, which were
suspected to have been done by <ethnic-minority> fanatics. In the
midst of the howls of "what is the government doing about it", the
French Govt, in a particularly stupid knee-jerk reaction, brought in a
requirement that visas will be required for all non-EC nationals. (As
if needing a visa ever stopped a terrorist. And the border checks had
long since gone.)

This rule is waived in cases where there is a bi-lateral agreement,
e.g.  with New Zealand, and in cases where it was feared to hurt the
tourist trade, e.g. US. As Australia doesn't play footsies about visas
for visitiors, we need them to go to France.

French visas are in two flavours:

(a) less than 90 days. These are done over-the-counter here. They cost
FF200 (about $A54). I had to provide a letter for my 19-yo son stating
that we were supporting him financially, etc. Otherwise they would
have wanted bank statement proving he had enough money to live on in
France.

(b) 90 days - 1 yr. Do get these I needed:
(i) three interviews at the consulate;
(ii) FF600 ($A162)  per person in cash or bank cheques.
(iii) the letter of invitation from the French university
(iv) a letter from Monash saying everything about my status, salary,
travel grants, insurance, etc.
(v) tickets or confirmed itinerary
(vi) a medical certificate, in French, from an approved physician
(only one in Melbourne!) certifying:
        A) good health
        B) free of TB (X-ray result)
        C) free of syphilis (blood test) [the French bureaucracy hasn't
        discovered AIDS or hepatitis yet.]
Once I had all these, my application, because it was "pour la
sabbatique" had to be couriered off to Canberra to be "assessed" by
the Scientific & Cultural Attache at the French Embassy.
Well it's all done. Each of the long-term visas set us back about $250
(such medicals are, rightly, not covered by Medibank.)
Fortunately the consulate staff were very helpful, polite and
understanding. The total time was was nearly two months, largely due
to the queuing delays in waiting for inteviews and medicals.

* What is vegemite? [KP]

Vegemite is a spread, made from a yeast extract. Kraft make it in
Australia.  It looks kinda like black smooth peanut butter, and tastes
VERY salty.[Glenn]

When I returned to Australia for a visit in 1985 I telephoned the
folks at Kraft in Pt. Melbourne. Here is the basis of what the man
told me regarding its manufacture:

First the yeast cells are taken from the breweries. For those of you
into making home made beer yor know what I mean. For the others, this
is a very thick tan colored "liquid" smelling like beer but loaded
with spent and still alive yeast cells. This "liquid" it then treated
so the yeast cells undergo "cell lysis" which means the cells burst
open.  The liquid is then "washed" (his term) to remove the cell
walls. The internal contents of the cell are then mixed with salt,
dried parsley and spices etc.(whatever that is -- I have not been able
to find etc. in Australia nor NorthAmerica) I guess it is the etc that
gives Vegemite its characteristic flavor!

Anyways in closing, the man said that it was packaged is small tins (I
have seen 1 oz. cans of it in Australian Army ration packs) and in
various containers up to barrel (45 gal?) size.

* What is the name of the crazy boat race held in Darwin every year?

The Beer Can Regatta

* In which dry river near Alice Springs is there a boat race every year?

The Todd River

* Skin Cancer

[MJ] To provide some (useful) information.  The Antarctic ozone hole
does not in general affect Australia, we are too close to the equator.
Last summer (?) a small part of the outer edge did pass over Tasmania
and Victoria but lasted only for a couple of days and did not cause
particularly high levels of uv radiation at the ground.  Australians
have the highest rates of skin cancer in the world probably due to the
combination of culture and having summer when the earth is closest to
the sun.  Bring a hat, sunscreen and shirt.  Don't "bake" at all, but
if you insist on being brown, authorities suggest avoiding the
stongest sunlight between 1100 and 1500 (summer time).

* [Any more? AN]

7. Culture

7.1 Songs and Poetry

* Waltzing Matilda - the song we had to have.  Copyright A.B.
"Banjo" Paterson (reproduced here w/o permission).  (thanks to
Ross Paterson for correcting the "tt" mispelling :-)

    Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong,
    Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
    And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,
    "You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me."

    Chorus:
      "Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda,
      You'll come a-waltzing Matilda  with me;
      And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,
      You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me."

      (Substitute third line of verse in each chorus.)

    Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong,
    Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee;
    And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tuckerbag,
    "You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me."

    Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,
    Down came the troopers -- one, two, three;
    "Whose that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tuckerbag?"
    You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.

    Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong,
    "You'll never catch me alive", said he;
    And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
    You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.

There is also a "Queensland version" of the song, generally
believed to be the Patterson original (or pre-original).  It has
very similar words but has a different metre and is set to a
waltz tune. The "standard" version of the song was subsequently
rewritten to fit a march time tune pinched from some other
source.  In a wonderful essay published at the time of the
referendum which chose AAF as the anthem, some (forgotten by me)
author made the point that Waltzing Matilda was much more
appropriate. It tells the story of the swagman, unemployed and
desperate, driven to petty theft by society's opression. The
squatter symbolises the priviliged property owners (probably
multi-national) with the sinister intrusion of the Police to
support privilege. Finally, the hero dies in an heroic gesture,
which unfortunately leads only to the pollution of an inland
waterway. [CM]

------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is what appears to be the original "Waltzing Matilda", from
"The Collected verse of A. B. Patterson", first published in
1921.  It seems to have been published in "Saltbush Bill, J.P."
(1917), although I have a feeling it may have been presented in
the Bulletin somewhat earlier.  Punctuation as printed in the
1982 edition -- don't blame me for the unmatched quotation mark
in the second verse :-). [IR]

                        WALTZING MATILDA
                       (Carrying a Swag.)

Oh! there once was a swagman camped in a Billabong,
   Under the shade of a Coolabah tree;
And he sang as he looked at his old billy boiling,
   "Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

      Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda, my darling,
         Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
      Waltzing Matilda and leading a water-bag--
         Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?

Down came a jumbuck to drink at the water-hole,
   Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him in glee;
And he sang as he stowed him away in his tucker-bag,
   You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me."

Down came the Squatter a-riding his thoroughbred;
   Down came Policemen -- one, two and three.
      "Whose is the jumbuck you've got in the tucker-bag?
   You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me."

But the swagman, he up and he jumped in the water-hole,
   Drowning himself by the Coolabah tree;
And his ghost may be heard as it sings in the Billabong
   "Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?"

Both versions are in the Australian Scout Song Book, available by mail
order from the Sydney Scout Shop price $2.65, phone [phone].

--------------------------------------------------------

SWAGMAN: An itinerant labourer, a hobo, a bum.  So called because
his most important possession is his bedroll ("swag"), worn
behind his head as he walks along.[TM]

An excellent book, probably no longer in print, is "Diary of a
Welsh swagman" published in Australia some years ago. It is based
on the journeyings of a Welsh immigrant who was walzing Matilda
in the late 19th century [AC]
(Jenkins, Joseph, 1818-1898. Diary of a Welsh swagman, 1869-1894
/ abridged and annotated by William Evans. -- South Melbourne,
Vic. : Macmillan, 1975.)

WALTZING MATILDA "Waltzing Matilda", "humping a bluey, "carrying
a swag" are all terms for the same thing, namely tramping about
looking (or not looking) for itinerant work like shearing. The
"Matilda" was the swag. [PA]

Matilda=swag=bluey = (american) bedroll (blankets, etc.)

The reason I know of is that one name for a swag was "Matilda" -
a feminine name for the swagman's sole companion. Walking from
place to place was called "Taking Matilda for a waltz". [jds]

BILLABONG: A billabong is what the geographers call a "truncated
meander", i.e. a lake formed by a loop in a river course being
cut off by the river subsequently cutting a new and shorter path.
In the US they are called "ox-bow lakes".[JB]

COOLIBAH: Type of eucalypt (gum) tree with hard strong wood, very
hardy, found in central Australia near inland water courses and
billabongs.

BILLY: A small tin, generally used to boil water for tea.  The
third- most important possession of a swagman.

JUMBUCK:  A (male?) sheep.

TUCKERBAG: A bag for carrying tucker (food).  The second-most
important possession of a swagman.

SQUATTER: Someone  who just  grabbed land  early on,  often later
given title to the  land by  the government.Basically the  landed
gentry.

TROOPER:  A soldier or policeman.

* Short Version

The "verse" below is from a competition to shrink works of OZ
literature conducted by the Australian (?) newspaper some time
ago. I found it in some papers I was looking through. I don't
have the attribution to hand. There was a shrunken "Sydney White
Pages" too.[CM]

    Waltzing Matilda
    ================
    Swaggie dreams of roast lamb dinner
     Passing jumbuck looks a winner
    Bags it, but here come the cops
     Into billabong he flops
    Drowns himself, forgoes hot roast
     Leaves the last waltz to his ghost
    "Sod the law" says our aquarian,
     "Better dead than vegetarian!"

* Advance Australia Fair (National Anthem)

Australians all, let us rejoice,
For we are young and free,
We've golden soil and wealth for toil
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in nature's gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In hist'ry's page, let every stage
Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing
'Advance Australia Fair.'

[Original second verse deleted, cos its all about the British :-) AN]

Beneath our radiant Southern Cross
We'll toil with hearts and hands,
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands,
For those who've come across the seas
We've boundless plains to share,
With courage let us all combine
to Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing
'Advance Australia Fair.'

* A less respectful version [JD]

        Advance

Australians never had a choice,
Had they the eyes to see,
That any Royal could only spoil
Republic luxury;
With leaps and bounds opinion shifts,
Where most just couldn't care :
The silent rage, an equal wage,
And pinch-free underwear;
We'll raise a glass to anything,
You poms stay over there.

* Tie me kangaroo down. (Rolf Harris) [TS]

(With wobbleboard background)
[Spoken] There is an old Australian stockman, lyin, dyin, And he gets
up onto one knee and he says...

Chorus:    Tie me Kangaroo down, Sport
    Tie me Kangaroo down,
    Tie me Kangaroo down, Sport
    Tie me Kangaroo down.

Keep me Cockatoo cool, Curl
Keep me Cockatoo cool,
Aw don't go let lettin him actin the fool, Curl
Just keep me Cockatoo cool.

All together now, Chorus:

Mind me platypus duck, Bill
Mind me platypus duck
Aw don't let him go runnin amuck, Bill
Mind me platypus duck.

All together now, Chorus:

Put me Koala back, Mac
Put me Koala back.
He lives somewhere out on the track, Mac
Just put me Koala back.

All together now, Chorus:

(I include this verse as it was in the original though I find it offensive)
Let me Abos go loose, Lou
Let me Abos go loose.
They are of no further use Lou
Let me Abos go loose.

All together now, Chorus:

Tan me hide when I'm dead, Fred
Tan me hide when I'm dead.
So we tanned his hide when he died, Clyde
And that's it hangin on the shed.

All together now, Chorus:

* "My Country" by Dorothea McKellar [CP]

    The love of field and coppice,
    Of green and shaded lanes,
    Of ordered woods and gardens
    Is running in your veins.
    Strong love of grey-blue distance,
    Brown streams and soft, dim skies-
    I know but cannot share it,
    My love is otherwise.

    I love a sunburnt country,
    A land of sweeping plains,
    Of ragged mountain ranges,
    Of droughts and flooding rains.
    I love her far horizons,
    I love her jewel-sea,
    Her beauty and her terror-
    The wide brown land for me!

    The stark white ring-barked forests,
    All tragic to the moon,
    The sapphire-misted mountains,
    The hot gold hush of noon,
    Green tangle of the brushes
    Where lithe lianas coil,
    And orchids deck the tree-tops,
    And ferns the warm dark soil.

    Core of my heart, my country!
    Her pitiless blue sky,
    When, sick at heart, around us
    We see the cattle die -
    But then the grey clouds gather,
    And we can bless again
    The drumming of an army,
    The steady soaking rain.

    Core of my heart, my country!
    Land of the rainbow gold,
    For flood and fire and famine
    She pays us back threefold.
    Over the thirsty paddocks,
    Watch, after many days,
    The filmy veil of greenness
    That thickens as we gaze.

    An opal-hearted country,
    A wilful, lavish land -
    All you who have not loved her,
    You will not understand -
    Though earth holds many splendours,
    Wherever I may die,
    I know to what brown country
    My homing thoughts will fly.

7.2 Recipes and Food

ANZAC biscuits
1 cup SR Flour
"  "  sugar
"  "  oatmeal
"  "  coconut
Put these in bowl & mix.

4 tblsp butter,
2 "     boiling H2O
1   "   golden syrup
1 tsp   bicarb soda
Put in saucepan & melt together on stove. Mix with dry ingredients.
Put in teaspoonfuls onto greased tray.  350F/180C for ~10 min.  Enjoy!

Lammingtons
4 oz butter             1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup castor sugar    1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla          pinch salt
2 eggs                  1/2 cup milk
2 cups flour

cream butter & sugar, add vanilla, beat in eggs.  Fold in dry
ingrediants alternately with milk.  Spoon into greased and lined
pan (approx. 8"x11") bake at 350F for 40-45 min. Cool and store
for a day.  Cut into squares, dip in chocolate icing, then roll
in coconut.
Chocolate icing: Sift 1 lb. icing sugar and 4 T. cocoa into bowl.
Add 1 T.  melted butter to a cup of warmed milk.  Blend to make a
smooth coating consistency [John Doyle].


PAVLOVA
4 egg whites
1 cup superfine sugar
2 teaspoons vinegar
1 tablespoon corn starch
half pint whipped cream
kiwi fruit or strawberries or passionfruit.

Place egg whites in a clean glass bowl. Beat slowly until frothy,
then increase the speed and beat until stiff. GRADUALLY add the
sugar, beating well after each addition. (When all the sugar has
been added, the mixture should be shiny, very stiff, and should
stand in peaks.) Gently fold in the vinegar and corn starch with
a metal spoon.

Line a cookie sheet with brown paper (from a bag) and grease it
lightly. Pile the meringue mixture on it; it should form a
cylinder about 8 inches in diameter and 2 inches high.  Preheat
the oven to just under 300 degrees. Bake the pav for between 90
and 105 minutes. When cooked, leave the oven door ajar and allow
the pav to cool inside. When cold, peel off the paper and
transfer to a serving platter. Just before serving, top with the
whipped cream and fruit. About 8 smallish servings.  [Steve
Wright [e-mail]]

Chocolate Crackles

Here is the recipe as read from the Rice Bubbles packet
(Apparently it is also on the Copha wrapper):

         4 cups Rice Bubbles (= Rice Crispies)
         1.5 cups sifted icing sugar
         1 cup desiccated coconut
         3 Tbs cocoa (60 ml not 45ml - ie 4 american Tbs)
         250 gram copha (8 oz)
         24 patty pans

Mix the first 4 ingredients together. Pour in melted Copha and
mix.  Put into patty pans and chill.  Makes 24.

Damper

The basic recipe for damper is just self rising flour (4 C) and
milk (2 1/2 C) or water, mixed to a very stiff dough and then
baked in one of several ways: in a cast iron "dutch oven" buried
in the ashes of a fire, wrapped around the end of a stick (only a
small handful or so) and toasted over the fire, or formed into a
round loaf and baked in a conventional oven. You can spice it up
by adding a handful of dried fruits, by topping it with some
mustard and grated cheese or, if you've been bold enough to do it
on a stick, by filling the hole where the stick was with jam.
[CP]

Australian Meat Pie [JN]:
===================
Reference:  Australian Women's Weekly Home Library: Cooking
Class Cookbook, p70. (reproduced without permission).

Filling:
750 g (1.5 lb) minced steak (N. Americans, use lean ground beef,
                             not extra lean -JN)
2 beef stock cubes
salt, pepper
1.5 cups water
pinch nutmeg                 (generous -JN)
2 tablespoons plain flour
1/4 cup water, extra
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Pie Base:
2 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup water
60 g (2 oz) beef dripping

Pie Top:
375 g (12 oz) packaged puff pastry
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon water

Making the filling:

1.  Place meat into the pan, stir over low heat until meat is
well browned.  Drain off any surplus fat.  Add crumbled stock
cubes, water, salt, pepper and nutmeg, stir until boiling, reduce
heat, cover, simmer gently for 20 min, remove from heat.  Combine
extra water and flour, stir until flour mixture is smooth.  Add
flour mixture to meat, stir until combined.  Return to heat, stir
until meat boils and thickens.  Add soy sauce (to give brown
colour), stir until combined.  Simmer, uncovered, 5 to 10 min;
remove from heat allow to become cold.

Making the pie base:

2.  Sift flour and salt into basin.  Place water and dripping
into saucepan, stir until dripping melts; remove from heat.  Make
a well in centre of dry ingredients, add liquid, stir until
combined.  (2a. If you're in a hurry, just use premade (bought)
pastry.  It works ok, too. -JN)

3.  Turn out onto lightly floured surface, knead lightly.  Roll
out pastry to line eight greased pie tins.  [We use "real"
aluminium 6 or 8 in pie casings - JN] Cut excess pastry around
sides of pie plates using a sharp knife.  Fill centres with cold
meat filing.

Pie crust:

4.  Roll out puff pastry on lightly floured surface, cut out
rounds for top of pies, use a saucer as a guide.  Wet edges of
base pastry, and gently press tops into place, trim around edges
with a sharp knife.  Brush tops with combined egg-yolk and water.

Cooking: Bake in hot oven 5 minutes or until golden brown, reduce
heat to moderate, cook further 10 min.

Galah [PB]

Having plucked and cleaned galahs, place in a large saucepan of water over
an open fire.  Add two or three large rocks from a creek nearby.  Boil for
two to three days, adding water as required.  By this time the rocks should
have softened, throw away the galahs and eat the rocks.

Galah variations [KP]

Variation 1 (from my landlady the late Mrs. Rose Roots of Punch
Street, Gundagai, N.S.W., 2722) After the rocks are done, reduce heat
but continue simmering over low heat for another week. Make sure the
water level is kept up.

Variation 2 (from my team mates at the Junee RSL Shooting Club, Junee,
N.S.W.)  After the rocks are done, remove and maintain a slow boil of
the Galahs while a side dish of lava is obtained. Serve both
immediately, preferably with the lava on top of the meat.

Australian/US substitutions
    Oz            US
    Copha            Hard vegetable shortening (made from
                coconut).
    Corn Flour        Corn starch
    Caster sugar        Regular sugar ( actually slightly finer
                than regular US sugar, but not much)
    Golden Syrup        Dark Corn Syrup
                (Lyle's Golden Syrup is available in the
                southeastern US at Food Lion [CC])
    Icing sugar        Confectioner's sugar
        Rice Bubbles            Rice Krispies

Miscellaneous food information

In Australia, margarine in stick form has animal fat. For no animal
fat, to buy "soft" magarine or butter.

Other recipes to be included if I get them: kangaroo tail stew... [AN]

7.3 Language

* Prounounciation of Aussie [WE]

Information concerning how/why Australians pronounce Aussie with an
/z/ and Americans pronounce it with a /s/.  A linguistic analysis (I'm
a linguist) suggests the following:

1.  The Australian pronunciation of Aussie (/z/) is a normal
phonological feature called "intervocalic voicing of consonants" where
English speakers make /s/ -> /z/, /k/ -> /g/, /t/ -> /d/ etc. when
they are between consonants.  Some Americans pronounce "significant"
as signifigant, water as wader and we all say "laser" with a /z/.

2.  The American pronunciation of Aussie (/s/) is an example of
spelling pronunciation -- which, once again is normal behaviour when
we don't know the pronunciation of a word.  We usually say it the way
it spells until we find out differently.

3.  So why do Americans insist on saying Aussie with an /s/ even when we
tell them Aussies say it with a /z/?  Once again, that's normal.  We all
have great difficulty saying things in a way that goes against the grain
-- our grain. I've lived a long time in the U.S., but still can't say
NEW York with /nu/.  I have to say /niu/.  Most Americans say greasy (/s/)
or blouse (/s/) -- all with /s/'s.  I think it may go against the grain for
them to say Aussie with a /z/.

* What is the origin of the word "Pom" or "Pommy"? [BR]

 - from [e-mail] (Greg Daniels):
   shipping crates labeled "P.O.M.E."  (Property of Mother England)

 - for [e-mail] (David W. Everett):
   Prisoner of Mother England (POME)

 - from [e-mail] (Nick Cerneaz):
   Piss Off Mother England

 - from [e-mail]:
   convict clothing being labelled P O H M for Prisoner Of His Majesty

 - from [e-mail] (Andrew Bulhak):
   Push Off Miserable Englishman

 - from [e-mail] (Andrew Bulhak):
   short for pomegranate, referring to the complexion of recent arrivals
   who have not yet absorbed much of the Australian sun

 - from [e-mail] (Jacco Zwetsloot):
The general concensus (amongst academics at least) is that `pom'
came through this train of words and word association: immigrants
came to be called `jimmygrants' via some sort of rhyming slang.
`jimmygrants' became `pomegranates' via another sort of rhyming
slang.  This in turn became shortened to `pommy' and `pom'.
While this may seem like an incredible (in the literal meaning of
the word) explanation for the origin of `pom', it is verified in
a number of books.  One being "The Australian Language" published
in 1945.

 - from [e-mail] (Brian Scearce):
   My _Dictionary of Historical Slang_ has this to say about it:

        pommy, Pommy. A newcomer from Britain, esp. from
        England: Australian: C.20.  The OED Sup. records it at
        1916, but it was current before the Great War.  Origin
        obscure; possibly a corruption of TOMMY imported by
        Australian soldiers returning from the Boer War
        (1899-1902).  Or perhaps ex. *Pomeranian*, a very
        "superior" sort of dog.  It may also have developed
        from JIMMY GRANT thus: Jimmy Grant > immy-granate >
        pomegranate > pommy.

   "Jimmy Grant" is, as a previous poster pointed out, rhyming slang for
   "immigrant" (or "emigrant").

* Origin of "Whinge"

[BD] The Macquarie dictionary says "Northern form of OE _hwinsian_ to
whine", and for whine "OE _hwinan_".

* Origin of "Dunny"

[LC] I was using the toilet the other day and noticed that the
brandname stamped on the porcelain was "Dunedin". Could this be the
origin from which the endearing term "dunny" is derived ??

[IR] Unfortunately no.  The Macquarie gives: "short for Brit. d.
dunnakin, dunnaken, from dannaken, from danna (dung) + ken (place)"

* "Show us your map of tazzy"

[PG] Well, being the literary expert that I am . . . 8-) I'll have a
crack at it.  Reference page 182 "A Nice Night's Entertainment" Barry
Humphries published 1981 by Granada:

"Anyway, there she was starkers! I didn't know where to look.  The
driver seen her norks in the rear-vision mirror and nearly come off
his dual carriageway.  He said, 'Ay, miss, 'ow are you goin' to pay
me?", at which she *pointed* ... Now, there's a nice crowd in here
tonight so I'm not going to tell you where she pointed; suffice it to
say she pointed at the map of Tasmania.  Those of you with a
rudimentary grasp of geography will have a rough idea of what I nearly
had a rudimentary grasp of - a large triangular land mass deep in the
southern hemisphere."  Quiz question: which BH character said this?
8-)

[JMack] I first heard the expression in conjunction with the arrival
of the show "Hair" in Sydney (this was about 1970). I don't remember
whether it was a friend, or a review in the paper or a quote from
RObert Helpman, but the person refering to the costumes on the stage,
mentioned the maps of tasmania.  It's not quite as graphic as Barry
Humphries use above, but it predates it.

7.4 National heroes

[AN: Contributions solicited! Possible candidates: Phar Lap, Ned
Kelly, Harry (The Breaker) Morant, Private John Simpson & his donkey,
Edward (Weary) Dunlop, Dawn Fraser, Charles Kingsford-Smith, Kay
Cottee, Dick Smith, Mary McKillop, Caroline Chisolm, Nellie Melba,
Joan Sutherland, Rolf Harris, Barry Humphries ... Winged keel??? [RS]]

[JL]
Ned Kelly's skull and Phar Lap's heart (you beaut)
Lie enshrined in Canberra's Institute.
But a truer statement of the statesman's art
Would be Phar Lap's skull & Mr Kelly's heart.

* Don Bradman [RS]

Bradman, Sir Donald George (1908- ), cricket world's most famous
batsman. Born at Cootamundra NSW. Made his first century playing for
Bowral High School at age 12.  His career in the Australian domestic
competition, the Sheffield Shield, spanned 22 years playing for NSW
(1927-1934) and South Australia (1935-1949). He made a total of 8926
runs at an average of 110 at this level of cricket.

Most famous are his Test Match batting exploits against England for
the prized "Ashes" (the symbol of cricket supremacy between Australia
and England). So successful was he in the 1929 England tour that by
the time of the reciprocal 1932/33 English tour, the England captain,
Douglas Jardine, devised a bowling strategy around limiting Bradman's
prodigous scoring talents. England's fast bowlers would direct the
ball at a batsman's rib cage or throat hoping that the ball would be
parried to one of a number of close-in fieldsmen. The infamous
"Bodyline" tactic was not only applied to Bradman but also to the less
able batsmen which raised howls of outrage from the Australian public.
Bodyline was subsequently outlawed.

Apart from one Test match in the 1932-33 series, Bradman played in
every Australia-England Test match between 1928 and his retirement at
the end of the 1948 season. As a test captain from 1936-48, he did not
lose an Ashes series and the 1948 tour did not result in a single
defeat. An achievement unequalled by any touring Australian team
before or since.

He also played Test cricket against the West Indies (1930-31), South
Africa (1931-32) and India (1947-48). In all, Don Bradman played 52
Test matches, scored an aggregate 6996 runs at an average of 99.94.
Where Test Match batting averages of around 50 or 60 earns a player
the label of a "great", the Don's greatness as a batsman is more than
just an exxagerated legend.

8. Contributors

The following people (listed in no particular order) have made
substantial contributions to this FAQ.  If you have any
corrections, suggestions, additions, subtractions, etc., please
mail them to Ann Nicholson, [e-mail].

NOTE: Unfortunately, I cannot post articles on behalf of others,
arrange aus.* feeds, look for lost relatives, etc.  I only have
time to deal with email that is related to this FAQ.

Chris Penington ([e-mail])
Hugh Garsden ([e-mail])
Rex Mammel ([e-mail])
Brian Ross ([e-mail])
Luke Brennan ([e-mail])
Rhys Weatherley ([e-mail])
George Michaelson ([e-mail])
Phil Watson ([e-mail])
Fred C. Wyse ([e-mail])
Jim Breen ([e-mail])
Tim Littlejohn ([e-mail])
Bruce Cockburn ([e-mail])
Thomas Marvan ([e-mail])
Ruth Isabella McKai ([e-mail])
Thomas Cohen ([e-mail])
Ronald J. Bartle ([e-mail])
Richard Helm ([e-mail])
Ross Alford ([e-mail])
Carol Denehy ([e-mail])
Bob Marks ([e-mail])
[e-mail]
Chris Maltby ([e-mail])
Dave Horsfall ([e-mail])
Stephen Wales ([e-mail])
Shannon McNeil ([e-mail])
John Nash ([e-mail])
Ian Doust ([e-mail])
Ross Paterson ([e-mail])
Nick ([e-mail])
Melissa Rogerson ([e-mail])
David Everett ([e-mail])
Ming ([e-mail])
Charles Creegan ([e-mail])
Duncan Farrow ([e-mail])
John Lamp ([e-mail])
LS
Vincensius Sugito ([e-mail])
Barth Richards ([e-mail])
Franz C. Schlosser ([e-mail])
Frank Warner([e-mail])
Ian Couroulis ([e-mail])
Robert Chalmers ([e-mail])
Brendan Jones ([e-mail])
Robert Elz ([e-mail])
Corran Webster ([e-mail])
[e-mail]
Ivan Reid ([e-mail])
Kim Badcock ([e-mail])
Tony Sprent ([e-mail])
John Newman ([e-mail])
James Harland ([e-mail])
Leanne Archer (Leanne Archer)
William Eggington ([e-mail][e-mail])
Andrea Janelle Dickens ([e-mail])
Greg Vernon ([e-mail])
Andrew Davie ([e-mail])
P Atcliffe ([e-mail])
Chris Maltby ([e-mail])
Tony Mason ([e-mail])
Rob Geraghty ([e-mail])
Andrew Clarke ([e-mail])
John Oliver <[e-mail]>
Lawrence Cavedon ([e-mail])
Ian Couroulis <[e-mail]>
Peter Butler ([e-mail])
Mark L. Sawley ([e-mail])
Helen Johnston
Gopal Rajan ([e-mail])
Ken Pisichko ([e-mail])
Michael Johnson ([e-mail])
Justin Sullivan ([e-mail])
Chris Beiting ([e-mail])
Ron Seto ([e-mail])
Samir KASME ([e-mail])
Tom Northey ([e-mail])
Ian Staples ([e-mail])
Mark the Magnetic ([e-mail])
Bob Dick ([e-mail])
Phil Ganderton ([e-mail])