1. Australia: From Gondwanaland to Nicole Kidman
Where is New Zealand, mate? And Papua New Guinea? And, bloody hell; where's Tom Cruise?
2. Australia: From Gondwanaland to Nicole Kidman
New Zealand (not shown) separated from Antarctica between 130 and 85mya.
Australia (including Papua New Guinea) separated finally from Antarctica some 45 mya.
3. Luis Váez de Torres
Luis Váez de Torres (1565-1607) was a 16th-17th century Spanish maritime explorer
serving the Spanish Crown, noted for the first recorded navigation of the strait which
separates the continent of Australia from the island of New Guinea, and which now bears
his name (Torres Strait).
4. Australia – Discovery by the British
Australia was discovered in 1770 by Captain
James Cook. However, Australia had been home
to the Aborigines for over 40,000 years.
Cook, one of England's greatest sea captains,
claimed part of Australia, which he called New
South Wales, for the Crown (King George III).
The local inhabitants (estimated at less than 1
million throughout Australia) were not consulted.
5. The First Fleet – here come the convicts!
Australia was invaded in 1788 by a flotilla of 11 ships,
led by Captain Arthur Phillip, containing some 732
English convicts and their guards. They landed at
Botany Bay, which is now a suburb of Sydney.
The early settlement was established in Sydney Cove,
as Phillip decided that Sydney Harbour was a superior
site for shipping.
Sydney is now a city of over 4 million people, Australia's
largest city and the capital of the state of New South
Wales.
6. Captain Bligh – the last Navy Governor
Bligh was a great sailor who sailed with
James Cook on his last voyage to Tahiti in
1776. He returned to England in 1780 to
give details of the journey.
He was appointed commander of the
Bounty in 1787 to sail to Tahiti to collect
breadfruit trees. After the mutiny, he sailed
over 6700 kms. with 18 crew in a row boat
to Timor, and returned to England.
In 1805, he was appointed Governor of
New South Wales. He was ousted by the
so-called Rum Rebellion in 1808, led by
Major George Johnston of the New South
Wales Corp and John Macarthur, a
powerful, rich and successful settler. Bligh
returned to England, and the trial of
Johnston and Macarthur all but exonerated
their actions in the face of Bligh's tyranny.
7. After Bligh – a visionary at last - Macquarie
In 1809, Lachlan Macquarie was appointed Governor of New South Wales. When he
returned to England in 1822, he left behind him a self-sustaining colony of settlers. While
he was criticised for his humanitarian treatment of prisioners, he left a legacy of new
buildings and infrastructure appropriate to a new nation.
His wife Elizabeth played no small part in assisting her husband in his duties, and together
they became known as the founders of a strong and independent British colony.
During their rule, they were responsible for the founding of fifteen new towns, hundreds of
kilometres of roads, and a robust agricultural industry, specialising in the production of
wheat and wool – thanks to the help of Macarthur (Macquarie's bitterest enemy and most
vocal critic) and his work developing the merino sheep.
8. Australia – A Trading Nation
Australia's economy has slowly moved
from a reliance on agricultural exports to a
more dynamic and sophisticated mixture of
mining, educational services, tourism and
value-added manufacturing. Nevertheless,
Australia remains in the top exporting
nations for its traditional exports like wool,
sugar, wheat, dairy products and beef.
Australia is the world's biggest supplier of
coal and iron ore, the second largest
producer of silver and aluminium, the third
largest producer of copper and gold ...
9. Australia – the Lucky Country
Australia is the smallest (and lowest and driest) continent, the world's largest island, and
the sixth biggest country in area. Its ocean territory – 12,000,000 sq.km. - the third largest.
10. What can I do with Europe?
Australia is 7,691,930 sq km – 15 times bigger than Spain
It is approximately 4,000 km from east to west and 3,700 km from north to south
Where the hell is New Zealand ? And Papua New Guinea?
11. Australia Today
Sydney Australia today is a nation comprised of six
states (Queensland, New South Wales,
Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and
Western Australia) and two territories (the
Northern Territory and the Australian Capital
Territory).
This federation, established in 1901, is a
democracy. However, the (unelected) Head
of State is the Queen of England,
represented in Australia by the Governor-
General.
The democratically-elected head of
government is the Prime Minister.
There are three levels of government :
Federal (1), States and Territories (8) and
Local (about 780).
12. Australia Today
Australia today is a nation of some 21 million
people. Australia is one of the most
urbanised countries in the world – most of
the people live in cities like Sydney (4.2
million), Melbourne (3 million) and Brisbane
(1.8 million).
88 percent of the people live within 100km.
of the coast.
Australia is a country of immigrants –
Italians, Greeks, Chinese, English, Scottish,
German, Iraqi, Vietnamese ...
Less than 2 percent of the population is of
Aboriginal descent.
English is the official language.
13. Animals of Australia
Australia has many unique animals that are not found
anywhere else in the world.
You probably know these animals from Australia…
A Kangaroo
An Emu
A Koala
An Echidna
14. Animals of Australia
But what about these animals?
A Bilby
A Platypus
A Tasmanian Devil A Rock Wallaby
A Wombat
15. New Zealand – Who needs to fly?
The lack of mammalian predators caused many
birds to give up flight.
Stephenson's
Wren
Kakapo Takahe
Moa
16. New Zealand – Who needs to fly?
Birds which don't fly. Insects too! Next, bats?
Wetta
Auckland Teal Brown Kiwi
Burrowing Bat
17. The Most Dangerous Animals in Australia ?
8 deaths per year 0.5 deaths per year 2 deaths per year
0 deaths per year 1 death per year 0.8 deaths per year
18. The Easter Bunny – Bad The Eastern Bilby – Good
(Imported and a plague) (Native marsupial)
The rabbit population was reduced
from 600 to 100 million by the
introduction of myxo in 1954
19. Uluru – formerly Ayer's Rock
Uluru is 382m. high and 10km. in circumfrence, and 460km. by road to the
nearest town, Alice Springs. Uluru is owned by the local Aborigines, and is
located in the National Park, partly owned and run by the Anangu people.
20. Kata Tjuta - formerly The Olgas
Made of the same sandstone as Uluru and located 25kms. from Uluru, Kata
Tjuta consists of 86 separate stones. This site is also sacred to the local
Aboriginal people, the Anangu.
21. Kakadu National Park
Kakadu, almost 2 million hectares – the size of Slovenia – is listed as part of
the UNESCO World Heritage. Home to both fresh and saltwater crocodiles,
the park contains the East, West and South Alligator Rivers, and some of
the world's most productive uraniuim mines.
22. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Stretching from the waters of Papua New Guinea down the Queensland coast,
a distance of some 2,400kms., the Great Barrier Reef is one of the largest
natural “structures” known to man. The GBMP, founded in 1975, is the
largest protected sea area in the world.
23. Australian Heroes and Heroines I
AC/DC – one of the world's best selling rock bands, and Kylie Minogue, have
made themselves famous throughout the world – but more importantly, as
tax-paying Australians, have significantly added to Australia's tax revenue.
AC/DC – with the album “Back in Black” produced the highest-selling group
album – some 61 million copies sold. Kylie, also maintaining a long-lived
career, has added much to the national coffers.
24. Australian Heroes and Heroines II
Don Bradman (aka Sir Donald) was the greatest sportsman in history. His Test
batting average (99.96 runs) stands head and shoulders above all other
sportsmen. Other great cricketers average about 60 runs per innings.
Ian Thorpe, the “Thorpedo” is Australia's most successful Olympian, breaking
22 world records and winning some 5 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze Olympic
medals in 2 Olympic Games.
25. And the Oscar goes to... ?
Peter Finch Heath Ledger Mel Gibson Russell Crowe
Best Actor Best Supporting Actor Best Actor Best Actor
“Network” “The Dark Knight” Best Director “Gladiator”
“Braveheart”
Nicole Kidman – Best Actress “The Hours”
