Portal:Australia

The AUSTRALIAN Portal Topics Culture Geography Health History Mathematics Nature People Philosophy Religion Society Technology Main   Indices   Projects The Commonwealth of Australia is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the world's smallest continent and a number of islands in the Southern, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Australia's neighbouring countries are Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. The continent of Australia has been inhabited for more than 42,000 years by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. After sporadic visits by European explorers and merchants from the 17th century onwards, the eastern half of the continent was claimed by the British in 1770, and officially settled as the penal colony of New South Wales on 26 January 1788. As the population grew and new areas were explored, another five largely self-governing Crown colonies were successively established over the course of the 19th century. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and remains a Commonwealth realm. The current population of around 24 million is concentrated mainly in the coastal cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Selected article - Otto at Ring*Con 2006 in Fulda, Germany Miranda Otto (born December 16, 1967) is an Australian Film Institute-nominated and Logie Award-winning Australian actress. The daughter of actors Barry and Lindsay Otto, she began acting at age nineteen, and has performed in a variety of low-budget and major studio films. Otto's first major film appearance was in 1986's Emma's War, in which she played a teenager who moves to Australia's bush country during World War II. After a decade of critically acclaimed roles in Australian films, Otto gained Hollywood's attention after appearing in supporting roles in The Thin Red Line (1998) and What Lies Beneath (2000). Her breakthrough role was in 2002, when her character Éowyn was introduced to audiences in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Otto's private life, including her relationships with actors Richard Roxburgh and Peter O'Brien, has been much discussed in the media. In 2007, she is scheduled to appear in the miniseries The Starter Wife and the American television series Cashmere Mafia. Selected picture - Luna Park Sydney (originally Luna Park Milsons Point, now formally Sydney's Luna Park) is a historical amusement park, located on the northern shore of Sydney Harbour in Sydney. The heritage-listed park first opened in 1935, and is open for business as of 2007, but over its 70-year history, the park has experienced multiple closures, changes of ownership, legal battles, and community action in both support of and opposition to Luna Park's operation. Photo credit: Joanjoc Subportals   New South Wales Queensland Western Australia Northern Territory South Australia Victoria Tasmania Australian Capital Territory Other Australia portals Related portals   Oceania New Zealand Antarctica Commonwealth realms British Empire In the news   8 May 2016 – Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull advises the Governor-General to issue the writs for a double dissolution election on 2 July 2016. 7 January 2016 – Australia defeats West Indies 2-0 in a home Test Cricket series. 7 January – The 2016 Southbound Festival is cancelled due to the Waroona Fire road closures. 6–7 January 2016 – Waroona and Harvey residents are evacuated due to bush fire. 28 December – Comanche takes line honours to win the 2015 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. On this day... - 6 June: Sewn and incised possum skins of Wurundjeri origin (Melbourne Museum) 1835 – Batman's Treaty is created between John Batman and Wurundjeri elders to secure the land around Port Phillip Bay for the establishment of Melbourne. The treaty was later declared void by the Governor of New South Wales, Richard Bourke. 1859 – The colony of Queensland is established by decree of Queen Victoria. 1915 – The BHP steelworks opens in Newcastle. 1916 – The Returned and Services League of Australia was founded. 1943 – Butter and household linen is rationed. 1999 – Sydney Swans player Tony Lockett becomes the highest goal-kicker in Australian rules football. More Australian anniversaries Did you know... - ... that Troughman is mythically famous in Sydney, Australia for lying down in urinals? ... that Jordan Rankin, at 16 years and 238 days, is the youngest player to make his first-grade debut in Australian rugby league in over 70 years? ... that Reg Lindsay was an Australian Country and Western singer who won three Golden Guitars Awards and wrote more than five hundred songs in his fifty year music career? ... that the murder of Celia Douty was the first murder in Australia to be solved using DNA profiling, after remaining unsolved for 18 years? ...that the town of Bismarck in Tasmania was renamed Collinsvale due to anti-German sentiment during World War I? ...that Indigenous Australian activist Michael Mansell convinced Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi to officially recognise a separate Aboriginal Australian passport in order to draw international attention to the issue of native land rights? ...that Wally Koochew was the first VFL player of Chinese background? ...that Wing Commander Stanley Goble and Flying Officer Ivor McIntyre, piloting a single-engined seaplane (pictured), became the first men to circumnavigate Australia by air in 1924? ...that a series of storms in south-east Queensland spawned two of the most powerful supercells and tornadoes in recorded Australian history? ...that the lamington cake is believed to have been named after Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, the Governor of Queensland at the time of its invention? ...that during the first seven years of the Australian edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? nobody won the top prize of one million dollars? For a topic outline on this subject, see Outline of Australia.

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