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 - Australian Hospital Ship (AHS) Centaur was a hospital ship active during World War II, which was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine in 1943. Of the 332 medical personnel and crew aboard, 268 died. Centaur served in both civilian and military capabilities and during her career was involved in towing a damaged Japanese whale-chaser and recovering German survivors of the engagement between HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran. Following her early-1943 conversion to a hospital ship, Centaur served with the Second Australian Imperial Force. Before dawn on 14 May 1943, while on her second voyage, Centaur was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine off North Stradbroke Island, Queensland. The majority of the 332 aboard died in the attack and the 64 survivors waited 36 hours for rescued. The attack resulted in public outrage as it was considered to be a war crime. Protests were made by the Australian and British governments to Japan and efforts were made to discover the people responsible so they could be tried at a war crimes tribunal. Despite this, it was not until 1979 that the attacking submarine, I-177, was identified. Efforts to locate the final resting place of the ship have been made but, with the exception of a false identification made in 1995 and standing until 2003, the location of Centaur is still unknown, as is the reason for the attack. Selected picture - The Common Eastern Froglet (Crinia signifera) is a very common, Australian ground-dwelling frog, of the family Myobatrachidae. It ranges from south-eastern Australia, from Adelaide to Melbourne, up the eastern coast to Brisbane. It also inhabits a majority of Tasmania. It is a small frog (3 centimetres), of brown or grey colour of various shades. It has extremely variable markings, with great variety usually found within confined populations Photo credit: LiquidGhoul 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... - 30 June: 1825 – German Australian Sir Ferdinand von Mueller was born, some claim that he was Australia's greatest scientist of the 19th century. 1922 – The Industrial Court of Appeal rejected the concept of equal pay for women. 1934 – The Commonwealth rejects Western Australia's case for secession. 1941 – HMAS Waterhen sinks off Libya, the first Australian naval vessel lost in World War II. 1972 – The Ord River Irrigation Scheme in Western Australia is officially opened by Prime Minister William McMahon. 1999 – Tim Fischer retires as federal leader of the National Party; he is replaced by John Anderson the next day. 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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