How much do you know about Australia?

[Platypus]

wow, some hilarious answers here. Guys, feel free to lokm at the answers now-most can be found in Al's post, the others in my response to it. 5 points is a pass.

PADem, that was disgraceful, for a Kiwi

And Howard as Labor? That's like calling Ted Kennedy a conservative Republican

[Colin]

Fair Dinkum mate, I think you googled.

What makes you say that Kiwi?

[Platypus]

btw, it id snow, for the first time in twenty years, in some of the really hilly suburbs-but not enough for ground cover. That did occur in some country areas, though. And Tasmania.

[Colin]

btw, it id snow, for the first time in twenty years, in some of the really hilly suburbs-but not enough for ground cover. That did occur in some country areas, though. And Tasmania.

Alright thanks for clearing that up Hugh.

[Joe Republic]

1. The Swan River flows through which Australian state capital? Don't know.

2. What are 'The Ashes'? The remains of some English cricket stump or something.

3. Which states bank the Murray River? At a guess, Victoria and NSW.

4. Who has the balance of power in the federal Senate? The Liberal Party?

5. Which European (re)discovered Australia? (Both answers accepted, bonus point for one of them in particular) Captain James Cook

6. In which city would you find the suburb of Toorak? Don't know, though I'll guess at Melbourne.
a) Melbourne
b) Adelaide
c) Sydney
d) Perth

7. What is the primary sport of Tasmania? No clue.
a) Rugby League
b) Australian Rules
c) Cricket
d) Rugby Union

8. Who is Premier of Queensland? What Party is he from (half point each) No idea.

9. From which political party does the Prime Minister come from? What is his name? (half point each) John Howard, Liberal.

10. The name "Macquarie" is often found in titles of places, universities, institutions, etc.; who was 'Macquarie'? Lachlan MacQuarie, Scottish explorer.

11. In which state or territory would you find Gundagai? (half point)
In which state or territory would you find Wonthaggi? (half point) No idea.

12. What are 'aspirationals'?  (half point)
What are 'doctor's wives'? (half point) Don't know.

13. What is the most popular Australian beer, amongst Australians? Either Foster's or Castlemaine XXXX?

14. In which city would you find the suburb of Leichardt? Don't know.
a) Canberra
b) Brisbane
c) Melbourne
d) Sydney

15. Who was the Australian Prime Minister immediately preceeding the current PM? Dammit, I know this one.  Paul... somebody.

[Platypus]

Extra-hard sequel

1. Who is Peter Costello?

2. In what state would you find the Puckapunyal military base?

3. Name two of the three states that held significant gold rushes.

4. Where is the Nullabor?

5. What does the name mean?

6. Palmerston is the former name of which state or territorial capital?

7. Captain Cook's Cottage is in which state?

8. There are two "National Galleries" in Australia-one in Canberra, and one in which Australian state or territorial capital?

9. What is the name of the primary sporting ground in Brisbane?

10. Who is Libby Lenton?

11. Who was the first Australian astronaut?

12. What state is Prime Minister John Howard from?

13. Name one member of the federal Australian Labor Party parliamentary caucus. (half point)
Name one member of the Australian upper house, the Senate (half point)

14. What is the name of the river that flows into Sydney Harbour?

15. What state is Whyalla in? (half point)
What state is Burnie in? (half point)

Bonus point-Perth, Sydney and Melbourne all have a suburb by the name of what?

[Joe Republic]

The only ones I know are 4 and 5.  The Nullarbor is in South Australia, and is Latin for 'no trees'.

[minionofmidas]

1. Who is Peter Costello?
An Australian politician IIRC.
3. Name two of the three states that held significant gold rushes.
West Australia, Victoria.
4. Where is the Nullabor?
5. What does the name mean?
What Joe said, except it's more like fake pseudolatin.
12. What state is Prime Minister John Howard from?
Queensland?

[Colin]

Extra-hard sequel

1. Who is Peter Costello? Minister of Finance in the Howard Government

2. In what state would you find the Puckapunyal military base? Western Australia

3. Name two of the three states that held significant gold rushes. Western Australia and Victoria

4. Where is the Nullabor? South Australia
 
5. What does the name mean? No Trees.

6. Palmerston is the former name of which state or territorial capital? Hobart

7. Captain Cook's Cottage is in which state? New South Wales

8. There are two "National Galleries" in Australia-one in Canberra, and one in which Australian state or territorial capital? Melbourne, VIC

9. What is the name of the primary sporting ground in Brisbane? Brisbane Oval

10. Who is Libby Lenton? No idea.

11. Who was the first Australian astronaut? Don't Know.

12. What state is Prime Minister John Howard from? New South Wales

13. Name one member of the federal Australian Labor Party parliamentary caucus. (half point) Kim Beazley
Name one member of the Australian upper house, the Senate (half point) Kay Patterson

14. What is the name of the river that flows into Sydney Harbour? Parramatta

15. What state is Whyalla in? (half point) South Australia
What state is Burnie in? (half point) Queensland

Bonus point-Perth, Sydney and Melbourne all have a suburb by the name of what? Just guessing here, Macquarie?

[Emsworth]

1. Who is Peter Costello?

A member of the Cabinet? I'll guess that he's the Deputy Prime Minister?

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NSW?

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WA, SA?

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Guess: NT

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"No trees"

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I'll guess Victoria, because Lord Palmerston was Prime Minister during the reign of Queen Victoria

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NSW

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Sydney

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The Gabba

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No idea; I'll guess South Australia for Howard

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Kim Beazley; Paul Calvert

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Dunno

[Joe Republic]

Oh wait, Howard's constituency is a Sydney suburb, so I'll guess he's from NSW.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

1. Who is Peter Costello?

[Federal] Finance Minister IIRC

2. In what state would you find the Puckapunyal military base?

No idea

3. Name two of the three states that held significant gold rushes.

Victoria, WA

4. Where is the Nullabor?

An extremely barren and flat area inbetween Western Australia and South Australia. Very large

5. What does the name mean?

Empty?

6. Palmerston is the former name of which state or territorial capital?

Victoria?

7. Captain Cook's Cottage is in which state?

NSW

8. There are two "National Galleries" in Australia-one in Canberra, and one in which Australian state or territorial capital?

Sydney

9. What is the name of the primary sporting ground in Brisbane?

The Gabba

10. Who is Libby Lenton?

Swimmer

11. Who was the first Australian astronaut?

?

12. What state is Prime Minister John Howard from?

NSW. Do I get a bonus point if I can name the division/seat/etc? Bennelong

13. Name one member of the federal Australian Labor Party parliamentary caucus. (half point)
Name one member of the Australian upper house, the Senate (half point)

Wayne Swan, John Faulkner

14. What is the name of the river that flows into Sydney Harbour?

There are more than just one. The largest is (IIRC) the Parramatta

15. What state is Whyalla in? (half point)
What state is Burnie in? (half point)

South Australia... I think... and Tasmania

Bonus point-Perth, Sydney and Melbourne all have a suburb by the name of what?

I should know this... but have forgotton...

[Platypus]

Peter Costello is the Federal Treasurer, and deputy leader of the Liberal Party-but not Deputy PM, that riole goes to the leader iof the National Party (Mark Vaile)

Puckapunyal is in Northeastern Victoria

VIC, WA and NSW all held gold rushes, but the biggetst were VIC and WA.

The National Gallery of Victoria has a name from colonial days. Melbourne is the answer

Despite never visiting Victoria, Captain Cook's Cottage can be found in central Melbourne.

Palmerston once reffered to the city of Darwin as a whole, when Darwin was a suburb; now Darwin is the name of the city as a whole and Palmerston is a suburb/satellite city.

The Nullabor stretches acroos the top of the great Australian Bight, from SA through to WA, and the name means 'No trees'.

The Gabba is the premier sporting ground of Brisbane.

Libby Lenton is a very good aussie swimmer, who between herself, Alice Mills and Jodie Henry, also Australians, have broken the women's 100m world record in freestyle multiple times.

Andy Thomas, although he's probably a US citizen now

NSW, and indeed, Bennelong.

www.aph.gov.au has the answers. Kim Beazley and Wayne Swan are both right, ditto Kay Patterson and John Faulkner. I've never heard of Paul Calvert, but hey, he might be . Col, how the hell do you know who Kay Patterson is?

Parramatta River

Whyalla is in SA; Burnie in Tasmania.

Bonus point: Epping. Although the Perth suburb recently changed it's name to something aboriginal, iirc.

[Jake]

1. Who is Peter Costello?

Treasury Minister maybe?

2. In what state would you find the Puckapunyal military base?

Western Australia

6. Palmerston is the former name of which state or territorial capital?

Queensland

8. There are two "National Galleries" in Australia-one in Canberra, and one in which Australian state or territorial capital?

Brisbane

12. What state is Prime Minister John Howard from?

New South Wales

13. Name one member of the federal Australian Labor Party parliamentary caucus. (half point)

Kim Beazley Simon Crean

Name one member of the Australian upper house, the Senate (half point)

Bob Brown

[Colin]

I know Kay Patterson because I believe you told me that my politics reflected her's sometime a while back or maybe that was someone else. Anyway I also remember reading something about her a few months ago about the Medicare system in Australia.

[Emsworth]

I've never heard of Paul Calvert, but hey, he might be .

He's the President of the Senate.

[JohnFKennedy]

Extra-hard sequel

1. Who is Peter Costello?

2. In what state would you find the Puckapunyal military base?

3. Name two of the three states that held significant gold rushes.

4. Where is the Nullabor?

5. What does the name mean?

6. Palmerston is the former name of which state or territorial capital?

7. Captain Cook's Cottage is in which state?

8. There are two "National Galleries" in Australia-one in Canberra, and one in which Australian state or territorial capital?

9. What is the name of the primary sporting ground in Brisbane?

10. Who is Libby Lenton?

11. Who was the first Australian astronaut?

12. What state is Prime Minister John Howard from?

13. Name one member of the federal Australian Labor Party parliamentary caucus. (half point)
Name one member of the Australian upper house, the Senate (half point)

14. What is the name of the river that flows into Sydney Harbour?

15. What state is Whyalla in? (half point)
What state is Burnie in? (half point)

Bonus point-Perth, Sydney and Melbourne all have a suburb by the name of what?

Is this test a follow-on? Heehee. Why I don't think we've seen an Australian follow-on in a test since 1988.

[Platypus]

congrats, btw.

5th test...here we come. It was actually pretty close in the end.

[Emsworth]

5th test...here we come

Historically, Australia doesn't seem to have done too well at The Oval. One hopes that the trend would continue. (It's not that I have any particular affinity to the English team, but it's about time Australia lost the Ashes. )

[Platypus]

well, we've held them for my whole lifetime, so maybe it is time for a change. 2 years is all right.

Either way, there is no chancwe England will win them nex time around, in Australia.

[Platypus]

Third time lucky

1. In which city would you find the satellite city of Tuggeranong?
a) Melbourne
b) Perth
c) Brisbane
d) Canberra

2. Name four Australian Universities (three will get you half a point)

3. Headline: "Brogden in trouble over racist slur". Who is 'Brogden'?

4. Who, what or where is "Lord Howe"?

5. Complete this aussie saying: "Off like a bucket of prawns..."

6. Who is Steve Bracks?

7. The Opals are which Australian sporting team?

8. Which city and state are former Miss Universe, Jennifer Hawkins, from?

9. Which country receivesthe most annual aid from Australia?

10. name one australian musician/band with a top 10 hit in the past year (in Australia)

11. In which state would you find these federal lower house seats: Capricornia and Ryan.

12. Who won Australia's only medal in the Montreal games?

13. How many medals did Australia win in Athens (half point if within 3)?

14. What is a 'pav'?

15. If I said "Head up Bay street, take a right at City Road, left into Queensbridge Street, over the bridge, right into Flinders Street and hop off outside the station", which city would I be giving directions in?

Bonus point: How many points is a goal worth in aussie rules; how many points if it hits the post; how many points if it goes through the smaller poles on either side of the goal; how many points if it hits a lower post, and how many points if it goes in off a defender?

[Colin]

1. In which city would you find the satellite city of Tuggeranong?
d) Canberra

2. Name four Australian Universities (three will get you half a point) Australian National University, University of Melbourne, University of South Australia

3. Headline: "Brogden in trouble over racist slur". Who is 'Brogden'? Member of the New South Wales legislature

4. Who, what or where is "Lord Howe"? Wasn't Lord Howe one of the early governors of NSW?

5. Complete this aussie saying: "Off like a bucket of prawns..." a bucket of prawns? what type of slang is that. uh...in a fish market.

6. Who is Steve Bracks? Premier of Victoria and he's a Labour Party member like all other state premiers.

7. The Opals are which Australian sporting team? Australian Rugby Union team

8. Which city and state are former Miss Universe, Jennifer Hawkins, from? Newcastle wasn't it?

9. Which country receivesthe most annual aid from Australia? East Timor

10. name one australian musician/band with a top 10 hit in the past year (in Australia) Kylie Minogue

11. In which state would you find these federal lower house seats: Capricornia and Ryan. Queensland

12. Who won Australia's only medal in the Montreal games? Don't Know

13. How many medals did Australia win in Athens (half point if within 3)? 14

14. What is a 'pav'? A Pavlovich. A type of dessert/pastry.

15. If I said "Head up Bay street, take a right at City Road, left into Queensbridge Street, over the bridge, right into Flinders Street and hop off outside the station", which city would I be giving directions in? Melbourne

[Platypus]

my questions probably werent that good this time. For example, there are at least two answers to the "Lord Howe" question, but when most Aussies say "Lord Howe", they have a specific meaning and that's what i'll be giving full points for.

[Platypus]

8.5 for Colin.

[Emsworth]

1. In which city would you find the satellite city of Tuggeranong?
a) Melbourne

2. Name four Australian Universities (three will get you half a point)
University of NSW, University of Queensland, University of Western Australia, University of South Australia

3. Headline: "Brogden in trouble over racist slur". Who is 'Brogden'?
A state premier?

4. Who, what or where is "Lord Howe"?
There are a few famous Lord Howes: the third Viscount Howe was a British General in the French and Indian War, the fourth Viscount Howe was a Royal Navy admiral, and the fifth Viscount Howe was the British Commander-in-Chief during the American Revolutionary War. I don't know if any of them had any connections to Australia, but I'll guess that it was the fourth Viscount Howe, since he was the admiral.

5. Complete this aussie saying: "Off like a bucket of prawns..."
?

6. Who is Steve Bracks?
A federal Cabinet member?

7. The Opals are which Australian sporting team?
Rugby?

8. Which city and state are former Miss Universe, Jennifer Hawkins, from?
Sydney?

9. Which country receivesthe most annual aid from Australia?
Don't know

10. name one australian musician/band with a top 10 hit in the past year (in Australia)
Don't know

11. In which state would you find these federal lower house seats: Capricornia and Ryan.
Queensland?

12. Who won Australia's only medal in the Montreal games?
?

13. How many medals did Australia win in Athens (half point if within 3)?
?

14. What is a 'pav'?
?

15. If I said "Head up Bay street, take a right at City Road, left into Queensbridge Street, over the bridge, right into Flinders Street and hop off outside the station", which city would I be giving directions in?
?

Bonus point: How many points is a goal worth in aussie rules; how many points if it hits the post; how many points if it goes through the smaller poles on either side of the goal; how many points if it hits a lower post, and how many points if it goes in off a defender?

Goal: Six points
The rest: One point, except if it hits an outer post, in which case it is zero?