Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Rugby League

2007-06-27T14:12:39Z

Incognito: Redirecting to Rugby league

#REDIRECT [[Rugby league]]

History of rugby

2007-06-27T14:12:03Z

Incognito: spelling

[[Image:Boston College Rugby Running With Ball.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A Rugby match at Boston College.]]
'''Rugby Football''' (or just '''Rugby''') originated at the English public school of the same name.

It was suggested in the 1890s that [[rugby]] was invented during a game of Association Football ([[soccer]]) when one of the pupils, [[William Webb Ellis]] forsook the laws of the game and picked up the ball and ran. This is highly questionable and is now regarded as a myth. The game of soccer was not codified until the 1860s and handling of the ball was commonly allowed in the game during the early nineteen century, furthermore the idea that it would have been considered a new set of rules rather than a simple cheat seems far fetched. Webb Ellis himself is not recorded to have made any mention of inventing a new game, and the first time he is credited with the game is some period following his death.

The laws of the game were later codified by the [[Rugby Football Union]] so that a team comprised 15 players and games were played over two halves of 40 minutes. An alternative version with 13 players per team was developed by the [[Rugby League]] which was formed in 1893. Historically, Rugby Union was played at southern English public (private) schools - though it also had a stong following in industrial areas such as south Wales and mining districts in south-west England - and the senior teams comprised strictly amateur players. Rugby League was mainly played in working class areas of northern England and used professional players.

==Schism==
Rugby League was popularized in the south of England by northern commentator [[Eddie Waring]] with catchphrases such as "Its an up and under", and "it looks like he's having an early bath" when a player was sent off before the end of the game. In Australia in has traditionally been the predominant sport in [[New South Wales]] and [[Queensland]].

The game of rugby was one game, until 1895, when the clubs in the North of England formed a breakaway from the Rugby Football Union. At the time this was not seen as a dramatic step with the new body referring to themselves as the [[Northern Rugby Union]] to suggest the difference was merely one of geography.

However, the roots of the schism were deep. The Northern clubs had come to dominate the game of rugby, with [[Yorkshire]] dominating the county championship and the majority of the England team being supplied by Northern clubs. However, the development of soccer from a private school game to a working class game had alarmed many in the rugby authorities, who were determined that rugby should not fall into the same trap. The rugby authorities were therefore determined to clamp down on professionalism within rugby.

It must be emphasized that professionalism in this sense applied to working class people. It was accepted that middle and upper class people would be payed to play, however, as they did not need the money they were still playing for pleasure and were therefore amateur. As working people would often need the money that would be lost in time off to play the game, money to then was essential to their playing the game and they were therefore seen as professional mercenary players, something unacceptable to the majority of South of England rugby clubs, but essential for the operation of many northern clubs.

As votes to accept some payment for [[broken time]] were rejected, twenty-two clubs broke away from the rugby football union to form professional rugby. The restrictions on professionalism in the new rugby authority were actually stricter than for the rugby union, with a listed profession essential to being permitted to play the game. Initially the new game was played by identical rule to rugby union, but as the ruling body remained separate, a new game developed as both sports diverged from their ancestor - just as American football and Canadian Football separated further.

As soccer gained in popularity in the north of England, alterations to the game of rugby were made by the Northern Rugby Union to make the game more spectator friendly. Line outs were abolished, the ruck simplified and the number of players on each team reduced to thirteen. These alterations enabled the new game of rugby to retain popularity, while the towns in the North of England that remained with the Rugby Union, such as [[Liverpool]] and [[Manchester]] became predominantly soccer towns.

In 1907, a tour of a southern hemisphere team to Britain exposed them to the new rules played in the north. A tour, dubbed the 'All Golds' was organized, which was a great commercial success. The new game was taken to Australia, where it quickly became the predominant team sport in New South Wales and then Queensland.

==International==
Despite its English origins, rugby gained popularity amongst the smaller British nations of Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Through emigration, British colonies in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa developed also a strong following. The game was also adopted in France who formed one of the "Five Nations" teams that compete in the annual northern hemisphere competition. Attempts to start the game simultaneously with soccer by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany in Germany proved to be a failure due to the subsequent popularity of soccer and the advent of World War I, and thus the game did not spread as a '''national game''' in Europe beyond France until the relatively modern era, although many rugby football clubs were started throughout Europe and South America. This has recently been expanded to Six Nations with the addition of Italy. Other countries where the game is popular include Argentina and various southern Pacific islands.

Mini versions of the game have also been developed, such as Rugby Sevens, where only seven players are in a team. Rugby has typically been a physical contact sport for men but alternative versions such as touch rugby where a player is obliged to release the ball when touched rather than physically tackled have also been developed. Since the 1980s women's Rugby has been growing in popularity.

[[American Football]] is derived from rugby and started to codify its own rules during the 1880s.

==External Links==

American National Rugby League [http://www.amnrl.com]
[[category:sports]]

History of rugby

2007-06-27T14:11:04Z

Incognito: /* International */

[[Image:Boston College Rugby Running With Ball.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A Rugby match at Boston College.]]
'''Rugby Football''' (or just '''Rugby''') originated at the English public school of the same name.

It was suggested in the 1890s that [[rugby]] was invented during a game of Association Football ([[soccer]]) when one of the pupils, [[William Webb Ellis]] foresook the laws of the game and picked up the ball and ran. This is highly questionable and is now regarded as a myth. The game of soccer was not codified until the 1860s and handling of the ball was commonly allowed in the game during the early nineteen centuary, furthermore the idea that it would have been considered a new set of rules rather than a simple cheat seems far fetched. Webb Ellis himself is nto recorded to have made any mention of inventing a new game, and the first time he is credited with the game is some period following his death.

The laws of the game were later codified by the [[Rugby Football Union]] so that a team comprised 15 players and games were played over two halves of 40 minutes. An alternative version with 13 players per team was developed by the [[Rugby League]] which was formed in 1893. Historically, Rugby Union was played at southern English public (private) schools - though it also had a stong following in industrial areas such as south Wales and mining districts in south-west England - and the senior teams comprised strictly amateur players. Rugby League was mainly played in working class areas of northern England and used professional players.

==Schism==
Rugby League was popularized in the south of England by northern commentator [[Eddie Waring]] with catchphrases such as "Its an up and under", and "it looks like he's having an early bath" when a player was sent off before the end of the game. In Australia in has traditionally been the predominant sport in [[New South Wales]] and [[Queensland]].

The game of rugby was one game, until 1895, when the clubs in the North of England formed a breakaway from the Rugby Football Union. At the time this was not seen as a dramatic step with the new body referring to themselves as the [[Northern Rugby Union]] to suggest the difference was merely one of geography.

However, the roots of the schism were deep. The Northern clubs had come to dominate the game of rugby, with [[Yorkshire]] dominating the county championship and the majority of the England team being supplied by Northern clubs. However, the development of soccer from a private school game to a working class game had alarmed many in the rugby authorities, who were determined that rugby should not fall into the same trap. The rugby authorities were therefore determined to clamp down on professionalism within rugby.

It must be emphasized that professionalism in this sense applied to working class people. It was accepted that middle and upper class people would be payed to play, however, as they did not need the money they were still playing for pleasure and were therefore amateur. As working people would often need the money that would be lost in time off to play the game, money to then was essential to their playing the game and they were therefore seen as professional mercenary players, something unacceptable to the majority of South of England rugby clubs, but essential for the operation of many northern clubs.

As votes to accept some payment for [[broken time]] were rejected, twenty-two clubs broke away from the rugby football union to form professional rugby. The restrictions on professionalism in the new rugby authority were actually stricter than for the rugby union, with a listed profession essential to being permitted to play the game. Initially the new game was played by identical rule to rugby union, but as the ruling body remained separate, a new game developed as both sports diverged from their ancestor - just as American football and Canadian Football separated further.

As soccer gained in popularity in the north of England, alterations to the game of rugby were made by the Northern Rugby Union to make the game more spectator friendly. Line outs were abolished, the ruck simplified and the number of players on each team reduced to thirteen. These alterations enabled the new game of rugby to retain popularity, while the towns in the North of England that remained with the Rugby Union, such as [[Liverpool]] and [[Manchester]] became predominantly soccer towns.

In 1907, a tour of a southern hemisphere team to Britain exposed them to the new rules played in the north. A tour, dubbed the 'All Golds' was organized, which was a great commercial success. The new game was taken to Australia, where it quickly became the predominant team sport in New South Wales and then Queensland.

==International==
Despite its English origins, rugby gained popularity amongst the smaller British nations of Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Through emigration, British colonies in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa developed also a strong following. The game was also adopted in France who formed one of the "Five Nations" teams that compete in the annual northern hemisphere competition. Attempts to start the game simultaneously with soccer by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany in Germany proved to be a failure due to the subsequent popularity of soccer and the advent of World War I, and thus the game did not spread as a '''national game''' in Europe beyond France until the relatively modern era, although many rugby football clubs were started throughout Europe and South America. This has recently been expanded to Six Nations with the addition of Italy. Other countries where the game is popular include Argentina and various southern Pacific islands.

Mini versions of the game have also been developed, such as Rugby Sevens, where only seven players are in a team. Rugby has typically been a physical contact sport for men but alternative versions such as touch rugby where a player is obliged to release the ball when touched rather than physically tackled have also been developed. Since the 1980s women's Rugby has been growing in popularity.

[[American Football]] is derived from rugby and started to codify its own rules during the 1880s.

==External Links==

American National Rugby League [http://www.amnrl.com]
[[category:sports]]

History of rugby

2007-06-27T14:10:55Z

Incognito: /* International */

[[Image:Boston College Rugby Running With Ball.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A Rugby match at Boston College.]]
'''Rugby Football''' (or just '''Rugby''') originated at the English public school of the same name.

It was suggested in the 1890s that [[rugby]] was invented during a game of Association Football ([[soccer]]) when one of the pupils, [[William Webb Ellis]] foresook the laws of the game and picked up the ball and ran. This is highly questionable and is now regarded as a myth. The game of soccer was not codified until the 1860s and handling of the ball was commonly allowed in the game during the early nineteen centuary, furthermore the idea that it would have been considered a new set of rules rather than a simple cheat seems far fetched. Webb Ellis himself is nto recorded to have made any mention of inventing a new game, and the first time he is credited with the game is some period following his death.

The laws of the game were later codified by the [[Rugby Football Union]] so that a team comprised 15 players and games were played over two halves of 40 minutes. An alternative version with 13 players per team was developed by the [[Rugby League]] which was formed in 1893. Historically, Rugby Union was played at southern English public (private) schools - though it also had a stong following in industrial areas such as south Wales and mining districts in south-west England - and the senior teams comprised strictly amateur players. Rugby League was mainly played in working class areas of northern England and used professional players.

==Schism==
Rugby League was popularized in the south of England by northern commentator [[Eddie Waring]] with catchphrases such as "Its an up and under", and "it looks like he's having an early bath" when a player was sent off before the end of the game. In Australia in has traditionally been the predominant sport in [[New South Wales]] and [[Queensland]].

The game of rugby was one game, until 1895, when the clubs in the North of England formed a breakaway from the Rugby Football Union. At the time this was not seen as a dramatic step with the new body referring to themselves as the [[Northern Rugby Union]] to suggest the difference was merely one of geography.

However, the roots of the schism were deep. The Northern clubs had come to dominate the game of rugby, with [[Yorkshire]] dominating the county championship and the majority of the England team being supplied by Northern clubs. However, the development of soccer from a private school game to a working class game had alarmed many in the rugby authorities, who were determined that rugby should not fall into the same trap. The rugby authorities were therefore determined to clamp down on professionalism within rugby.

It must be emphasized that professionalism in this sense applied to working class people. It was accepted that middle and upper class people would be payed to play, however, as they did not need the money they were still playing for pleasure and were therefore amateur. As working people would often need the money that would be lost in time off to play the game, money to then was essential to their playing the game and they were therefore seen as professional mercenary players, something unacceptable to the majority of South of England rugby clubs, but essential for the operation of many northern clubs.

As votes to accept some payment for [[broken time]] were rejected, twenty-two clubs broke away from the rugby football union to form professional rugby. The restrictions on professionalism in the new rugby authority were actually stricter than for the rugby union, with a listed profession essential to being permitted to play the game. Initially the new game was played by identical rule to rugby union, but as the ruling body remained separate, a new game developed as both sports diverged from their ancestor - just as American football and Canadian Football separated further.

As soccer gained in popularity in the north of England, alterations to the game of rugby were made by the Northern Rugby Union to make the game more spectator friendly. Line outs were abolished, the ruck simplified and the number of players on each team reduced to thirteen. These alterations enabled the new game of rugby to retain popularity, while the towns in the North of England that remained with the Rugby Union, such as [[Liverpool]] and [[Manchester]] became predominantly soccer towns.

In 1907, a tour of a southern hemisphere team to Britain exposed them to the new rules played in the north. A tour, dubbed the 'All Golds' was organized, which was a great commercial success. The new game was taken to Australia, where it quickly became the predominant team sport in New South Wales and then Queensland.

==International==
Despite its English origins, rugby gained popularity amongst the smaller British nations of Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Through emigration, British colonies in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa developed also a strong following. The game was also adopted in France who formed one of the "Five Nations" teams that compete in the annual northern hemisphere competition. Attempts to start the game simultaneously with soccer by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany in Germany proved to be a failure due to the subsequent popularity of soccer and the advet of World War I, and thus the game did not spread as a '''national game''' in Europe beyond France until the relatively modern era, although many rugby football clubs were started throughout Europe and South America. This has recently been expanded to Six Nations with the addition of Italy. Other countries where the game is popular include Argentina and various southern Pacific islands.

Mini versions of the game have also been developed, such as Rugby Sevens, where only seven players are in a team. Rugby has typically been a physical contact sport for men but alternative versions such as touch rugby where a player is obliged to release the ball when touched rather than physically tackled have also been developed. Since the 1980s women's Rugby has been growing in popularity.

[[American Football]] is derived from rugby and started to codify its own rules during the 1880s.

==External Links==

American National Rugby League [http://www.amnrl.com]
[[category:sports]]

Russell Crowe

2007-06-10T12:50:48Z

Incognito: New page: Hollywood actor, famous for the movie "The Gladiator" and "A beautiful mind".

Hollywood actor, famous for the movie "The Gladiator" and "A beautiful mind".

South Sydney Rabbitohs

2007-06-10T12:49:54Z

Incognito: New page: '''South Sydney Rugby league football club''', or '''SSFC''', is a football club based in Redfern, Sydney. The club was founded in 1908 and started playing in the top Sydney competitio...

'''South Sydney [[Rugby league]] football club''', or '''SSFC''', is a football club based in Redfern, Sydney. The club was founded in 1908 and started playing in the top Sydney competition in that year. The club is the most successful in rugby league, having won 20 titles before their last grand final victory in 1971. In the past 35 years, the club has fallen on lean times which culminated in their being expelled during the rationalisation period of the NRL between 1999 and 2002. They have since been bought by prominent business owner, Peter Holmes a Court, and famous actor, [[Russell Crowe]], who have promised to rebuild the club into one of the top football teams again.

Australia

2007-06-10T02:47:49Z

Incognito: /* Sport */

[[Image:AustraliaFlag.gif‎ |thumb|250px|Australia's flag]]
The [[Commonwealth]] of Australia is a [[country]]-[[continent]] with its west coast on the [[Indian Ocean]], east coast on the [[Pacific Ocean]] facing [[New Zealand]], southern coast on the [[Southern Ocean]] facing [[Antarctica]], and northern coast bordering [[Indonesia]] and [[Papua New Guinea]]. Australia is considered geographically as part of [[Oceania]], but has been establishing its place politically and commercially in [[South East Asia]].

Australia is the only country to occupy an entire continent<ref>This refers just to the Australian mainland. Some authorities now include [[Papua New Guinea]], [[New Zealand]], and various other [[Pacific Ocean]] islands in the continent of "Oceania". See [http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/au.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>, the smallest of the planet's seven continents.<ref>Some people count six, combining North and South America or Europe and Asia. See [http://worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/contnent.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>
It is 2,400 miles, (3,860 km) from east to west and 2,000 miles (3,220 km) from north to south.
It covers an area of 2,967,877 sq miles (7,686,810 sq km). The Australian coastline is 22,812 miles long (36,735 kilometers).
The mainland of Australia is about the same size as the mainland 48 states of the USA.

[[Image:Mapaust.gif‎ |Map of Australia]]
{{clear}}
Australia has six states and two internal territories. The states are [[New South Wales]], [[Victoria]], [[Queensland]], [[Western Australia]], [[South Australia]] and [[Tasmania]]. The internal territories are the [[Northern Territory]] (responsible government since 1978) and the [[Australian Capital Territory]] (responsible government since 1988) which is the location of Australia's capital city, [[Canberra]]. External territories include [[Christmas Island]] and the [[Australian Antarctic Territory]].

== History==
=== Pre European Contact ===
Australia was originally inhabited by people who are commonly known as [[Australian Aborigines|Aborigines]] although they come from over 700 smaller nations each with their own tribal name and language. Over time, many of these nations and tribes lost their identity or were decimated by disease, poor nutrition, massacres by white settlers and the forced removal of children from their parents into white families or mission stations. Nevertheless, many Aboriginal languages and traditions have survived the more than 200 years of white settlement. Under recent legislation recognising native title, Aboriginal communities now have the right to claim back land dispossessed from them where they can prove that lasting cultural links still persist and where the native title has not been extinguished by freehold or leasehold title.

The original inhabitants of the [[Torres Strait Islands]] and far northern Queensland are different and are known as [[Torres Strait Islander]]s. These people are more closely related to [[Melanesian]]s than to Aborigines. The term usually used to include all indigenous Australians is "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders".

=== Post European Contact ===
European discovery of the mainland of Australia was by [[Holland|Dutch]] sailors heading to the spice isles of what is now [[Indonesia]], in the 16th Century. Most of their descriptions of Australia are based on the exploration of the North West coast which is very rugged and inhospitable.

In [[1770]] the [[England|English]] navigator, Lieutenant [[James Cook]], Captain of the [[Royal Navy]] bark, [[HMS Endeavour]], discovered the east coast of Australia which is much more capable of maintaining life and settlers. In [[1788]] the [[First Fleet]] arrived at [[Sydney]] Cove, [[New South Wales]] - comprising officers, Marines, convicts and a very few free settlers. Later fleets brought more convicts who were dispersed also to Tasmania and other remote settlements. Over time, when freed, the former convicts settled areas beyond [[Sydney Harbour]].

As the 18th century came to a close convicts were given land packages and more free settlers came to the land in the hope of setting up farms and businesses. A number of colonies started to be formed - the most populated being New South Wales (whose capital city is Sydney). These colonies later became the states.

The 1850s saw the discovery of [[gold]] and large number of people moved to Australia to find new wealth. Most of these people were British, although there were also many dispossessed by the "land clearings" in [[Scotland]] and the [[Ireland|Irish]] [[potato]] [[famine]], and there was a significant number of [[China|Chinese]] immigrants during this rush. "Americans were drawn to Australia to participate in various enterprises such as the gold fields" <ref>[http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/textversion/usa.htm| Australian Dept of Immigration and Citizenship]</ref>

== System of Government ==
Australia became a federated country on [[1 January]] [[1901]] under the [[Constitution of Australia]], and all former British colonies became states. The declaration of federation was made in Sydney. The parliament met in [[Melbourne]], Victoria, until the infrastructure was built for the capital city, [[Canberra]].

Australia has a [[Parliament|parliamentary system]] of government based on the British system with a [[bicameral]] system: the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and the [[Australian Senate|Senate]]. Each state and territory also has its own parliament.

Australia is a [[democracy]] which has allowed men of [[European]] descent to vote since federation, with non-Aboriginal women gaining the vote in 1902 and Aboriginal men and women gaining suffrage in 1962. Voting is compulsory for all citizens who are 18 years old and over (with a few exceptions.)

Australia's Head of Government is the [[Prime Minister of Australia]]. The current Prime Minister is [[John Howard]], the leader of the [[Liberal Party of Australia]]. The Deputy Prime Minister is [[Mark Vaile]], the leader of the [[National Party of Australia]]. The two parties are in [[coalition]] to form the Government.

The Head of State is [[Queen Elizabeth II]], the Queen of Australia (who is the same person, but a different title, as the Queen of Great Britain.) Under the Constitution, and in practice, the authority of the Head of State is vested in the [[Governor-General of Australia]], currently the retired Major-General Philip Michael Jeffery, AC, CVO, MC, GCL, who assents to acts of parliament, is the Commander in Chief of the military forces, and appoints all Ministers of the Government; all these various powers are normally exercised on advice from the Prime Minister.

The Government of Australia is exercised, day-to-day, by the Ministers through their various Departments of State.

Australia has [[preferential voting]], which is designed to ensure that the candidates with the most support get into office, rather than the candidate with the most primary votes. So if three candidates, A, B, and C, get 40%, 35%, and 25% of the votes respectively (so no candidate has more than 50% of the votes), then the second preference of the voters who voted for C are distributed to the remaining candidates. The result might be that A ends up with 45% of the votes, and B with 55%, indicating that 55% of the voters prefer candidate B over A.

One consequence of this voting system is that it encourages a multiplicity of parties and even independent candidates. There have been times when the balance of power has been held my minor parties or independent individuals.

There is no limit on the time a person can be a Member of Parliament (MP) (elected, notionally, for 3 years, but the timing of elections is decided by the Prime Minister) or a Senator (elected for two cycles of the House of representatives.) The Prime Minister is normally a member of the House of Representatives, and the tenure is not limited by statute. (John Gorton was a Senator when appointed leader of his party. He immediately resigned from the Senate and stood for election to the House of Representatives.)

The Federal 'opposition' political party, is the [[Australian Labor Party]]. Its leader is [[Kevin Rudd]]. The Labor Party is in government in all of the states and territories but remains in opposition at the Federal level. The next Australian Federal election is expected to be held late in 2007. The Labor Party is "social democratic" while the Liberals are "liberal conservatives"; however, some of the smaller parties are more socialist or more conservative than Labor and Liberal respectively.

===Parliamentary political parties===
* Australian Democrats
* Australian Greens
* Australian Labor Party
* Country Liberal Party
* Family First Party
* Liberal Party of Australia
* National Party of Australia

Despite the name, the Liberal Party, which has been in power in Australia since 1996, is conservative in political stance, a paradox established since the years that Sir Robert Menzies was Prime Minister. Menzies helped found the Liberal Party in 1944 and was the Prime Minister from 1939 until 1941 and then again from 1949 until 1966. <ref> [http://www.liberals.net/liberalpartyhistory.htm History of the Liberal Party in Australia]</ref>The liberal term refers to the party's predominantly free-market approach to economic management.

== Prime Ministers of Australia ==
Following is a list of Prime Ministers of Australia from Federation to the present.<ref>[http://www.aph.gov.au/library/parl/hist/primmins.htm Prime Ministers of Australia]</ref>
{|border=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=2 width=90%
!<big>Prime Minister</big>||<big>Dates</big>
|-
|'''Sir [[Edmund Barton]], PC, GCMG, KC''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[1 January]] [[1901]]—[[24 September]] [[1903]] (2 years, 8 months, 24 days)
|-
|'''[[Alfred Deakin]]''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[24 September]] [[1903]]—[[27 April 1904]] (7 months, 4 days)
|-
|'''[[John Christian Watson]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[27 April]] [[1904]]—[[17 August]] [[1904]] (3 months, 21 days)
|-
|'''[[George Houstoun Reid]] (later Sir George), PC, KC''' (Free Trade)
|[[18 August]] [[1904]]—[[5 July]] [[1905]] (10 months, 18 days)
|-
|'''Alfred Deakin''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[5 July]] [[1905]]—[[13 November]] [[1908]] (3 years, 4 months, 9 days)
|-
|'''[[Andrew Fisher]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[13 November]] [[1908]]—[[2 June]] [[1909]] (6 months, 21 days)
|-
|'''[[Alfred Deakin]]''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[2 June]] [[1909]]—[[29 April]] [[1910]] (10 months, 28 days)
|-
|'''Andrew Fisher''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[29 April]] [[1910]]—[[24 June]] [[1913]] (3 years, 1 month, 26 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Cook]] (later Sir Joseph)''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[24 June]] [[1913]]—[[17 September]] [[1914]] (1 year, 2 months, 25 days)
|-
|'''Andrew Fisher''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[17 September]] [[1914]]—[[27 October]] [[1915]] (1 year, 1 month, 11 days)
|-
|'''[[William Morris Hughes]]''' (Australian Labor Party; Nationalist Party from 1917)
|[[27 October]] [[1915]]—[[9 February]] [[1923]] (7 years, 3 months, 14 days)
|-
|'''[[Stanley Melbourne Bruce]], PC, CH, MC''' (Nationalist Party)
|[[9 February]] [[1923]]—[[22 October]] [[1929]] (6 years, 8 months, 14 days)
|-
|'''[[James Henry Scullin]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[22 October]] [[1929]]—[[6 January]] [[1932]] (2 years, 2 months, 16 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Aloysius Lyons]], PC, CH''' (United Australia Party)
|[[6 January]] [[1932]]—[[7 April]] [[1939]] (7 years, 3 months, 2 days)
|-
|'''Sir [[Earle Christmas Grafton Page]], PC, GCMG''' (Australian Country Party)
|[[7 April]] [[1939]]—[[26 April]] [[1939]] (20 days)
|-
|'''[[Robert Gordon Menzies]], PC, KC''' (United Australia Party)
|[[26 April]] [[1939]]—[[29 August]] [[1941]] (2 years, 4 months, 4 days)
|-
|'''[[Arthur William Fadden]] (later Sir Arthur)''' (Country Party)
|[[29 August]] [[1941]]—[[7 October]] [[1941]] (1 month, 9 days)
|-
|'''[[John Curtin]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[7 October]] [[1941]]—[[5 July]] [[1945]] (3 years, 8 months, 29 days)
|-
|'''[[Francis Michael Forde]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[6 July]] [[1945]]—[[13 July]] [[1945]] (8 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Benedict Chifley]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[13 July]] [[1945]]—[[19 December]] [[1949]] (4 years, 5 months, 7 days)
|-
|'''[[Robert Gordon Menzies]] (later Sir Robert), PC, KC''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[19 December]] [[1949]]—[[26 January]] [[1966]] (16 years, 1 month, 8 days)
|-
|'''[[Harold Edward Holt]], PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[26 January]] [[1966]]—[[19 December]] [[1967]] (1 year, 10 months, 23 days)
|-
|'''[[John McEwen]] (later Sir John), PC''' (Country Party)
|[[19 December]] [[1967]]—[[10 January]] [[1968]] (23 days)
|-
|'''[[John Grey Gorton]], PC''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[10 January]] [[1968]]—[[10 March]] [[1971]] (3 years, 2 months)
|-
|'''[[William McMahon]] (later Sir William), PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[10 March]] [[1971]]—[[5 December]] [[1972]] (1 year, 8 months, 25 days)
|-
|'''[[Edward Gough Whitlam]], QC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[5 December]] [[1972]]—[[11 November]] [[1975]] (2 years, 11 months, 7 days)
|-
|'''[[John Malcolm Fraser]], PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[11 November]] [[1975]]—[[11 March]] [[1983]] (7 years, 4 months)
|-
|'''[[Robert James Lee Hawke]], AC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[11 March]] [[1983]]—[[20 December]] [[1991]] (8 years, 9 months, 10 days)
|-
|'''[[Paul John Keating]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[20 December]] [[1991]]—[[11 March]] [[1996]] (4 years, 2 months, 20 days)
|-
|'''[[John Howard|John Winston Howard]]''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[11 March]] [[1996]]— (11 years so far)
|}

== Geography ==

Australia relies a great deal on industry, agriculture and tourism to foster its economy. It has a thriving film industry and very advanced technology. Most tourists visit places such as Sydney Harbour, Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Central Australia and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland. Other favorite destinations are the wine making areas of South Australia and northern Victoria, the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, the natural wonders of Tasmania and the huge outback expanses of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Some cattle stations in Australia rival [[Texas]] in size and the distance between towns in some areas is enormous.

80% of Australia's population, of just over 20,000,000 people, live on the coast line. It is one of the world's most sparsely populated countries (2.7 people per square kilometre)<ref>[http://www.abs.gov.au ABS]</ref>. Water is scarce and some cities have some form of water restrictions in place.

Weather extremes are common in Australia with temperatures sometimes measured into the high 40s Celsius (45 degrees Celsius = 113 degrees Fahrenheit). The city of Darwin was destroyed by Cyclone Tracey in 1974 and bush fires often ravage the southern states - one of the worst occurring on Ash Wednesday in 1983 when over 2,000 homes were destroyed and over 70 people lost their lives in Victoria and South Australia.

Australia is noted for its unique biodiversity. Many animals are found only in Australia, the most well known examples are the group of marsupials ([[kangaroos]], [[wombats]], [[wallabies]] and [[koalas]]), and the only two [[monotremes]], the [[platypus]] and the [[echidna]]. Examples of plants that are native to Australia are the [[banksia]], [[yellow wattle]] and [[gum tree]].

Studies indicate that Australia's unique wildlife is the result of Australia becoming an island, being cut off from the Asian land bridge between 40,000–250,000 years ago on the uniformitarian timescale.

== Sport ==

Australia is often known as a sporting nation with success worldwide in [[swimming]], [[tennis]], [[rugby union]], [[cricket]], [[netball]], [[basketball]], and even speed [[ice skating]]. Australians are very keen horse racers with the Melbourne Cup <ref>[http://www.melbournecup.com.au| Melbourne Cup]</ref> attracting up to 120,000 spectators at Flemington Race Course on the first Tuesday in November. There is a public holiday for the cup race in Melbourne, while the remainder of the country virtually pauses during the running of the cup race. This day also coincides (mostly) every second year with the [[American]] [[Congress|Congressional]] [[election]]s and every four years with the [[President|Presidential]] election.

Unique to Australia is a game known as [[Australian rules football]] or Aussie Rules, which is played on a [[cricket]] oval in winter. Australian rules football is the sport most attended in the states of [[Victoria]], [[South Australia]] and [[Western Australia]], and most attended overall in Australia; in 2006 2.5 million people had attended at least one Aussie Rules game in the preceding 12 months.[http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/ProductsbyCatalogue/1F8FAC9C2C7B1623CA2568A900139417?OpenDocument] Australian Rules Football was written by persons educated at the [[Rugby School]] in England and [[Cambridge University]] before the organisation of uniform football codes. It is not very popular in the Australian states of [[New South Wales]] and [[Queensland]].

The other national football code is [[rugby league]] football. Rugby league football is the most attended sport in New South Wales and Queensland with its premier club competition being the [[National Rugby League]]. The national rugby league football team has only lost one competition in the past 29 years, that being to New Zealand in 2005.

==Religion==
Australia is a [[secular]] nation, in that it has no established religion associated with the Government. Of Australia's population of around 20 million, approximately 1.5 million attend weekly religious services <ref>[http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?docid=2250&track=82083| National Church Life Survey 2004]</ref>. The Australian public school system is described as "free, secular and compulsory" with the secular meaning without favour to any particular religion - most primary schools, however, do offer some form on non-compulsory religious education according to the parents' wishes. The state systems of a number of states offer studies in religion at the senior level.

There is a large Catholic school system in Australia with most parishes having their own primary school and many hundreds of Catholic High Schools across the country. There are also a large number of independent schools founded by various religions or demominations of the Christian faith - some hold that religious background to be more important than others.

==Comparing Australian and U.S. Economic and Health statistics==
Whilst the Australian society is similar in many aspects to those of the U.S., a comparison of key economic (in $U.S.) and health indicators highlights some interesting fundamental differences:

'''GDP Per Capita'''
*U.S. $43,500.00
*Aus $32,900.00

'''Budget Defecit/Surplus'''
*U.S. $841.00 per capita defecit
*Aus $444.00 per capita surplus. Australia has had budget surpluses every year since 2001

'''Public Debt'''
*U.S. 64.7% of GDP
*Aus 14.1% of GDP

'''Military Expenditure'''
*U.S. 4.06% of GDP
*Aus 2.5 % of GDP

'''Life Expectancy at Birth'''
*U.S. 77.85 years (combined male and female)
*Aus 80.5 years (combined male and female)

'''Infant Mortality Rates'''
*U.S. 6.43 deaths/1,000 live births
*Aus 4.63 deaths/1,000 live births

'''HIV/AIDS Prevalence Rates'''
*U.S. 0.6% of population
*Aus 0.1% of population

Australians also enjoy a universal health scheme and significant subsidies on most prescription medications, both of which are likely to account for some of the significant differences between the life expectancy and infant mortality rates between the U.S. and Australia.

==External links==
* [http://www.fed.gov.au Australian Government portal]
* [http://www.aph.gov.au Australian Parliament House (Reps & Senate) portal]
* [http://www.gg.gov.au Governor-General of Australia]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Oceanian Countries]]
[[Category:Continents]]
[[Category:Australia]]

Australia

2007-06-10T02:44:53Z

Incognito: /* Sport */

[[Image:AustraliaFlag.gif‎ |thumb|250px|Australia's flag]]
The [[Commonwealth]] of Australia is a [[country]]-[[continent]] with its west coast on the [[Indian Ocean]], east coast on the [[Pacific Ocean]] facing [[New Zealand]], southern coast on the [[Southern Ocean]] facing [[Antarctica]], and northern coast bordering [[Indonesia]] and [[Papua New Guinea]]. Australia is considered geographically as part of [[Oceania]], but has been establishing its place politically and commercially in [[South East Asia]].

Australia is the only country to occupy an entire continent<ref>This refers just to the Australian mainland. Some authorities now include [[Papua New Guinea]], [[New Zealand]], and various other [[Pacific Ocean]] islands in the continent of "Oceania". See [http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/au.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>, the smallest of the planet's seven continents.<ref>Some people count six, combining North and South America or Europe and Asia. See [http://worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/contnent.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>
It is 2,400 miles, (3,860 km) from east to west and 2,000 miles (3,220 km) from north to south.
It covers an area of 2,967,877 sq miles (7,686,810 sq km). The Australian coastline is 22,812 miles long (36,735 kilometers).
The mainland of Australia is about the same size as the mainland 48 states of the USA.

[[Image:Mapaust.gif‎ |Map of Australia]]
{{clear}}
Australia has six states and two internal territories. The states are [[New South Wales]], [[Victoria]], [[Queensland]], [[Western Australia]], [[South Australia]] and [[Tasmania]]. The internal territories are the [[Northern Territory]] (responsible government since 1978) and the [[Australian Capital Territory]] (responsible government since 1988) which is the location of Australia's capital city, [[Canberra]]. External territories include [[Christmas Island]] and the [[Australian Antarctic Territory]].

== History==
=== Pre European Contact ===
Australia was originally inhabited by people who are commonly known as [[Australian Aborigines|Aborigines]] although they come from over 700 smaller nations each with their own tribal name and language. Over time, many of these nations and tribes lost their identity or were decimated by disease, poor nutrition, massacres by white settlers and the forced removal of children from their parents into white families or mission stations. Nevertheless, many Aboriginal languages and traditions have survived the more than 200 years of white settlement. Under recent legislation recognising native title, Aboriginal communities now have the right to claim back land dispossessed from them where they can prove that lasting cultural links still persist and where the native title has not been extinguished by freehold or leasehold title.

The original inhabitants of the [[Torres Strait Islands]] and far northern Queensland are different and are known as [[Torres Strait Islander]]s. These people are more closely related to [[Melanesian]]s than to Aborigines. The term usually used to include all indigenous Australians is "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders".

=== Post European Contact ===
European discovery of the mainland of Australia was by [[Holland|Dutch]] sailors heading to the spice isles of what is now [[Indonesia]], in the 16th Century. Most of their descriptions of Australia are based on the exploration of the North West coast which is very rugged and inhospitable.

In [[1770]] the [[England|English]] navigator, Lieutenant [[James Cook]], Captain of the [[Royal Navy]] bark, [[HMS Endeavour]], discovered the east coast of Australia which is much more capable of maintaining life and settlers. In [[1788]] the [[First Fleet]] arrived at [[Sydney]] Cove, [[New South Wales]] - comprising officers, Marines, convicts and a very few free settlers. Later fleets brought more convicts who were dispersed also to Tasmania and other remote settlements. Over time, when freed, the former convicts settled areas beyond [[Sydney Harbour]].

As the 18th century came to a close convicts were given land packages and more free settlers came to the land in the hope of setting up farms and businesses. A number of colonies started to be formed - the most populated being New South Wales (whose capital city is Sydney). These colonies later became the states.

The 1850s saw the discovery of [[gold]] and large number of people moved to Australia to find new wealth. Most of these people were British, although there were also many dispossessed by the "land clearings" in [[Scotland]] and the [[Ireland|Irish]] [[potato]] [[famine]], and there was a significant number of [[China|Chinese]] immigrants during this rush. "Americans were drawn to Australia to participate in various enterprises such as the gold fields" <ref>[http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/textversion/usa.htm| Australian Dept of Immigration and Citizenship]</ref>

== System of Government ==
Australia became a federated country on [[1 January]] [[1901]] under the [[Constitution of Australia]], and all former British colonies became states. The declaration of federation was made in Sydney. The parliament met in [[Melbourne]], Victoria, until the infrastructure was built for the capital city, [[Canberra]].

Australia has a [[Parliament|parliamentary system]] of government based on the British system with a [[bicameral]] system: the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and the [[Australian Senate|Senate]]. Each state and territory also has its own parliament.

Australia is a [[democracy]] which has allowed men of [[European]] descent to vote since federation, with non-Aboriginal women gaining the vote in 1902 and Aboriginal men and women gaining suffrage in 1962. Voting is compulsory for all citizens who are 18 years old and over (with a few exceptions.)

Australia's Head of Government is the [[Prime Minister of Australia]]. The current Prime Minister is [[John Howard]], the leader of the [[Liberal Party of Australia]]. The Deputy Prime Minister is [[Mark Vaile]], the leader of the [[National Party of Australia]]. The two parties are in [[coalition]] to form the Government.

The Head of State is [[Queen Elizabeth II]], the Queen of Australia (who is the same person, but a different title, as the Queen of Great Britain.) Under the Constitution, and in practice, the authority of the Head of State is vested in the [[Governor-General of Australia]], currently the retired Major-General Philip Michael Jeffery, AC, CVO, MC, GCL, who assents to acts of parliament, is the Commander in Chief of the military forces, and appoints all Ministers of the Government; all these various powers are normally exercised on advice from the Prime Minister.

The Government of Australia is exercised, day-to-day, by the Ministers through their various Departments of State.

Australia has [[preferential voting]], which is designed to ensure that the candidates with the most support get into office, rather than the candidate with the most primary votes. So if three candidates, A, B, and C, get 40%, 35%, and 25% of the votes respectively (so no candidate has more than 50% of the votes), then the second preference of the voters who voted for C are distributed to the remaining candidates. The result might be that A ends up with 45% of the votes, and B with 55%, indicating that 55% of the voters prefer candidate B over A.

One consequence of this voting system is that it encourages a multiplicity of parties and even independent candidates. There have been times when the balance of power has been held my minor parties or independent individuals.

There is no limit on the time a person can be a Member of Parliament (MP) (elected, notionally, for 3 years, but the timing of elections is decided by the Prime Minister) or a Senator (elected for two cycles of the House of representatives.) The Prime Minister is normally a member of the House of Representatives, and the tenure is not limited by statute. (John Gorton was a Senator when appointed leader of his party. He immediately resigned from the Senate and stood for election to the House of Representatives.)

The Federal 'opposition' political party, is the [[Australian Labor Party]]. Its leader is [[Kevin Rudd]]. The Labor Party is in government in all of the states and territories but remains in opposition at the Federal level. The next Australian Federal election is expected to be held late in 2007. The Labor Party is "social democratic" while the Liberals are "liberal conservatives"; however, some of the smaller parties are more socialist or more conservative than Labor and Liberal respectively.

===Parliamentary political parties===
* Australian Democrats
* Australian Greens
* Australian Labor Party
* Country Liberal Party
* Family First Party
* Liberal Party of Australia
* National Party of Australia

Despite the name, the Liberal Party, which has been in power in Australia since 1996, is conservative in political stance, a paradox established since the years that Sir Robert Menzies was Prime Minister. Menzies helped found the Liberal Party in 1944 and was the Prime Minister from 1939 until 1941 and then again from 1949 until 1966. <ref> [http://www.liberals.net/liberalpartyhistory.htm History of the Liberal Party in Australia]</ref>The liberal term refers to the party's predominantly free-market approach to economic management.

== Prime Ministers of Australia ==
Following is a list of Prime Ministers of Australia from Federation to the present.<ref>[http://www.aph.gov.au/library/parl/hist/primmins.htm Prime Ministers of Australia]</ref>
{|border=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=2 width=90%
!<big>Prime Minister</big>||<big>Dates</big>
|-
|'''Sir [[Edmund Barton]], PC, GCMG, KC''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[1 January]] [[1901]]—[[24 September]] [[1903]] (2 years, 8 months, 24 days)
|-
|'''[[Alfred Deakin]]''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[24 September]] [[1903]]—[[27 April 1904]] (7 months, 4 days)
|-
|'''[[John Christian Watson]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[27 April]] [[1904]]—[[17 August]] [[1904]] (3 months, 21 days)
|-
|'''[[George Houstoun Reid]] (later Sir George), PC, KC''' (Free Trade)
|[[18 August]] [[1904]]—[[5 July]] [[1905]] (10 months, 18 days)
|-
|'''Alfred Deakin''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[5 July]] [[1905]]—[[13 November]] [[1908]] (3 years, 4 months, 9 days)
|-
|'''[[Andrew Fisher]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[13 November]] [[1908]]—[[2 June]] [[1909]] (6 months, 21 days)
|-
|'''[[Alfred Deakin]]''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[2 June]] [[1909]]—[[29 April]] [[1910]] (10 months, 28 days)
|-
|'''Andrew Fisher''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[29 April]] [[1910]]—[[24 June]] [[1913]] (3 years, 1 month, 26 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Cook]] (later Sir Joseph)''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[24 June]] [[1913]]—[[17 September]] [[1914]] (1 year, 2 months, 25 days)
|-
|'''Andrew Fisher''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[17 September]] [[1914]]—[[27 October]] [[1915]] (1 year, 1 month, 11 days)
|-
|'''[[William Morris Hughes]]''' (Australian Labor Party; Nationalist Party from 1917)
|[[27 October]] [[1915]]—[[9 February]] [[1923]] (7 years, 3 months, 14 days)
|-
|'''[[Stanley Melbourne Bruce]], PC, CH, MC''' (Nationalist Party)
|[[9 February]] [[1923]]—[[22 October]] [[1929]] (6 years, 8 months, 14 days)
|-
|'''[[James Henry Scullin]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[22 October]] [[1929]]—[[6 January]] [[1932]] (2 years, 2 months, 16 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Aloysius Lyons]], PC, CH''' (United Australia Party)
|[[6 January]] [[1932]]—[[7 April]] [[1939]] (7 years, 3 months, 2 days)
|-
|'''Sir [[Earle Christmas Grafton Page]], PC, GCMG''' (Australian Country Party)
|[[7 April]] [[1939]]—[[26 April]] [[1939]] (20 days)
|-
|'''[[Robert Gordon Menzies]], PC, KC''' (United Australia Party)
|[[26 April]] [[1939]]—[[29 August]] [[1941]] (2 years, 4 months, 4 days)
|-
|'''[[Arthur William Fadden]] (later Sir Arthur)''' (Country Party)
|[[29 August]] [[1941]]—[[7 October]] [[1941]] (1 month, 9 days)
|-
|'''[[John Curtin]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[7 October]] [[1941]]—[[5 July]] [[1945]] (3 years, 8 months, 29 days)
|-
|'''[[Francis Michael Forde]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[6 July]] [[1945]]—[[13 July]] [[1945]] (8 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Benedict Chifley]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[13 July]] [[1945]]—[[19 December]] [[1949]] (4 years, 5 months, 7 days)
|-
|'''[[Robert Gordon Menzies]] (later Sir Robert), PC, KC''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[19 December]] [[1949]]—[[26 January]] [[1966]] (16 years, 1 month, 8 days)
|-
|'''[[Harold Edward Holt]], PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[26 January]] [[1966]]—[[19 December]] [[1967]] (1 year, 10 months, 23 days)
|-
|'''[[John McEwen]] (later Sir John), PC''' (Country Party)
|[[19 December]] [[1967]]—[[10 January]] [[1968]] (23 days)
|-
|'''[[John Grey Gorton]], PC''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[10 January]] [[1968]]—[[10 March]] [[1971]] (3 years, 2 months)
|-
|'''[[William McMahon]] (later Sir William), PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[10 March]] [[1971]]—[[5 December]] [[1972]] (1 year, 8 months, 25 days)
|-
|'''[[Edward Gough Whitlam]], QC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[5 December]] [[1972]]—[[11 November]] [[1975]] (2 years, 11 months, 7 days)
|-
|'''[[John Malcolm Fraser]], PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[11 November]] [[1975]]—[[11 March]] [[1983]] (7 years, 4 months)
|-
|'''[[Robert James Lee Hawke]], AC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[11 March]] [[1983]]—[[20 December]] [[1991]] (8 years, 9 months, 10 days)
|-
|'''[[Paul John Keating]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[20 December]] [[1991]]—[[11 March]] [[1996]] (4 years, 2 months, 20 days)
|-
|'''[[John Howard|John Winston Howard]]''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[11 March]] [[1996]]— (11 years so far)
|}

== Geography ==

Australia relies a great deal on industry, agriculture and tourism to foster its economy. It has a thriving film industry and very advanced technology. Most tourists visit places such as Sydney Harbour, Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Central Australia and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland. Other favorite destinations are the wine making areas of South Australia and northern Victoria, the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, the natural wonders of Tasmania and the huge outback expanses of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Some cattle stations in Australia rival [[Texas]] in size and the distance between towns in some areas is enormous.

80% of Australia's population, of just over 20,000,000 people, live on the coast line. It is one of the world's most sparsely populated countries (2.7 people per square kilometre)<ref>[http://www.abs.gov.au ABS]</ref>. Water is scarce and some cities have some form of water restrictions in place.

Weather extremes are common in Australia with temperatures sometimes measured into the high 40s Celsius (45 degrees Celsius = 113 degrees Fahrenheit). The city of Darwin was destroyed by Cyclone Tracey in 1974 and bush fires often ravage the southern states - one of the worst occurring on Ash Wednesday in 1983 when over 2,000 homes were destroyed and over 70 people lost their lives in Victoria and South Australia.

Australia is noted for its unique biodiversity. Many animals are found only in Australia, the most well known examples are the group of marsupials ([[kangaroos]], [[wombats]], [[wallabies]] and [[koalas]]), and the only two [[monotremes]], the [[platypus]] and the [[echidna]]. Examples of plants that are native to Australia are the [[banksia]], [[yellow wattle]] and [[gum tree]].

Studies indicate that Australia's unique wildlife is the result of Australia becoming an island, being cut off from the Asian land bridge between 40,000–250,000 years ago on the uniformitarian timescale.

== Sport ==

Australia is often known as a sporting nation with success worldwide in [[swimming]], [[tennis]], [[rugby union]], [[cricket]], [[netball]], [[basketball]], and even speed [[ice skating]]. Australians are very keen horse racers with the Melbourne Cup <ref>[http://www.melbournecup.com.au| Melbourne Cup]</ref> attracting up to 120,000 spectators at Flemington Race Course on the first Tuesday in November. There is a public holiday for the cup race in Melbourne, while the remainder of the country virtually pauses during the running of the cup race. This day also coincides (mostly) every second year with the [[American]] [[Congress|Congressional]] [[election]]s and every four years with the [[President|Presidential]] election.

Unique to Australia is a game known as [[Australian rules football]] or Aussie Rules, which is played on a [[cricket]] oval in winter. Australian rules football is the sport most attended in the states of [[Victoria]], [[South Australia]] and [[Western Australia]], and most attended overall in Australia; in 2006 2.5 million people had attended at least one Aussie Rules game in the preceding 12 months.[http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/ProductsbyCatalogue/1F8FAC9C2C7B1623CA2568A900139417?OpenDocument] Australian Rules Football was written by persons educated at the [[Rugby School]] in England and [[Cambridge University]] before the organisation of uniform football codes. It is not very popular in the Australian states of [[New South Wales]] and [[Queensland]].

The other national football code is [[rugby league]] football which is the most attended sport in New South Wales and Queensland.

==Religion==
Australia is a [[secular]] nation, in that it has no established religion associated with the Government. Of Australia's population of around 20 million, approximately 1.5 million attend weekly religious services <ref>[http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?docid=2250&track=82083| National Church Life Survey 2004]</ref>. The Australian public school system is described as "free, secular and compulsory" with the secular meaning without favour to any particular religion - most primary schools, however, do offer some form on non-compulsory religious education according to the parents' wishes. The state systems of a number of states offer studies in religion at the senior level.

There is a large Catholic school system in Australia with most parishes having their own primary school and many hundreds of Catholic High Schools across the country. There are also a large number of independent schools founded by various religions or demominations of the Christian faith - some hold that religious background to be more important than others.

==Comparing Australian and U.S. Economic and Health statistics==
Whilst the Australian society is similar in many aspects to those of the U.S., a comparison of key economic (in $U.S.) and health indicators highlights some interesting fundamental differences:

'''GDP Per Capita'''
*U.S. $43,500.00
*Aus $32,900.00

'''Budget Defecit/Surplus'''
*U.S. $841.00 per capita defecit
*Aus $444.00 per capita surplus. Australia has had budget surpluses every year since 2001

'''Public Debt'''
*U.S. 64.7% of GDP
*Aus 14.1% of GDP

'''Military Expenditure'''
*U.S. 4.06% of GDP
*Aus 2.5 % of GDP

'''Life Expectancy at Birth'''
*U.S. 77.85 years (combined male and female)
*Aus 80.5 years (combined male and female)

'''Infant Mortality Rates'''
*U.S. 6.43 deaths/1,000 live births
*Aus 4.63 deaths/1,000 live births

'''HIV/AIDS Prevalence Rates'''
*U.S. 0.6% of population
*Aus 0.1% of population

Australians also enjoy a universal health scheme and significant subsidies on most prescription medications, both of which are likely to account for some of the significant differences between the life expectancy and infant mortality rates between the U.S. and Australia.

==External links==
* [http://www.fed.gov.au Australian Government portal]
* [http://www.aph.gov.au Australian Parliament House (Reps & Senate) portal]
* [http://www.gg.gov.au Governor-General of Australia]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Oceanian Countries]]
[[Category:Continents]]
[[Category:Australia]]

Australia

2007-06-10T02:44:43Z

Incognito: /* Sport */

[[Image:AustraliaFlag.gif‎ |thumb|250px|Australia's flag]]
The [[Commonwealth]] of Australia is a [[country]]-[[continent]] with its west coast on the [[Indian Ocean]], east coast on the [[Pacific Ocean]] facing [[New Zealand]], southern coast on the [[Southern Ocean]] facing [[Antarctica]], and northern coast bordering [[Indonesia]] and [[Papua New Guinea]]. Australia is considered geographically as part of [[Oceania]], but has been establishing its place politically and commercially in [[South East Asia]].

Australia is the only country to occupy an entire continent<ref>This refers just to the Australian mainland. Some authorities now include [[Papua New Guinea]], [[New Zealand]], and various other [[Pacific Ocean]] islands in the continent of "Oceania". See [http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/au.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>, the smallest of the planet's seven continents.<ref>Some people count six, combining North and South America or Europe and Asia. See [http://worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/contnent.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>
It is 2,400 miles, (3,860 km) from east to west and 2,000 miles (3,220 km) from north to south.
It covers an area of 2,967,877 sq miles (7,686,810 sq km). The Australian coastline is 22,812 miles long (36,735 kilometers).
The mainland of Australia is about the same size as the mainland 48 states of the USA.

[[Image:Mapaust.gif‎ |Map of Australia]]
{{clear}}
Australia has six states and two internal territories. The states are [[New South Wales]], [[Victoria]], [[Queensland]], [[Western Australia]], [[South Australia]] and [[Tasmania]]. The internal territories are the [[Northern Territory]] (responsible government since 1978) and the [[Australian Capital Territory]] (responsible government since 1988) which is the location of Australia's capital city, [[Canberra]]. External territories include [[Christmas Island]] and the [[Australian Antarctic Territory]].

== History==
=== Pre European Contact ===
Australia was originally inhabited by people who are commonly known as [[Australian Aborigines|Aborigines]] although they come from over 700 smaller nations each with their own tribal name and language. Over time, many of these nations and tribes lost their identity or were decimated by disease, poor nutrition, massacres by white settlers and the forced removal of children from their parents into white families or mission stations. Nevertheless, many Aboriginal languages and traditions have survived the more than 200 years of white settlement. Under recent legislation recognising native title, Aboriginal communities now have the right to claim back land dispossessed from them where they can prove that lasting cultural links still persist and where the native title has not been extinguished by freehold or leasehold title.

The original inhabitants of the [[Torres Strait Islands]] and far northern Queensland are different and are known as [[Torres Strait Islander]]s. These people are more closely related to [[Melanesian]]s than to Aborigines. The term usually used to include all indigenous Australians is "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders".

=== Post European Contact ===
European discovery of the mainland of Australia was by [[Holland|Dutch]] sailors heading to the spice isles of what is now [[Indonesia]], in the 16th Century. Most of their descriptions of Australia are based on the exploration of the North West coast which is very rugged and inhospitable.

In [[1770]] the [[England|English]] navigator, Lieutenant [[James Cook]], Captain of the [[Royal Navy]] bark, [[HMS Endeavour]], discovered the east coast of Australia which is much more capable of maintaining life and settlers. In [[1788]] the [[First Fleet]] arrived at [[Sydney]] Cove, [[New South Wales]] - comprising officers, Marines, convicts and a very few free settlers. Later fleets brought more convicts who were dispersed also to Tasmania and other remote settlements. Over time, when freed, the former convicts settled areas beyond [[Sydney Harbour]].

As the 18th century came to a close convicts were given land packages and more free settlers came to the land in the hope of setting up farms and businesses. A number of colonies started to be formed - the most populated being New South Wales (whose capital city is Sydney). These colonies later became the states.

The 1850s saw the discovery of [[gold]] and large number of people moved to Australia to find new wealth. Most of these people were British, although there were also many dispossessed by the "land clearings" in [[Scotland]] and the [[Ireland|Irish]] [[potato]] [[famine]], and there was a significant number of [[China|Chinese]] immigrants during this rush. "Americans were drawn to Australia to participate in various enterprises such as the gold fields" <ref>[http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/textversion/usa.htm| Australian Dept of Immigration and Citizenship]</ref>

== System of Government ==
Australia became a federated country on [[1 January]] [[1901]] under the [[Constitution of Australia]], and all former British colonies became states. The declaration of federation was made in Sydney. The parliament met in [[Melbourne]], Victoria, until the infrastructure was built for the capital city, [[Canberra]].

Australia has a [[Parliament|parliamentary system]] of government based on the British system with a [[bicameral]] system: the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and the [[Australian Senate|Senate]]. Each state and territory also has its own parliament.

Australia is a [[democracy]] which has allowed men of [[European]] descent to vote since federation, with non-Aboriginal women gaining the vote in 1902 and Aboriginal men and women gaining suffrage in 1962. Voting is compulsory for all citizens who are 18 years old and over (with a few exceptions.)

Australia's Head of Government is the [[Prime Minister of Australia]]. The current Prime Minister is [[John Howard]], the leader of the [[Liberal Party of Australia]]. The Deputy Prime Minister is [[Mark Vaile]], the leader of the [[National Party of Australia]]. The two parties are in [[coalition]] to form the Government.

The Head of State is [[Queen Elizabeth II]], the Queen of Australia (who is the same person, but a different title, as the Queen of Great Britain.) Under the Constitution, and in practice, the authority of the Head of State is vested in the [[Governor-General of Australia]], currently the retired Major-General Philip Michael Jeffery, AC, CVO, MC, GCL, who assents to acts of parliament, is the Commander in Chief of the military forces, and appoints all Ministers of the Government; all these various powers are normally exercised on advice from the Prime Minister.

The Government of Australia is exercised, day-to-day, by the Ministers through their various Departments of State.

Australia has [[preferential voting]], which is designed to ensure that the candidates with the most support get into office, rather than the candidate with the most primary votes. So if three candidates, A, B, and C, get 40%, 35%, and 25% of the votes respectively (so no candidate has more than 50% of the votes), then the second preference of the voters who voted for C are distributed to the remaining candidates. The result might be that A ends up with 45% of the votes, and B with 55%, indicating that 55% of the voters prefer candidate B over A.

One consequence of this voting system is that it encourages a multiplicity of parties and even independent candidates. There have been times when the balance of power has been held my minor parties or independent individuals.

There is no limit on the time a person can be a Member of Parliament (MP) (elected, notionally, for 3 years, but the timing of elections is decided by the Prime Minister) or a Senator (elected for two cycles of the House of representatives.) The Prime Minister is normally a member of the House of Representatives, and the tenure is not limited by statute. (John Gorton was a Senator when appointed leader of his party. He immediately resigned from the Senate and stood for election to the House of Representatives.)

The Federal 'opposition' political party, is the [[Australian Labor Party]]. Its leader is [[Kevin Rudd]]. The Labor Party is in government in all of the states and territories but remains in opposition at the Federal level. The next Australian Federal election is expected to be held late in 2007. The Labor Party is "social democratic" while the Liberals are "liberal conservatives"; however, some of the smaller parties are more socialist or more conservative than Labor and Liberal respectively.

===Parliamentary political parties===
* Australian Democrats
* Australian Greens
* Australian Labor Party
* Country Liberal Party
* Family First Party
* Liberal Party of Australia
* National Party of Australia

Despite the name, the Liberal Party, which has been in power in Australia since 1996, is conservative in political stance, a paradox established since the years that Sir Robert Menzies was Prime Minister. Menzies helped found the Liberal Party in 1944 and was the Prime Minister from 1939 until 1941 and then again from 1949 until 1966. <ref> [http://www.liberals.net/liberalpartyhistory.htm History of the Liberal Party in Australia]</ref>The liberal term refers to the party's predominantly free-market approach to economic management.

== Prime Ministers of Australia ==
Following is a list of Prime Ministers of Australia from Federation to the present.<ref>[http://www.aph.gov.au/library/parl/hist/primmins.htm Prime Ministers of Australia]</ref>
{|border=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=2 width=90%
!<big>Prime Minister</big>||<big>Dates</big>
|-
|'''Sir [[Edmund Barton]], PC, GCMG, KC''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[1 January]] [[1901]]—[[24 September]] [[1903]] (2 years, 8 months, 24 days)
|-
|'''[[Alfred Deakin]]''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[24 September]] [[1903]]—[[27 April 1904]] (7 months, 4 days)
|-
|'''[[John Christian Watson]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[27 April]] [[1904]]—[[17 August]] [[1904]] (3 months, 21 days)
|-
|'''[[George Houstoun Reid]] (later Sir George), PC, KC''' (Free Trade)
|[[18 August]] [[1904]]—[[5 July]] [[1905]] (10 months, 18 days)
|-
|'''Alfred Deakin''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[5 July]] [[1905]]—[[13 November]] [[1908]] (3 years, 4 months, 9 days)
|-
|'''[[Andrew Fisher]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[13 November]] [[1908]]—[[2 June]] [[1909]] (6 months, 21 days)
|-
|'''[[Alfred Deakin]]''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[2 June]] [[1909]]—[[29 April]] [[1910]] (10 months, 28 days)
|-
|'''Andrew Fisher''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[29 April]] [[1910]]—[[24 June]] [[1913]] (3 years, 1 month, 26 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Cook]] (later Sir Joseph)''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[24 June]] [[1913]]—[[17 September]] [[1914]] (1 year, 2 months, 25 days)
|-
|'''Andrew Fisher''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[17 September]] [[1914]]—[[27 October]] [[1915]] (1 year, 1 month, 11 days)
|-
|'''[[William Morris Hughes]]''' (Australian Labor Party; Nationalist Party from 1917)
|[[27 October]] [[1915]]—[[9 February]] [[1923]] (7 years, 3 months, 14 days)
|-
|'''[[Stanley Melbourne Bruce]], PC, CH, MC''' (Nationalist Party)
|[[9 February]] [[1923]]—[[22 October]] [[1929]] (6 years, 8 months, 14 days)
|-
|'''[[James Henry Scullin]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[22 October]] [[1929]]—[[6 January]] [[1932]] (2 years, 2 months, 16 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Aloysius Lyons]], PC, CH''' (United Australia Party)
|[[6 January]] [[1932]]—[[7 April]] [[1939]] (7 years, 3 months, 2 days)
|-
|'''Sir [[Earle Christmas Grafton Page]], PC, GCMG''' (Australian Country Party)
|[[7 April]] [[1939]]—[[26 April]] [[1939]] (20 days)
|-
|'''[[Robert Gordon Menzies]], PC, KC''' (United Australia Party)
|[[26 April]] [[1939]]—[[29 August]] [[1941]] (2 years, 4 months, 4 days)
|-
|'''[[Arthur William Fadden]] (later Sir Arthur)''' (Country Party)
|[[29 August]] [[1941]]—[[7 October]] [[1941]] (1 month, 9 days)
|-
|'''[[John Curtin]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[7 October]] [[1941]]—[[5 July]] [[1945]] (3 years, 8 months, 29 days)
|-
|'''[[Francis Michael Forde]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[6 July]] [[1945]]—[[13 July]] [[1945]] (8 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Benedict Chifley]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[13 July]] [[1945]]—[[19 December]] [[1949]] (4 years, 5 months, 7 days)
|-
|'''[[Robert Gordon Menzies]] (later Sir Robert), PC, KC''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[19 December]] [[1949]]—[[26 January]] [[1966]] (16 years, 1 month, 8 days)
|-
|'''[[Harold Edward Holt]], PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[26 January]] [[1966]]—[[19 December]] [[1967]] (1 year, 10 months, 23 days)
|-
|'''[[John McEwen]] (later Sir John), PC''' (Country Party)
|[[19 December]] [[1967]]—[[10 January]] [[1968]] (23 days)
|-
|'''[[John Grey Gorton]], PC''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[10 January]] [[1968]]—[[10 March]] [[1971]] (3 years, 2 months)
|-
|'''[[William McMahon]] (later Sir William), PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[10 March]] [[1971]]—[[5 December]] [[1972]] (1 year, 8 months, 25 days)
|-
|'''[[Edward Gough Whitlam]], QC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[5 December]] [[1972]]—[[11 November]] [[1975]] (2 years, 11 months, 7 days)
|-
|'''[[John Malcolm Fraser]], PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[11 November]] [[1975]]—[[11 March]] [[1983]] (7 years, 4 months)
|-
|'''[[Robert James Lee Hawke]], AC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[11 March]] [[1983]]—[[20 December]] [[1991]] (8 years, 9 months, 10 days)
|-
|'''[[Paul John Keating]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[20 December]] [[1991]]—[[11 March]] [[1996]] (4 years, 2 months, 20 days)
|-
|'''[[John Howard|John Winston Howard]]''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[11 March]] [[1996]]— (11 years so far)
|}

== Geography ==

Australia relies a great deal on industry, agriculture and tourism to foster its economy. It has a thriving film industry and very advanced technology. Most tourists visit places such as Sydney Harbour, Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Central Australia and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland. Other favorite destinations are the wine making areas of South Australia and northern Victoria, the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, the natural wonders of Tasmania and the huge outback expanses of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Some cattle stations in Australia rival [[Texas]] in size and the distance between towns in some areas is enormous.

80% of Australia's population, of just over 20,000,000 people, live on the coast line. It is one of the world's most sparsely populated countries (2.7 people per square kilometre)<ref>[http://www.abs.gov.au ABS]</ref>. Water is scarce and some cities have some form of water restrictions in place.

Weather extremes are common in Australia with temperatures sometimes measured into the high 40s Celsius (45 degrees Celsius = 113 degrees Fahrenheit). The city of Darwin was destroyed by Cyclone Tracey in 1974 and bush fires often ravage the southern states - one of the worst occurring on Ash Wednesday in 1983 when over 2,000 homes were destroyed and over 70 people lost their lives in Victoria and South Australia.

Australia is noted for its unique biodiversity. Many animals are found only in Australia, the most well known examples are the group of marsupials ([[kangaroos]], [[wombats]], [[wallabies]] and [[koalas]]), and the only two [[monotremes]], the [[platypus]] and the [[echidna]]. Examples of plants that are native to Australia are the [[banksia]], [[yellow wattle]] and [[gum tree]].

Studies indicate that Australia's unique wildlife is the result of Australia becoming an island, being cut off from the Asian land bridge between 40,000–250,000 years ago on the uniformitarian timescale.

== Sport ==

Australia is often known as a sporting nation with success worldwide in [[swimming]], [[tennis]], [[rugby union]], [[cricket]], [[netball]], [[basketball]], and even speed [[ice skating]]. Australians are very keen horse racers with the Melbourne Cup <ref>[http://www.melbournecup.com.au| Melbourne Cup]</ref> attracting up to 120,000 spectators at Flemington Race Course on the first Tuesday in November. There is a public holiday for the cup race in Melbourne, while the remainder of the country virtually pauses during the running of the cup race. This day also coincides (mostly) every second year with the [[American]] [[Congress|Congressional]] [[election]]s and every four years with the [[President|Presidential]] election.

Unique to Australia is a game known as [[Australian rules football]] or Aussie Rules, which is played on a [[cricket]] oval in winter. Australian rules football is the sport most attended in the states of [[Victoria]], [[South Australia]] and [[Western Australia]], and most attended overall in Australia; in 2006 2.5 million people had attended at least one Aussie Rules game in the preceding 12 months.[http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/ProductsbyCatalogue/1F8FAC9C2C7B1623CA2568A900139417?OpenDocument] Australian Rules Football was written by persons educated at the [[Rugby School]] in England and [[Cambridge University]] before the organisation of uniform football codes. It is not very popular in the Australian states of [[New South Wales]] and [[Queensland]].

The other national football code is [[rugby league]] football which is the most attended sport in New South Wales and Queensland.

It is similar to [[Gaelic football]], played in [[Ireland]], and teams from the two nations play annual competition games based on a blended system of rules.

==Religion==
Australia is a [[secular]] nation, in that it has no established religion associated with the Government. Of Australia's population of around 20 million, approximately 1.5 million attend weekly religious services <ref>[http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?docid=2250&track=82083| National Church Life Survey 2004]</ref>. The Australian public school system is described as "free, secular and compulsory" with the secular meaning without favour to any particular religion - most primary schools, however, do offer some form on non-compulsory religious education according to the parents' wishes. The state systems of a number of states offer studies in religion at the senior level.

There is a large Catholic school system in Australia with most parishes having their own primary school and many hundreds of Catholic High Schools across the country. There are also a large number of independent schools founded by various religions or demominations of the Christian faith - some hold that religious background to be more important than others.

==Comparing Australian and U.S. Economic and Health statistics==
Whilst the Australian society is similar in many aspects to those of the U.S., a comparison of key economic (in $U.S.) and health indicators highlights some interesting fundamental differences:

'''GDP Per Capita'''
*U.S. $43,500.00
*Aus $32,900.00

'''Budget Defecit/Surplus'''
*U.S. $841.00 per capita defecit
*Aus $444.00 per capita surplus. Australia has had budget surpluses every year since 2001

'''Public Debt'''
*U.S. 64.7% of GDP
*Aus 14.1% of GDP

'''Military Expenditure'''
*U.S. 4.06% of GDP
*Aus 2.5 % of GDP

'''Life Expectancy at Birth'''
*U.S. 77.85 years (combined male and female)
*Aus 80.5 years (combined male and female)

'''Infant Mortality Rates'''
*U.S. 6.43 deaths/1,000 live births
*Aus 4.63 deaths/1,000 live births

'''HIV/AIDS Prevalence Rates'''
*U.S. 0.6% of population
*Aus 0.1% of population

Australians also enjoy a universal health scheme and significant subsidies on most prescription medications, both of which are likely to account for some of the significant differences between the life expectancy and infant mortality rates between the U.S. and Australia.

==External links==
* [http://www.fed.gov.au Australian Government portal]
* [http://www.aph.gov.au Australian Parliament House (Reps & Senate) portal]
* [http://www.gg.gov.au Governor-General of Australia]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Oceanian Countries]]
[[Category:Continents]]
[[Category:Australia]]

Australia

2007-06-10T02:39:44Z

Incognito: /* Sport */

[[Image:AustraliaFlag.gif‎ |thumb|250px|Australia's flag]]
The [[Commonwealth]] of Australia is a [[country]]-[[continent]] with its west coast on the [[Indian Ocean]], east coast on the [[Pacific Ocean]] facing [[New Zealand]], southern coast on the [[Southern Ocean]] facing [[Antarctica]], and northern coast bordering [[Indonesia]] and [[Papua New Guinea]]. Australia is considered geographically as part of [[Oceania]], but has been establishing its place politically and commercially in [[South East Asia]].

Australia is the only country to occupy an entire continent<ref>This refers just to the Australian mainland. Some authorities now include [[Papua New Guinea]], [[New Zealand]], and various other [[Pacific Ocean]] islands in the continent of "Oceania". See [http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/au.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>, the smallest of the planet's seven continents.<ref>Some people count six, combining North and South America or Europe and Asia. See [http://worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/contnent.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>
It is 2,400 miles, (3,860 km) from east to west and 2,000 miles (3,220 km) from north to south.
It covers an area of 2,967,877 sq miles (7,686,810 sq km). The Australian coastline is 22,812 miles long (36,735 kilometers).
The mainland of Australia is about the same size as the mainland 48 states of the USA.

[[Image:Mapaust.gif‎ |Map of Australia]]
{{clear}}
Australia has six states and two internal territories. The states are [[New South Wales]], [[Victoria]], [[Queensland]], [[Western Australia]], [[South Australia]] and [[Tasmania]]. The internal territories are the [[Northern Territory]] (responsible government since 1978) and the [[Australian Capital Territory]] (responsible government since 1988) which is the location of Australia's capital city, [[Canberra]]. External territories include [[Christmas Island]] and the [[Australian Antarctic Territory]].

== History==
=== Pre European Contact ===
Australia was originally inhabited by people who are commonly known as [[Australian Aborigines|Aborigines]] although they come from over 700 smaller nations each with their own tribal name and language. Over time, many of these nations and tribes lost their identity or were decimated by disease, poor nutrition, massacres by white settlers and the forced removal of children from their parents into white families or mission stations. Nevertheless, many Aboriginal languages and traditions have survived the more than 200 years of white settlement. Under recent legislation recognising native title, Aboriginal communities now have the right to claim back land dispossessed from them where they can prove that lasting cultural links still persist and where the native title has not been extinguished by freehold or leasehold title.

The original inhabitants of the [[Torres Strait Islands]] and far northern Queensland are different and are known as [[Torres Strait Islander]]s. These people are more closely related to [[Melanesian]]s than to Aborigines. The term usually used to include all indigenous Australians is "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders".

=== Post European Contact ===
European discovery of the mainland of Australia was by [[Holland|Dutch]] sailors heading to the spice isles of what is now [[Indonesia]], in the 16th Century. Most of their descriptions of Australia are based on the exploration of the North West coast which is very rugged and inhospitable.

In [[1770]] the [[England|English]] navigator, Lieutenant [[James Cook]], Captain of the [[Royal Navy]] bark, [[HMS Endeavour]], discovered the east coast of Australia which is much more capable of maintaining life and settlers. In [[1788]] the [[First Fleet]] arrived at [[Sydney]] Cove, [[New South Wales]] - comprising officers, Marines, convicts and a very few free settlers. Later fleets brought more convicts who were dispersed also to Tasmania and other remote settlements. Over time, when freed, the former convicts settled areas beyond [[Sydney Harbour]].

As the 18th century came to a close convicts were given land packages and more free settlers came to the land in the hope of setting up farms and businesses. A number of colonies started to be formed - the most populated being New South Wales (whose capital city is Sydney). These colonies later became the states.

The 1850s saw the discovery of [[gold]] and large number of people moved to Australia to find new wealth. Most of these people were British, although there were also many dispossessed by the "land clearings" in [[Scotland]] and the [[Ireland|Irish]] [[potato]] [[famine]], and there was a significant number of [[China|Chinese]] immigrants during this rush. "Americans were drawn to Australia to participate in various enterprises such as the gold fields" <ref>[http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/textversion/usa.htm| Australian Dept of Immigration and Citizenship]</ref>

== System of Government ==
Australia became a federated country on [[1 January]] [[1901]] under the [[Constitution of Australia]], and all former British colonies became states. The declaration of federation was made in Sydney. The parliament met in [[Melbourne]], Victoria, until the infrastructure was built for the capital city, [[Canberra]].

Australia has a [[Parliament|parliamentary system]] of government based on the British system with a [[bicameral]] system: the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and the [[Australian Senate|Senate]]. Each state and territory also has its own parliament.

Australia is a [[democracy]] which has allowed men of [[European]] descent to vote since federation, with non-Aboriginal women gaining the vote in 1902 and Aboriginal men and women gaining suffrage in 1962. Voting is compulsory for all citizens who are 18 years old and over (with a few exceptions.)

Australia's Head of Government is the [[Prime Minister of Australia]]. The current Prime Minister is [[John Howard]], the leader of the [[Liberal Party of Australia]]. The Deputy Prime Minister is [[Mark Vaile]], the leader of the [[National Party of Australia]]. The two parties are in [[coalition]] to form the Government.

The Head of State is [[Queen Elizabeth II]], the Queen of Australia (who is the same person, but a different title, as the Queen of Great Britain.) Under the Constitution, and in practice, the authority of the Head of State is vested in the [[Governor-General of Australia]], currently the retired Major-General Philip Michael Jeffery, AC, CVO, MC, GCL, who assents to acts of parliament, is the Commander in Chief of the military forces, and appoints all Ministers of the Government; all these various powers are normally exercised on advice from the Prime Minister.

The Government of Australia is exercised, day-to-day, by the Ministers through their various Departments of State.

Australia has [[preferential voting]], which is designed to ensure that the candidates with the most support get into office, rather than the candidate with the most primary votes. So if three candidates, A, B, and C, get 40%, 35%, and 25% of the votes respectively (so no candidate has more than 50% of the votes), then the second preference of the voters who voted for C are distributed to the remaining candidates. The result might be that A ends up with 45% of the votes, and B with 55%, indicating that 55% of the voters prefer candidate B over A.

One consequence of this voting system is that it encourages a multiplicity of parties and even independent candidates. There have been times when the balance of power has been held my minor parties or independent individuals.

There is no limit on the time a person can be a Member of Parliament (MP) (elected, notionally, for 3 years, but the timing of elections is decided by the Prime Minister) or a Senator (elected for two cycles of the House of representatives.) The Prime Minister is normally a member of the House of Representatives, and the tenure is not limited by statute. (John Gorton was a Senator when appointed leader of his party. He immediately resigned from the Senate and stood for election to the House of Representatives.)

The Federal 'opposition' political party, is the [[Australian Labor Party]]. Its leader is [[Kevin Rudd]]. The Labor Party is in government in all of the states and territories but remains in opposition at the Federal level. The next Australian Federal election is expected to be held late in 2007. The Labor Party is "social democratic" while the Liberals are "liberal conservatives"; however, some of the smaller parties are more socialist or more conservative than Labor and Liberal respectively.

===Parliamentary political parties===
* Australian Democrats
* Australian Greens
* Australian Labor Party
* Country Liberal Party
* Family First Party
* Liberal Party of Australia
* National Party of Australia

Despite the name, the Liberal Party, which has been in power in Australia since 1996, is conservative in political stance, a paradox established since the years that Sir Robert Menzies was Prime Minister. Menzies helped found the Liberal Party in 1944 and was the Prime Minister from 1939 until 1941 and then again from 1949 until 1966. <ref> [http://www.liberals.net/liberalpartyhistory.htm History of the Liberal Party in Australia]</ref>The liberal term refers to the party's predominantly free-market approach to economic management.

== Prime Ministers of Australia ==
Following is a list of Prime Ministers of Australia from Federation to the present.<ref>[http://www.aph.gov.au/library/parl/hist/primmins.htm Prime Ministers of Australia]</ref>
{|border=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=2 width=90%
!<big>Prime Minister</big>||<big>Dates</big>
|-
|'''Sir [[Edmund Barton]], PC, GCMG, KC''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[1 January]] [[1901]]—[[24 September]] [[1903]] (2 years, 8 months, 24 days)
|-
|'''[[Alfred Deakin]]''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[24 September]] [[1903]]—[[27 April 1904]] (7 months, 4 days)
|-
|'''[[John Christian Watson]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[27 April]] [[1904]]—[[17 August]] [[1904]] (3 months, 21 days)
|-
|'''[[George Houstoun Reid]] (later Sir George), PC, KC''' (Free Trade)
|[[18 August]] [[1904]]—[[5 July]] [[1905]] (10 months, 18 days)
|-
|'''Alfred Deakin''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[5 July]] [[1905]]—[[13 November]] [[1908]] (3 years, 4 months, 9 days)
|-
|'''[[Andrew Fisher]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[13 November]] [[1908]]—[[2 June]] [[1909]] (6 months, 21 days)
|-
|'''[[Alfred Deakin]]''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[2 June]] [[1909]]—[[29 April]] [[1910]] (10 months, 28 days)
|-
|'''Andrew Fisher''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[29 April]] [[1910]]—[[24 June]] [[1913]] (3 years, 1 month, 26 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Cook]] (later Sir Joseph)''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[24 June]] [[1913]]—[[17 September]] [[1914]] (1 year, 2 months, 25 days)
|-
|'''Andrew Fisher''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[17 September]] [[1914]]—[[27 October]] [[1915]] (1 year, 1 month, 11 days)
|-
|'''[[William Morris Hughes]]''' (Australian Labor Party; Nationalist Party from 1917)
|[[27 October]] [[1915]]—[[9 February]] [[1923]] (7 years, 3 months, 14 days)
|-
|'''[[Stanley Melbourne Bruce]], PC, CH, MC''' (Nationalist Party)
|[[9 February]] [[1923]]—[[22 October]] [[1929]] (6 years, 8 months, 14 days)
|-
|'''[[James Henry Scullin]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[22 October]] [[1929]]—[[6 January]] [[1932]] (2 years, 2 months, 16 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Aloysius Lyons]], PC, CH''' (United Australia Party)
|[[6 January]] [[1932]]—[[7 April]] [[1939]] (7 years, 3 months, 2 days)
|-
|'''Sir [[Earle Christmas Grafton Page]], PC, GCMG''' (Australian Country Party)
|[[7 April]] [[1939]]—[[26 April]] [[1939]] (20 days)
|-
|'''[[Robert Gordon Menzies]], PC, KC''' (United Australia Party)
|[[26 April]] [[1939]]—[[29 August]] [[1941]] (2 years, 4 months, 4 days)
|-
|'''[[Arthur William Fadden]] (later Sir Arthur)''' (Country Party)
|[[29 August]] [[1941]]—[[7 October]] [[1941]] (1 month, 9 days)
|-
|'''[[John Curtin]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[7 October]] [[1941]]—[[5 July]] [[1945]] (3 years, 8 months, 29 days)
|-
|'''[[Francis Michael Forde]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[6 July]] [[1945]]—[[13 July]] [[1945]] (8 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Benedict Chifley]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[13 July]] [[1945]]—[[19 December]] [[1949]] (4 years, 5 months, 7 days)
|-
|'''[[Robert Gordon Menzies]] (later Sir Robert), PC, KC''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[19 December]] [[1949]]—[[26 January]] [[1966]] (16 years, 1 month, 8 days)
|-
|'''[[Harold Edward Holt]], PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[26 January]] [[1966]]—[[19 December]] [[1967]] (1 year, 10 months, 23 days)
|-
|'''[[John McEwen]] (later Sir John), PC''' (Country Party)
|[[19 December]] [[1967]]—[[10 January]] [[1968]] (23 days)
|-
|'''[[John Grey Gorton]], PC''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[10 January]] [[1968]]—[[10 March]] [[1971]] (3 years, 2 months)
|-
|'''[[William McMahon]] (later Sir William), PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[10 March]] [[1971]]—[[5 December]] [[1972]] (1 year, 8 months, 25 days)
|-
|'''[[Edward Gough Whitlam]], QC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[5 December]] [[1972]]—[[11 November]] [[1975]] (2 years, 11 months, 7 days)
|-
|'''[[John Malcolm Fraser]], PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[11 November]] [[1975]]—[[11 March]] [[1983]] (7 years, 4 months)
|-
|'''[[Robert James Lee Hawke]], AC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[11 March]] [[1983]]—[[20 December]] [[1991]] (8 years, 9 months, 10 days)
|-
|'''[[Paul John Keating]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[20 December]] [[1991]]—[[11 March]] [[1996]] (4 years, 2 months, 20 days)
|-
|'''[[John Howard|John Winston Howard]]''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[11 March]] [[1996]]— (11 years so far)
|}

== Geography ==

Australia relies a great deal on industry, agriculture and tourism to foster its economy. It has a thriving film industry and very advanced technology. Most tourists visit places such as Sydney Harbour, Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Central Australia and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland. Other favorite destinations are the wine making areas of South Australia and northern Victoria, the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, the natural wonders of Tasmania and the huge outback expanses of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Some cattle stations in Australia rival [[Texas]] in size and the distance between towns in some areas is enormous.

80% of Australia's population, of just over 20,000,000 people, live on the coast line. It is one of the world's most sparsely populated countries (2.7 people per square kilometre)<ref>[http://www.abs.gov.au ABS]</ref>. Water is scarce and some cities have some form of water restrictions in place.

Weather extremes are common in Australia with temperatures sometimes measured into the high 40s Celsius (45 degrees Celsius = 113 degrees Fahrenheit). The city of Darwin was destroyed by Cyclone Tracey in 1974 and bush fires often ravage the southern states - one of the worst occurring on Ash Wednesday in 1983 when over 2,000 homes were destroyed and over 70 people lost their lives in Victoria and South Australia.

Australia is noted for its unique biodiversity. Many animals are found only in Australia, the most well known examples are the group of marsupials ([[kangaroos]], [[wombats]], [[wallabies]] and [[koalas]]), and the only two [[monotremes]], the [[platypus]] and the [[echidna]]. Examples of plants that are native to Australia are the [[banksia]], [[yellow wattle]] and [[gum tree]].

Studies indicate that Australia's unique wildlife is the result of Australia becoming an island, being cut off from the Asian land bridge between 40,000–250,000 years ago on the uniformitarian timescale.

== Sport ==

Australia is often known as a sporting nation with success worldwide in [[swimming]], [[tennis]], [[rugby league]] and [[rugby union]], [[cricket]], [[netball]], [[basketball]], and even speed [[ice skating]]. Australians are very keen horse racers with the Melbourne Cup <ref>[http://www.melbournecup.com.au| Melbourne Cup]</ref> attracting up to 120,000 spectators at Flemington Race Course on the first Tuesday in November. There is a public holiday for the cup race in Melbourne, while the remainder of the country virtually pauses during the running of the cup race. This day also coincides (mostly) every second year with the [[American]] [[Congress|Congressional]] [[election]]s and every four years with the [[President|Presidential]] election.

Unique to Australia is a game known as [[Australian rules football]] or Aussie Rules, which is played on a [[cricket]] oval in winter. Australian rules football is the sport most attended in the states of [[Victoria]], [[South Australia]] and [[Western Australia]], and most attended overall in Australia; in 2006 2.5 million people had attended at least one Aussie Rules game in the preceding 12 months.[http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/ProductsbyCatalogue/1F8FAC9C2C7B1623CA2568A900139417?OpenDocument]

It is similar to [[Gaelic football]], played in [[Ireland]], and teams from the two nations play annual competition games based on a blended system of rules.

==Religion==
Australia is a [[secular]] nation, in that it has no established religion associated with the Government. Of Australia's population of around 20 million, approximately 1.5 million attend weekly religious services <ref>[http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?docid=2250&track=82083| National Church Life Survey 2004]</ref>. The Australian public school system is described as "free, secular and compulsory" with the secular meaning without favour to any particular religion - most primary schools, however, do offer some form on non-compulsory religious education according to the parents' wishes. The state systems of a number of states offer studies in religion at the senior level.

There is a large Catholic school system in Australia with most parishes having their own primary school and many hundreds of Catholic High Schools across the country. There are also a large number of independent schools founded by various religions or demominations of the Christian faith - some hold that religious background to be more important than others.

==Comparing Australian and U.S. Economic and Health statistics==
Whilst the Australian society is similar in many aspects to those of the U.S., a comparison of key economic (in $U.S.) and health indicators highlights some interesting fundamental differences:

'''GDP Per Capita'''
*U.S. $43,500.00
*Aus $32,900.00

'''Budget Defecit/Surplus'''
*U.S. $841.00 per capita defecit
*Aus $444.00 per capita surplus. Australia has had budget surpluses every year since 2001

'''Public Debt'''
*U.S. 64.7% of GDP
*Aus 14.1% of GDP

'''Military Expenditure'''
*U.S. 4.06% of GDP
*Aus 2.5 % of GDP

'''Life Expectancy at Birth'''
*U.S. 77.85 years (combined male and female)
*Aus 80.5 years (combined male and female)

'''Infant Mortality Rates'''
*U.S. 6.43 deaths/1,000 live births
*Aus 4.63 deaths/1,000 live births

'''HIV/AIDS Prevalence Rates'''
*U.S. 0.6% of population
*Aus 0.1% of population

Australians also enjoy a universal health scheme and significant subsidies on most prescription medications, both of which are likely to account for some of the significant differences between the life expectancy and infant mortality rates between the U.S. and Australia.

==External links==
* [http://www.fed.gov.au Australian Government portal]
* [http://www.aph.gov.au Australian Parliament House (Reps & Senate) portal]
* [http://www.gg.gov.au Governor-General of Australia]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Oceanian Countries]]
[[Category:Continents]]
[[Category:Australia]]

Australia

2007-06-10T02:36:13Z

Incognito: /* System of Government */ There seems to be some variation amongst us conservatives about what liberal means

[[Image:AustraliaFlag.gif‎ |thumb|250px|Australia's flag]]
The [[Commonwealth]] of Australia is a [[country]]-[[continent]] with its west coast on the [[Indian Ocean]], east coast on the [[Pacific Ocean]] facing [[New Zealand]], southern coast on the [[Southern Ocean]] facing [[Antarctica]], and northern coast bordering [[Indonesia]] and [[Papua New Guinea]]. Australia is considered geographically as part of [[Oceania]], but has been establishing its place politically and commercially in [[South East Asia]].

Australia is the only country to occupy an entire continent<ref>This refers just to the Australian mainland. Some authorities now include [[Papua New Guinea]], [[New Zealand]], and various other [[Pacific Ocean]] islands in the continent of "Oceania". See [http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/au.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>, the smallest of the planet's seven continents.<ref>Some people count six, combining North and South America or Europe and Asia. See [http://worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/contnent.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>
It is 2,400 miles, (3,860 km) from east to west and 2,000 miles (3,220 km) from north to south.
It covers an area of 2,967,877 sq miles (7,686,810 sq km). The Australian coastline is 22,812 miles long (36,735 kilometers).
The mainland of Australia is about the same size as the mainland 48 states of the USA.

[[Image:Mapaust.gif‎ |Map of Australia]]
{{clear}}
Australia has six states and two internal territories. The states are [[New South Wales]], [[Victoria]], [[Queensland]], [[Western Australia]], [[South Australia]] and [[Tasmania]]. The internal territories are the [[Northern Territory]] (responsible government since 1978) and the [[Australian Capital Territory]] (responsible government since 1988) which is the location of Australia's capital city, [[Canberra]]. External territories include [[Christmas Island]] and the [[Australian Antarctic Territory]].

== History==
=== Pre European Contact ===
Australia was originally inhabited by people who are commonly known as [[Australian Aborigines|Aborigines]] although they come from over 700 smaller nations each with their own tribal name and language. Over time, many of these nations and tribes lost their identity or were decimated by disease, poor nutrition, massacres by white settlers and the forced removal of children from their parents into white families or mission stations. Nevertheless, many Aboriginal languages and traditions have survived the more than 200 years of white settlement. Under recent legislation recognising native title, Aboriginal communities now have the right to claim back land dispossessed from them where they can prove that lasting cultural links still persist and where the native title has not been extinguished by freehold or leasehold title.

The original inhabitants of the [[Torres Strait Islands]] and far northern Queensland are different and are known as [[Torres Strait Islander]]s. These people are more closely related to [[Melanesian]]s than to Aborigines. The term usually used to include all indigenous Australians is "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders".

=== Post European Contact ===
European discovery of the mainland of Australia was by [[Holland|Dutch]] sailors heading to the spice isles of what is now [[Indonesia]], in the 16th Century. Most of their descriptions of Australia are based on the exploration of the North West coast which is very rugged and inhospitable.

In [[1770]] the [[England|English]] navigator, Lieutenant [[James Cook]], Captain of the [[Royal Navy]] bark, [[HMS Endeavour]], discovered the east coast of Australia which is much more capable of maintaining life and settlers. In [[1788]] the [[First Fleet]] arrived at [[Sydney]] Cove, [[New South Wales]] - comprising officers, Marines, convicts and a very few free settlers. Later fleets brought more convicts who were dispersed also to Tasmania and other remote settlements. Over time, when freed, the former convicts settled areas beyond [[Sydney Harbour]].

As the 18th century came to a close convicts were given land packages and more free settlers came to the land in the hope of setting up farms and businesses. A number of colonies started to be formed - the most populated being New South Wales (whose capital city is Sydney). These colonies later became the states.

The 1850s saw the discovery of [[gold]] and large number of people moved to Australia to find new wealth. Most of these people were British, although there were also many dispossessed by the "land clearings" in [[Scotland]] and the [[Ireland|Irish]] [[potato]] [[famine]], and there was a significant number of [[China|Chinese]] immigrants during this rush. "Americans were drawn to Australia to participate in various enterprises such as the gold fields" <ref>[http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/textversion/usa.htm| Australian Dept of Immigration and Citizenship]</ref>

== System of Government ==
Australia became a federated country on [[1 January]] [[1901]] under the [[Constitution of Australia]], and all former British colonies became states. The declaration of federation was made in Sydney. The parliament met in [[Melbourne]], Victoria, until the infrastructure was built for the capital city, [[Canberra]].

Australia has a [[Parliament|parliamentary system]] of government based on the British system with a [[bicameral]] system: the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and the [[Australian Senate|Senate]]. Each state and territory also has its own parliament.

Australia is a [[democracy]] which has allowed men of [[European]] descent to vote since federation, with non-Aboriginal women gaining the vote in 1902 and Aboriginal men and women gaining suffrage in 1962. Voting is compulsory for all citizens who are 18 years old and over (with a few exceptions.)

Australia's Head of Government is the [[Prime Minister of Australia]]. The current Prime Minister is [[John Howard]], the leader of the [[Liberal Party of Australia]]. The Deputy Prime Minister is [[Mark Vaile]], the leader of the [[National Party of Australia]]. The two parties are in [[coalition]] to form the Government.

The Head of State is [[Queen Elizabeth II]], the Queen of Australia (who is the same person, but a different title, as the Queen of Great Britain.) Under the Constitution, and in practice, the authority of the Head of State is vested in the [[Governor-General of Australia]], currently the retired Major-General Philip Michael Jeffery, AC, CVO, MC, GCL, who assents to acts of parliament, is the Commander in Chief of the military forces, and appoints all Ministers of the Government; all these various powers are normally exercised on advice from the Prime Minister.

The Government of Australia is exercised, day-to-day, by the Ministers through their various Departments of State.

Australia has [[preferential voting]], which is designed to ensure that the candidates with the most support get into office, rather than the candidate with the most primary votes. So if three candidates, A, B, and C, get 40%, 35%, and 25% of the votes respectively (so no candidate has more than 50% of the votes), then the second preference of the voters who voted for C are distributed to the remaining candidates. The result might be that A ends up with 45% of the votes, and B with 55%, indicating that 55% of the voters prefer candidate B over A.

One consequence of this voting system is that it encourages a multiplicity of parties and even independent candidates. There have been times when the balance of power has been held my minor parties or independent individuals.

There is no limit on the time a person can be a Member of Parliament (MP) (elected, notionally, for 3 years, but the timing of elections is decided by the Prime Minister) or a Senator (elected for two cycles of the House of representatives.) The Prime Minister is normally a member of the House of Representatives, and the tenure is not limited by statute. (John Gorton was a Senator when appointed leader of his party. He immediately resigned from the Senate and stood for election to the House of Representatives.)

The Federal 'opposition' political party, is the [[Australian Labor Party]]. Its leader is [[Kevin Rudd]]. The Labor Party is in government in all of the states and territories but remains in opposition at the Federal level. The next Australian Federal election is expected to be held late in 2007. The Labor Party is "social democratic" while the Liberals are "liberal conservatives"; however, some of the smaller parties are more socialist or more conservative than Labor and Liberal respectively.

===Parliamentary political parties===
* Australian Democrats
* Australian Greens
* Australian Labor Party
* Country Liberal Party
* Family First Party
* Liberal Party of Australia
* National Party of Australia

Despite the name, the Liberal Party, which has been in power in Australia since 1996, is conservative in political stance, a paradox established since the years that Sir Robert Menzies was Prime Minister. Menzies helped found the Liberal Party in 1944 and was the Prime Minister from 1939 until 1941 and then again from 1949 until 1966. <ref> [http://www.liberals.net/liberalpartyhistory.htm History of the Liberal Party in Australia]</ref>The liberal term refers to the party's predominantly free-market approach to economic management.

== Prime Ministers of Australia ==
Following is a list of Prime Ministers of Australia from Federation to the present.<ref>[http://www.aph.gov.au/library/parl/hist/primmins.htm Prime Ministers of Australia]</ref>
{|border=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=2 width=90%
!<big>Prime Minister</big>||<big>Dates</big>
|-
|'''Sir [[Edmund Barton]], PC, GCMG, KC''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[1 January]] [[1901]]—[[24 September]] [[1903]] (2 years, 8 months, 24 days)
|-
|'''[[Alfred Deakin]]''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[24 September]] [[1903]]—[[27 April 1904]] (7 months, 4 days)
|-
|'''[[John Christian Watson]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[27 April]] [[1904]]—[[17 August]] [[1904]] (3 months, 21 days)
|-
|'''[[George Houstoun Reid]] (later Sir George), PC, KC''' (Free Trade)
|[[18 August]] [[1904]]—[[5 July]] [[1905]] (10 months, 18 days)
|-
|'''Alfred Deakin''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[5 July]] [[1905]]—[[13 November]] [[1908]] (3 years, 4 months, 9 days)
|-
|'''[[Andrew Fisher]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[13 November]] [[1908]]—[[2 June]] [[1909]] (6 months, 21 days)
|-
|'''[[Alfred Deakin]]''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[2 June]] [[1909]]—[[29 April]] [[1910]] (10 months, 28 days)
|-
|'''Andrew Fisher''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[29 April]] [[1910]]—[[24 June]] [[1913]] (3 years, 1 month, 26 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Cook]] (later Sir Joseph)''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[24 June]] [[1913]]—[[17 September]] [[1914]] (1 year, 2 months, 25 days)
|-
|'''Andrew Fisher''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[17 September]] [[1914]]—[[27 October]] [[1915]] (1 year, 1 month, 11 days)
|-
|'''[[William Morris Hughes]]''' (Australian Labor Party; Nationalist Party from 1917)
|[[27 October]] [[1915]]—[[9 February]] [[1923]] (7 years, 3 months, 14 days)
|-
|'''[[Stanley Melbourne Bruce]], PC, CH, MC''' (Nationalist Party)
|[[9 February]] [[1923]]—[[22 October]] [[1929]] (6 years, 8 months, 14 days)
|-
|'''[[James Henry Scullin]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[22 October]] [[1929]]—[[6 January]] [[1932]] (2 years, 2 months, 16 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Aloysius Lyons]], PC, CH''' (United Australia Party)
|[[6 January]] [[1932]]—[[7 April]] [[1939]] (7 years, 3 months, 2 days)
|-
|'''Sir [[Earle Christmas Grafton Page]], PC, GCMG''' (Australian Country Party)
|[[7 April]] [[1939]]—[[26 April]] [[1939]] (20 days)
|-
|'''[[Robert Gordon Menzies]], PC, KC''' (United Australia Party)
|[[26 April]] [[1939]]—[[29 August]] [[1941]] (2 years, 4 months, 4 days)
|-
|'''[[Arthur William Fadden]] (later Sir Arthur)''' (Country Party)
|[[29 August]] [[1941]]—[[7 October]] [[1941]] (1 month, 9 days)
|-
|'''[[John Curtin]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[7 October]] [[1941]]—[[5 July]] [[1945]] (3 years, 8 months, 29 days)
|-
|'''[[Francis Michael Forde]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[6 July]] [[1945]]—[[13 July]] [[1945]] (8 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Benedict Chifley]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[13 July]] [[1945]]—[[19 December]] [[1949]] (4 years, 5 months, 7 days)
|-
|'''[[Robert Gordon Menzies]] (later Sir Robert), PC, KC''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[19 December]] [[1949]]—[[26 January]] [[1966]] (16 years, 1 month, 8 days)
|-
|'''[[Harold Edward Holt]], PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[26 January]] [[1966]]—[[19 December]] [[1967]] (1 year, 10 months, 23 days)
|-
|'''[[John McEwen]] (later Sir John), PC''' (Country Party)
|[[19 December]] [[1967]]—[[10 January]] [[1968]] (23 days)
|-
|'''[[John Grey Gorton]], PC''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[10 January]] [[1968]]—[[10 March]] [[1971]] (3 years, 2 months)
|-
|'''[[William McMahon]] (later Sir William), PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[10 March]] [[1971]]—[[5 December]] [[1972]] (1 year, 8 months, 25 days)
|-
|'''[[Edward Gough Whitlam]], QC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[5 December]] [[1972]]—[[11 November]] [[1975]] (2 years, 11 months, 7 days)
|-
|'''[[John Malcolm Fraser]], PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[11 November]] [[1975]]—[[11 March]] [[1983]] (7 years, 4 months)
|-
|'''[[Robert James Lee Hawke]], AC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[11 March]] [[1983]]—[[20 December]] [[1991]] (8 years, 9 months, 10 days)
|-
|'''[[Paul John Keating]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[20 December]] [[1991]]—[[11 March]] [[1996]] (4 years, 2 months, 20 days)
|-
|'''[[John Howard|John Winston Howard]]''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[11 March]] [[1996]]— (11 years so far)
|}

== Geography ==

Australia relies a great deal on industry, agriculture and tourism to foster its economy. It has a thriving film industry and very advanced technology. Most tourists visit places such as Sydney Harbour, Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Central Australia and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland. Other favorite destinations are the wine making areas of South Australia and northern Victoria, the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, the natural wonders of Tasmania and the huge outback expanses of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Some cattle stations in Australia rival [[Texas]] in size and the distance between towns in some areas is enormous.

80% of Australia's population, of just over 20,000,000 people, live on the coast line. It is one of the world's most sparsely populated countries (2.7 people per square kilometre)<ref>[http://www.abs.gov.au ABS]</ref>. Water is scarce and some cities have some form of water restrictions in place.

Weather extremes are common in Australia with temperatures sometimes measured into the high 40s Celsius (45 degrees Celsius = 113 degrees Fahrenheit). The city of Darwin was destroyed by Cyclone Tracey in 1974 and bush fires often ravage the southern states - one of the worst occurring on Ash Wednesday in 1983 when over 2,000 homes were destroyed and over 70 people lost their lives in Victoria and South Australia.

Australia is noted for its unique biodiversity. Many animals are found only in Australia, the most well known examples are the group of marsupials ([[kangaroos]], [[wombats]], [[wallabies]] and [[koalas]]), and the only two [[monotremes]], the [[platypus]] and the [[echidna]]. Examples of plants that are native to Australia are the [[banksia]], [[yellow wattle]] and [[gum tree]].

Studies indicate that Australia's unique wildlife is the result of Australia becoming an island, being cut off from the Asian land bridge between 40,000–250,000 years ago on the uniformitarian timescale.

== Sport ==

Australia is often known as a sporting nation with success worldwide in [[swimming]], [[tennis]], [[rugby league]] and [[rugby union]], [[cricket]], [[netball]], [[basketball]], and even speed [[ice skating]]. Australians are very keen horse racers with the Melbourne Cup <ref>[http://www.melbournecup.com.au| Melbourne Cup]</ref> attracting up to 120,000 spectators at Flemington Race Course on the first Tuesday in November. There is a public holiday for the cup race in Melbourne, while the remainder of the country virtually pauses during the running of the cup race. This day also coincides (mostly) every second year with the [[American]] [[Congress|Congressional]] [[election]]s and every four years with the [[President|Presidential]] election.

Unique to Australia is a game known as [[Australian rules football]] or Aussie Rules, which is played on a [[cricket]] oval in winter. Australian rules football is the sport most attended by Australians; in 2006 2.5 million people had attended at least one Aussie Rules game in the preceding 12 months.[http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/ProductsbyCatalogue/1F8FAC9C2C7B1623CA2568A900139417?OpenDocument]

It is similar to [[Gaelic football]], played in [[Ireland]], and teams from the two nations play annual competition games based on a blended system of rules.

==Religion==
Australia is a [[secular]] nation, in that it has no established religion associated with the Government. Of Australia's population of around 20 million, approximately 1.5 million attend weekly religious services <ref>[http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?docid=2250&track=82083| National Church Life Survey 2004]</ref>. The Australian public school system is described as "free, secular and compulsory" with the secular meaning without favour to any particular religion - most primary schools, however, do offer some form on non-compulsory religious education according to the parents' wishes. The state systems of a number of states offer studies in religion at the senior level.

There is a large Catholic school system in Australia with most parishes having their own primary school and many hundreds of Catholic High Schools across the country. There are also a large number of independent schools founded by various religions or demominations of the Christian faith - some hold that religious background to be more important than others.

==Comparing Australian and U.S. Economic and Health statistics==
Whilst the Australian society is similar in many aspects to those of the U.S., a comparison of key economic (in $U.S.) and health indicators highlights some interesting fundamental differences:

'''GDP Per Capita'''
*U.S. $43,500.00
*Aus $32,900.00

'''Budget Defecit/Surplus'''
*U.S. $841.00 per capita defecit
*Aus $444.00 per capita surplus. Australia has had budget surpluses every year since 2001

'''Public Debt'''
*U.S. 64.7% of GDP
*Aus 14.1% of GDP

'''Military Expenditure'''
*U.S. 4.06% of GDP
*Aus 2.5 % of GDP

'''Life Expectancy at Birth'''
*U.S. 77.85 years (combined male and female)
*Aus 80.5 years (combined male and female)

'''Infant Mortality Rates'''
*U.S. 6.43 deaths/1,000 live births
*Aus 4.63 deaths/1,000 live births

'''HIV/AIDS Prevalence Rates'''
*U.S. 0.6% of population
*Aus 0.1% of population

Australians also enjoy a universal health scheme and significant subsidies on most prescription medications, both of which are likely to account for some of the significant differences between the life expectancy and infant mortality rates between the U.S. and Australia.

==External links==
* [http://www.fed.gov.au Australian Government portal]
* [http://www.aph.gov.au Australian Parliament House (Reps & Senate) portal]
* [http://www.gg.gov.au Governor-General of Australia]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Oceanian Countries]]
[[Category:Continents]]
[[Category:Australia]]

Australia

2007-06-10T02:35:14Z

Incognito: /* System of Government */ Actually it is socialist, not liberal

[[Image:AustraliaFlag.gif‎ |thumb|250px|Australia's flag]]
The [[Commonwealth]] of Australia is a [[country]]-[[continent]] with its west coast on the [[Indian Ocean]], east coast on the [[Pacific Ocean]] facing [[New Zealand]], southern coast on the [[Southern Ocean]] facing [[Antarctica]], and northern coast bordering [[Indonesia]] and [[Papua New Guinea]]. Australia is considered geographically as part of [[Oceania]], but has been establishing its place politically and commercially in [[South East Asia]].

Australia is the only country to occupy an entire continent<ref>This refers just to the Australian mainland. Some authorities now include [[Papua New Guinea]], [[New Zealand]], and various other [[Pacific Ocean]] islands in the continent of "Oceania". See [http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/au.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>, the smallest of the planet's seven continents.<ref>Some people count six, combining North and South America or Europe and Asia. See [http://worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/contnent.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>
It is 2,400 miles, (3,860 km) from east to west and 2,000 miles (3,220 km) from north to south.
It covers an area of 2,967,877 sq miles (7,686,810 sq km). The Australian coastline is 22,812 miles long (36,735 kilometers).
The mainland of Australia is about the same size as the mainland 48 states of the USA.

[[Image:Mapaust.gif‎ |Map of Australia]]
{{clear}}
Australia has six states and two internal territories. The states are [[New South Wales]], [[Victoria]], [[Queensland]], [[Western Australia]], [[South Australia]] and [[Tasmania]]. The internal territories are the [[Northern Territory]] (responsible government since 1978) and the [[Australian Capital Territory]] (responsible government since 1988) which is the location of Australia's capital city, [[Canberra]]. External territories include [[Christmas Island]] and the [[Australian Antarctic Territory]].

== History==
=== Pre European Contact ===
Australia was originally inhabited by people who are commonly known as [[Australian Aborigines|Aborigines]] although they come from over 700 smaller nations each with their own tribal name and language. Over time, many of these nations and tribes lost their identity or were decimated by disease, poor nutrition, massacres by white settlers and the forced removal of children from their parents into white families or mission stations. Nevertheless, many Aboriginal languages and traditions have survived the more than 200 years of white settlement. Under recent legislation recognising native title, Aboriginal communities now have the right to claim back land dispossessed from them where they can prove that lasting cultural links still persist and where the native title has not been extinguished by freehold or leasehold title.

The original inhabitants of the [[Torres Strait Islands]] and far northern Queensland are different and are known as [[Torres Strait Islander]]s. These people are more closely related to [[Melanesian]]s than to Aborigines. The term usually used to include all indigenous Australians is "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders".

=== Post European Contact ===
European discovery of the mainland of Australia was by [[Holland|Dutch]] sailors heading to the spice isles of what is now [[Indonesia]], in the 16th Century. Most of their descriptions of Australia are based on the exploration of the North West coast which is very rugged and inhospitable.

In [[1770]] the [[England|English]] navigator, Lieutenant [[James Cook]], Captain of the [[Royal Navy]] bark, [[HMS Endeavour]], discovered the east coast of Australia which is much more capable of maintaining life and settlers. In [[1788]] the [[First Fleet]] arrived at [[Sydney]] Cove, [[New South Wales]] - comprising officers, Marines, convicts and a very few free settlers. Later fleets brought more convicts who were dispersed also to Tasmania and other remote settlements. Over time, when freed, the former convicts settled areas beyond [[Sydney Harbour]].

As the 18th century came to a close convicts were given land packages and more free settlers came to the land in the hope of setting up farms and businesses. A number of colonies started to be formed - the most populated being New South Wales (whose capital city is Sydney). These colonies later became the states.

The 1850s saw the discovery of [[gold]] and large number of people moved to Australia to find new wealth. Most of these people were British, although there were also many dispossessed by the "land clearings" in [[Scotland]] and the [[Ireland|Irish]] [[potato]] [[famine]], and there was a significant number of [[China|Chinese]] immigrants during this rush. "Americans were drawn to Australia to participate in various enterprises such as the gold fields" <ref>[http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/textversion/usa.htm| Australian Dept of Immigration and Citizenship]</ref>

== System of Government ==
Australia became a federated country on [[1 January]] [[1901]] under the [[Constitution of Australia]], and all former British colonies became states. The declaration of federation was made in Sydney. The parliament met in [[Melbourne]], Victoria, until the infrastructure was built for the capital city, [[Canberra]].

Australia has a [[Parliament|parliamentary system]] of government based on the British system with a [[bicameral]] system: the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and the [[Australian Senate|Senate]]. Each state and territory also has its own parliament.

Australia is a [[democracy]] which has allowed men of [[European]] descent to vote since federation, with non-Aboriginal women gaining the vote in 1902 and Aboriginal men and women gaining suffrage in 1962. Voting is compulsory for all citizens who are 18 years old and over (with a few exceptions.)

Australia's Head of Government is the [[Prime Minister of Australia]]. The current Prime Minister is [[John Howard]], the leader of the [[Liberal Party of Australia]]. The Deputy Prime Minister is [[Mark Vaile]], the leader of the [[National Party of Australia]]. The two parties are in [[coalition]] to form the Government.

The Head of State is [[Queen Elizabeth II]], the Queen of Australia (who is the same person, but a different title, as the Queen of Great Britain.) Under the Constitution, and in practice, the authority of the Head of State is vested in the [[Governor-General of Australia]], currently the retired Major-General Philip Michael Jeffery, AC, CVO, MC, GCL, who assents to acts of parliament, is the Commander in Chief of the military forces, and appoints all Ministers of the Government; all these various powers are normally exercised on advice from the Prime Minister.

The Government of Australia is exercised, day-to-day, by the Ministers through their various Departments of State.

Australia has [[preferential voting]], which is designed to ensure that the candidates with the most support get into office, rather than the candidate with the most primary votes. So if three candidates, A, B, and C, get 40%, 35%, and 25% of the votes respectively (so no candidate has more than 50% of the votes), then the second preference of the voters who voted for C are distributed to the remaining candidates. The result might be that A ends up with 45% of the votes, and B with 55%, indicating that 55% of the voters prefer candidate B over A.

One consequence of this voting system is that it encourages a multiplicity of parties and even independent candidates. There have been times when the balance of power has been held my minor parties or independent individuals.

There is no limit on the time a person can be a Member of Parliament (MP) (elected, notionally, for 3 years, but the timing of elections is decided by the Prime Minister) or a Senator (elected for two cycles of the House of representatives.) The Prime Minister is normally a member of the House of Representatives, and the tenure is not limited by statute. (John Gorton was a Senator when appointed leader of his party. He immediately resigned from the Senate and stood for election to the House of Representatives.)

The Federal 'opposition' political party, is the [[Australian Labor Party]]. Its leader is [[Kevin Rudd]]. TheLabor Party is in government in all of the states and territories but remains in opposition at the Federal level. The next Australian Federal election is expected to be held late in 2007. The Labor Party is "social democratic" while the Liberals are "liberal conservatives"; however, some of the smaller parties are more liberal or more conservative than Labor and Liberal respectively.

===Parliamentary political parties===
* Australian Democrats
* Australian Greens
* Australian Labor Party
* Country Liberal Party
* Family First Party
* Liberal Party of Australia
* National Party of Australia

Despite the name, the Liberal Party, which has been in power in Australia since 1996, is conservative in political stance, a paradox established since the years that Sir Robert Menzies was Prime Minister. Menzies helped found the Liberal Party in 1944 and was the Prime Minister from 1939 until 1941 and then again from 1949 until 1966. <ref> [http://www.liberals.net/liberalpartyhistory.htm History of the Liberal Party in Australia]</ref>The liberal term refers to the party's predominantly free-market approach to economic management.

== Prime Ministers of Australia ==
Following is a list of Prime Ministers of Australia from Federation to the present.<ref>[http://www.aph.gov.au/library/parl/hist/primmins.htm Prime Ministers of Australia]</ref>
{|border=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=2 width=90%
!<big>Prime Minister</big>||<big>Dates</big>
|-
|'''Sir [[Edmund Barton]], PC, GCMG, KC''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[1 January]] [[1901]]—[[24 September]] [[1903]] (2 years, 8 months, 24 days)
|-
|'''[[Alfred Deakin]]''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[24 September]] [[1903]]—[[27 April 1904]] (7 months, 4 days)
|-
|'''[[John Christian Watson]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[27 April]] [[1904]]—[[17 August]] [[1904]] (3 months, 21 days)
|-
|'''[[George Houstoun Reid]] (later Sir George), PC, KC''' (Free Trade)
|[[18 August]] [[1904]]—[[5 July]] [[1905]] (10 months, 18 days)
|-
|'''Alfred Deakin''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[5 July]] [[1905]]—[[13 November]] [[1908]] (3 years, 4 months, 9 days)
|-
|'''[[Andrew Fisher]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[13 November]] [[1908]]—[[2 June]] [[1909]] (6 months, 21 days)
|-
|'''[[Alfred Deakin]]''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[2 June]] [[1909]]—[[29 April]] [[1910]] (10 months, 28 days)
|-
|'''Andrew Fisher''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[29 April]] [[1910]]—[[24 June]] [[1913]] (3 years, 1 month, 26 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Cook]] (later Sir Joseph)''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[24 June]] [[1913]]—[[17 September]] [[1914]] (1 year, 2 months, 25 days)
|-
|'''Andrew Fisher''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[17 September]] [[1914]]—[[27 October]] [[1915]] (1 year, 1 month, 11 days)
|-
|'''[[William Morris Hughes]]''' (Australian Labor Party; Nationalist Party from 1917)
|[[27 October]] [[1915]]—[[9 February]] [[1923]] (7 years, 3 months, 14 days)
|-
|'''[[Stanley Melbourne Bruce]], PC, CH, MC''' (Nationalist Party)
|[[9 February]] [[1923]]—[[22 October]] [[1929]] (6 years, 8 months, 14 days)
|-
|'''[[James Henry Scullin]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[22 October]] [[1929]]—[[6 January]] [[1932]] (2 years, 2 months, 16 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Aloysius Lyons]], PC, CH''' (United Australia Party)
|[[6 January]] [[1932]]—[[7 April]] [[1939]] (7 years, 3 months, 2 days)
|-
|'''Sir [[Earle Christmas Grafton Page]], PC, GCMG''' (Australian Country Party)
|[[7 April]] [[1939]]—[[26 April]] [[1939]] (20 days)
|-
|'''[[Robert Gordon Menzies]], PC, KC''' (United Australia Party)
|[[26 April]] [[1939]]—[[29 August]] [[1941]] (2 years, 4 months, 4 days)
|-
|'''[[Arthur William Fadden]] (later Sir Arthur)''' (Country Party)
|[[29 August]] [[1941]]—[[7 October]] [[1941]] (1 month, 9 days)
|-
|'''[[John Curtin]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[7 October]] [[1941]]—[[5 July]] [[1945]] (3 years, 8 months, 29 days)
|-
|'''[[Francis Michael Forde]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[6 July]] [[1945]]—[[13 July]] [[1945]] (8 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Benedict Chifley]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[13 July]] [[1945]]—[[19 December]] [[1949]] (4 years, 5 months, 7 days)
|-
|'''[[Robert Gordon Menzies]] (later Sir Robert), PC, KC''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[19 December]] [[1949]]—[[26 January]] [[1966]] (16 years, 1 month, 8 days)
|-
|'''[[Harold Edward Holt]], PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[26 January]] [[1966]]—[[19 December]] [[1967]] (1 year, 10 months, 23 days)
|-
|'''[[John McEwen]] (later Sir John), PC''' (Country Party)
|[[19 December]] [[1967]]—[[10 January]] [[1968]] (23 days)
|-
|'''[[John Grey Gorton]], PC''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[10 January]] [[1968]]—[[10 March]] [[1971]] (3 years, 2 months)
|-
|'''[[William McMahon]] (later Sir William), PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[10 March]] [[1971]]—[[5 December]] [[1972]] (1 year, 8 months, 25 days)
|-
|'''[[Edward Gough Whitlam]], QC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[5 December]] [[1972]]—[[11 November]] [[1975]] (2 years, 11 months, 7 days)
|-
|'''[[John Malcolm Fraser]], PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[11 November]] [[1975]]—[[11 March]] [[1983]] (7 years, 4 months)
|-
|'''[[Robert James Lee Hawke]], AC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[11 March]] [[1983]]—[[20 December]] [[1991]] (8 years, 9 months, 10 days)
|-
|'''[[Paul John Keating]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[20 December]] [[1991]]—[[11 March]] [[1996]] (4 years, 2 months, 20 days)
|-
|'''[[John Howard|John Winston Howard]]''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[11 March]] [[1996]]— (11 years so far)
|}

== Geography ==

Australia relies a great deal on industry, agriculture and tourism to foster its economy. It has a thriving film industry and very advanced technology. Most tourists visit places such as Sydney Harbour, Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Central Australia and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland. Other favorite destinations are the wine making areas of South Australia and northern Victoria, the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, the natural wonders of Tasmania and the huge outback expanses of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Some cattle stations in Australia rival [[Texas]] in size and the distance between towns in some areas is enormous.

80% of Australia's population, of just over 20,000,000 people, live on the coast line. It is one of the world's most sparsely populated countries (2.7 people per square kilometre)<ref>[http://www.abs.gov.au ABS]</ref>. Water is scarce and some cities have some form of water restrictions in place.

Weather extremes are common in Australia with temperatures sometimes measured into the high 40s Celsius (45 degrees Celsius = 113 degrees Fahrenheit). The city of Darwin was destroyed by Cyclone Tracey in 1974 and bush fires often ravage the southern states - one of the worst occurring on Ash Wednesday in 1983 when over 2,000 homes were destroyed and over 70 people lost their lives in Victoria and South Australia.

Australia is noted for its unique biodiversity. Many animals are found only in Australia, the most well known examples are the group of marsupials ([[kangaroos]], [[wombats]], [[wallabies]] and [[koalas]]), and the only two [[monotremes]], the [[platypus]] and the [[echidna]]. Examples of plants that are native to Australia are the [[banksia]], [[yellow wattle]] and [[gum tree]].

Studies indicate that Australia's unique wildlife is the result of Australia becoming an island, being cut off from the Asian land bridge between 40,000–250,000 years ago on the uniformitarian timescale.

== Sport ==

Australia is often known as a sporting nation with success worldwide in [[swimming]], [[tennis]], [[rugby league]] and [[rugby union]], [[cricket]], [[netball]], [[basketball]], and even speed [[ice skating]]. Australians are very keen horse racers with the Melbourne Cup <ref>[http://www.melbournecup.com.au| Melbourne Cup]</ref> attracting up to 120,000 spectators at Flemington Race Course on the first Tuesday in November. There is a public holiday for the cup race in Melbourne, while the remainder of the country virtually pauses during the running of the cup race. This day also coincides (mostly) every second year with the [[American]] [[Congress|Congressional]] [[election]]s and every four years with the [[President|Presidential]] election.

Unique to Australia is a game known as [[Australian rules football]] or Aussie Rules, which is played on a [[cricket]] oval in winter. Australian rules football is the sport most attended by Australians; in 2006 2.5 million people had attended at least one Aussie Rules game in the preceding 12 months.[http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/ProductsbyCatalogue/1F8FAC9C2C7B1623CA2568A900139417?OpenDocument]

It is similar to [[Gaelic football]], played in [[Ireland]], and teams from the two nations play annual competition games based on a blended system of rules.

==Religion==
Australia is a [[secular]] nation, in that it has no established religion associated with the Government. Of Australia's population of around 20 million, approximately 1.5 million attend weekly religious services <ref>[http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?docid=2250&track=82083| National Church Life Survey 2004]</ref>. The Australian public school system is described as "free, secular and compulsory" with the secular meaning without favour to any particular religion - most primary schools, however, do offer some form on non-compulsory religious education according to the parents' wishes. The state systems of a number of states offer studies in religion at the senior level.

There is a large Catholic school system in Australia with most parishes having their own primary school and many hundreds of Catholic High Schools across the country. There are also a large number of independent schools founded by various religions or demominations of the Christian faith - some hold that religious background to be more important than others.

==Comparing Australian and U.S. Economic and Health statistics==
Whilst the Australian society is similar in many aspects to those of the U.S., a comparison of key economic (in $U.S.) and health indicators highlights some interesting fundamental differences:

'''GDP Per Capita'''
*U.S. $43,500.00
*Aus $32,900.00

'''Budget Defecit/Surplus'''
*U.S. $841.00 per capita defecit
*Aus $444.00 per capita surplus. Australia has had budget surpluses every year since 2001

'''Public Debt'''
*U.S. 64.7% of GDP
*Aus 14.1% of GDP

'''Military Expenditure'''
*U.S. 4.06% of GDP
*Aus 2.5 % of GDP

'''Life Expectancy at Birth'''
*U.S. 77.85 years (combined male and female)
*Aus 80.5 years (combined male and female)

'''Infant Mortality Rates'''
*U.S. 6.43 deaths/1,000 live births
*Aus 4.63 deaths/1,000 live births

'''HIV/AIDS Prevalence Rates'''
*U.S. 0.6% of population
*Aus 0.1% of population

Australians also enjoy a universal health scheme and significant subsidies on most prescription medications, both of which are likely to account for some of the significant differences between the life expectancy and infant mortality rates between the U.S. and Australia.

==External links==
* [http://www.fed.gov.au Australian Government portal]
* [http://www.aph.gov.au Australian Parliament House (Reps & Senate) portal]
* [http://www.gg.gov.au Governor-General of Australia]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Oceanian Countries]]
[[Category:Continents]]
[[Category:Australia]]

Rugby League Challenge Cup

2007-06-10T02:33:04Z

Incognito: New page: Oldest professional rugby football competition of any code. Began in 1895 by the Northern Rugby Football Union which would later become Rugby league football. The Challenge Cup was mod...

Oldest professional rugby football competition of any code. Began in 1895 by the Northern Rugby Football Union which would later become [[Rugby league]] football. The Challenge Cup was modeled on soccer's FA cup in that any team can compete in it but it is normally won by a professional side. The Challenge Cup final is traditionally played at Wembley Stadium in London.

St Helens

2007-06-10T02:30:11Z

Incognito:

St Helens is an industrial town in Merseyside, United Kingdom.

Historically St Helens was located in Lancashire and developed in thethe 19th century as a significant centre for coal mining, pharmaceuticals and glassmaking. The urban area hasa total population of 176,843 at the time of the 2001 census.

==Sport==

The predominant team sport is not [[soccer]], but [[rugby league]] football. This is not uncommon in Northern England. As well as a large number of amateur clubs, the town hosts [[St Helens RLFC]]. The club has won the [[Rugby League Challenge Cup|Challenge Cup]] ten times, [[World Club Challenge]] in 2001 and 2007. The club has also won [[Super League (Europe)]] a record six times.

The town also has a soccer club, [[St Helens Town FC]] which play in the first division of the [[North West Counties Football League]].

NRL

2007-06-10T02:28:15Z

Incognito: Redirecting to National Rugby League

#REDIRECT [[National Rugby League]]

Rugby League Football

2007-06-10T02:27:32Z

Incognito: Redirecting to Rugby league

#REDIRECT [[Rugby league]]

Rugby

2007-06-10T02:27:08Z

Incognito:

'''Rugby''' refers to the sports of [[rugby union]] and [[rugby league]], which are team sports popular in the Britain, France, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and throughout the south Pacific region. It is similar in some ways to [[American football]], being the original basis of American football's laws, and to [[soccer]].

Two teams of fifteen (rugby union) or thirteen (rugby league) players carry, pass and kick the ball down the field in order to be able to touch the ball down in the opposition's in-goal, (an in-goal being the comparative and the derivative of the end zone in America football). When the ball is touched down, it is known as a '''try'''. Scoring a try awards that team a certain amount of points: 5 in rugby union and 4 in rugby league. An '''attempt''' (or try, the original source of the word) '''at conversion''' is than allowed which is taken by kicking the ball from a stationary position on the ground (usually with the help of a kicking tee or a small mound of dirt) over the '''crossbars''' of the posts which awards the team an additional 2 points. Other manners of scoring points is by penalty kick: worth 2 points in rugby league and 3 points in rugby union, or by drop goal:worth 1 point in rugby league and 3 points in rugby union. [http://www.uidaho.edu/clubs/womens_rugby/RugbyRoot/rugby/Rules/LawBook/preface.html#object]

==See also==
*[[History of rugby]]
*[[Touch football]]
*[[Rugby league]]

[[Category:Sport]]

Sydney Roosters

2007-06-10T02:26:12Z

Incognito:

{{merge|rugby}}
Rugby league football club, formerly known as Eastern Suburbs. Based in [[Sydney]], [[Australia]], and founded in 1908 as the '''Eastern Suburbs Rugby League Football Club'''.

National Rugby League

2007-06-10T02:24:33Z

Incognito: New page: The '''National Rugby League (NRL)''' is the premier competition of '''rugby league football''' in the world and arguably of domestic rugby football of any code in the world. It is the mos...

The '''National Rugby League (NRL)''' is the premier competition of '''rugby league football''' in the world and arguably of domestic rugby football of any code in the world. It is the most popular spectator competition in the 1st and 3rd biggest Australian states(population-wise), those being [[New South Wales]] and [[Queensland]] respectively.

==History of Organisations==
The NRL grew out of the previous New South Wales Rugby Football League, which itself grew out of the Sydney based club competition which began in 1908. The NRL was created as a result of a merger between the [[Rupert Murdoch]] owned [[Super league]] and the [[Kerry Packer]] financed [[Australian Rugby League|ARL]] which had temporarily split professional rugby league football in Australia in 1997.

==Composition==
There are currently sixteen clubs in the NRL. Those clubs that are located in [[Sydney]] are the [[Sydney Roosters]], [[South Sydney Rabbitohs]], [[Wests Tigers]], [[St George-Illawarra Dragons]], [[Canterbury Bulldogs]], [[Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles]], [[Parramatta Eels]], [[Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks]] and the [[Penrith Panthers]]. These teams are considered the Sydney Football Clubs.

Those clubs which are located in [[New South Wales] outside of Sydney are the [[Newcastle Knights]] and the [[Canberra Raiders]]. These clubs are the result of franchising which occurred in 1982. They are a professional amalgamation of the clubs that existed in those two cities.

Those clubs which are located in [[Queensland]] are the [[Brisbane Broncos]], [[North Queensland Cowboys]] and the [[Gold Coast Titans]]. The Brisbane Broncos were a club that was created out of a franchise in 1988 that amalgamated the previously existing football clubs of [[Brisbane]]. The North Queensland Cowboys were created as a part of the 1995 expansion push. The Gold Coast Titans were granted a franchise to join the 2007 competition, although there had previously been clubs from the Gold Coast in the national competition.

==Structure==
The NRL runs for 24 rounds that are based around the Australian winter sport season. The '''top 8''' from the league than go on to compete in a finals series which culminate in the grand final. The winner of the grand final is the premier of the competition. The winner of the 24 rounds is the minor premier. The Premier than may go on to compete against the winner of the English Rugby Super League in the [[World Club Challenge]].

Rugby league

2007-06-10T01:56:49Z

Incognito: /* Links */

Rugby league is a field sport, thirteen-a-side team form of [[football]] played with an oval ball. It is played on a rectangular pitch. The sport has a common ancestor with [[football]], [[Canadian Football]], and most clearly with [[rugby union]].

The aim of the game is to score points with by touching the ball down in the in goal area (a try), or by kicking the ball over the crossbar and between the posts (goal).

Rugby league takes its name from what was initially a breakaway faction of the English Rugby Football Union (RFU) known as the Northern Union in 1895, and was played under the same rules as rugby union . When similar breakaway factions occurred from RFU-affiliated Rugby Unions in Australia and New Zealand in 1907 and 1908 they formed associations known as Rugby Leagues and introduced modified Northern Union rules. The Northern Union later changed its name to the Rugby Football League. Thus, the game became known as rugby league. Over the following decades the game's rules were gradually changed and now rugby league is a distinctly different sport.

The aim of the game is to score points by carrying an oval ball (the correct geometric shape is a prolate spheroid) up the field towards the opposing team's in-goal where the ball is grounded to score a try (worth four points). This is to be done by the attacking team within a "set of six" tackles allowed before the ball must be handed over to the opposition. At the end of a set of six, unless the attacking team is in good field position from where they can attempt to score a try, the team with the ball will usually elect to kick the ball to the adjacent end of the field, thereby forcing the opposing team to run the ball from as far away from their own try line as possible. The opposing team attempts to prevent the attacking team from carrying out this objective by tackling the player with the ball. After scoring a try the scoring team then has the right to attempt to kick a goal (worth a further two points if successful). The kick may be taken from any point on an imaginary line parallel with the touch-line and through the point where the try was scored. The team with the most points at the end of two 40-minute halves wins.

==See Also==
*[[History of rugby]]

==Links==
*[[American National Rugby League]] [http://www.amnrl.com]
*[[National Rugby League]] [http://www.nrl.com]

[[Category:Football sports]]

Talk:Rugby league

2007-06-10T01:54:59Z

Incognito:

These are two seperate sports, with seperate governing bodies. They have not been the same since 1895. Certainly they are far more distinct that Canadian football and football. {{unsigned}}

:Move this to '''rugby league football'''. --[[User:Incognito|Incognito]] 21:54, 9 June 2007 (EDT)

Talk:Rugby league

2007-06-10T01:54:37Z

Incognito:

These are two seperate sports, with seperate governing bodies. They have not been the same since 1895. Certainly they are far more distinct that Canadian football and football.

:Move this to '''rugby league football'''. --[[User:Incognito|Incognito]] 21:54, 9 June 2007 (EDT)

Rugby league

2007-05-17T01:20:43Z

Incognito:

Rugby league is a field sport, thirteen-a-side team form of [[football]] played with an oval ball. It is played on a rectangular pitch. The sport has a common ancestor with [[football]], [[Canadian Football]], and most clearly with [[rugby union]].

The aim of the game is to score points with by touching the ball down in the in goal area (a try), or by kicking the ball over the crossbar and between the posts (goal).

Rugby league takes its name from what was initially a breakaway faction of the English Rugby Football Union (RFU) known as the Northern Union in 1895, and was played under the same rules as rugby union . When similar breakaway factions occurred from RFU-affiliated Rugby Unions in Australia and New Zealand in 1907 and 1908 they formed associations known as Rugby Leagues and introduced modified Northern Union rules. The Northern Union later changed its name to the Rugby Football League. Thus, the game became known as rugby league. Over the following decades the game's rules were gradually changed and now rugby league is a distinctly different sport.

The aim of the game is to score points by carrying an oval ball (the correct geometric shape is a prolate spheroid) up the field towards the opposing team's in-goal where the ball is grounded to score a try (worth four points). This is to be done by the attacking team within a "set of six" tackles allowed before the ball must be handed over to the opposition. At the end of a set of six, unless the attacking team is in good field position from where they can attempt to score a try, the team with the ball will usually elect to kick the ball to the adjacent end of the field, thereby forcing the opposing team to run the ball from as far away from their own try line as possible. The opposing team attempts to prevent the attacking team from carrying out this objective by tackling the player with the ball. After scoring a try the scoring team then has the right to attempt to kick a goal (worth a further two points if successful). The kick may be taken from any point on an imaginary line parallel with the touch-line and through the point where the try was scored. The team with the most points at the end of two 40-minute halves wins.

==See Also==
*[[History of rugby]]

==Links==
[[Americal National Rugby League]] [http://www.amnrl.com]

[[Category:Football sports]]

User talk:CPWebmaster

2007-05-17T01:15:31Z

Incognito: Australia

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==Intelligent design lock==
hi, I tried making a suggestion for the structuring of the ID page about a month ago and listed my comments on the talk page. I haven't received any replies indicating problems with my suggestion (see Evidence -> Support). Can you update the main article please? --[[User:Propro|Propro]] 14:03, 7 May 2007 (EDT)

== Uploads ==

Dude, what is the deal with [[Special:Upload]]? I can ''never'' cause it to function appropriately. --[[User:Linus M.|Liπus the Turbogeek]]([[User talk:Linus M.|contact me]]) 18:58, 10 April 2007 (EDT)

==Pic==
LOL! Love the banner on your user page. Ames will be pleased :P. --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 19:58, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

== User Boxes... ==

Do I understand yours to mean you have something against Poultry? I'm shocked! Were do you stand on Turkey and Chicken, Mr. Webmaster? Exactly. --~ [[User:TK|TK]] [[User_talk:TK|MyTalk]] 20:00, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

==Love==
I think the new look of your user page is simply ''fabulous!''.[[User:Rob Pommer| Cracker]][[User_talk:Rob_Pommer|talk]] 21:35, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

==Sysop Pledge==

As my good deed of the day I am requesting that you place this template on your userpage. Participating sysops will earn my respect and gratitude. --[[User:BenjaminS|BenjaminS]] 23:55, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

{{Sysop Pledge}}

Ben... you're a riot [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 10:53, 13 April 2007 (EDT)

==Proposed Block Policy==
There has recently been some disagreement over blocks, so I have created a [[User:CPAdmin1/Proposed Block Policy|proposed block policy]]
Tell me what you think. --[[User:CPAdmin1|CPAdmin1]] 23:23, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

: Responded via email... dislike it. [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 10:53, 13 April 2007 (EDT)

::Gosh, that is so "un-wiki" like, a private response, I would have been insulted for doing that, lol. --~ [[User:TK|TK]] [[User_talk:TK|MyTalk]] 04:01, 14 April 2007 (EDT)

:::Philip, could you please explain what you have against my policy. --[[User:CPAdmin1|CPAdmin1]] 09:32, 14 April 2007 (EDT)

:::: Tim, I believe that this Wiki is something like a free-market. You have the supply (us editors) and the demand (people who want to use the site). What usually happens when a free-market becomes regulated? It is no longer free. Rules and regulations destroy the system. [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 09:44, 14 April 2007 (EDT)

:::::So you prefer Anarchy? --[[User:CPAdmin1|CPAdmin1]] 14:35, 14 April 2007 (EDT)

:::::: No Tim. Rules that are essential to the site such as no obscenity, etc. are the only rules that are needed. In the real world this would be comparable to laws against murder, stealing, etc. [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 17:05, 14 April 2007 (EDT)

==Unblock Myk==
I have agreed to unblocking Myk. Is there a function with which to do so? [[User:Karajou|Karajou]] 01:09, 13 April 2007 (EDT)

*Thanks, Karajou, I was supposed to message you too, but so much is happening it was delayed. I will do it for you, the unblocking.--~ [[User:TK|TK]] [[User_talk:TK|MyTalk]] 01:23, 13 April 2007 (EDT)

== Change to the T-Rex page==
CPwebmaster, why the change on the T-Rex page? The research was cited and just released. Did you happen to read it before reverting?--[[User:Tims|TimS]] 12:04, 13 April 2007 (EDT)
:I don't agree with TimS' edits (and I will explain why on the talk page tomorrow), but neither do I agree with the amount that you removed. In cases like there where there is obviously or likely to be disagreement, couldn't you at the very least explain your rationale in the edit comment or on the talk page? [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 12:27, 13 April 2007 (EDT)
:: Yes... I did remove too much information... fixed [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 12:43, 13 April 2007 (EDT)

== Missing Links ==

For the computer illiterate, like me, would you consider restoring the link to "Special Pages" on the left? It is missing on several pages I was just on, but shows here on your own page...... --~ [[User:TK|TK]] [[User_talk:TK|MyTalk]] 06:33, 14 April 2007 (EDT)

== Good block ==

Good block this morning. The contributor has made many valid edits, so the one week time period is appropriate.--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 11:24, 14 April 2007 (EDT)

== request ==

I sent a letter of assistance regarding our abortion articles to right to life groups and I sent about 40 emails. Keep an eye on my user discussion page for people saying they are interested in being Admins/SYSOPS. Look at their edits and promote them to Admins if you think it is warranted. Here is my discussion page: http://www.conservapedia.com/User_talk:Conservative [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 22:35, 14 April 2007 (EDT)conservative

:Could you please revert the [[macroevolution]] article to the way it was before it was submitted to the panel? I left you a diff on the talk page. I understood that this was the policy regarding the panel - at least that's how it was with [[evolution]].-'''AmesG'''[http://www.conservapedia.com/User_talk:AmesG yo!] 11:52, 15 April 2007 (EDT)

::I really don't see why this should be done. The article in its present state is perfectly acceptable. Also, I don't know of the policy you speak of. Can you point it out? Thanks [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 12:12, 15 April 2007 (EDT)

== [[CP:RFA]] ==

Someone needs to periodically update this, and take the appropriate course of action for the applicants, and you seem to be a likely canidate. Thanks. --[[User:Hacker|Hacker]]<code>([[User talk:Hacker|Write some code]])</code> 21:53, 16 April 2007 (EDT)

== Anti Gun ==

I'm anti-gun, however I like to play devil's advocate sometimes. I do not believe that academic discourse can progress without competing ideas. --[[User:TrueGrit|TrueGrit]] 20:30, 17 April 2007 (EDT)

: That is awesome! It's great to see some thinkers around here. [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 20:33, 17 April 2007 (EDT)

== Edit War with Conservative ==

CPWebmaster, I was upholding the decision of the panel. See the discussion on Philip J. Rayment's talk page [http://www.conservapedia.com/User_talk:Philip_J._Rayment#question_regarding_pro_evolutionary_books_being_added_to_TOE_article here]. The Panel approved a version of the article ''with'' the free online text of "The Origin of Species", though Conservative removed the link merely eight minutes before the Panel made it's decision (Conservative removed book at 18:21 April 9, decision made 18:29 April 9); clearly too short of a time, as the panel had been deliberating for quite some time. Andy has also made his anti-censorship view very explicit. Other sysops had also supported the inclusion of the book, as it is the single most relevant book on the topic that exists. The pro-inclusion sysops provided their reasons and justifications, though Conservative kept reverting without ''any'' justification, or discussion (except for an attempt to draw the conversation off topic at [[Talk:Theory of evolution]]). Perhaps you should warn [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] to not work against what has been made explicitly clear. --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 19:56, 18 April 2007 (EDT)

: Where does the Panel's decision state that the ref's cannot be changed? It doesn't. Please do not get into any more revert wars with Conservative or any other user. Thank you. [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 19:58, 18 April 2007 (EDT)
:: [http://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Theory_of_evolution&diff=prev&oldid=96144 Here] is where the panel says that addition of references and further reading books is acceptable. And please, warn the other party in this edit war as well, as he is equally guilty. --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 20:02, 18 April 2007 (EDT)
::: I'm talking about the revert wars in general, not so much this specific case. [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 20:06, 18 April 2007 (EDT)
:::: Forgive me, but it is hard to avoid an edit war when you cite justifications for your edits, ''prove'' that you are undoubtedly correct, and the [[User:Conservative|other user]] provides no justification and runs from answering any kind of question. --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 20:07, 18 April 2007 (EDT) 
::::What other revert wars is [[User:Hojimachong| Hojimachong]] engaged in?[[User:Rob Pommer| Rob Pommer]][[User_talk:Rob_Pommer|talk]] 20:14, 18 April 2007 (EDT)
:::::None, at the moment. --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 20:16, 18 April 2007 (EDT)
:::::: You're dodging the bullet. Please just don't get into any revert wars. They waste everyone's time. [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 20:17, 18 April 2007 (EDT)
::::::: I fully understand that edit wars are bad to engage in, and should be avoided. But I think you are missing my point as well; There was evidence to back up a specific view, posted on the talk page, and told to Conservative even ''before'' he removed the books (He ''asked'' Philip J. Rayment about removing the books. Philip said he shouldn't; Conservative did it anyways). I think Conservative needs to be reprimanded in some way, shape, or form; I don't see him being warned for the edit war. --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 20:19, 18 April 2007 (EDT)
:::::::: Once again, Conservative made a change against the panel, consensus, and Andy. When is this ''vandalism'' going to be taken note of? --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 22:02, 18 April 2007 (EDT)

CPWebmaster, I want to highlight two things that you said:
* "''I'm talking about the revert wars in general, not so much this specific case.''"
* "''You're dodging the bullet. Please just don't get into any revert wars. They waste everyone's time.''"
Okay, perhaps Hojimachong has been involved in other edit wars; I haven't checked. And if true, and if that is not true of Conservative, then perhaps you do have a defence for what is otherwise a prima-facie case of favouritism. But you also seem to be "dodging the bullet" yourself. On Wikipedia, ''both'' editors would have been given blocks twice over for this particular incident, and ''both'' editors are "wasting everyone's time". You also said:
* "''Where does the Panel's decision state that the ref's cannot be changed? It doesn't.''"
That's precisely the point. I "changed" (added) some references (books for further reading), and Conservative started the revert war (in the sense that he made the first reversion) by removing them on the grounds that they were against the Panel's decision. You have here acknowledged that they are not against the Panel's decision, indicating that it was Conservative who was in the wrong, yet it is Hojimaching that you are warning.

Just to avoid any misunderstanding, I agree with Conservative's worldview, and disagree with some of Hojimachong's. And it was Conservative that first suggested that I be a sysop. It pains me to have to take a stand against him on this, but I believe that truth and justice  warrants it in this case.

[[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 23:10, 18 April 2007 (EDT)

:Well spoken, Philip. For me, this all fell under the "two wrongs don't make a right" consideration. Those who have been around more than a month know I have publicly disagreed with Sysop Conservative many times. Not on ideological or political grounds, but because of this absolute unwillingness to engage others, or even answer their questions. And I don't agree with blocking people without some explanation, if only to fellow Sysop's. He has gotten much better at responding, however. All of the points above, raised by everyone don't make engaging in a squalid public fight over editing, conducted by Sysop's, right. It is hard to preach to editors not to do something Administrators are constantly doing, eh? No matter if it is reverting each other's edits, or reverting blocks, it is the same principle; "Do as I say, not as I do". I think that is more what the Webmaster's point was, knowing full well the danger of supposition. ;-) --~ [[User:TK|Sysop-TK]] [[User_talk:TK|/MyTalk]] 03:10, 19 April 2007 (EDT)

== Problems with my watchlist ==

I appear to be having problems with my watchlist. Occasionally I notice articles that are changed are not appearing on my watchlist. It appears to be articles which have been protected. Protected articles that I put on my watchlist, or that I edit, are okay, but articles that I already have on my watchlist that are then protected don't appear, at least sometimes (until I edit them again). [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 10:18, 21 April 2007 (EDT)

== small favor ==

I permanently blocked someone and it was by mistake. I think I fixed it but I am not sure. Please make sure Bill_M can edit. 00:04, 22 April 2007 (EDT)conservative

: He's not blocked. [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 00:06, 22 April 2007 (EDT)

== Please vote for me ==

Please vote for me here: http://www.conservapedia.com/Conservapedia:Request_for_Bureaucratship [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 19:38, 22 April 2007 (EDT)

== Changing User Name ==

I'm wondering how I can change my User Name. Can it be done? If so, how? Please let me know. --[[User:Jtpaladin|Jtpaladin]] 21:47, 27 April 2007 (EDT)
: It would probably be best to just create a new account. [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 23:10, 2 May 2007 (EDT)
::Any bureaucrat can handle a name change for you. [[User:ColinR|ColinR]][[User_talk:ColinR|talk]] 02:09, 3 May 2007 (EDT)

== My contributions ==

I think there's something wrong with my contributions, all edits prior to today seem to have vanished [http://www.conservapedia.com/Special:Contributions/Aschl%D0%B0fly link]. Would you be able to look into it for me? Thank you and God bless. [[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 13:17, 1 May 2007 (EDT)
: No there isn't. Look back in the recent changes for the creation of a new 'User:Aschlafly'. --Wikinterpreter'''[http://www.conservapedia.com/User_talk:Wikinterpreter talk?]
:: [http://www.conservapedia.com/Special:Log/newusers Here]. --Wikinterpreter'''[http://www.conservapedia.com/User_talk:Wikinterpreter talk?]

So is it possible to ban the fake ASchlafly and the fake Conservative before they do more damage to the site and to the reputations of the real things?--[[User:Epicurius|Steve]] 13:25, 1 May 2007 (EDT)

:Sure, as long as the person doing it know what they are doing and pays attention. Oh................well...........it would normally be possible but after all SYSOP promotion here has little to do with understanding what the heck you are doing. [[User:Tmtoulouse|Tmtoulouse]] 13:28, 1 May 2007 (EDT)
:: I don't know. No mods seem to be currently active. --Wikinterpreter'''[http://www.conservapedia.com/User_talk:Wikinterpreter talk?]

==thank you==

thank you for fixing my talk page. --[[User:Will N.|Will N.]] 10:34, 3 May 2007 (EDT)

: you're welcome [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 11:31, 3 May 2007 (EDT)

== Edit to wombat ==

Please see the talk page and explain your reversion. Thanks. [[User:JoshuaZ|JoshuaZ]] 11:16, 7 May 2007 (EDT)

== Image libs ==

Are we using GD or ImageMagick? --[[User:Linus M.|Liπus the Turbohacker]]([[User talk:Linus M.|contact me]]) 15:33, 10 May 2007 (EDT)

==Merge==

Thanks for this merge. [http://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Dinosaur&curid=6394&diff=155595&oldid=155117]
What other maintenance tasks can we do together? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] 12:04, 11 May 2007 (EDT)

: It seems that there are a '''lot''' of templates that are not being user and/or are worthless. Going through those would be good. Thanks for the help! [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 12:07, 11 May 2007 (EDT)

::I deleted 4 unused templates. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] 12:17, 11 May 2007 (EDT)

:::Could you also remove them from [[help:templates]] please? [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 19:38, 11 May 2007 (EDT)

::::I was addressing that request to Ed, but thanks anyway. [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 00:26, 12 May 2007 (EDT)

Actually, a few of those deleted templates were either in use (although in only one or two pages). Also, a few were designed to be used with Subst:, which means that they aren't "in use" but may still be required. [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 00:43, 12 May 2007 (EDT)

== MediaWiki stuff ==

I have two suggestions:

# You really should install [http://mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Interwiki_linking interwiki links] to Wikipedia, it would make life easier.
# [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:%24wgExtraNamespaces Extra namespaces], i.e. "Debate:" would also be helpful. Currently, all debate pages reside in the Project namespace, which, to a techie like myself, is physically painful :).

--[[User:Linus M.|Liπus the Turbohacker]]([[User talk:Linus M.|contact me]]) 20:23, 11 May 2007 (EDT)

:What's the point of the interwiki links if we are normally not supposed to link to Wikipedia anyway?
:I agree with the second suggestion.
:[[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 00:29, 12 May 2007 (EDT)

*Yes, I agree with Philip. Another Sysop on Friday found several pictures linked to article pages here, from WP. --[[User:TK|Sysop-TK]] [[User_talk:TK|/MyTalk]] 01:53, 12 May 2007 (EDT)

Kewl. Thanks. --[[User:Linus M.|Liπus the Turbohacker]]([[User talk:Linus M.|contact me]]) 11:05, 12 May 2007 (EDT)

Once more thing: for a wiki of this description, [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Oversight Oversight] might be quite useful. For instance, if Icew*dge decides to use an edit summary of "F*** F*** F*** F*** F***", it can be hidden, so people won't stumble across it. --[[User:Linus M.|Liπus the Turbohacker]]([[User talk:Linus M.|contact me]]) 17:47, 12 May 2007 (EDT)

Oh yes, and you should add a [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/ImageMagick#Licensing licensing menu] to the upload page. --[[User:Linus M.|Liπus the Turbohacker]]([[User talk:Linus M.|contact me]]) 16:20, 13 May 2007 (EDT)

== Spam Filters... ==

My talk page, somewhere on it is the ice name, and spam filter is not allowing me to save my changes with it on there.....--[[User:TK|Sysop-TK]] [[User_talk:TK|/MyTalk]] 08:05, 13 May 2007 (EDT)

:Fixed it. --[[User:Linus M.|Liπus the Turbohacker]]([[User talk:Linus M.|contact me]]) 11:44, 13 May 2007 (EDT)

*Now, now, you fixed it on my page, but don't the filters need tweaking really? --[[User:TK|Sysop-TK]] [[User_talk:TK|/MyTalk]] 12:01, 13 May 2007 (EDT)

:: Just put I**W*****. We really don't want them to be able to post that anywhere on the site. [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 12:19, 13 May 2007 (EDT)

::: Unless that is case-sensitive and excludes spaces, I can easily imagine that having too many false positives. By the way, you beat me to ban the latest incarnation of said vandal by a very few seconds! [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 12:36, 13 May 2007 (EDT)

*Our two Philip's are like dynamos today! --[[User:TK|Sysop-TK]] [[User_talk:TK|/MyTalk]] 13:45, 13 May 2007 (EDT)

::I used Unicode… --[[User:Linus M.|Liπus the Turbohacker]]([[User talk:Linus M.|contact me]]) 16:19, 13 May 2007 (EDT)

*Something has indeed changed, for I cannot remain logged in as I used to. I didn't change my comp settings, but now being idle for 15 + minutes, I must log in again. --[[User:TK|Sysop-TK]] [[User_talk:TK|/MyTalk]] 19:01, 13 May 2007 (EDT)

== Changing Signature ==

I can't figure out how to change my default signature and decided you would be the most appropriate person to ask.--Favor 19:41, 13 May 2007 (EDT)

:Go to [[Special:Preferences]], or click the "my preferences" link at the top of the page. --[[User:Linus M.|Liπus the Turbohacker]]([[User talk:Linus M.|contact me]]) 22:24, 14 May 2007 (EDT)

== Problem with spam filter ==

It is now impossible to post in a section that contains the signature of a certain vandal who's signature I cannot post because the spam filter wont let me.--[[User:Favor|Favor]] 00:25, 14 May 2007 (EDT)

What I recommend you do it go ahead and remove all instances of that name on said page. [[User:DanH|DanH]] 00:29, 14 May 2007 (EDT)

: Yes, replace all instances with I**W*****. [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 10:00, 14 May 2007 (EDT)

== Why did you delete the article on "Why South Africa Sucks" ==
Please comment on my talk page. Did you delete it, or did you move it? {{unsigned|John99}}

I hope you won't mind. I created another article of "[[Why South Africa Sucks]]". The reason being that there is to much information available on this blog to warrent further expantion on the [[South Africa]] article. This website may be used as a source of information on South African Issues. --[[User:John99|John99]] 12:48, 14 May 2007 (EDT)

I NOTED THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES WERE DELETED:

* [[The Right Perspective]] http://www.therightperspectivepodcastblog.blogspot.com/

* [[African Crisis]] http://www.africancrisis.org/default2.asp

* [[Crime Expo South Africa]] http://www.crimexposouthafrica.net/

Thanks for your understanding. All these articles were sabotaged on Wikipedia.

==Homo sapiens neanderthalensis is incorrect==
CPWebmaster, the Homo sapiens neanderthalensis is not the correct name for the neanderthal. It is Homo neanderthalensis. Neanderthalensis and Sapiens are different species. Please correct.--[[User:Tims|TimS]] 11:05, 14 May 2007 (EDT)

: That is incorrect, they are not different species. [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 11:08, 14 May 2007 (EDT)

:CPWebmaster, you are wrong. Please provide your proof. According to Taxonomy they are different.
::http://www.mnh.si.edu/anthro/humanorigins/ha/neand.htm
::http://www.archaeologyinfo.com/homoneaderthalensis.htm
::--[[User:Tims|TimS]] 11:12, 14 May 2007 (EDT)

:: Both of those are false, biased sources of information. Read [http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n2/worthy-ancestors this] please. Thanks [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 11:22, 14 May 2007 (EDT)

:: AIG is unbiased? You are saying that AIG is more valid than the Smithsonian Institution? Homo sapiens neanderthalensis is a contraversial subspecies of the Homo sapiens whereas Homo neanderthalensis is the accepted species for the neanderthal. The correct way of listing taxonomy is genius and then species not genius, species then subspecies. So by your way of resoning this should be listed under Homo sapiens. Anyone one with a little biological taxonomy traning would see this as a farse.--[[User:Tims|TimS]] 11:33, 14 May 2007 (EDT)

:: When it comes to origins, AIG is obviously more valid than the Smithsonian. I am aware that Homo neanderthalensis is the "accepted" species, but this is merely hopeful thinking by evolutionists. In reality, Homo neanderthalensis is HUMAN. I placed it under a sub-species because I did not want it to conflict with the human article. [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 11:49, 14 May 2007 (EDT)

::If homo neanderthalensis is human as you said above, then why not list it with Homo sapiens? CPWebmaster, I can not understand why you would perceive AIG as more valid than the Smithsonian. There are thousands more scientists working and submitting to the Smithsonian than AIG. This provides a more critical environment for research. AIG struggles to have PhDs write articles within the scope of their discipline. How many times have you seen a physicist write about biology at AIG? The point is that if you plan to use taxonomy to describe an organism then you must follow taxonomy rules to describe the organism. Meaning if you wish to say that Neanderthal was a subspecies of Homo sapiens then you need to list Neanderthal as Homo sapiens. Otherwise you need to place it back with homo neanderthalensis.--[[User:Tims|TimS]] 12:01, 14 May 2007 (EDT)

Your source is also overstepping its bounds by claiming that Neanderthals and humans are both able to speak in the same manner. This is a mater still under debate by most physical anthropologists. There are also many skeletal differences between the two species. [[User:Prof0705|Prof0705]] 12:18, 14 May 2007 (EDT)

Do I even have to mention that based on a taxonomy the way this article is listed Neanderthal is of the same level as European, African, Asian, ect. If this is the case then why did they die out while Europeans thrived?--[[User:Tims|TimS]] 13:19, 14 May 2007 (EDT)

Are we going to have an answer from you about this? We are still waiting for your explination.--[[User:Tims|TimS]] 11:34, 15 May 2007 (EDT)

: No, I made my case, that's what I'm sticking to. [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 11:37, 15 May 2007 (EDT)

::So you are going to use scientific naming (taxonomy) without following taxonomy rules? This does not make for a very reliable article then. You are misrepresenting a classification system.--[[User:Tims|TimS]] 11:39, 15 May 2007 (EDT)

== Creating a new path.... ==

Help talk page....[[http://www.conservapedia.com/Help_talk:Contents#Creating_a_path_to_essay_of_a_subject_new_to_Conservapedia]] Would you help that guy out? Thanks! --[[User:TK|Sysop-TK]] [[User_talk:TK|/MyTalk]] 14:30, 15 May 2007 (EDT)

== Why the reversion on the "Jesus Christ" article? ==

I'm sorry, was there something wrong with my edits? I was trying to give the article a more neutral tone...I mean, it's not like Jewish or atheist conservatives believe that Jesus was the son of God.--[[User:M|M]] 15:16, 15 May 2007 (EDT)

: I could think that 2+2=6, but that does not make it true. Conservapedia presents the truth first. If you would like to add a section to the bottom about how Jews do not accept Jesus as the Son of God then go ahaid. Thanks, [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 15:37, 15 May 2007 (EDT)

::I was under the impression that Conservapedia presented the ''facts'' first, not any given religion. Stating blankly that Jesus is the Son of God is a pretty darn unsupported assertion, isn't it? Isn't the whole point of faith-based religion that we'll find out for sure after death?--[[User:M|M]] 17:27, 15 May 2007 (EDT)

::: Personally, I believe that the Bible is the infallible word of God. The Bible says that Jesus is the Son of God. Therefore, it is a FACT that Jesus is the son of God. I have no doubt in my mind that He is, I don't have to wait until I die to know for sure. [[User:CPWebmaster|CPWebmaster]] 17:45, 15 May 2007 (EDT)

== Deletedpage ==

I didn't delete it; I haven't touched it, except a locking (for obvious reasons) when it was created, on April 15. According to the [http://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Special:Log&page=Deletedpage log], TK deleted it in his rush to get the vandals, I'd let it go. --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 17:19, 16 May 2007 (EDT)
:Looks like Hojimichong protected it. [[User:DrSandstone|DrSandstone]] 17:21, 16 May 2007 (EDT)

== Australia ==

Hi, why did you revert my edits to Australia? --[[User:Incognito|Incognito]] 21:15, 16 May 2007 (EDT)

Rugby league

2007-05-16T18:07:51Z

Incognito:

Rugby league is a field sport, thirteen-a-side team form of American [[football]] played with an oval ball. It is played on a rectangular pitch. The sport has a common ancestor with [[football]], [[Canadian Football]], and most clearly with [[rugby union]].

The aim of the game is to score points with by touching the ball down in the in goal area (a try), or by kicking the ball over the crossbar and between the posts (goal).

Rugby league takes its name from what was initially a breakaway faction of the English Rugby Football Union (RFU) known as the Northern Union in 1895, and was played under the same rules as rugby union . When similar breakaway factions occurred from RFU-affiliated Rugby Unions in Australia and New Zealand in 1907 and 1908 they formed associations known as Rugby Leagues and introduced modified Northern Union rules. The Northern Union later changed its name to the Rugby Football League. Thus, the game became known as rugby league. Over the following decades the game's rules were gradually changed and now rugby league is a distinctly different sport.

The aim of the game is to score points by carrying an oval ball (the correct geometric shape is a prolate spheroid) up the field towards the opposing team's in-goal where the ball is grounded to score a try (worth four points). This is to be done by the attacking team within a "set of six" tackles allowed before the ball must be handed over to the opposition. At the end of a set of six, unless the attacking team is in good field position from where they can attempt to score a try, the team with the ball will usually elect to kick the ball to the adjacent end of the field, thereby forcing the opposing team to run the ball from as far away from their own try line as possible. The opposing team attempts to prevent the attacking team from carrying out this objective by tackling the player with the ball. After scoring a try the scoring team then has the right to attempt to kick a goal (worth a further two points if successful). The kick may be taken from any point on an imaginary line parallel with the touch-line and through the point where the try was scored. The team with the most points at the end of two 40-minute halves wins.

==See Also==
*[[History of rugby]]

==Links==
[[Americal National Rugby League]] [http://www.amnrl.com]

[[Category:Football sports]]

Rugby

2007-05-16T18:07:18Z

Incognito:

Australia

2007-05-16T17:43:48Z

Incognito: /* Sport */

[[Image:AustraliaFlag.gif‎ |thumb|250px|Australia's flag]]
The [[Commonwealth]] of Australia is a [[country]]-[[continent]] with its west coast on the [[Indian Ocean]], east coast on the [[Pacific Ocean]] facing [[New Zealand]], southern coast on the [[Southern Ocean]] facing [[Antarctica]], and northern coast bordering [[Indonesia]] and [[Papua New Guinea]]. Australia is considered geographically as part of [[Oceania]], but has been establishing its place politically and commercially in [[South East Asia]].

Australia is the only country to occupy an entire continent<ref>This refers just to the Australian mainland. Some authorities now include [[Papua New Guinea]], [[New Zealand]], and various other [[Pacific Ocean]] islands in the continent of "Oceania". See [http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/au.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>, the smallest of the planet's seven continents.<ref>Some people count six, combining North and South America or Europe and Asia. See [http://worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/contnent.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>
It is 2,400 miles, (3,860 km) from east to west and 2,000 miles (3,220 km) from north to south.
It covers an area of 2,967,877 sq miles (7,686,810 sq km). The Australian coastline is 22,812 miles long (36,735 kilometers).
The mainland of Australia is about the same size as the mainland 48 states of the USA.

[[Image:Mapaust.gif‎ |Map of Australia]]
{{clear}}
Australia has six states and two internal territories. The states are [[New South Wales]], [[Victoria]], [[Queensland]], [[Western Australia]], [[South Australia]] and [[Tasmania]]. The internal territories are the [[Northern Territory]] (responsible government since 1978) and the [[Australian Capital Territory]] (responsible government since 1988) which is the location of Australia's capital city, [[Canberra]]. External territories include [[Christmas Island]] and the [[Australian Antarctic Territory]].

== History==
=== Pre European Contact ===
Australia was originally inhabited by people who are commonly known as [[Aborigines]] although they come from over 700 smaller nations each with their own tribal name and language. Over time, many of these nations and tribes lost their identity or were decimated by disease, poor nutrition, massacres by white settlers and the forced removal of children from their parents into white families or mission stations. Nevertheless, many Aboriginal languages and traditions have survived the more than 200 years of white settlement. Under recent legislation recognising native title, Aboriginal communities now have the right to claim back land dispossessed from them where they can prove that lasting cultural links still persist and where the native title has not been extinguished by freehold or leasehold title.

=== Post European Contact ===
European discovery of the mainland of Australia was by [[Holland|Dutch]] sailors heading to the spice isles of what is now [[Indonesia]], in the 16th Century. Most of their descriptions of Australia are based on the exploration of the North West coast which is very rugged and inhospitable.

In [[1770]] the [[England|English]] navigator, Lieutenant [[James Cook]], Captain of the [[Royal Navy]] bark, [[HMS Endeavour]], discovered the east coast of Australia which is much more capable of maintaining life and settlers. In [[1788]] the [[First Fleet]] arrived at [[Sydney]] Cove, [[New South Wales]] - comprising officers, Marines, convicts and a very few free settlers. Later fleets brought more convicts who were dispersed also to Tasmania and other remote settlements. Over time, when freed, the former convicts settled areas beyond [[Sydney Harbour]].

As the 18th century came to a close convicts were given land packages and more free settlers came to the land in the hope of setting up farms and businesses. A number of colonies started to be formed - the most populated being New South Wales (whose capital city is Sydney). These colonies later became the states.

The 1850s saw the discovery of [[gold]] and large number of people moved to Australia to find new wealth. Most of these people were British, although there were also many dispossessed by the "land clearings" in [[Scotland]] and the [[Ireland|Irish]] [[potato]] [[famine]], and there was a significant number of [[China|Chinese]] immigrants during this rush. "Americans were drawn to Australia to participate in various enterprises such as the gold fields" <ref>[http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/textversion/usa.htm| Australian Dept of Immigration and Citizenship]</ref>

== System of Government ==
Australia became a federated country on [[1 January]] [[1901]] under the [[Constitution of Australia]], and all former British colonies became states. The declaration of federation was made in Sydney. The parliament met in [[Melbourne]], Victoria, until the infrastructure was built for the capital city, [[Canberra]].

Australia has a [[Parliament|parliamentary system]] of government based on the British system with a [[bicameral]] system: the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and the [[Australian Senate|Senate]]. Each state and territory also has its own parliament.

Australia is a [[democracy]] which has allowed men of [[European]] descent to vote since federation, with non-Aboriginal women gaining the vote in 1902 and Aboriginal men and women gaining suffrage in 1962. Voting is compulsory for all citizens who are 18 years old and over (with a few exceptions.)

Australia's Head of Government is the [[Prime Minister of Australia]]. The current Prime Minister is [[John Howard]], the leader of the [[Liberal Party of Australia]]. The Deputy Prime Minister is [[Mark Vaile]], the leader of the [[National Party of Australia]]. The two parties are in [[coalition]] to form the Government.

The Head of State is [[Queen Elizabeth II]], the Queen of Australia (who is the same person, but a different title, as the Queen of Great Britain.) Under the Constitution, and in practice, the authority of the Head of State is vested in the [[Governor-General of Australia]], currently the retired Major-General Philip Michael Jeffery, AC, CVO, MC, GCL, who assents to acts of parliament, is the Commander in Chief of the military forces, and appoints all Ministers of the Government; all these various powers are normally exercised on advice from the Prime Minister.

The Government of Australia is exercised, day-to-day, by the Ministers through their various Departments of State.

Australia has [[preferential voting]], which is designed to ensure that the candidates with the most support get into office, rather than the candidate with the most primary votes. So if three candidates, A, B, and C, get 40%, 35%, and 25% of the votes respectively (so no candidate has more than 50% of the votes), then the second preference of the voters who voted for C are distributed to the remaining candidates. The result might be that A ends up with 45% of the votes, and B with 55%, indicating that 55% of the voters prefer candidate B over A.

One consequence of this voting system is that it encourages a multiplicity of parties and even independent candidates. There have been times when the balance of power has been held my minor parties or independent individuals.

There is no limit on the time a person can be a Member of Parliament (MP) (elected, notionally, for 3 years, but the timing of elections is decided by the Prime Minister) or a Senator (elected for two cycles of the House of representatives.) The Prime Minister is normally a member of the House of Representatives, and the tenure is not limited by statute. (John Gorton was a Senator when appointed leader of his party. He immediately resigned from the Senate and stood for election to the House of Representatives.)

The Federal 'opposition' political party, is the [[Australian Labor Party]] which most Americans would recognize as "liberal". Its leader is [[Kevin Rudd]]. TheLabor Party is in government in all of the states and territories but remains in opposition at the Federal level. The next Australian Federal election is expected to be held late in 2007. The Labor Party is "social democratic" while the Liberals are "liberal conservatives"; however, some of the smaller parties are more liberal or more conservative than Labor and Liberal respectively.

===Parliamentary political parties===
* Australian Democrats
* Australian Greens
* Australian Labor Party
* Country Liberal Party
* Family First Party
* Liberal Party of Australia
* National Party of Australia

Despite the name, the Liberal Party, which has been in power in Australia since 1996, is conservative in political stance, a paradox established since the years that Sir Robert Menzies was Prime Minister. Menzies helped found the Liberal Party in 1944 and was the Prime Minister from 1939 until 1941 and then again from 1949 until 1966. <ref> [http://www.liberals.net/liberalpartyhistory.htm History of the Liberal Party in Australia]</ref>The liberal term refers to the party's predominantly free-market approach to economic management.

== Prime Ministers of Australia ==
Following is a list of Prime Ministers of Australia from Federation to the present.<ref>[http://www.aph.gov.au/library/parl/hist/primmins.htm Prime Ministers of Australia]</ref>
{|border=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=2 width=90%
!<big>Prime Minister</big>||<big>Dates</big>
|-
|'''Sir [[Edmund Barton]], PC, GCMG, KC''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[1 January]] [[1901]]—[[24 September]] [[1903]] (2 years, 8 months, 24 days)
|-
|'''[[Alfred Deakin]]''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[24 September]] [[1903]]—[[27 April 1904]] (7 months, 4 days)
|-
|'''[[John Christian Watson]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[27 April]] [[1904]]—[[17 August]] [[1904]] (3 months, 21 days)
|-
|'''[[George Houstoun Reid]] (later Sir George), PC, KC''' (Free Trade)
|[[18 August]] [[1904]]—[[5 July]] [[1905]] (10 months, 18 days)
|-
|'''Alfred Deakin''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[5 July]] [[1905]]—[[13 November]] [[1908]] (3 years, 4 months, 9 days)
|-
|'''[[Andrew Fisher]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[13 November]] [[1908]]—[[2 June]] [[1909]] (6 months, 21 days)
|-
|'''[[Alfred Deakin]]''' (Protectionist Party)
|[[2 June]] [[1909]]—[[29 April]] [[1910]] (10 months, 28 days)
|-
|'''Andrew Fisher''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[29 April]] [[1910]]—[[24 June]] [[1913]] (3 years, 1 month, 26 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Cook]] (later Sir Joseph)''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[24 June]] [[1913]]—[[17 September]] [[1914]] (1 year, 2 months, 25 days)
|-
|'''Andrew Fisher''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[17 September]] [[1914]]—[[27 October]] [[1915]] (1 year, 1 month, 11 days)
|-
|'''[[William Morris Hughes]]''' (Australian Labor Party; Nationalist Party from 1917)
|[[27 October]] [[1915]]—[[9 February]] [[1923]] (7 years, 3 months, 14 days)
|-
|'''[[Stanley Melbourne Bruce]], PC, CH, MC''' (Nationalist Party)
|[[9 February]] [[1923]]—[[22 October]] [[1929]] (6 years, 8 months, 14 days)
|-
|'''[[James Henry Scullin]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[22 October]] [[1929]]—[[6 January]] [[1932]] (2 years, 2 months, 16 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Aloysius Lyons]], PC, CH''' (United Australia Party)
|[[6 January]] [[1932]]—[[7 April]] [[1939]] (7 years, 3 months, 2 days)
|-
|'''Sir [[Earle Christmas Grafton Page]], PC, GCMG''' (Australian Country Party)
|[[7 April]] [[1939]]—[[26 April]] [[1939]] (20 days)
|-
|'''[[Robert Gordon Menzies]], PC, KC''' (United Australia Party)
|[[26 April]] [[1939]]—[[29 August]] [[1941]] (2 years, 4 months, 4 days)
|-
|'''[[Arthur William Fadden]] (later Sir Arthur)''' (Country Party)
|[[29 August]] [[1941]]—[[7 October]] [[1941]] (1 month, 9 days)
|-
|'''[[John Curtin]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[7 October]] [[1941]]—[[5 July]] [[1945]] (3 years, 8 months, 29 days)
|-
|'''[[Francis Michael Forde]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[6 July]] [[1945]]—[[13 July]] [[1945]] (8 days)
|-
|'''[[Joseph Benedict Chifley]], PC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[13 July]] [[1945]]—[[19 December]] [[1949]] (4 years, 5 months, 7 days)
|-
|'''[[Robert Gordon Menzies]] (later Sir Robert), PC, KC''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[19 December]] [[1949]]—[[26 January]] [[1966]] (16 years, 1 month, 8 days)
|-
|'''[[Harold Edward Holt]], PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[26 January]] [[1966]]—[[19 December]] [[1967]] (1 year, 10 months, 23 days)
|-
|'''[[John McEwen]] (later Sir John), PC''' (Country Party)
|[[19 December]] [[1967]]—[[10 January]] [[1968]] (23 days)
|-
|'''[[John Grey Gorton]], PC''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[10 January]] [[1968]]—[[10 March]] [[1971]] (3 years, 2 months)
|-
|'''[[William McMahon]] (later Sir William), PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[10 March]] [[1971]]—[[5 December]] [[1972]] (1 year, 8 months, 25 days)
|-
|'''[[Edward Gough Whitlam]], QC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[5 December]] [[1972]]—[[11 November]] [[1975]] (2 years, 11 months, 7 days)
|-
|'''[[John Malcolm Fraser]], PC, CH''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[11 November]] [[1975]]—[[11 March]] [[1983]] (7 years, 4 months)
|-
|'''[[Robert James Lee Hawke]], AC''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[11 March]] [[1983]]—[[20 December]] [[1991]] (8 years, 9 months, 10 days)
|-
|'''[[Paul John Keating]]''' (Australian Labor Party)
|[[20 December]] [[1991]]—[[11 March]] [[1996]] (4 years, 2 months, 20 days)
|-
|'''[[John Howard|John Winston Howard]]''' (Liberal Party of Australia)
|[[11 March]] [[1996]]— (11 years so far)
|}

== Geography ==

Australia relies a great deal on industry, agriculture and tourism to foster its economy. It has a thriving film industry and very advanced technology. Most tourists visit places such as Sydney Harbour, Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Central Australia and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland. Other favorite destinations are the wine making areas of South Australia and northern Victoria, the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, the natural wonders of Tasmania and the huge outback expanses of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Some cattle stations in Australia rival [[Texas]] in size and the distance between towns in some areas is enormous.

80% of Australia's population, of just over 20,000,000 people, live on the coast line. It is one of the world's most sparsely populated countries (2.7 people per square kilometre)<ref>[http://www.abs.gov.au ABS]</ref>. Water is scarce and some cities have some form of water restrictions in place.

Weather extremes are common in Australia with temperatures sometimes measured into the high 40s Celsius (45 degrees Celsius = 113 degrees Fahrenheit). The city of Darwin was destroyed by Cyclone Tracey in 1974 and bush fires often ravage the southern states - one of the worst occurring on Ash Wednesday in 1983 when over 2,000 homes were destroyed and over 70 people lost their lives in Victoria and South Australia.

Australia is noted for its unique biodiversity. Many animals are found only in Australia, the most well known examples are the group of marsupials ([[kangaroos]], [[wombats]], [[wallabies]] and [[koalas]]), and the only two [[monotremes]], the [[platypus]] and the [[echidna]]. Examples of plants that are native to Australia are the [[banksia]], [[yellow wattle]] and [[gum tree]].

Studies indicate that Australia's unique wildlife is the result of Australia becoming an island, being cut off from the Asian land bridge between 40,000–250,000 years ago on the uniformitarian timescale.

== Sport ==

Australia is often known as a sporting nation with success worldwide in [[swimming]], [[tennis]], [[rugby league]] football and [[rugby union]] football, [[cricket]], [[netball]], [[basketball]], and even speed [[ice skating]]. Australians are very keen horse racers with the Melbourne Cup <ref>[http://www.melbournecup.com.au| Melbourne Cup]</ref> attracting up to 120,000 spectators at Flemington Race Course on the first Tuesday in November. There is a public holiday for the cup race in Melbourne, while the remainder of the country virtually pauses during the running of the cup race. This day also coincides (mostly) every second year with the [[American]] [[Congress|Congressional]] [[election]]s and every four years with the [[President|Presidential]] election.

Unique to Australia is a game known as [[Australian rules football]] or Aussie Rules, which is played on a [[cricket]] oval in winter, that draws the largest crowds of the football codes across Australia. It is similar to [[Gaelic football]], played in [[Ireland]], and teams from the two nations play annual competition games based on a blended system of rules known as "International Rules".

==Religion==
Australia is a [[secular]] nation, in that it has no established religion associated with the Government. Of Australia's population of around 20 million, approximately 1.5 million attend weekly religious services <ref>[http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?docid=2250&track=82083| National Church Life Survey 2004]</ref>. The Australian public school system is described as "free, secular and compulsory" with the secular meaning without favour to any particular religion - most primary schools, however, do offer some form on non-compulsory religious education according to the parents' wishes. The state systems of a number of states offer studies in religion at the senior level.

There is a large Catholic school system in Australia with most parishes having their own primary school and many hundreds of Catholic High Schools across the country. There are also a large number of independent schools founded by various religions or demominations of the Christian faith - some hold that religious background to be more important than others.

==Comparing Australian and U.S. Economic and Health statistics==
Whilst the Australian society is similar in many aspects to those of the U.S., a comparison of key economic (in $U.S.) and health indicators highlights some interesting fundamental differences:

'''GDP Per Capita'''
*U.S. $43,500.00
*Aus $32,900.00

'''Budget Defecit/Surplus'''
*U.S. $841.00 per capita defecit
*Aus $444.00 per capita surplus. Australia has had budget surpluses every year since 2001

'''Public Debt'''
*U.S. 64.7% of GDP
*Aus 14.1% of GDP

'''Military Expenditure'''
*U.S. 4.06% of GDP
*Aus 2.5 % of GDP

'''Life Expectancy at Birth'''
*U.S. 77.85 years (combined male and female)
*Aus 80.5 years (combined male and female)

'''Infant Mortality Rates'''
*U.S. 6.43 deaths/1,000 live births
*Aus 4.63 deaths/1,000 live births

'''HIV/AIDS Prevalence Rates'''
*U.S. 0.6% of population
*Aus 0.1% of population

Australians also enjoy a universal health scheme and significant subsidies on most prescription medications, both of which are likely to account for some of the significant differences between the life expectancy and infant mortality rates between the U.S. and Australia.

==External links==
* [http://www.fed.gov.au Australian Government portal]
* [http://www.aph.gov.au Australian Parliament House (Reps & Senate) portal]
* [http://www.gg.gov.au Governor-General of Australia]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Oceanian Countries]]
[[Category:Continents]]
[[Category:Australia]]