Maude Nificent

OldFart White #Atheist, on BoonWurrung Land; #GoodTVSeries; #CurrentlyListeningTo; #FavouriteBooks (usu non-fict); whinge #Crapitalism; #SystemicRacism; happy to discuss #Bipolar or #MentalHealth or just listen if that’s wot is needed
Banner says “Imagine your ancestors massacring vulnerable people and you celebrating it every year lol. You’re all psychopaths.” Madeline Hayman-Reber
Avatar Description; Wednesday Addams with incredulous expression

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Last Notes

2026-04-12 00:17:45 GMT

#SerenityInOz— a quiz about Australian stuff — Sun 12 April, 2026
(Please boost for reach, and try to CW your answers)
———
wikipedia tells me
A cockatoo is any of the 21 species of parrots belonging to the family Cacatuidae, the only family in the superfamily Cacatuoidea.
The family has a mainly Australasian distribution, ranging from the Philippines and the eastern Indonesian islands of Wallacea to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Australia.
Cockatoos are recognisable by their prominent crests and curved bills
Cockatoos prefer to eat seeds, tubers, corms, fruit, flowers, and insects. They often feed in large flocks, particularly when ground-feeding. Cockatoos are monogamous and nest in tree hollows.
:questionbox: which type of cockatoo am i? (what’s my common name)
i am native to New Guinea, the Aru Islands and the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland,
i have a crest of long feathers atop its head, with a very large and strong, sharply-hooked black beak (with which it can easily open nuts and seeds), and prominent bright-red cheek patches
at 55 to 60 cm (22 to 24 in) in length and a weight of 910–1,200 g (2.01–2.65 lb).
i *may* be the largest cockatoo species and largest parrot in Australia.. . or close to it
i have one of the largest bills of any parrot (only the hyacinth macaw's is larger). This powerful bill enables me not only to eat very hard nuts and seeds, but also enables males to break off thick (about 1 in (2.5 cm)) sticks from live trees to use for a drumming display.
The male has a larger beak than the female.
The beak is unusual, as the lower and upper mandibles do not meet for much of its length, allowing the tongue to hold a nut against the top mandible while the lower mandible works to open it. i have a distinctive red cheek patch that changes colour when i am alarmed or excited.
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/116/388/857/347/581/154/original/431c284527969c6d.jpeg

2026-04-08 23:49:58 GMT

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“Point of View”
Sunday morning TV viewing was a desert, though i think he had better time slots in the beginning. 🤔
He had a huge influence on lots of people.

2026-04-08 23:41:26 GMT

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🥇

2026-04-08 15:16:12 GMT

#SerenityInOz— a quiz about Australian stuff — Thurs 9 April, 2026
(Please boost for reach, and try to CW your answers)
———
:questionbox: what is my name?
born 1864 in County Cork
ordained as a catholic priest in 1890
i moved to australia 1913
as coadjutor [assistant/ next in line] Archbishop of melbourne
and became archbishop in 1917
serving in that role for 46 years
my militant advocacy on behalf of a separate Roman Catholic school system, in defiance of the general acceptance of a secular school system, made me immediately a figure of controversy
In 1914, when Australia entered World War I on the side of the UK
i denounced the war as "just a sordid trade war",
& was labelled a traitor.
When the Australian Labor Party govt of Billy Hughes tried to introduce conscription for the war,
i campaigned against it
i spoke out more frequently about the 1917 referendum, which was also defeated. This campaign included a speech before a huge crowd of perhaps 100,000 at the Richmond Racecourse (which was provided by John Wren)
When the Labor Party split over conscription, i supported the Catholic-dominated anti-conscription faction
i opposed the Easter Rising in 1916 and always condemned the use of force by Irish nationalists. i also counselled Irish Catholic australians to stay out of Irish politics…
[yada yada yada]
i predicted the 1915 Treaty of Versailles, would lead to a greater war than the one just ended…
the british tried to keep me from visiting english cities with a large irish population, and there were efforts to stop me returning to australia
In the 1920s spoke against the Industrial Workers of the World and the Communist Party of Australia.
i was leader of the largest ethnic minority in melbourne
and lived at Raheen, in kew
After 1941, authorised Bob Santamaria to form the Catholic Social Studies Movement, aka "The Movement", to organise in the unions and defeat the Communists.
by 1949 it had taken control of the Victorian branch of the Labor Party
i spoke against the white australia policy
although i saw communism as a threat to the church, i opposed - as totalitarian - Menzie’s 1951 referendum to ban communism
when the Labor party split again i supported the new democratic labor party, (DLP) & allowed religious to openly support them
in 1957 the vatican ruled “the movement” should not interfere in politics
By the 1960s the distinct identity of the Irish community in Melbourne was fading, and Irish Catholics were increasingly outnumbered by Italian, Croatian, Polish, Maltese and other postwar immigrant Catholic communities.
i remained active and in full authority, but was no longer a central figure in the city's politics.
I died in 1963, a few months shy of my 100th birthday

2026-04-08 15:02:20 GMT

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song title: I don’t like it
song lyrics: my shopping trolley… murdered
https://youtu.be/rfK9XMEgUkM

2026-04-07 16:37:43 GMT

#SerenityInOz— a quiz about Australian stuff — Wed 8 April, 2026
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———
:questionbox: what is my name?
i am an australian hit song released in 1998
recorded by Simon Hunt
my official music video features lip syncing by Pauline Pantsdown
Pauline doesn’t like it, but i peaked at number 10 on the ARIA charts
:questionbox: what happened to my shopping trolley?????
———

2026-04-07 08:47:33 GMT

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what… were they excommunicated?
seriously though… i was never sporty, and also smacking the ball with my hand hurt the one time i tried it 😆

2026-04-05 22:00:55 GMT

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🥇
she would be a bit long in the tooth now, and possibly less busy 🤔
https://www.gevans.org/speeches/Speech795.html

2026-03-29 21:22:44 GMT

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oh thank you! my brain is just not on the ball these days
a whole pack of your favourite jelly beans for you!

2026-03-14 01:11:16 GMT

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an unusually high score for me, today
✅❌✅✅✅✅❌✅✅✅
The Saturday Paper Quiz No. 591
I got 8/10!
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/quiz/2026/03/14?rival=1011110111

2026-03-05 14:20:40 GMT

#SerenityInOz— a quiz about Australian stuff—Fri 6 Mar, 2026
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The first time i saw battered savs in a QLD take-away i was underwhelmed. They looked less appetising than the pan-fried fritz so popular in SA… but we all have our weaknesses 😃
:questionbox:
today’s challenge is to match the food with its home state/ territory
1. savoury toast
2. pie floater
3. flake
4. barramundi
5. moreton bay bugs
6. rock oyster
7. conti roll
——
(as i’m no expert on foods unique to various states, i’ll be happy to hear from anyone with parochial pride in specialties not listed here)

2026-02-02 22:49:50 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Tuesday 3 Feb, 2026
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———-
who am i?
i was born in prague, 1885
radicalised by war, i deserted from the austrian army in 1918
working in berlin as a journalist, & author
i was imprisoned after the burning of the Reichstag but then, as a czech citizen, released, and expelled from germany, where my books had been burned
Following the Reichstag Fire Trial organised by the Nazi government to lay the blame for the fire on Communist opponents, a counter-trial was organized in 1933 in London by a group of lawyers, democrats and other anti-Nazi groups under the aegis of German Communist émigrés.
i was to be a witness at this counter trial but was refused leave to land in the United Kingdom because of my "known subversive activities”
i planned a visit to Australia as a delegate to the All-Australian Congress Against War and Fascism in 1934,
australia denied me entry at fremantle
in melbourne i jumped over five metres from the deck of the Strathaird onto Station Pier, breaking my right leg but, for the purposes of the immigration act, i had now “entered Australia”
The Victoria Police quickly took charge and carried me back on board and placed me in custody of the ship’s captain.
in parliament, Frank Brennan, a Labor MP, asked why my right to speak in Australia was being restricted just because the Lyons administration disagreed with me.
Robert Menzies — then attorney general for United Australia Party government —
said every civilized country had the right to determine who should or should not be allowed in
in sydney, Justice Evatt ordered my release
on land once again i was arrested
The Act as amended in 1905 provided that "any person who (...) when an officer dictates to him not less than fifty words in any prescribed language, fails to write them out in that language in the presence of the officer" would not be admitted
as i was known to be fluent in many languages, i was tested in Scottish Gaelic
The High Court decided Scots Gaelic was not a European Language within the meaning of the Immigration Act, and i was released
On 17 February 1935, i addressed a crowd of 18,000 in the Sydney Domain warning of the dangers of Hitler's Nazi regime, of another war and of concentration camps

2026-02-02 05:54:40 GMT

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🌸

2026-02-02 02:58:21 GMT

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🐏
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/31/first-australian-piano-comes-home-to-uk-after-231-years

2026-02-02 00:08:08 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Mon 2 Feb, 2026
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———-
i was born in devon, england, in 1766
i married a soldier, and travelled with him and our firstborn son to NSW on the second fleet (1790)
i was educated, an amateur astronomer and botanist, and a prolific letter writer
my husband john was made commandant at parramatta, (later paymaster, and director of public works)
he received his first land grant at rosehill, and others at camden, seven hills and pennant hills.
he was also given to melancholia and paranoia, and managed to get up the noses of important people.
“”Between 1801 and 1805, John was living in England, where he had been sent for court-martial after wounding his superior officer in a duel, and again from 1808 to 1817, avoiding an arrest warrant for his role in the Rum Rebellion of January 1808, and then because he refused to accept the terms for his return to New South Wales which were that he admits his wrongdoing and promise to be of good behaviour””
i separated from my husband in 1831
i had 9 pregnancies with 7 children surviving childhood,
and i raised a lot of sheep.
i took piano lessons from george worgan, a surgeon on the first fleet
a) who am i?
b) where is the piano now?

2026-01-31 22:34:00 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Sun 1 Feb, 2026
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———-
i am a town in central west queensland
i am on the land of the Iningai people
i am on the tropic of capricorn
and on the thomson river
my economy is built on cattle, sheep and tourism
my east-west streets are named after water birds
the CWA is on duck street
my north south streets are named after land birds
i am home to the Stockmen’s Hall of Fame and
QANTAS Founders Outback Museum*
(years ago, when Maude was growing up, and learning how to dine proper using her manners, if she forgot to ask things like “please pass the dead horse” the name of my town sometimes rated a mention…)
*don’t be misled…
qantas began in winton in 1920 before it was relocated to my township

2026-01-31 11:13:37 GMT

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🐶🥰

2026-01-31 02:02:22 GMT

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Ѻ···Ѻ 🗝️
i’m really rubbish at writing these 😬 but i’m learning all the time…i was thinking of the one at ross, —
but you are quite right — there were 5 all up:
https://femaleconvicts.org.au/convict-institutions/female-factories
well done, and thank you for joining in

2026-01-30 21:50:32 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Sat 31 Jan, 2026
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———
An early australian “female factory” — a workhouse for female convicts” — is located in which town in Tasmania?

2026-01-30 21:44:08 GMT

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Australian Antarctic Research Division
Mawson, Davis and Casey stations are on the Antarctic continent. Macquarie Island station is in the sub-Antarctic. Scientists and support staff occupy all 4 stations year-round.
The Antarctic Division manages other significant areas in the Australian Antarctic Territory and the sub-Antarctic, such as Heard and McDonald Islands.
https://www.antarctica.gov.au/antarctic-operations/stations-and-field-locations/

2026-01-29 22:11:21 GMT

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more than you think…
when you hear/read the names, you will probably recognise one or two
thank you for playing along
🐧

2026-01-29 21:40:10 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Fri 30 Jan, 2026
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———
Australian Antarctic Research Division has how many permanent research stations in Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic?

2026-01-29 03:15:07 GMT

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gambling ads? that ’s a bugger
i’m spoilt, i guess. if i had to rely on a phone to engage with the world, i probably wouldn’t bother

2026-01-29 02:56:54 GMT

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thanks for explaining SAD,, Huggy.
I re-visitied the article, and realise,, as you say, Jude, Barnson must be a portmanteau of Barnaby and Hanson.
I learned long ago that, as i don’t understand half of what i read, I have to just keep going, or i would never read anything.

2026-01-28 22:48:48 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Thur 29 Jan, 2026
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———
i am a small coastal town in nsw
on the land of the Thaua people of the Yuin nation
i first became important to white people as a whaling station
they thought the orcas (killer whales) were a pest,
but the Thaua knew humans could partner with orcas to trap humpback whales
i was surveyed in 1842, and parts of me sold at auction in 1843
white graziers inland saw me as a good place to load cattle for shipping to the market in hobart — a use for me that continued til the 1890s
the whaling industry declined in 1920
other industries in the area have included timber, and fishing.
a tuna cannery opened in 1949, was closed in 1999
mostly, i now rely on tourism
i am equidistant between sydney and melbourne, and between sydney and tassie, so i was once considered as a possible site for an australian capital

2026-01-28 22:29:33 GMT

Beware the new ‘normal’, it might be about to bite us
Amy Remeikis
Jan 28, 2026,
https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/australian-politics/2026/01/28/politics-one-nation-normalisation
#Auspol

2026-01-28 00:32:52 GMT

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Movements for change often struggle for a while, but at some point it will become socially acceptable to hold a new view, and then a movement will snowball as peer pressure adjusts.
Climate change actions centred on school strikes began as early as 2006, when Greta Thunberg was only a toddler. At that time, not everyone was aware of global warming, and of those who had heard of it, not everyone believed it was a problem, or understood how humans were responsible. Greta first held up her own iconic School Strike For Climate sign much later, in 2018. Change begins and happens long before the majority of people are fighting for it.
The pace of change gradually accelerates when a feedback loop is positive.
some people believe X is an important issue ==>
they publicise the issue ==>
more people believe X is an important issue ==>
there is increased publicity for the issue ==>
This is why Rosa Parks was by no means the first Black person to refuse to give up a seat on a Montgomery bus, but in 1955 hers became the face of a new wave of civil rights action.
To a point, change happens only because people keep making a stand until one person just happens to be in the right place at the right time. The early efforts of those who are not yet in the right place at the right time are not wasted, but a necessary part of the process — they provide the undercurrent that eventually results in change.
—
Today’s question is “ is the bad stuff we are seeing now the end of the backlash against the 60s and 70s?” or the beginning of something worse?
Nothing you have ever done has been wasted. I believe absolutely in the power of the masses to influence change, as much as the pace of change sucks.
The whitlam government stands as the best example ever for australians that you don’t have to destroy the system to effect change.
Nobody needs guns to change the way they see the world.
Etc etc
you probably do a lot more than you know by just being who you are

2026-01-27 08:37:11 GMT

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saw this the other day. no idea where it was photographed, but “theaters” is USian spelling
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/115/966/141/323/977/744/original/2ce2beb7153c3caf.png

2026-01-27 08:16:20 GMT

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https://nswliberal.org.au/melissa-mcintosh/news/abc-television-hits-its-all-time-low-in-national-b

2026-01-27 06:15:42 GMT

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the daily mail — fox news for brits who can read

2026-01-26 23:39:52 GMT

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You have done very well… 7 days
😎
The man was born to Irish parents… which might give you a hint what the F stood for.☘️
stay cool today 🧊

2026-01-26 23:17:19 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Tuesday 27 Jan, 2026
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———-
i was born in Mitchell, Queensland, in 1890
during the great depression i increased tariffs , and entered cabinet in 1931 as minister for trade and customs
i was deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party from 1932-1946
i was the 15th prime minister of australia
following the death of John Curtin
and the shortest serving prime minster (so far)
who am i?
how long was i prime minister?

2026-01-23 21:32:41 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Sat 24 Jan, 2026
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———-
in now-called-australia i am usually made of wood
so yeah, nah, the oldest example of me here has only survived 10,000 years
but there is a 20,000 year old rock-painting of one of my kind in the Kimberley
i have been used in other countries, but not (so far as we know) in a design that can return to the thrower
probably because i was so useful, i was once used almost everywhere here.
i have become a universally recognised symbol of australia
(which is a bit of a cheek, imo)
because there are over 250 Indigenous language groups here it should be no surprise i can be made in a variety of shapes
in a variety of sizes
for a variety of uses
or decorated in a variety of ways
depending on my design
i can be used to make music
to dig for food
to throw at large game
to light fires
to fight people
sometimes i am sculpted using the same principles of flight as modern aircraft, and can hover in the air to create a shadow of a hawk
sometimes, but not always, i am designed to return to the thrower
i am now used in international competition
i am… ?

2026-01-22 19:36:56 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Fri 23 Jan, 2026
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—————-
we are two pieces of fruit
we live in cuddles avenue, next to the beach
we wear clothing loosely based on bottom-wear from the Indian Subcontinent, and Iran
our tv show first aired on the abc in 1992
it was inspired by a song
— written by enid blyton’s nephew, and
— used on playschool
originally we were represented by actors in costume,
more recently we appear as animations

2026-01-21 22:00:27 GMT

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⚓️ well done. i had to look most of it up 😎

2026-01-21 20:36:51 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Thurs 22 Jan, 2026
Warning; Questions about Colonisers and #FirstFleet
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———-
today there are several questions of varying degrees of difficulty;
i was a captain in the british royal navy
i was appointed commodore of the first fleet
and i was first Captain General and Chief Governor of the new colony of new south wales
i returned to england in 1792, with kidney stones
who am i?
from which port in england did the fleet set sail?
how many ships in the fleet?
which of the fleet ships was I on when i left england?
which ship was i on when I first arrived?
where did we first land?
finally…
i might be the first anglo known to have said
“yeah nah” on the soil of what-came-to be-called-australia
when i said this, i decided we should all pack up and relocate to a new spot 20km north (by sea).
what date did we arrive at the new spot?

2026-01-20 20:53:17 GMT

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i remember a great uncle had one in a paddock, rusting away…
“rustic beauty” 🤔

2026-01-20 20:23:36 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Wed 21 Jan, 2026
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———-
my binomial is eudyptula minor
i am a small bird
l grow to about 30-33 cm tall (that’s 12-13 inches in the old money)
i can be found along the southern coastlines of australia, and in parts of new zealand
my feathers are dense in melanosomes
making them waterproof, and also blue in appearance
i have a black beak, and pink feet with black soles, and webbing
i dive in the ocean for food during the day,
and return to my burrow on shore during the night
i use my wings as flippers
people think i’m cute, but i think people should be more careful about what they chuck away, and where they chuck it
(waddling away now, mumbling about humans…)

2026-01-20 20:15:25 GMT

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Furphy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furphy

2026-01-19 21:37:15 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Tuesday 20 Jan, 2026
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—-
I’m Australian slang for an erroneous or improbable story that is claimed to be factual.
… supposedly heard from reputable sources, sometimes second-hand or third-hand, and widely believed until discounted.
to misquote lily tomlin out of context;
“you’re probl’y used to dealing in negatives, so i’ll tell you what i’m NOT…”
i am not an urban myth,
i am not a porky (pie)
i am not really even fake news of the deliberate misinformation kind…
——
i’m said to be named for an australian brand of water tank
common in arenas of war
around which WWI diggers gathered for a drink and to catch up on the latest rumours
but maybe this is also just…
an erroneous or improbable story that is claimed to be factual.
… supposedly heard from reputable sources, sometimes second-hand or third-hand, and widely believed until discounted.
i am known as a… ?

2026-01-18 20:51:24 GMT

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some of the nuns were — “dysfunctional” —
but some were quite inspirational women. one in particular did a goid job of encouraging us to see things from different points of view

2026-01-18 20:35:55 GMT

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the book or the movie?
i only ever saw the movie

2026-01-18 20:30:20 GMT

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catholic schools, start to finish, though my family moved around victoria a lot. i suspect the nuns complied with government requirements then added their own personal touches to everything. we were encouraged to question everything (except the church’s interpretation of the bible, of course)
i found it unreadable at the time, but revisited it years later when i started down a rabbit hole. it might have been presented as optional

2026-01-18 19:10:09 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Mon 19 Jan, 2026
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—-
australian camels
a) bactrian, or dromedary?
b) how many set out with Burke and Wills?
c) australia exports camel milk to the USA - True or False?

2026-01-18 19:06:42 GMT

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Daisy Margaret Bates
author of (amongst other things) the influential bestseller
The Passing of the Aborigines (1944)
(it was on one of my school reading lists in the 1960s — i still remember a discussion at school that included the idea there is nothing to be done for [Indigenous] people but “smooth the dying pillow” of the whole “race”)
the foreword was written by a former governor of SA, and the introduction by Arthur Mee (of children’s encyclopaedia fame)
be warned they are pretty 🤮 but you can read them here if you are interested
https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks04/0400661h.html#Introduction
as @blibbler pointed out, Bates’ extensive field notes are still relevant to native title today
she is, I think, an interesting character, and has been the subject of paintings, several biographies, and documentaries
she is the main source of repeated claims some Indigenous people practised cannabalism;
Wikioedia says, in part,
Bates also made many "sensational" claims regarding cannibalism among Aboriginal people without convincing evidence. While some Aboriginal peoples practised cannibalism (much of which was done as part of mortuary rituals and involved only parts of the body being eaten), Bates developed what has been described as a "fixation" and as a "morbid preoccupation" with the topic later on in her life. De Vries notes that "This became worse in her seventies and eighties as her dementia increased." Over forty references to cannibalism can be found in her contributions to tabloid newspapers. Eleanor Hogan says that "it wasn't until she began camping at Ooldea that she persistently advocated this practice was rife across the country." While confirming that cases of cannibalism after infanticide occurred in some Aboriginal groups, anthropologists Ronald Berndt and Catherine Berndt rejected Bates's claims regarding its prevalence as "grossly exaggerated". Reece thinks that she spread misleading tales of widespread cannibalism because such stories sold well and journalism was her chief means of financial support”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisy_Bates_(author)
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/115/917/745/017/110/169/original/bb640f66c4559085.jpeg

2026-01-17 20:16:09 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Sun 18 Jan, 2026
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———
i was born margaret o’dwyer in county tipperary, 1859
i worked as a family governess in London
i left there, apparently in disgrace, but who knows what really happened?
to qualify for assisted passage to Qld assisted i lied about my age, but jeepers, what was a working class female to do, IN THOSE DAYS?
there, because of anti-catholic and anti-irish sentiment, i might have talked up my background a little 🤫
i was off the grid for a while, and then there was some horrible biz about — well, let’s not go there.
in 1884 i got a job as governess on Fanning Downs Station, just outside Charters Towers
there i met & married breaker morant. he lied about his age & other stuff. that marriage was a write off, so i wrote it off, and moved on
next, a governess & maid in Nowra, i met & married Jack B—-.
i said i was 21.
later that year, in sydney, i met up with and married my old flame from london who had been at the centre of an early disgrace.
i said i was 21. oops, he was already married.
back to jack i went. my son arnold was born the next year
he was in a catholic boarding school in campbelltown, when i returned to london penniless
after a brief visit to ireland, i was back in london, working for a time as assistant editor on a psychic quarterly.
in 1899 i returned to WA, with enough £ to buy Ethel Creek Station, & several hundred head of cattle. After moving Arnold to a boarding school in perth, Jack & i headed north
jack and i did not have a lot of success with cattle, but, i became involved with a catholic Aboriginal mission in Broome.
i started writing about my travels & other stuff, and about Indigenous people.
in 1904 i was given my first paid assignment to study Indigenous people
I became quite the apologist for white treatment of Indigenous people, while Jack slowly became irrelevant.
in 1910 i became WA’s first woman “Travelling Protector of Aborigines” requiring me “to police the moral behaviour of Aboriginal women and girls” and clear Aboriginal camps of children of mixed ethnicity."
——
i spent years with Indigenous people
———
i prob’ly wrote about cannibalism as click-bait 🤔
i spent my later years in SA, at Ooldea, where i was more social worker than scientist.
i boast the Indigenous people called me “grandmother” in their language because i was loved, but they also called me “that poor old lady”
some of my records are still useful today, but i was never recognised as a “proper” anthropologist.
instead i was plagiarised
i became something of a “reverse fringe dweller” living on the edges of Indigenous society cos i had nowhere else to go and no other way to make a living.
i said some appalling things, and am credited with the expression Smooth The Dying Pillow
i am widely known as ?

2026-01-16 22:29:09 GMT

- reply

and blackboard was called… blackboard

2026-01-16 20:25:14 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Sat 17 Jan, 2026
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———-
who am i?
i was born in melbourne in 1930
i graduated from melbourne uni with a degree in agricultural science
i was a runner, representing Australia in the Helsinki Olympics in 1952
in 1954 i became the second man to beat the 4 minute mile
i ran another sub-4-minute mile later that year, but lost that race to Roger Bannister
on olympic boulevard in melbourne there is a sculpture of me, stopping during a race to help ron Clarke to his feet after he fell
i received several awards and honours during my athletics career
in 2001 i was sworn in as the 26th governor of victoria
i passed away at my home in castlemaine in 2022, aged 91

2026-01-16 20:23:33 GMT

- reply

Mr Squiggle
93 Crater Crescent on the Moon
Rocket
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Squiggle

2026-01-15 21:05:23 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Fri 16 Jan, 2026
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———-
i am a television marionette
first introduced in 1959
in various formats, my episodes aired til 1999
children often wrote in and sent me their scribbles
to see if i could turn them into recognisable drawings
i would watch through television screens
as children in the audience stood on their heads
or looked sideways
to see what i was drawing
i used my nose as a pencil
a) what’s my name?
b) where do i live?
c) what’s the name of my pet rocket?

2026-01-14 23:03:04 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Thu 15 Jan, 2026
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———-
what’s my English name?
i am a state capital
i am the third most populous city in australia
i am on the new, 1825 site of a penal settlement
my Indigenous name is sometimes anglicised as Meanjin
but my English name, and the name of the river on which i am sited,
was the name of a British born governor of new south wales
i am…. ?

2026-01-14 00:02:20 GMT

- reply

🐨🐨🐨

2026-01-13 23:39:52 GMT

- reply

a) 🐨
b) not bad, but not quite right
c) hmmm… you probably know, but don’t know that you know
thank you for playing along 💐

2026-01-13 22:48:17 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Wed 14 Jan, 2026
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———-
Questions about Marsupials
today you might need to make some wild guesses (or not)
you might surprise yourself (or not)
a) The name Marsupial comes from a word meaning … what?
b) To the nearest 10 percent (e.g. 10; 20; 30 etc)
how many of the world’s 334 extant marsupial species
are concentrated on the Australian continent
(including mainland Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, and nearby islands.)
c) Marsupials have 3 bones in the inner ear —
what are they called?
——-

2026-01-13 03:06:40 GMT

- reply

🍞

2026-01-12 22:24:45 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Tues 13 Jan, 2026
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———-
what’s my name?
i am a town in outback south australia
north of goyder’s line
in an area originally known as “government gums”
my town site was surveyed, laid out in 1/4 acre blocks,
and my offical township name proclaimed in 1878
grain farmers came, prospered, and by 1882
the (original) ghan stopped here
i grew to reach a peak population of about 600 in the late 19th century, and had two hotels (the Transcontinental and the Exchange), an underground bakery, a bank, two breweries, a general store, an Anglican church, five blacksmiths, a school (1879–1957).
(psst, 👀 …there was a brothel too)
then the rain stopped.
on the surface, today, i seem to be a ghost town, but am actually a popular tourist attraction.
dedicated fans, inspired by my rich past, have restored my underground bakery, and gather at intervals to bake and break bread together
my name means “flour”

2026-01-11 22:40:14 GMT

- reply

🪰
hilarious to think it might have a “proper name”, but as it has it’s own wikipedia entry, there is a 0.005% chance it’s valid, right? 🤔

2026-01-11 22:28:20 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Mon 12 Jan, 2026
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———
what am i?
i’m a style of headgear often associated with australia
it may or may not be a myth that i was once commonly used by jackaroos or swagmen
i’m said to be useful for keeping flies off the face…
though some people swear that when flies want to stick to a sweaty face, then they will, and that’s all there is to it
i’m often seen tourist shops, but i’m not sure if i can be found in old photos or paintings

2026-01-11 02:58:01 GMT

- reply

i seem to be frustrating you, but that is not my intention.
the quiz question simply asked for the name of the first act of the first federal parliament.
the truth is that, although it mentions money, the very first act was NOT in any way an act designed to tax anyone.
the answer tomorrow will contain more detail, so everyone interested can read more
@npub1rwu…5gtw [@sister_ratched](https://toot.community/@sister_ratched )

2026-01-11 01:56:20 GMT

- reply

the first act was not an actual tax act… but money does make the world go round, right?
@npub1rwu…5gtw [@sister_ratched](https://toot.community/@sister_ratched )

2026-01-11 00:02:39 GMT

- reply

LOL
just as well i checked before writing the question, because i always thought i knew, but i was wrong. 😆
i am no barry jones.

2026-01-10 23:29:50 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Sun 11 Jan, 2026
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———
what was the very first act passed by australia’s first federal government?

2026-01-10 04:18:11 GMT

- reply

🤔 my “dream” share (so that it would not be a nightmare) would effectively be a motel room (bed sit. bathroom. sink and hotplate.) with a larger common kitchen area.
building standards though — these would be the key to everything. not luxury, but much more practical than current standards. and not just tenants in common, but with a sinking fund.
currently in fren’s villa unit — the site has a small village atmosphere, but one or two personalities are totally 😬

2026-01-08 21:13:48 GMT

- reply

🎨
another point if you know the name the artist?

2026-01-08 20:12:42 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Friday 9 Jan, 2026
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
——
i am an abstract impressionist painting by a USian artist
i was painted in 1952
i am Enamel and aluminum (sic) paint with glass on canvas
i first sold in 1955 for USD 8,000
i sold in 1957 for USD 37,000
i sold in 1973 to the National Gallery of Australia for USD 2 million.
the price being over a pre-determined limit, procedures required the purchase be approved by the Prime Minister.
this fed into conservative hysteria about financial mismanagement by the Whitlam Government. it was as if Gough woke up one morning and said to Margaret over breakfast “I know.. why don’t we go shopping today for a non-australian painting?”
or as if the Prime Minister had been “set up”
Estimates of my present value vary widely, from $100 million to $350 million, but my increased value has at least shown it to have been a worthwhile purchase from a financial point of view.
i did not initially have a name, but when painted in 1952 was given the number 11.
by what name am i more widely known?
who painted me?

2026-01-08 07:38:24 GMT

what is most annoying about tv/film?:
people

2026-01-07 23:17:05 GMT

despite so many horribles that are happening lately,
[note use of present continuous tense]
i wish to share some happy news…
the rhubarb was burneded on saturday.
i had the pot in the laundry sink for 5 days…
soaking, scouring, soaking, scouring, every time i went near, or had hot water in the kettle.
bicarb helped, but the main ingredient was elbow grease
today, dear readers, the saucepan has been returned to its rightful place in the cupboard, free of traces of incinerated food, and saved from land-fill 😃
#OperationSaveASaucepan

2026-01-07 19:43:56 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Thursday 8 Jan, 2026
Anyone is welcome to participate by generating their own questions — if you use the tag #SerenityInOz in the body of your toot, i will find you. A date would probably be helpful.
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———
what’s my name?
i’m a 1997 movie directed by and with a screenplay RE-written by bruce beresford
based on wartime diaries, interviews, histories etc
i tell one aspect of a bigger story (as movies often do, being limited by what they can actually “show”)
i’m a story about women taken prisoner by the japanese, in 1942, and held at a camp in sumatra;
Australian nurses, Dutch women from the East Indies, English women from Singapore and Malaya, Protestant missionaries and Catholic nuns, and other women-diverse in nationality, race and social status.
——-
my key story-line is the creation, by prisoners, of a “vocal orchestra”, made possible by one prisoner having a phenomenal memory, and able to reconstruct sheet music for classical works.
———-
i celebrate the spirit of the women, making them not-victims despite their situation
and i also consider the idea that war— and all the shit things humans do, generally — are really made possible by the systemic dehumanisation of those arbitrarily marked as “other”.
it’s this dehumanisation we most need to resist.
———
reviews of me have been mixed.
a lot of people panned me because i was not the movie they would have written — the truth about what happened before the camp, or about what happens to women in wartime, or about what arseholes some Japanese were during wwii — and so on.
some people even found the premise ridiculous, completely forgetting what twain said about truth not having to stick to possibilities.
before criticising my script, you might wonder why australians in general, have thought of the story of these nurses as just “changhi, but with women”
sure, the truth was sanitised by the army and government
but for millennia women have been writing about/ talking about/ what men think of/do to women, and too few people have given a shit.
no wonder my script was re-written by a bloke who doesn’t seem to understand the perpetual state of hyper-vigilance required of women, even in peacetime,
so… no wonder he resorted to contrived incidents to heighten the drama
——
points for —
*the name of the movie
*the federal electorate named for one of the real nurses
*the name of another nurse whose diaries became the book and radio series White Coolies (and whose diaries contain musical scores)

2026-01-07 11:34:49 GMT

- reply

hello lovie! and good to see you too, caity
💐🐶

2026-01-06 22:08:23 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— WED 7 Jan, 2026
Anyone is welcome to participate by generating their own questions — if you use the tag #SerenityInOz in the body of your toot, i will find you. A date would probably be helpful.
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———
who am i?
i was born in albury, in 1942
i grew up in rather modest circumstances
i am now a christian minister, but am also well known as a tennis player
under my maiden name, smith, i won the Australian Championships in 1960, at the age of 17, and won for the next 6 consecutive years.
[well, okay, in 1965 my opponent in the finals retired from play, and in 1966 there was no match at all, cos my opponent had sustained an injury beating me in the doubles…]
but hey — that title is MINE.
i retired from tennis occasionally, after marrying into a WA political family and having a few kids, but i still did really well in several grand slam events. i won the boxed set of grand slam events twice — once i even pulled this off in the open era.
people like to downplay my achievements, cos until 1968, only amateurs could compete for the Australian title, which was on grass courts at Kooyong, and although good practice for the lawn at wimbledon, Kooyong did not attract a lot of competition until it became an open event, but a win is a win.
and actually, i was good.
i was the first australian woman to win wimbledon in 1963 and 1965, and even after it became open to professionals i won in 1970
starting to see a pattern?
i thought women’s tennis was boring: but hey, i won a lot of titles, and even against really good players
i was well known for my height and reach advantage, and my coach frank sedgman had me circuit running, weight-lifting and running on sandhills.
i was an athlete long before some other women players, and i am actually a good tennis player.
i also praised apartheid in 1970
and i believe lesbians have ruined tennis.
and i said something about hitler and communists and something or other transgender something or other the devil…
whatever.
i have the courage of my convictions.
in 2014 my community outreach organisation was described by The West Australian as "one of WA's biggest stand-alone food charities", supplying around 25 tonnes of food each week.
incidentally, i admired serena williams, but i don’t think she ever admired me.
i don’t really care, but have i mentioned i have more titles than the others?
like, more titles than any one else in tennis history?
and that’s why that court in melbourne is named after ME.

2026-01-05 22:28:33 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— TUES 6 Jan, 2026
Anyone is welcome to participate by generating their own questions — if you use the tag #SerenityInOz in the body of your toot, i will find you. A date would probably be helpful.
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———
what’s my name?
i am an inselberg
which basically means i am a knob (no, i am not in canberra… )
i am often described as a monolith, but really i am a knob of rock sticking up out of the ground, and i’m really part of something deeper and solid that extends underground for about 6 km
i am 348m high, and visible from the international space station
and i am 432 road kms from the geographical centre of australia
i have great cultural significance for the Aṉangu people, the traditional custodians of the area, who lead walking tours to inform visitors about the bush, food, local flora and fauna, and the Dreamtime stories of the area.
i seem to change colour at different times of the day and year
tourists flock to visit me at sunrise and sunset
for a long time, many tourists came especially to climb me,
but in 2019 custodians finally managed to ban the practice
i have a dual name — my traditional Indigenous name and the colonial name
so there are 2 points for this question

2026-01-05 00:52:58 GMT

- reply

i think it’s a phenomenal story, but wonder why we are so drawn to it?
for me, i think it’s the idea that someone could have such a strong calling… with no earthly reward. or maybe not?
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/115/839/741/985/241/184/original/4707130362ffa3c7.png

2026-01-04 22:44:01 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— MON 5 Jan, 2026
Anyone is welcome to participate by generating their own questions — if you use the tag #SerenityInOz in the body of your toot, i will find you. A date would probably be helpful.
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———
who am i?
i was born in redfern, sydney, in 1885
my parents were alcoholics
when i was younger i stole bread and milk, and rummaged in bins for scraps to survive
i barely attended school
and at the age of 12 i became a ward of the state
within a few years i had become an alcoholic
i kept nit for two-up schools, later acting as scout for my sister’s brothels
in 1916, at the age of 32, i enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces
but after recurrent battles with bronchitis and pleurisy, i was medically discharged in 1919
in 1932, inspired by the evangelist John Ridley’s words
"Eternity, Eternity, I wish that I could sound or shout that word to everyone in the streets of Sydney. You've got to meet it, where will you spend Eternity?"
i felt a powerful call from the Lord to write “Eternity”.
even though i was illiterate, the word came out smoothly, in a beautiful copperplate script.
the coppers hassled me many times, for defacing pavements with my chalk, but it’s been estimated i wrote the word over half a million times over the next 35 years.
after i died in 1967 the NSW government passed a law to permit the use of chalk on public pavements — and the law is known informally by my name.
i have been memorialised in several art works.
on new year’s eve 2000, the sydney harbour bridge was lit up with the word Eternity

2026-01-03 23:39:23 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— SUN 4 Jan, 2026
Anyone is welcome to participate by generating their own questions — if you use the tag #SerenityInOz in the body of your toot, i will find you. A date would probably be helpful.
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———
who am i?
i am a fictional female detective
well, actually, i’m a wealthy aristocrat and can afford to spend my days poking about.
i grew up in poverty, but thanks to world war one, my father inherited a title and money.
i live in st kilda (melbourne), drive an Hispano-Suiza, and now wear nice clothes.
my father meant to call me Psyche, but accidentally named me after a famous greek courtesan from the 4th century BC
my creator, kerry greenwood, has written 23 full length novels describing my exploits, and describing australian life in 1928.
my stories have been made into television series locally, a video game, a feature film, and my character even adapted for a chinese production set in Shanghi (Miss S)
bonus point if you know my address in st kilda

2026-01-02 23:06:09 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— SAT 3 Jan, 2026
Anyone is welcome to participate by generating their own questions — if you use the tag #SerenityInOz in the body of your toot, i will find you. A date would probably be helpful.
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———
what am i?
i am an invasive plant, from the genus opuntia
brought to australia with the first fleet
cos i was useful for breeding cochineal insects
i quickly spread, eventually making 40,000 square kms of farming land unproductive
in 1925 a moth was imported from argentina
which nearly solved the problem i had created
there is a monument to that moth in Dalby, queensland
the moth was celebrated as an example of successful biological pest control
my fruit is edible, but there is a knack to eating it without hurting yourself

2026-01-01 23:46:57 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Fri 2 Jan, 2026
Anyone is welcome to participate by generating their own questions — if you use the tag #SerenityInOz in the body of your toot, i will find you. A date would probably be helpful.
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———
by what name am i commonly known?
my binomial is telopea speciosissima
i am a shrub 3 to 4 m high
2m wide
i have dark green leaves
in spring i produce large red inflorescences
(clusters of flowers)
tho now commercially cultivated in several countries
i am endemic to NSW
where my flowers are attractive to the native pygmy possum, birds such as honeyeaters, and lots of insects
i am NSW state floral emblem

2026-01-01 07:36:39 GMT

- reply

was chauffer driven to school, when the rest of us were still carrying our ponies to save on farrier fees
years later denied he’d had a privileged childhood
ben elton called him “alexander bummer” 😆

2025-12-31 22:39:06 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Jan 1, 2026
Anyone is welcome to participate by generating their own questions — if you use the tag #SerenityInOz in the body of your toot, i will find you. A date would probably be helpful.
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
happy feast of the circumcision for any roman catholics out there who still celebrate it.😬 (no, maude will not be heading off to mass with you)
but to ALL my frens, regardless,
🎉 lots of good wishes for the future 🎉
———
today’s quiz — in keeping with the theme of new beginnings — asks
what’s my name? and other questions;
i was a colony founded on 28 september, 1893
the first members of my colony numbered 238 people
i grew out of a split in the Labour movement that had led to the creation of the Australian Labor Party (it’s a long-winded story)
our plan was to build a new society based on
*A common-hold, rather than a common-wealth
*A brotherhood of English-speaking Whites
*Life marriage
*Preservation of the "colour line"
*Teetotalism
*Communism
lots of points available in respect of this question
what was the name of the founding colony? (english or spanish will do);
name the colonist who later appeared on an australian banknote;
in what country was this colony located?

2025-12-31 00:38:24 GMT

- reply

if they have been there for 20 years, must be the same people i met
her partner was in the very next room cooking something for another customer, maybe ten feet from where she was standing, and he dings on a loud bell to let her know the order is ready 😆
an interesting area to explore, but i wouldn’t want to live there.

2025-12-30 23:44:34 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Wed 31 Dec 2025
Anyone is welcome to participate by generating their own questions — if you use the tag #SerenityInOz in the body of your toot, i will find you. A date would probably be helpful.
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
——-
I think it only fitting that, as we leave 2025 behind, we leave with the biography of someone i was glad to see leave politics.
(neutrality is not required by the rules of this quiz, so long as the bias is “correct”)
🎉to all our frens out there, goodbye 2025, stay safe, stay well, and may 2026 bring an increase in serenity 🎉
——-
who am i?
i was born in 1911
in Dannevirke on the North island in New Zealand
my parents moved (back) to australia in 1913
settling near Kingaroy in Qld
my father was a Lutheran minister, and i was raised in a strict christian environment, speaking danish at home
i had polio as a youngster, and walked with a limp for the rest of my life
i left school at 14 but later studied by correspondence.
after years of working on family farms, i did well for myself, clearing land and later working as a contractor to clear land.
i obtained a pilot’s licence, and started aerial spraying,
but mostly i am known for farming peanuts
i was elected in 1946 to the Kingaroy Shire Council
by the age of 36 i was the state member for Nanango (later renamed Barambah) representing the country party.
i was to hold the seat for 40 years.
in 1952 I married florence gilmour
i was the 31st premier of queensland, holding the office from 1968 - 1987
i believed in law and order
when the Springboks toured australia in 1971, i responded to anti-apartheid demonstrations by declaring a state of emergency in Queensland
three weeks after i became premier, my government gave two companies — in both of which i was a major shareholder—six-year leases to prospect for oil on the Great Barrier Reef north of Cooktown
I know Aboriginal people were lucky they had me to look out for them
i don’t know why people thought i was corrupt.
I don’t know why all those southern homosexuals called my state the Deep North
i don’t even know why 245-T was banned, cos i do know i sprayed my nuts with it for years and, by golly, there was nothing to worry about there…
i lived to the ripe old age of 94
and died at kingaroy in 2005

2025-12-29 00:06:35 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Mon 29 Dec 2025
Anyone is welcome to participate by generating their own questions — if you use the tag #SerenityInOz in the body of your toot, i will find you. A date would probably be helpful.
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
——-
what am i?
i am heritage listed
— a complex network of river stones arranged to form ponds and channels that catch fish
i was created 40,000 years ago
i am on the barwon river in NW New South Wales
i am known to Indigenous people as Baiame’s Ngunnhu
my english name is… ?

2025-12-29 00:02:59 GMT

- reply

Flick-Pass
this is not the same as giving something “the flick” (imagine using one finger to flick a speck of dust from your desk, or using your thumb to play marbles)
a flick-pass is a (now) illegal type of handball pass in australian rules football, wherein the player holds a ball in one hand while pushing it away with another, instead of punching the ball.
football Kracksperts (which is am not) will understand all the palaver in this wikipedia article about different types of handball pass
i have heard several instances of australians using the expression “to flick-pass” to describe the political practice of passing the buck
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handball_(Australian_rules_football)

2025-12-27 23:12:52 GMT

- reply

sorry, incorrect
when i started looking for details so i could write the question a whole heap of AI slop appeared on my screen going on and on about “giving something the flick”. that’s because it was close… but at the same time, missed the target by miles.
thank you for playing 💐
there is a chance you will return later in the day when the expression works it’s way into your consciousness — or maybe not

2025-12-27 22:54:57 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Sun 28 Dec 2025
Anyone is welcome to participate by generating their own questions — if you use the tag #SerenityInOz in the body of your toot, i will find you. A date would probably be helpful.
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
——-
what am i?
i am known in australian rules football as a style of handball pass
i was outlawed in 1925
i was re-instated in 1934
i sneaked back into the game in the 1950s and 60s when ted “mr football” whitten made me an essential part of his team’s strategy
i was permanently outlawed in 1966
i am an expression used in general conversation to mean “pass like a hot potato, by cheating; to reject responsibility for something”
——-

2025-12-26 00:08:55 GMT

- reply

Well Played 🏏
Most games played (11) against England, with India a close second on 10 games.
2013 was against England.

2025-12-25 23:32:32 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Fri 26 Dec 2025
Anyone is welcome to participate by generating their own questions — if you use the tag #SerenityInOz in the body of your toot, i will find you. A date would probably be helpful.
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
———
this might be too easy for youse,
so there are bonus questions at the end
i am an australian sporting tradition
my home is the MCG
I am played at the same time every year
just after christmas
some people enjoy watching me live at the MCG
and others enjoy watching me live on TV
and many others enjoy not having to watch me at all
bonus questions;
who has australia played most often since 1968?
the largest crowd on first day of play since this tradition started was 91, 112 . The year was 2013, but who was Australia playing?

2025-12-23 18:08:06 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— WED 24 Dec 2025
Anyone is welcome to participate by generating their own questions — if you use the tag #SerenityInOz in the body of your toot, i will find you. A date would probably be helpful.
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
—-
what am i?
my name is albert
i’m sort of round with skinny limbs
and my cap is a bowl
i am bad tempered and ill mannered
norman lindsay drew my picture
and told stories about me
in a book published by angus & robertson in 1918
the chapters in lindsay’s book about me are called slices 🙄
there is a statue of me (with my “owners”) in the royal botanical gardens in melbourne

2025-12-19 19:47:26 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— SAT 20 Dec 2025
Anyone is welcome to participate by generating their own questions — if you use the tag #SerenityInOz in the body of your toot, i will find you. A date would probably be helpful.
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
what’s my name?
i am the name of a “girl group” of four singers,
and the name of a 2012 musical comedy drama
i tell the (sort of true) story of
four Yorta Yorta women who
travel to vietnam in 1968, to sing for troops
i feature Jessica Maubray, Miranda Tapsell, Shari Sebbens, and Deborah Mailman in the titular roles

2025-12-18 04:42:10 GMT

#Auspol #Bondi
as much as I care, I don’t want to obsess over Bondi
this photo just arrived in my email inbox, along with another readable article by Ronni Salt. but it’s the photo itself that speaks volumes.
i’m reminded of when i went to st peter’s, in rome. yep, i was a tourist, and yes, not just catholic school educated, but a lifelong atheist. but to see people chatting, laughing, taking selfies, eating ice creams and more as they wandered through a place that is sacred to some people just seemed offensive. a few people were attending mass services at side chapels, but of the rest i wondered which of them, if any, were there to commune with some higher power, or even to wonder what drove the people who created the place centuries before. can one check a place like this off in some to do list and feel nothing? connect with nothing that added to their experience of humanity? i began (better late than never) to get an inkling of what it was/is like for Indigenous people to see white people climbing, pissing and shitting all over the landscape here.
the behaviour of the people in this photo is, for the most part, appalling. the old white fart in the middle of the photo is not solely responsible for the behaviour of the press, but by golly he is wallowing in it.
no surprise, but fucking disgraceful
https://theshot.net.au/uncategorized/dont-look-back-in-anger/
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/115/738/698/510/117/989/original/a4d4889e28887240.jpeg

2025-12-18 01:21:08 GMT

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many years ago, iirc, penny wong tried to implement a racial discrimination law that had so many rules and regulations in it, it was unworkable. if you have to tell people what racism is, they won’t believe you.
her heart was in the right place, but there is a limit to what laws can do for good, and no limit to the ways arseholes will use them for evil.
laws would be meaningless to people who have no money or influence or resources — except that when we make a law enforceable by authority, someone will get locked up (old white men wait at the end of the queue)
simply doing a cut and paste of the nuremburg laws of 1935 won’t make this country a better place.
instead of throwing money at our problems — by taking money away from people, by making “appointments” of so called “experts” or by “performing action”, a real leader would just tell it like it is, and provide guidance for everyone.
australians should *know (edited to replace the word decide) what anti-semitism is, and it ain’t zionism or approving genocide.
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/115/737/919/951/214/782/original/a3235a90fd8bce1e.jpeg

2025-12-16 20:22:46 GMT

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— WED 17 Dec 2025
Anyone is welcome to participate by generating their own questions — if you use the tag #SerenityInOz in the body of your toot, i will find you. A date would probably be helpful.
(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
Today’s main challenge — what am I?
i first came to australia in 1935, cos i had a job to do: — eat beetles!
i was very hoppy about this assignment, and instantly set about making australia my home
i started out in queensland, but my descendants have spread to other states
not all australians are welcoming, but what do i care?
i starred in a documentary in 1988. it was a smash hit, cos it was all about me. they told everyone i am from the genus bufo, but since then they decided i have a different genus name

2025-12-14 03:01:22 GMT

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i have decided! for the purposes of clarity you must call yourself “antifa” (unless, of course, you are hoping to travel to the USA any time before the planet burns to a crisp)

2025-12-08 02:51:28 GMT

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https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/115/681/664/836/108/841/original/5b26178cc2915e17.mp4

2025-11-25 01:59:19 GMT

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re-posting with #AltText
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/115/607/853/161/987/589/original/03e84c40f7e18a87.jpeg

2025-10-29 23:07:46 GMT

#Auspol #Democracy #Lobbyists
The lobbyists who control Canberra
by David Pocock, an independent senator for the ACT.
August 30, 2025 late edit “The Saturday Paper”
“Lobbying does have a legitimate role to play in our political system. But to protect the strength of our democracy, lobbying needs to be transparent and well regulated.
In Australia, it’s not…”
“Thanks to [an] unjustifiably narrow definition of a “lobbyist”, 80 per cent of those operating in Canberra aren’t covered by what is already a weak code of conduct – the vast majority of influence happens in the shadows.
More than 1500 people currently hold orange sponsored passes that grant them 24/7, all areas access to Parliament House. At times that number can be above 2000. We don’t know who they are, nor which parliamentarian gave them their access…”
“Along with crossbench colleagues, I’m also trying to drive change in parliament.
I introduced the lobbying reform bill from the member for Kooyong, Monique Ryan, into the Senate. It would bring real transparency and accountability to the lobbying industry in Australia…”
“Transparency International Australia has found that at least eight federal ministers, senior ministerial advisers and at least one state premier have taken up roles promoting gambling. They also found that since 2001, almost every federal resources minister has gone to work in the fossil fuels sector shortly after leaving parliament. This helps explain why lobbying reform has stalled and why industries that cause harm to our communities continue to receive favourable treatment.
Is it any wonder that more than two years after a landmark review into the harms of online gambling led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy – a review that produced 31 recommendations and enjoyed multipartisan support – the government still hasn’t responded? The government may be banning children from social media, but it’s doing nothing to protect them from the harms of ubiquitous gambling advertising…”
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if you want to read the full article, and the gift link below does not work, please let me know
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/share/21450/W7eqwzk

2025-09-21 23:39:28 GMT

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💐

2025-09-19 12:12:54 GMT

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i think that building has a few stories it could tell…
you’ve reminded me — one of my workmates i remember was fond of partying — said his budget system for each fortnight was to come home inebriated, close his eyes, take loose change from his pockets and throw it back over his shoulder.
he always knew when payday was looming, cos to find money for the tram he would start looking under the couch or even lifting up the cushions 😂

2025-09-19 11:54:20 GMT

#MelbourneHistory #19thCenturyArchitecture #Australia
doing an armchair tour of melbourne suburbs, and stumbled across this little property going cheap at around $5.5m.
would a post about this joint constitute advertising? 🤔 — a) i won’t profit one jot from its sale, and b) if my post led directly to a sale, i would probably laugh so hard the tears would roll down my legs
it’s just possible the building might be mildly interesting to somebody out there in tootland
looking at the floorplan and wondering what i might do with this property, i noticed a row of >20 small bedrooms, and it occurred to me the building was, perhaps, once an “institution” of some sort.
the kew historical society tells us that Ivy Grange in malmsbury street kew was first built in 1864; a tower and other wings were added later in stages.
For a number of years in the 1920s Ivy Grange was used as a private mental hospital.
in 1930 it was acquired by the carmelite fathers for use as a novitiate, and it is currently used as a guest house (i think for the past 40 years or so)
https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-kew-144357736

2025-09-13 09:41:56 GMT

#ListeningTo
There’ll Come Another Day 🎶 Chick Henderson 1940
in the 1920s and 30s many UK singers/ bands recorded hundreds and hundreds of tracks (al bowlly is said to have recorded a thousand).
some tracks were bound to fall through the cracks, if they were not re-released or given a lot of air time on the radio.
Found this track quite by accident - only because it is mislabelled in the apple music catalogue. (Maria Elena is not the correct name for this track)
i like it because it has a sound i imagine was in dance halls everywhere in the 1920s and 30s
chick’s real name was henderson rowntree was born in Hartlepool, england, 1912 and he died in 1944 of injuries received while serving in the Royal Navy.
perhaps his most famous, recognisable hit was Begin the Beguine, 1939
in his short life, he was vocalist on over 250 recordings, though not always credited.
(for example, another of my chick henderson favourites was Hey Little Hen, which i often find myself singing when i’m making breakfast 🤔. it’s only listed in the apple catalogue as by the Joe Loss orchestra)
https://music.apple.com/au/album/maria-elena/365236309?i=365236322

2025-09-09 09:46:36 GMT

#Tesla's Full Self-Driving test through #Melbourne's CBD 'not approved' by Victorian government
——
“That driver, even paying attention, is only capable of intervening in a certain subset of situations," Professor Milford said.
"If the car had gone out of control in close proximity to those people, the driver would have had almost no chance of intervening quickly enough to prevent a major tragedy
———
no doubt someone will soon be printing sticky labels that say negative things about teslas. but i really hope their resale value continues to plummet and people stop buying them
#Auspol——
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-09/tesla-fully-self-driving-melbourne-test-not-approved/105749690