Girding my loins for the Howard fans out there
Was having a discussion with some mates, trying to narrow down what we thought was the most important moment in recorded Australian history. i.e. which one moment played more of a part than any other to get us to the point we are at today/had the biggest impact on us as a society?
Some examples were the first fleet, the landing at Gallipoli, Federation, the gold rush etc. We couldn’t come to a consensus.
Growing up, I was never taught anything about Australia, I didn’t know it had a independence. I didn’t know it was divided into four states. The only thing I kinda remember was that the British Empire sent their prisoners to Australia.
But should Americans learn about the history of Australia? I don’t mean the entire history but the major events (their Independence, their help with WW1/2, etc).
Please correct me if I am wrong but I am just curious and up to new ideas!
Edit: I apologize for calling the four states into four parts; I did not know that you guys call them states! I just thought states were a thing in the USA
The first thing Meshkatolzahra Safi did when she walked into the interview room at Melbourne Park after becoming the first Iranian girl to win a match at a Grand Slam junior event, was thank the two journalists attending the press conference for their support.
Talking to Safi, it doesn’t take long to understand how she has been able to break through in junior tennis, despite hailing from a country that hasn’t produced many champions, especially on the women’s side.
The 17-year-old, who at No 74 in the world junior rankings is Iran’s first top-100 junior player, takes great pride in breaking new ground for tennis in her nation, and is determined to show everyone back home, and the rest of the world, that what she is attempting to achieve in the sport is attainable.
“I just really want to say don’t give up on your dreams because when I started my journey, everybody in Iran was saying, ‘this is impossible, playing Grand Slams is impossible, you cannot do that’; especially to my mom. So I didn’t say my dream to anyone anymore and I just kept pushing,” Safi told The National in an interview at the Australian Open.
“So just keep pushing yourself, believe in your dreams, and don’t listen to everybody who is saying these things. This is really big for me and I hope I can continue; but I continue in every tough situation in my life, I just want to continue more.
“If you get a tough situation, just deal with that, keep your head up and just keep pushing yourself to better steps that you can reach far and far.”
On a scorching Aussie summer day at Melbourne Park, Safi took to 1573 Arena to face local qualifier Anja Nayar in the girls’ singles first round on Sunday. The Muslim teen was wearing a headscarf, full-length leggings under her shorts and a long-sleeved shirt.
She reached the Australian Open second round with a 6-4, 6-3 win in just under 90 minutes, showcasing some delicate touch and an all-court game while braving the Melbourne heat. She is the first hijabi to compete at a Grand Slam.
“I love the sun, but not this much,” joked Safi after the win. “But I’m used to this hijab and this covering. This is part of me now because I was playing with this since I was nine until today, in any tours, in any weather, cold or hot. I’m used to it.
“Of course I feel the heat, today was really, really difficult, especially between the points, but it doesn’t bother me. When you go to the match, when you play point by point, you don’t think about these things anymor
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Australian Aboriginal oral histories go back thousands of years. For example, the Tjapwurung have a story about a bird hunt that occurred between 5000-10,000 years ago.
I would really like to read or listen to some English versions of the stories, but I am struggling to find them anywhere.
Where can I find them?
Hey everyone,
I am in a bit of a pickle here. This year I will be taking my honours project and as such, will require a group to be able to do it. The issue is that all my friends from my degree, and a vast majority of my acquaintances have graduated at the end of last year as I am a year behind due to a subject failure in 2019. This means that I know only one person who will also be doing my degree this year.
This individual and I dislike each other due to things that were my fault a few years ago in 2018*. When I had to work with them in 2020 due to random selection, I found the experience unpleasant but tolerable. Should I work with this individual or should I work with a stranger for my honours project this year?
*Note that I did apologise to them but they did not accept my apology.
I am a big fan of The Australian Outback and am interested in the production history of the season. Does anyone know why they choose Australia to film and if they considered any other locations in OZ?
I would like to see the last person who crossed over to what is now Tasmania before it got too dangerous and the reaction of the first human to see some of the mega-fauna.
Weather it's something to do with Charter Boats, Not bieng happy with Jan, saying Bugger in a ute or the thousands of beer commercials out there. What do you think is the best Australia commercial out there?
I was making a teir list of Australian PM's and a realised that I could not name half of them. It was then when I got pissed off because they never teach us shit about our domestic history in Australia.
When I thought about it, in High School I have only learned about Australian history in terms of a small bit of ww1, Vietnam, and the Aboriginal rights movement. Meanwhile, we never learn anything about Federation, our PM's, our domestic history, anything.
Meanwhile we are forced to learn about the history of other countries, I'd rather learn about the PM's of Australian than the Chancellors of the Weimar republic or the Tsar's of Russia.
Why can't we learn more about Australian history? There is so much there!
Edit: 47 years ago.
Damian McKenzie's disappearance has become known as one of the more bizarre missing person mysteries in Australian history.
Background:
Damian was born in 1964 to parents Marcia and Peter. At the time of his disappearance, he lived with his parents and siblings in the Cobden area of Western Victoria, Australia.
Damian was ten years old when he attended a five day youth camp with around 40 other children in September 1974. It was run by an organisation called the The Young Australia League, and their base camp was established beside the Acherton River in Taggerty.
From the camp, participants would catch a bus each day to different wilderness areas to participate in a variety of nature-based activities. The children were always heavily chaperoned and supervised by experienced adults, and while some of the activities were said to be challenging, none of them could be considered dangerous.
Disappearance:
On September 4, 1974, Damian and the group set out for Steavenson Falls at Marysville. The plan for the day was to hike a 700 metre winding, established track to the top of the falls and enjoy the surrounding views. It was demanding but safe hike, and the group was carefully supervised. Participants remained within eyesight of each other, until Damian walked ahead and around a corner, briefly out of sight of the others. When other members of the group came around the bend, he was nowhere to be seen.
Within minutes, camp supervisors undertook a search of the immediate area and couldn't find him. He didn't respond when his name was called and it seemed like he'd just vanished into thin air. When camp leaders notified police, what remains one of the largest search operations in Australian history was launched. Around 300 searchers became involved, including Victoria Police, Search and Rescue Squad, Federation of Victorian Walking Clubs Search and Rescue Section, St.Johns Ambulance, Civil Defence (now known as the State Emergency Service), Forestry Commission of Victoria, Red Cross and Local Volunteers.They covered an area of around 19 square kilometres in difficult terrain and difficult weather conditions, including snow at times. The official search for Damian ended on the 8th September, 1974. Authorities expressed little hope for finding Damian alive.
Family, friends, and local volunteers have continued to search for Damian over the years. No trace of him has ever been found.
Damian's brother, Stephen McKenzie
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I watched an excellent documentary video tonight about the history of your country, and I was surprised by how little I knew about Australia before then. While my experience may differ from my fellow Americans, I get the impression that various world history classes in America tend to give little attention to Australia.
Because of that, I wanted to ask Australians here - What did you learn about American history in your primary education? What did you think about the topics discussed and the ways they were taught to you? If this question has been asked recently, then I apologize in advance.
Hi, I am desperately searching for a special picture book from my childhood. I have vivid memories of it but despite searching far and wide cannot find any details online.
Title as best I can recall: Chasing the Moon
Release: Probably 1990s. I would have been reading it around 2000-2001
Country: I read it in Victoria, Australia. Not sure if it was locally produced (more detail below)
Cover: Dark blue colour palette, night-time scene of a billowing steam train with full moon overhead. Possibly a Victorian railways R-class locomotive on the cover (https://railpictures.net/photo/375234/)
Story details:
The story involved a young boy, with a key given to him by his grandfather, being sent on an overnight journey via passenger steam train to find and unlock his grandpa’s treasure box. The story had a nostalgic period-piece kind of atmosphere with a lot of detail given to the grandeur of catching an overnight steam train as a child (think “Polar Express” kind of vibes). The illustration style was quite realistic.
Early on in the story a steward on the train welcomes the boy on his journey and gives him a sweet bun with pink icing.
At around the story’s midway point, the train crosses a bridge while the full moon is shining. The boy says it looks like the train is “chasing the moon” (giving the story its name)
When the train reaches its destination and the boy unlocks his grandpa’s treasure box, he finds that the “treasure” is just a baseball (or similar item, I can’t quite remember) that was special from his grandpa’s childhood. The boy gets back on the train to go home.
At the end of the story, men in a hot air balloon are flying next to the train, but are flying too low and are about to run into a mountain. The boy yells out to warn them, only to wake up, and realise the whole narrative has been a dream. The last page of the book shows a poster on his bedroom wall with a picture of a train going around the mountain with a hot air balloon overhead.
One thing I’m not sure about - my memory is that the steam train in the story was a Victorian Railways R-class locomotive. This suggests to me that the book was written and published locally in Victoria, Australia by someone well-acquainted with the railways here (perhaps a retired railway worker or a worker’s spouse or child). If it was a local publication with a small print run that would explain why I haven’t been able to find it online.
However, while my memor
... keep reading on reddit ➡Hey everyone,
I am in a bit of a pickle here. This year I will be taking my honours project and as such, will require a group to be able to do it. The issue is that all my friends from my degree, and a vast majority of my acquaintances have graduated at the end of last year as I am a year behind due to a subject failure in 2019. This means that I know only one person who will also be doing my degree this year.
This individual and I dislike each other due to things that were my fault a few years ago in 2018*. Before 2018, we were good friends for a few years. When I had to work with them in 2020 due to random selection, I found the experience unpleasant but tolerable. Should I work with this individual or should I work with a stranger for my honours project this year?
*Note that I did apologise to them but they did not accept my apology.
