Last month this guy in the northern territory was attacked by a crocodile. Crocodile Dundee 1986 starring Paul Hogan & Linda Kozlowski & Mark Blum & David Gulpilil & Michael Lombard & John Meillon & Alan Dunlea & Terry Gill & Steve Rackman & Gerry Skilton et al, director Peter Faiman
Two beers. One for me. One for my mate. ibid. Crocodile
Television – yeah I saw that back at Johnson’s place years ago. Yeah that’s what I saw [I Love Lucy]. ibid. him to her
Home of the largest living thing on earth, the Great Barrier Reef, and of the largest monolith, Ayers Rock (or Uluru to use its now-official, more respectful Aboriginal name). It has more things that will kill you than anywhere else. Of the world’s ten most poisonous snakes, all are Australian. Five of its creatures – the funnel web spider, box jellyfish, blue-ringed octopus, paralysis tick, and stonefish – are the most lethal of their type in the world. This is a country where even the fluffiest of caterpillars can lay you out with a toxic nip, where seashells will not just sting you but actually sometimes go for you ... If you are not stung or pronged to death in some unexpected manner, you may be fatally chomped by sharks or crocodiles, or carried helplessly out to sea by irresistible currents, or left to stagger to an unhappy death in the baking outback. It’s a tough place. Bill Bryson, In a Sunburned Country
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia fair! Peter Dodds McCormick, Advance Australia Fair
Do you come from a land down under?
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover. Men at Work, Down Under
We are so fortunate, as Australians, to have among us the oldest continuing cultures in human history. Cultures that link our nation with deepest antiquity. We have Aboriginal rock art in the Kimberley that is as ancient as the great Palaeolithic cave paintings at Altamira and Lascaux in Europe. Kevin Rudd
Everybody now realised clearly that Indonesia was subject to terrorism and terrorist attacks and so there was a much greater degree of unity in the government in addressing the issue. Alexander Downer, Australian foreign 16th October 2002
‘We heard the planes coming in and everyone like stood around and looked at them.’ The Bombing of Darwin: An Awkward Truth, Darwin resident, H2 2014
The bombing of Darwin in February 1942 is one of Australia’s greatest ever disasters. ibid.
Australia’s own defences were seriously lacking. ibid.
There is evidence of CIA involvement in a virtual coup that overturned the Whitlam Labour government in Australia in 1975, when it was feared that Whitlam might interfere with Washington’s military and intelligence bases in Australia. Noam Chomsky, Deterring Democracy
Australia – an island nation in the grip of a Crystal-Meth epidemic that triggered a war between ruthless outlaw motorcycle gangs and the cops. But there’s another player fuelling the lucrative meth business – the Triads. Drugs Inc s7e16: Aussie Ice Wars, National Geographic 2016
Australia’s Conservative government came to power two and a half years ago and they basically started doing two things – firstly, they launched what it calls Operation Sovereign Borders … the Navy turning boats back … They outsourced the asylum-seeker problem. (Operations & Australia) BBC news channel, John Donnison reporting, 18th March 2016
People out here have to invent things to survive. Alice Adelaide, resident, 2016
I’ve been driving trucks for about fifty-three years. ibid.
It’s not a bad place, pretty chilled out. ibid.
In the day it was a booming mining town. ibid.
Opals have been my life for fifty years. ibid.
It’s like being in purgatory, I suppose. ibid.
‘Crime authorities today warned that Australia is in the grip of an epidemic of the drug Ice.’ Reggie Yates, Hidden Australia II: Addicted to Ice, Australian news, BBC 2017
Ice is the purest and strongest form of methamphetamine. ibid.
Ice can cause violence and psychosis … whether snorted, smoked or injected. ibid.
The Pacific Ocean is the world’s biggest feature … Entire societies long hidden from the rest of the world. It was the beginning of an historic encounter between Oceania and the West, between indigenous people and those that went on to colonise them. James Fox, Oceans Apart: Art and the Pacific s1e1: Australia, BBC 2018
A cultural explosion that is still resonating today. ibid.
These Aboriginal people developed a culture unlike any other. These societies were unusually dependent on what we call art. ibid.
This national identity was soon expressed in art … Arthur Streeton’s Golden Summer: Eaglemont. ibid.
Soon [Albert] Namatjira’s work was being shown in Australian cities. ibid.
These amateur artists … were inspired by the vast landscape of the Australian desert. ibid.
Aboriginal art is big business. ibid.
Cast adrift in the far reaches of the southern hemisphere lies a continent separated from all other lands for 45 million years. Evolving in isolation, Nature has created a unique world of wonders: spiders that dance, birds that spread fire, where bouncing beats walking and youngsters are carried in pouches. It’s a world where animals had to adapt to surprising diverse landscapes and thrive in its vibrant seas. Australia: Earth’s Magical Kingdom, BBC 2019
This adaptable little creature [echidna] evolved tens of millions of years ago and is the most widespread of all Australia’s native animals. He will now spend 18 hours a day foraging. ibid.
Despite the platypus being furred, billed and truly aquatic, the pair [platypus and echidna] still share some unique characteristics. They are the world’s only egg-laying and milk-bearing mammals. ibid.
The marsupials: most familiar of all is the eastern grey kangaroo. ibid.
The grand hunter of the skies: Australia’s own eagle. ibid.
The shy and secretive numbat, the closest living relative to the extinct Tasmanian tiger … Numbats once ranged freely across Australia … There are now fewer than 1,000 left in the wild. ibid.
It’s a live-fast die-young existence on this forest floor. ibid.
There is one kangaroo that has never left its rainforest home … Its home is high in the gallery: a tree kangaroo. ibid.
Palmy bird: communicating in a way no other bird or wild animal is able. ibid.
It’s only here in Australia that black kites play with fire. ibid.
Sea creatures the world over are drawn to Earth’s magical kingdom. Australia: Earth’s Magical Kingdom II
Australia: an island continent cast adrift during the time of the dinosaurs. Isolated from the rest of life on land for millions of years, the animals cast away here are today like none elsewhere. This is a land of survivors. David Attenborough, Seven Worlds, One Planet IV: Australia, BBC 2019
The animals and plants here are armed: built to live alongside dinosaurs. ibid.
At nearly two metres tall, the cassowary rules this forest. ibid.
A little red flying fox … a wombat … kangaroos … dingoes … koalas … jumping spider … Reptiles: Australia has more species of them than any other continent … The wild budgerigar … Sharks: there are more species here than anywhere else on Earth … The Tasmanian devil … now endangered. ibid.
The driest inhabited continent on Earth. ibid.
It spans three oceans and more than four million square miles … [and] eight thousand offshore islands. ibid.
Giant cuttlefish … are only found in Australia. ibid.
Southern right whales: nearly 18 meters long, they are among the largest animals to have ever lived. ibid.
Australian giant spider crabs are amongst the world’s largest crustaceans. ibid.
Human expansion is impacting the lives of Australia’s wildlife. (Australia & Animals) Australia: Earth’s Magical Kingdom III