Big news today, hey? We have Australia’s first female Governor General Quentin Bryce swearing in our first female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. 

It has been an amazing morning. The news broke via text message from the caucus meeting at Parliament House – a sitting MP sent a message to Samantha Maiden, journalist with the Australian.  The message simply said “G no ballot” meaning that Julia Gillard became PM without a vote – Kevin Rudd had stood down. 

This message was twittered so fast that it reached journalists almost immediately. Some were checking their phones outside Parliament House during the coverage and relayed the news back to the stunned nation.  We now have a new Prime Minister. 

So what happened?  How did we go from having Kevin Rudd as PM one day, and Julia Gillard as PM the next?  Well, there are factions within the party divided along ideological lines. The factions that once supported Rudd removed their support and gave it to Gillard, allowing her to challenge the leadership assured that she would have the numbers when it came to a caucus vote.  

Basically – the Labor Party thought she’d do a better job and asked her to go for it.  So she did.

Ms Julia Gillard – 27th Prime Minister of Australia

1982 – The dual flush toilet
As dunnies have a celebrated status in Australia, it is apt that Australia has taken a central role in their evolution. In 1982, the dual flush toilet was responsible for savings in excess of 32000 litres of water per household a year. Pretty important in the world’s dries inhabited continent.

1984 – Baby Safety Capsule
Babies in a car crash used to bounce around like a soccer ball. In 1984, for the first time babies had a harness for their safe transportation in cars.

1985 – World’s Most Efficient Solar Cells
Dr Stuart Wenham and Professor Martin Green from the University of New South Wales produced the world’s first 20% efficient solar cell.

1988 – Plastic Banknotes
CSIRO and Note Printing Australia developed the world’s first polymer banknote made from tough flexible polypropylene plastics. These notes last longer and are more difficult to counterfeit than paper money.

1988 – Biological Pesticides
The world’s first non-chemical biological pesticide was invented at the University of Adelaide.

1995 – Jindalee Radar System
The United States of America spent $11 billion developing an aeroplane that could not be detected by radar. Scientists at the CSIRO then concluded that if the plane could not be detected, perhaps the turbulence it makes passing through air could be. $1.5 million later, the Jindalee Radar system had transformed the stealth bomber into nothing more than an unusual looking aircraft.

1998 – Hybrid Toilet
A lightweight, fully–enclosed toilet system which requires no water and minimal maintenance was released for sale.

2000 – Biodegradable Packaging
The Cooperative Research Centre for International Food Manufacture and Packaging Science developed new biodegradable packaging materials based on starch.

Pumpkin Scones

2 ozs. butter
3/4 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup well mashed, thoroughly drained cooked pumpkin
2 1/2 cups self raising flour
pinch salt
1 egg beaten well
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 cup milk

Soften butter, beat in the sugar until creamy. Stir in the pumpkin, spice and beaten egg, mixing thoroughly. Sift together flour and salt and mix in. Add the milk, mix to a soft dough and then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat or roll out to 3/4 inch thick, cut into rounds with a 2 inch cutter, flouring it each time you cut. Arrange scones on a lightly greased oven tray, brush tops with milk and bake in a hot oven about 15 minutes or until browned.

Tie Me Kangaroo Down

by Rolf Harris

(spoken introduction)
There’s an old Australian stockman, lying, dying.
He gets himself up on one elbow, turns to his mates,
who are gathered ’round, and he says:

Watch me wallaby’s feed, mate,
Watch me wallaby’s feed.
They’re a dangerous breed, mate,
So watch me wallaby’s feed.
All together now!

Tie me kangaroo down, sport,
Tie me kangaroo down.
Tie me kangaroo down, sport,
Tie me kangaroo down.

Keep me cockatoo cool, Curl,
Keep me cockatoo cool.
Don’t go acting the fool, Curl,
Keep me cockatoo cool.
All together now!

Tie me kangaroo down, sport,
Tie me kangaroo down.
Tie me kangaroo down, sport,
Tie me kangaroo down.

Take me koala back, Jack,
Take me koala back.
He lives somewhere out on the track, Mac,
So take me koala back.
All together now!

Tie me kangaroo down, sport,
Tie me kangaroo down.
Tie me kangaroo down, sport,
Tie me kangaroo down.

Mind me platypus duck, Bill,
Mind me platypus duck.
Don’t let him go running amuck, Bill,
Mind me platypus duck.
All together now!

Tie me kangaroo down, sport,
Tie me kangaroo down.
Tie me kangaroo down, sport,
Tie me kangaroo down.

Play your didgeridoo, Blue,
Play your didgeridoo.
Keep playing ’til I shoot through, Blue,
Play your didgeridoo.
All together now!

Tie me kangaroo down, sport,
Tie me kangaroo down.
Tie me kangaroo down, sport,
Tie me kangaroo down.

Tan me hide when I’m dead, Fred,
Tan me hide when I’m dead.
(spoken)
So we tanned his hide when he died, Clyde,
And that’s it hanging on the shed.
All together now!

Tie me kangaroo down, sport,
Tie me kangaroo down.
Tie me kangaroo down, sport,
Tie me kangaroo down.

1969 – Australia Shows the First Steps on the Moon
The radio telescope in Parkes, New South Wales, received and relayed to the world the first pictures of the first moon landing.

1970 – Variable rack and pinion steering
The variable ratio rack and pinion steering in motor vehicles was invented by Australian engineer, Arthur Bishop.

1973 – Pop Top Can
Sir Ian McLennan of BHP came up with the idea of press-buttons where the button is hinged to the can and does not cause a litter problem.

1973 – In-vitro Fertilisation
The world’s first pregnancy using IVF technology was reported from Monash Medical Centre.

1975 – Interscan
An aircraft approach and landing guidance system using microwaves was successfully tested at Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne.

1976 – Electronic Ignition System
A silicon-chip ignition system for small engines in lawnmowers and chainsaws was developed by the Notarus brothers in Sydney.

1979 – Race Cam
A lightweight, fixed camera used in car racing and other sports broadcasts was developed by Australian engineer, Geoff Healey.

1979 – Cool Lightweight Wool Fabrics
The technique for spinning lightweight wool was invented at CSIRO.

The Southern Cassowary

• The Southern Cassowary is the third tallest and second heaviest living bird, smaller only than the Ostrich and Emu.
• The name cassowary comes from two Papuan words, ‘kasu’ meaning horned and ‘weri’ meaning head, referring to the prominent casque on its head
• An adult cassowary can stand up to 1.8 metres (6’) tall.
• Cassowaries are solitary birds except during courtship, egg-laying, and sometimes around ample food supplies.
• The male cassowary is solely responsible for incubating the eggs and raising the young. They sit on the nest for 50 days until the eggs hatch.
• The father teaches the chicks how to forage and by nine months they become independent.
• There are only about 1500 cassowaries left in the wild.

We sell Cassowary plush toys in our store, these make a great gift for children or the child at heart, click here to see our cassowary products.

Photo credit: wendishness

Home Among The Gum Trees

by W. Johnson and B. Brown

I’ve been around the world a couple of time, or maybe more,
I’ve seen the sights, I’ve had delights on ev’ery foreign shore,
But when my friends all ask me the place that I adore,
I tell them right away.

Give me a home among the gum trees
With lots of plum trees, a sheep or two, a kangaroo.
A clothesline out the back, verandah out the front
And an old rocking chair.

You can see me in the kitchen cooking up a roast,
Or vegemite on toast, just you and me, a cup of tea.
Later on, we’ll settle down and mull up on the porch
And watch the possums play.

Give me a home among the gum trees.
With lots of plum trees, a sheep or two, a kangaroo.
A clothesline out the back, verandah out the front
And an old rocking chair.

There’s a Safeway on the corner and a Woolworths down the street,
A New World’s just been opened where they regulate the heat,
But I’d trade them all tomorrow for the simple bush retreat
Where the kookaburras call.

Give me a home among the gum trees.
With lots of plum trees, a sheep or two, a kangaroo.
A clothesline out the back, verandah out the front
And an old rocking chair.

Some people like their houses with fences all around,
Others live in mansions, and some beneath the ground,
But me, I like the bush, you know, with rabbits running round
And a pumpkin vine out the back.

Give me a home among the gum trees.
With lots of plum trees, a sheep or two, a kangaroo.
A clothesline out the back, verandah out the front
And an old rocking chair.

Home Among The Gum Trees on YouTube

Anzac Biscuits

Ingredients:

125g Flour
150g Sugar
1 Cup Coconut
1 Cup Rolled Oats
100g Butter
1 Tbsp. Golden Syrup
1/2 tsp. Bicarb Soda
2 Tbsp. Boiling Water

Method:

Mix together flour, sugar, coconut and rolled oats. Melt butter and golden syrup, dissolve Bicarb Soda in the boiling water and add to butter and golden syrup.

Make a well in the centre of the flour, stir in liquid.

Place in spoonfuls on greased trays and bake 15 to 20 mins at 180°C

by A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson

I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better
Knowledge, sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago
.He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him,
Just “on spec,” addressed as follows:  “Clancy of The Overflow”.

And an answer came directed in a writing unexpected,
(And I think the same was written with a thumbnail dipped in tar)
‘Twas his shearing mate who wrote it, and verbatim I will quote it:
“Clancy’s gone to Queensland droving, and we don’t know where he are.”

In my wild erratic fancy visions come to me of Clancy
Gone a-droving “down the Cooper” where the western drovers go;
As the stock are slowly stringing, Clancy rides behind them singing,
For the drover’s life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know.

And the bush hath friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him
In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,
And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,
And at night the wondrous glory of the everlasting stars.

I am sitting in my dingy little office, where a stingy
Ray of sunlight struggles feebly down between the houses tall,
And the foetid air and gritty of the dusty, dirty city
Through the open window floating, spreads its foulness over all.

And in place of lowing cattle, I can hear the fiendish rattle
Of the tramways and the buses making hurry down the street,
And the language uninviting of the gutter children fighting,
Comes fitfully and faintly through the ceaseless tramp of feet.

And the hurrying people daunt me, and their pallid faces haunt me
As they shoulder one another in their rush and nervous haste,
With their eager eyes and greedy, and their stunted forms and weedy,
For townsfolk have no time to grow, they have no time to waste.

And I somehow rather fancy that I’d like to change with Clancy,
Like to take a turn at droving where the seasons come and go,
While he faced the round eternal of the cashbook and the journal –
But I doubt he’d suit the office, Clancy, of  “The Overflow.”

1952 – Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer
Sir Alan Walsh of the CSIRO invented this instrument used for high speed chemical analysis of metallic elements.

1953 – Solar Water Heater
The first prototype of a solar water heater was developed at CSIRO in Victoria.

1957 – Permanent Crease Trousers
The process of producing permanent creases in fabric was developed by Dr Arthur Farnworth of CSIRO by adding a special resin to wool fibres to change their chemical structure.

1958 – Black Box Flight Recorder
Dr David Warren in Melbourne invented the first black box flight memory recorder. The unit recorded the pilot’s voice and a few instrument readings.

1958 – Round-the-World Airline Service
Qantas inaugurated a pioneering round-the-world airline service with two aircraft taking off from Melbourne.

1965 – Inflatable Aircraft Escape Slide
Jack Grant of Qantas invented the inflatable aircraft escape slide which can also be used as a raft on water. These slides are now standard safety equipment on all major airlines.

1965 – Wiltshire Staysharp Knife
The Wiltshire Staysharp knife was invented with a sheath which sharpens the knife each time it is withdrawn.

1965 – Wine cask
Invented by Thomas Angrove, the wine cask is a cardboard box housing a plastic container which collapses as the wine is drawn off, thus preventing contact with air.