Home About us Products Services Contact us Bookmark
:: wikimiki.org ::
Layne Beachley

Layne Beachley

Layne Beachley (born May 24 1972) is a professional surfer from Manly in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. She is regarded as the best female professional surfer in history, having won the World Championship for six consecutive years.

Biography

Born Tania Maris Gardner to a 17-year-old unwed Scottish mother then living in Surry Hills, Sydney, Layne spent six weeks in a incubator as a premature baby, before being adopted by Neil and Valerie Beachley from Manly, a famous beachside suburb in Sydney's north. When Layne was six years old, her adoptive mother, Valerie, died from a post-operative brain hemorrhage, and Layne was raised with the help of a family friend. Perhaps as a way to deal with her loss, Layne started surfing amidst a crowd of predominantly young male surfers. Layne made a remarkable rise through the ranks in the masculine world of surfing: at the young age of 16 she became professional, and by the age of 20 she already ranked sixth in the world. Then in 1996 she suffered from two episodes of chronic fatigue, which threatened to end her surfing career altogether. But she recovered, having dealt with her personal issues, and became the Women's ASP World Champion in 1998. She won the title again in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003, securing her place as the most successful female professional surfer ever.

Trivia


- Layne Beachley's former boyfriend was professional surfer Ken Bradshaw; she is currently dating Kirk Pengilly (Sax & guitar player for INXS).
- Her aggressive surfing style has earned her such nicknames as "The Beast" and "Gidget".
- She appeared in the movies Billabong Odyssey and Step Into Liquid.
- In 1999, her biological mother Maggie, who has sinced moved to California, traced her back for a reunion.
- She founded Aim For The Stars Foundation to financially help girls and young women achieve their ambitions.

External link

[http://www.aimforthestars.com.au Aim for the Stars Foundation] Beachley, Layne Beachley, Layne

May 24

May 24 is the 144th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (145th in leap years). There are 221 days remaining.

Events


- 1153 - Malcolm IV becomes King of Scotland.
- 1218 - The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
- 1276 - Magnus Ladulås crowned King of Sweden in Uppsala Cathedral.
- 1430 - Joan of Arc is captured by the forces of the Duke of Burgundy.
- 1487 - Imposter Lambert Simnel is crowned as "King Edward VI" at Dublin.
- 1595 - Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.
- 1621 - Protestant Union formally dissolved.
- 1626 - Peter Minuit buys Manhattan.
- 1668 - Glen Cove, New York is founded.
- 1689 - The Act of Toleration passes the English Parliament protecting Protestants (Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded).
- 1738 - John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day.
- 1787 - The United States Constitutional Convention is convened after a quorum of delegates arrives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1798 - Irish nationalists rebel against British forces, believing that French troops were going to invade Ireland.
- 1822 - Battle of Pichincha: Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito.
- 1830 - Mary had a little lamb by Sarah Hale is published.
- 1844 - The first electric telegram is sent by Samuel F. B. Morse, from Baltimore, Maryland, to Washington, D.C., saying "What hath God wrought?".
- 1846 - Mexican-American War: General Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey.
- 1856 - John Brown and his men murder five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.
- 1883 - The Brooklyn Bridge in New York is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.
- 1895 - Henry Irving becomes the first personage from the theatre to be knighted.
- 1899 - The first public parking garage in the United States is opened in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1900 - Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.
- 1911 - The New York Public Library opened.
- 1915 - World War I: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary.
- 1921 - The trial of Sacco and Vanzetti opens.
- 1929 - The Cocoanuts, the first film to star the Marx Brothers, opens.
- 1930 - Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight).
- 1940 - Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.
- 1941 - World War II: In the North Atlantic, the German Battleship Bismarck sinks the HMS Hood killing all but three crewmen on what was the pride of the Royal Navy.
- 1943 - Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer in Auschwitz concentration camp.
- 1949 - The Soviet Union ends the 11-month Berlin Blockade.
- 1956 - In Lugano, Switzerland, Lys Assia wins the first Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland singing "Refrain".
- 1958 - United Press International is formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.
- 1961 - American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi for "disturbing the peace" after disembarking from their bus.
- 1962 - American astronaut Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule.
- 1968 - Students set fire to the Paris bourse.
- 1968 - FLQ separatists bomb the U.S. consulate in Quebec City.
- 1974 - After a nine-year run, the Dean Martin Show airs for the last time.
- 1976 - London to Washington, DC Concorde service begins.
- 1980 - The International Court of Justice calls for the release of United States embassy hostages in Tehran.
- 1981 - First International Women's Day for Disarmament.
- 1988 - Section 28 is passed as law by Parliament in the United Kingdom.
- 1989 - Sonia Sutcliffe, wife of the Yorkshire Ripper, is awarded a six-figure sum in damages after winning a libel action against Private Eye.
- 1990 - A car carrying American Earth First! activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney explodes in Oakland, California, critically injuring both.
- 1991 - Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
- 1992 - The last Thai dictator, General Suchinda Kraprayoon, resigns following pro-democracy protests.
- 1993 - Eritrea gains its independence from Ethiopia.
- 1993 - Microsoft unveils Windows NT.
- 2000 - Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.
- 2001 - Mountain climbing: 15-year-old Sherpa Temba Tsheri becomes the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest.
- 2001 - Wedding hall collapse in Jerusalem, Israel, kills 23 and injures over 200 in Israel's worst-ever civil disaster.

Births


- 15 BC - Julius Caesar Germanicus, Roman commander (d. AD 19)
- AD 1494 - Pontormo, Italian painter (d. 1557)
- 1522 - John Jewel, English bishop (d. 1571)
- 1544 - William Gilbert, English scientist (d. 1603)
- 1616 - John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale, (d. 1682)
- 1671 - Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1737)
- 1686 - Gabriel Fahrenheit, German physicist and engineer (d. 1736)
- 1689 - Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, English politician (d. 1769)
- 1738 - King George III of the United Kingdom (d. 1820)
- 1743 - Jean-Paul Marat, French revolutionary (d. 1793)
- 1794 - William Whewell, English philosopher (d. 1866)
- 1810 - Charles Clark, Governor of Mississippi (d. 1877)
- 1810 - Abraham Geiger, German rabbi and scholar (d. 1874)
- 1816 - Emanuel Leutze, German-born painter (d. 1868)
- 1819 - Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (d. 1901)
- 1836 - Joseph Rowntree, British social reformer (d. 1925)
- 1854 - John Riley Banister, American law officer and cowboy (d. 1918)
- 1855 - Arthur Wing Pinero, English playwright (d. 1934)
- 1863 - George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (d. 1938)
- 1870 - Benjamin Cardozo, American jurist (d. 1938)
- 1870 - Jan Christian Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1950)
- 1878 - Lillian Moller Gilbreth, American engineer (d. 1972)
- 1886 - Paul Paray, French conductor and composer (d. 1979)
- 1891 - William F. Albright, American archeologist and Biblical scholar (d. 1971)
- 1899 - Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player
- 1899 - Henri Michaux, French poet
- 1901 - José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer
- 1905 - Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
- 1909 - Wilbur Mills, American politician (d. 1992)
- 1914 - Lilli Palmer, German-born actress (d. 1986)
- 1925 - Mai Zetterling, Swedish-born entertainer (d. 1994)
- 1926 - Stanley Baxter, Scottish actor
- 1928 - William Trevor, Irish writer
- 1930 - Hans-Martin Linde, German conductor
- 1934 - Jane Byrne, Mayor of Chicago
- 1936 - Harold Budd, American musician
- 1938 - Tommy Chong, Canadian-born actor and comedian
- 1940 - Joseph Brodsky, Russian-born poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
- 1941 - Bob Dylan, American singer and songwriter
- 1943 - Gary Burghoff, American actor
- 1944 - Arthur Brown, English musician
- 1944 - Patti LaBelle, American singer
- 1945 - Priscilla Presley, American actress
- 1946 - Irena Kirszenstein-Szewinska, Russian-born Polish athlete
- 1949 - Jim Broadbent, English actor
- 1953 - Alfred Molina, English actor
- 1955 - Rosanne Cash, American singer
- 1960 - Kristin Scott Thomas, English actress
- 1962 - Gene Anthony Ray, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1963 - Joe Dumars, American basketball player
- 1964 - Adrian Moorhouse, British swimmer
- 1965 - John C. Reilly, American actor
- 1966 - Eric Cantona, French footballer
- 1967 - Heavy D, American rapper and actor
- 1972 - Greg Berlanti, American television writer and producer
- 1973 - Bartolo Colón, Dominican Major League Baseball player
- 1973 - Dermot O'Leary, English television presenter
- 1973 - Ruslana, Ukrainian singer
- 1979 - Tracy McGrady, American basketball player
- 1988 - Billy Gilman, American singer

Deaths


- 1153 - King David I of Scotland (b. 1084)
- 1351 - Abu al-Hasan 'Ali, Sultan of Morocco
- 1425 - Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, Scottish politician (b. 1362)
- 1456 - Ambroise de Loré, French military commander (b. 1396)
- 1543 - Nicolas Copernicus, Polish astronomer (b. 1473)
- 1612 - Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English statesman and spymaster (b. 1563)
- 1627 - Luis de Góngora, Spanish poet (b. 1561)
- 1725 - Jonathan Wild, English criminal (b. 1683)
- 1734 - Georg Ernst Stahl, German physician and chemist (b. 1660)
- 1749 - Graf Valentin Potocki, Polish nobleman (burned at the stake)
- 1792 - George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, British naval officer (b. 1718)
- 1806 - John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll, British field marshal (b. 1723)
- 1879 - William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist, writer, and publisher (b. 1805)
- 1881 - Samuel Palmer, English artist (b. 1805)
- 1883 - Abdel Kadir, Algerian leader (b. 1808)
- 1919 - Amado Nervo, Mexican poet (b. 1870)
- 1947 - C. F. Ramuz, Swiss writer (b. 1878)
- 1949 - Aleksey Shchusev, Russian architect (b. 1873)
- 1950 - Archibald Wavell, American general (b. 1883)
- 1959 - John Foster Dulles, United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
- 1963 - Elmore James, American musician (b. 1918)
- 1969 - Willy Ley, German-born rocket scientist (b. 1906)
- 1974 - Duke Ellington, American composer and musician (b. 1899)
- 1981 - George Jessel, American actor (b. 1898)
- 1995 - Harold Wilson, British statesman and prime minister (b. 1916)
- 1996 - John Abbott, third Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1905)
- 1997 - Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (b. 1923)
- 1999 - Owen Hart, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1965)
- 2003 - Lady Rachel Kempson, English actress (b. 1910)
- 2004 - Henry Ries, American photographer (b. 1917)
- 2005 - Arthur Haulot, Belgian journalist and resistance figher (b. 1913)

Holidays and observances


- Canada: Victoria Day, on this date or the Monday before it. In Quebec, it is known as "National Patriots' Day" (Journée nationale des patriotes).
- Bermuda: Bermuda Day
- Eritrea: National Day
- Bulgaria: Sts. Cyril and Methodius Day
- Saint Sarah is celebrated in Carmague, France by the Roma or Gypsies.

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/24 BBC: On This Day] ---- May 23 - May 25 - April 24 - June 24 – listing of all days ko:5월 24일 ms:24 Mei ja:5月24日 simple:May 24 th:24 พฤษภาคม

Manly, New South Wales

Manly is a suburb in Local Government Area of Manly Council on Northern Beaches of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is most notable for its beaches, which are popular tourist destinations, and during the 19th and early 20th century Manly was one of Australia's most popular seaside holiday resorts. Manly was named by Capt. Arthur Phillip, after his famous encounter with the confident members of the Kay-ye-my clan of Australian Aborigines who lived in the area at the time of European occupation. While scouting for fresh water in the area, Phillip encountered members of the clan on Manly Beach and after a misunderstanding he was speared in the shoulder by one of the clan; to his lasting credit, the progressively-minded Phillip ordered his men not to retaliate. Transport services to Manly include an efficient Ferry service from Manly Wharf, and bus services to the city and other suburbs. High-rise buildings and apartments now line the foreshore; a testament to both the high popularity of the area and the compliance of the local council to the whims of developers. The ferry service formerly advertised Manly as "seven miles from Sydney, and a thousand miles from care." Manly is blessed by having Sydney Harbour on its western side with calm water, ferry wharf, swimming area, aquarium, sailing and yacht clubs. Yet a short 300 metre walk down the "Corso" lined by shops to the Eastern side is the Pacific Ocean and the famous Manly Beach.

External links


- [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/after-150-years-manlys-still-the-quay-tosydney/2005/09/09/1125772697570.html After 150 years, Manly's still the quay to Sydney, The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 September 2005] Category:Beaches of Australia Category:Suburbs of Sydney Category:Incomplete Sydney suburbs

New South Wales

New South Wales (NSW) is Australia's most populous and oldest state, located in the south-east, north of Victoria and south of Queensland. It was founded in 1788 and originally comprised much of the Australian mainland. During the 19th century large areas were successively separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania (1825), Victoria (1851), Queensland (1859), and South Australia (which at that time included what is now the Northern Territory). In 1901 these colonies plus Western Australia federated to form the "Commonwealth of Australia". New South Wales is known the world over for the picturesque harbour of its capital, Sydney. Sydney is Australia's oldest and largest city and a centre of international finance. Sydney was the host city of the 2000 Olympic Summer Games.

Timeline


- 1770: Captain James Cook discovers the east coast of New Holland, what later became known as New South Wales, Australia.
- 1788: Captain Arthur Phillip establishes a British penal colony in Port Jackson.
- 1813: William Wentworth, Gregory Blaxland and William Lawson, leads an expedition which finds a route across the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, opening up the grazing lands of inland New South Wales.

Geography

Main article: Geography of New South Wales Its four main cities from north to south are Newcastle, Gosford, Sydney, and Wollongong which all lie along the coast. Towns include Albury, Broken Hill, Dubbo, Tamworth, Armidale, Lismore, Nowra, Griffith, Leeton, Wagga Wagga, Goulburn and Coffs Harbour. The state is bordered on the north by Queensland, on the west by South Australia, and on the south by Victoria. Its coast faces the Tasman Sea. New South Wales contains two Federal enclaves: the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and the Jervis Bay Territory. New South Wales can be divided physically into four sections:
- A thin coastal strip, with climates warming from cool temperate on the far south coast to subtropical near the Queensland border, including the regions south of Sydney such as the Illawarra , the Shoalhaven near Nowra, Newcastle and the Central Coast and the North Coast, North of The Hunter, as well as others.
- The mountainous areas of the Great Dividing Range and the high country surrounding them. Whilst not particularly steep, many peaks rise above 1000 m, with the highest Mount Kosciuszko at 2229 m (7308 ft). This includes the Southern Highlands, Central Tablelands and the New England regions.
- The agricultural plains that fill a significant portion of the state's area, with a much sparser population than the coast, includes The Riverina area around Wagga Wagga.
- The arid plains in the far north-west of the state, which are unsuitable for settlements of any notable size. Wagga Wagga

Government

Main article: Government of New South Wales Main article: Constitution of New South Wales The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution , which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then. Since 1901 New South Wales has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Australian Constitution regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth. Under the Australian Constitution, New South Wales ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas. The New South Wales Constitution says: "The Legislature shall, subject to the provisions of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, have power to make laws for the peace, welfare, and good government of New South Wales in all cases whatsoever." In practice, however, the independence of the Australian states has been greatly eroded by the increasing financial domination of the Commonwealth. The State Parliament is composed of two houses, the Legislative Assembly (lower house), and the Legislative Council (upper house). The head of the State Government is the Premier, currently Morris Iemma.

Economy

New South Wales has a Gross Domestic Product of AU$265,966,000,000, which equalled AU$39,950 per capita, in 2003. This was equal to US$30,277, above the major European Union economies.

Another New South Wales

The Australian region was not the first piece of land to be called New South Wales. A map of North America printed in the 1780s gave the name New South Wales to a mostly unexplored area along the south shore of Hudson's Bay where the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario now lie.

External links


- [http://www.austlii.edu.au/databases.html#nsw NSW State Law]
- [http://www.nsw.gov.au Official state website]
- [http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au New South Wales Parliament]
- [http://www.police.nsw.gov.au New South Wales Police]
- [http://www.ga.gov.au/education/facts/mapproj/se.htm Map of South East Australia from Geoscience Australia]

See also


- Australian States and Territories
- Local Government Areas of New South Wales
- National Parks in New South Wales
- Stamps and postal history of New South Wales
- List of highways in New South Wales
- List of postcodes in New South Wales
- New South Wales Rural Fire Service
- Australian Bureau of Meteorology ko:뉴사우스웨일스 주 ja:ニューサウスウェールズ州

Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the world's smallest continent and a number of islands in the Southern, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Australia's neighbouring countries are Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the northeast, and New Zealand to the southeast. The continent of Australia has been inhabited for over 40,000 years by Indigenous Australians. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the north and by European explorers and merchants starting in the 17th century, the eastern half of the continent was claimed by the British in 1770 and officially settled as the penal colony of New South Wales on 26 January 1788. As the population grew and new areas were explored, another five largely self-governing Crown Colonies were successively established over the course of the 19th century. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and remains a Commonwealth Realm. The current population of around 20.4 million is concentrated mainly in the large coastal cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Origin and history of the name

The name Australia is derived from the Latin australis, meaning southern. Legends of an "unknown southern land" (terra australis incognita) date back to the Roman times and were commonplace in mediæval geography, but they were not based on any actual knowledge of the continent. The Dutch adjectival form Australische ("Australian," in the sense of "southern") was used by Dutch officials in Batavia to refer to the newly discovered land to the south as early as 1638. The first English language writer to use the word "Australia" was Alexander Dalrymple in An Historical Collection of Voyages and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean, published in 1771. He used the term to refer to the entire South Pacific region, not specifically to the Australian continent. In 1793, George Shaw and Sir James Smith published Zoology and Botany of New Holland, in which they wrote of "the vast island, or rather continent, of Australia, Australasia or New Holland." New Holland was established on this site.]] The name "Australia" was popularised by the 1814 work A Voyage to Terra Australis by the navigator Matthew Flinders. Despite its title, which reflected the view of the Admiralty, Flinders used the word "Australia" in the book, which was widely read and gave the term general currency. Governor Lachlan Macquarie of New South Wales subsequently used the word in his dispatches to England. In 1817 he recommended that it be officially adopted. In 1824, the British Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia.

History

England, claiming the land for Britain in 1770. This replica was built in Fremantle in 1988 for Australia's bicentenary.]] The first human habitation of Australia is estimated to have occurred between 42,000 and 48,000 years ago. The first Australians were the ancestors of the current Indigenous Australians; they arrived via land bridges and short sea-crossings from present-day India or Southeast Asia. Most of these people were hunter-gatherers, with a complex oral culture and spiritual values based on reverence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, inhabited the Torres Strait Islands and parts of far-north Queensland; they possess distinct cultural practices and practised subsistence agriculture. The first undisputed recorded European sighting of the Australian continent was made by the Dutch navigator Willem Jansz, who sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in 1606. During the 17th century, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines of what they called New Holland, but made no attempt at settlement. In 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast of Australia, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Britain. The expedition's discoveries provided impetus for the establishment of a penal colony there following the loss of the American colonies that had previously filled that role. penal colony was Australia's largest penal colony.]] The British Crown Colony of New South Wales started with the establishment of a settlement at Port Jackson by Captain Arthur Phillip on 26 January 1788. This date was later to become Australia's national day, Australia Day. Van Diemen's Land, now known as Tasmania, was settled in 1803 and became a separate colony in 1825. Britain formally claimed the western part of Australia in 1829. Separate colonies were created from parts of New South Wales: South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in 1859. The Northern Territory (NT) was founded in 1863 as part of the Province of South Australia. Victoria and South Australia were founded as "free colonies"—that is, they were never penal colonies, although the former did receive some convicts from Tasmania. Western Australia was also founded "free", but later accepted transported convicts due to an acute labour shortage. The transportation of convicts to Australia was phased out between 1840 and 1868. The Indigenous Australian population, estimated at about 350,000 at the time of European settlement, declined steeply for 150 years following settlement, mainly because of infectious disease, and forced migration, the removal of children and other colonial government policies, that some historians and Indigenous Australians have argued could be considered to constitute genocide by today's understanding. Such interpretations of Aboriginal history are disputed by some as being exaggerated or fabricated for political or ideological reasons. Following the 1967 referendum, the Federal government gained the power to implement policies and make laws with respect to Aborigines. Traditional ownership of land—native title—was not recognised until the High Court case Mabo v Queensland (No 2) overturned the notion of Australia as terra nullius at the time of European occupation. terra nullius ceremony in Port Melbourne, Victoria, 25 April 2005. Ceremonies such as this are held in virtually every suburb and town in Australia.]] A gold rush began in Australia in the early 1850s, and the Eureka Stockade rebellion in 1854 was an early expression of nationalist sentiment. Between 1855 and 1890, the six colonies individually gained responsible government, managing most of their own affairs while remaining part of the British Empire. The Colonial Office in London retained control of some matters, notably foreign affairs, defence and international shipping. On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies was achieved after a decade of planning, consultation and voting, and the Commonwealth of Australia was born, as a Dominion of the British Empire. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) was formed from New South Wales in 1911 to provide a location for the proposed new federal capital of Canberra (Melbourne was the capital from 1901 to 1927). The Northern Territory was transferred from the control of the South Australian government to the Commonwealth in 1911. Australia willingly participated in World War I; many Australians regard the defeat of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) at Gallipoli as the birth of the nation—its first major military action. Much like Gallipoli the Kokoda Track Campaign is regarded by many as a nation defining battle from World War II. The Statute of Westminster 1931 formally ended most of the constitutional links between Australia and Britain, but Australia did not adopt the Statute until 1942. The shock of Britain's defeat in Asia in 1942 and the threat of Japanese invasion caused Australia to turn to the United States as a new ally and protector. Since 1951, Australia has been a formal military ally of the US under the auspices of the ANZUS treaty. After World War II, Australia encouraged mass immigration from Europe; since the 1970s and the abolition of the White Australia policy, immigration from Asia and other parts of the world was also encouraged. As a result, Australia's demography, culture and image of itself were radically transformed. The final constitutional ties between Australia and Britain ended in 1986 with the passing of the Australia Act 1986, ending any British role in the Australian States, and ending judicial appeals to the UK Privy Council. Although Australian voters rejected a move to become a republic in 1999 by a 55% majority, Australia's links to its British past are increasingly tenuous. Since the election of the Whitlam Government in 1972, there has been an increasing focus on the nation's future as a part of the Asia-Pacific region.

Politics

Whitlam Government was opened in 1988 replacing the provisional Parliament House building opened in 1927.]] The Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional monarchy and has a parliamentary system of government. Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of Australia, a role that is distinct from her position as Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. The Queen is nominally represented by the Governor-General; although the Constitution gives extensive executive powers to the Governor-General, these are normally exercised only on the advice of the Prime Minister. The most notable exercise of the Governor-General's reserve powers outside the Prime Minister's direction was the dismissal of the Whitlam Government in the constitutional crisis of 1975. There are three branches of government.
- The legislature: the Commonwealth Parliament, comprising the Queen, the Senate (the Red house), and the House of Representatives (the Green house); the Queen is represented by the Governor-General, who in practice exercises little or no power over the Parliament.
- The executive: the Federal Executive Council (the Governor-General as advised by the executive councillors); in practice, the councillors are the prime minister and ministers of state, whose advice the Governor-General accepts, with rare exceptions.
- The judiciary: the High Court of Australia and other federal courts. The State courts became formally independent from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council when the Australia Act was passed in 1986. The bicameral Commonwealth Parliament consists of the Queen, the Senate (the upper house) of 76 senators, and a House of Representatives (the lower house) of 150 members. Members of the lower house are elected from single-member constituencies, commonly known as 'electorates' or 'seats'. Seats in the House of Representatives are allocated to states on the basis of population. In the Senate, each state, regardless of population, is represented by 12 senators, with the ACT and the NT each electing two. Elections for both chambers are held every three years; typically only half of the Senate seats are put to each election, because senators have overlapping six-year terms. The party with majority support in the House of Representatives forms Government, with its leader becoming Prime Minister. There are three major political parties: the Labor Party, the Liberal Party and the National Party. Independent members and several minor parties—including the Greens, Family First and the Australian Democrats—have achieved representation in Australian parliaments, mostly in upper houses, although their influence has been marginal. Since the 1996 election, the Liberal/National Coalition led by the Prime Minister, John Howard, has been in power in Canberra. In the 2004 election, the Coalition won control of the Senate, the first time that a party (or coalition of governing parties) has done so while in government in more than 20 years. The Labor Party is in power in every state and territory. Voting is compulsory in each state and territory and at the federal level.

States and territories

Voting is compulsory Australia consists of six states, two major mainland territories, and other minor territories. The states are New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. The two major mainland territories are the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. In most respects, the territories function similarly to the states, but the Commonwealth Parliament can override any legislation of their parliaments. By contrast, federal legislation overrides state legislation only with respect to certain areas as set out in Section 51 of the Constitution; all residual legislative powers are retained by the state parliaments, including powers over hospitals, education, police, the judiciary, roads, public transport and local government. Each state and territory has its own legislature (unicameral in the case of the Northern Territory, the ACT and Queensland, and bicameral in the remaining states). The lower house is known as the Legislative Assembly (House of Assembly in South Australia and Tasmania) and the upper house the Legislative Council. The heads of the governments in each state and territory are called premiers and chief ministers, respectively. The Queen is represented in each state by a governor; an administrator in the Northern Territory, and the Governor-General in the ACT, have analogous roles. Australia also has several minor territories; the federal government administers a separate area within New South Wales, the Jervis Bay Territory, as a naval base and sea port for the national capital. In addition Australia has the following, inhabited, external territories: Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and several largely uninhabited external territories: Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands and the Australian Antarctic Territory.

Foreign relations and military

Over recent decades, Australia's foreign relations have been driven by a close association with the United States, through the ANZUS pact and by a desire to develop relationships with Asia and the Pacific, particularly through ASEAN and the Pacific Islands Forum. In 2005 Australia secured an inaugural seat at the East Asia Summit following its accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation. Australia is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, in which the Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings provide the main forum for co-operation. Much of Australia's diplomatic energy is focused on international trade liberalisation. Australia led the formation of the Cairns Group and APEC, and is a member of the OECD and the WTO. Australia has pursued several major bilateral free trade agreements, most recently the US–Australia Free Trade Agreement. Australia is a founding member of the United Nations, and maintains an international aid program under which some 60 countries receive assistance. The 2005–06 budget provides A$2.5bn for development assistance; as a percentage of GDP, this contribution is less than that of the UN Millennium Development Goals. Australia's armed forces—the Australian Defence Force (ADF)—comprise the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the Australian Army, and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). All branches of the ADF have been involved in UN and regional peacekeeping (most recently in East Timor, the Solomon Islands and Sudan), disaster relief, and armed conflict, including the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. The government appoints the chief of the Defence Force from one of the armed services; the current chief is Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston. In 2005–06, the defence budget is A$17.5bn.

Geography and climate

Angus Houston Australia's 7,686,850 km² (2,967,909 mi²) landmass is on the Indo-Australian Plate. Surrounded by the Indian, Southern and Pacific oceans, Australia is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas. Australia has a total 25,760 km (16,007 mi) of coastline and claims an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone of 8,148,250 km² or 3,146,057 mi² (excluding the Australian Antarctic Territory). Climate is highly influenced by ocean currents, including the El Niño southern oscillation, which is correlated with periodic drought, and the seasonal tropical low pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia. By far the largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid. Australia is the driest inhabited continent, the flattest, and has the oldest and least fertile soils. Only the south-east and south-west corners of the continent have a temperate climate. The northern part of the country, with a tropical climate, has a vegetation consisting of rainforest, woodland, grassland and desert. The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef, lies a short distance off the north-east coast and extends for over 2,000 km (1,250 mi). The world's two largest monoliths are located in Australia, Mount Augustus in Western Australia is the largest and Uluru in central Australia is the second largest. At 2,228 m (7,310 ft), Mount Kosciuszko on the Great Dividing Range is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland, although Mawson Peak on the remote Australian territory of Heard Island is taller at 2,745 m (9,006 ft).

Flora and fauna

Heard Island of the wallaby is currently being sequenced; when the sequencing is completed, it will be a major contribution to marsupial biology.]] Although most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, it covers a diverse range of habitats, from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests. Because of the great age and consequent low levels of fertility of the continent, its extremely variable weather patterns, and its long-term geographic isolation, much of Australia's biota is unique and diverse. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of birds, and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic. Many of Australia's ecoregions, and the species within those regions, are threatened by human activities and introduced plant and animal species. The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is a legal framework used for the protection of threatened species. Numerous protected areas have been created to protect and preserve Australia's unique ecosystems, 64 wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention, and 16 World Heritage Sites have been established. Australia was ranked 13th in the World on the 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index. Environmental Sustainability Index.]] Most Australian plant species are evergreen and many are adapted to fire and drought, including the eucalypts and acacias. Australia has a rich variety of endemic legume species that thrive in nutrient-poor soils because of their symbiosis with Rhizobia bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi. Well-known Australian fauna include monotremes (the platypus and echidna), and a host of marsupials, including the koala, kangaroo, wombat, and birds such as the emu, cockatoo, and kookaburra. The dingo was introduced by Austronesian people that traded with Indigenous Australians around 4000 BCE. Many plant and animal species became extinct soon after human settlement, including the Australian megafauna; many more have become extinct since European settlement, among them the Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger).

Economy

Thylacine Australia has a prosperous, Western-style mixed economy, with a per capita GDP slightly higher than those of the UK, Germany and France. The country was ranked third in the United Nations' 2005 Human Development Index and sixth in The Economist worldwide quality-of-life index 2005. In recent years, the Australian economy has been resilient in the face of global economic downturn. Rising output in the domestic economy has been offsetting the global slump, and business and consumer confidence remains robust. Australia's emphasis on reform is another key factor behind the economy's strength. In the 1980s, the Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Treasurer Paul Keating, started the process of modernising the Australian economy by floating the Australian dollar in 1983, and deregulating the financial system. Since 1996, the Howard government has continued the process of micro-economic reform, including the partial deregulation of the labour market and the privatisation of state-owned businesses, most notably in the telecommunications industry. Substantial reform of the indirect tax system was achieved in July 2000 with the introduction of a 10% Goods and Services Tax, which has slightly reduced the heavy reliance on personal and company income tax that still characterises Australia's tax system. The Australian economy has not suffered a recession since the early 1990s. As of July 2005, unemployment was 5.0% with 10,030,300 persons employed. The service sector of the economy, including tourism, education, and financial services, comprises 69% of GDP. Agriculture and natural-resources represent only 3% and 5% of GDP, respectively, but contribute substantially to Australia's export performance. Australia's largest export markets include Japan, China, the United States, South Korea and New Zealand. Areas of concern to some economists include the chronically high current account deficit and also high levels of net foreign debt.

Demographics

current account deficit Most of the estimated 20.4 million Australians are descended from 19th- and 20th-century immigrants, the majority from Britain and Ireland. Australia's population has quadrupled since the end of World War I , spurred by an ambitious immigration program. In 2001, the five largest groups of the 27.4% of Australians who were born overseas were from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Italy, Vietnam and China. Following the abolition of the White Australia policy, numerous government initiatives have been established to encourage and promote racial harmony based on a policy of multiculturalism. Australia’s population has increased by about 60 times since European settlement. The self-declared indigenous population—including Torres Strait Islanders, who are of Melanesian descent—was 410,003 (2.2% of the total population) in 2001, a significant increase from the 1977 census, which showed an indigenous population of 115,953. Indigenous Australians have higher rates of imprisonment and unemployment, lower levels of education and life expectancies for males and females that are 17 years lower than those of other Australians. Perceived racial inequality is an ongoing political and human rights issue for Australians. human rights.]] In common with many other developed countries, Australia is experiencing a demographic shift towards an older population, with more retirees and fewer people of working age. A large number of Australians (759,849 for the period 2002–03) live outside their home country. Australia has maintained one of the most active immigration programs in the world to boost population growth. Most immigrants are skilled; the quota includes categories for family members and refugees. English is the official language, and is spoken and written in a distinct variety known as Australian English. According to the 2001 census, English is the only language spoken in the home for around 80% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are Chinese (2.1%), Italian (1.9%) and Greek (1.4%). A considerable proportion of first- and second-generation migrants are bilingual. It is believed that there were between 200 and 300 Australian Aboriginal languages at the time of first European contact. Only about 70 of these languages have survived, and all but 20 of these are now endangered. An indigenous language remains the main language for about 50,000 (0.02%) people. Australia has a sign language known as Auslan, which is the main language of about 6,500 deaf people. The Australian Constitution guarantees the separation of church and state; there is no state religion. The 2001 census identified that 68% of Australians call themselves Christian: 27% identifying themselves as Roman Catholic and 21% as Anglican. Five per cent of Australians identify themselves as followers of non-Christian religions, and 26% as non-religious. Like many Western countries, the level of active participation in church worship is much lower than this; weekly attendance at church services is about 1.5 million, about 7.5% of the population. School attendance is compulsory throughout Australia between the ages of 6–15 years (16 years in South Australia and Tasmania), contributing to an adult literacy rate that is assumed to be 99%. Government grants have supported the establishment of Australia's 38 universities, and although several private universities have been established, the majority receive government funding. There is a state-based system of vocational training colleges, known as TAFE Institutes, and many trades conduct apprenticeships for training new tradespeople. Approximately 58% of Australians between the ages of 25 and 64 have vocational or tertiary qualifications.

Culture

apprenticeship.]] The primary basis of Australian culture up until the mid-20th century was Anglo-Celtic, although distinctive Australian features had been evolving from the environment and indigenous culture. Over the past 50 years, Australian culture has been strongly influenced by American popular culture (particularly television and cinema), large-scale immigration from non-English-speaking countries, and Australia's Asian neighbours. Australia has a long history of visual arts, starting with the cave and bark paintings of its indigenous peoples. From the time of European settlement, a common theme in Australian art has been the Australian landscape, seen in the works of Arthur Streeton, Arthur Boyd and Albert Namatjira, among others. The traditions of indigenous Australians are largely transmitted orally and are closely tied to ceremony and the telling of the stories of the Dreamtime. Australian Aboriginal music, dance and art have a palpable influence on contemporary Australian visual and performing arts. Australia has an active tradition of music, ballet and theatre; many of its performing arts companies receive public funding through the federal government's Australia Council. There is a symphony orchestra in each capital city, and a national opera company, Opera Australia, first made prominent by the renowned diva Dame Joan Sutherland; Australian music includes classical, jazz, and many popular music genres. Australian literature has also been influenced by the landscape; the works of writers such as Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson captured the experience of the Australian bush. The character of colonial Australia, as embodied in early literature, resonates with modern Australia and its perceived emphasis on egalitarianism, mateship, and anti-authoritarianism. In 1973, Patrick White was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, the only Australian to have achieved this; he is recognised as one of the great English-language writers of the 20th century. Australian English is a major variety of the language; its grammar and spelling are largely based on those of British English, overlaid with a rich vernacular of unique lexical items and phrases, some of which have found their way into standard English. Australia has two public broadcasters (the ABC and SBS), three commercial television networks, three pay TV services, and numerous public, non-profit television and radio stations. Australia's film industry has achieved critical and commercial successes. Each major city has daily newspapers, and there are two national daily newspapers, The Australian and The Australian Financial Review. According to Reporters Without Borders in 2005, Australia is in 31st position on a list of countries ranked by press freedom, behind New Zealand (9th) and the United Kingdom (28th) but ahead of the United States. This ranking is primarily due to the limited diversity of commercial media ownership in Australia. Most Australian print media in particular is under the control of either News Corporation or John Fairfax Holdings. John Fairfax Holdings Sport is an important part of Australian culture, assisted by a climate that favours outdoor activities; 23.5% Australians over the age of 15 regularly participate in organised sporting activities. At an international level, Australia has particularly strong teams in cricket, field hockey, netball, rugby league, rugby union, and performs well in cycling and swimming. Australia has participated in every summer Olympic Games of the modern era, and every Commonwealth Games. Australia has hosted the 1956 and 2000 Summer Olympics, and has ranked among the top five medal-takers since 2000. It has also hosted the 1938, 1962 and 1982 Commonwealth Games, and will host the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Australian rules football is one of the most popular national sports, albeit it, one that is only played in Australia; players gain some international prominence through International Rules which is an annual meeting between the Australian code and Irish Gaelic Football. Corporate and government sponsorship of many sports and élite athletes is common in Australia. Televised sport is popular; some of the highest rating television programs include the summer Olympic Games and the grand finals of local and international football competitions.

Related topics

References

Gillespie, R. (2002). Dating the first Australians. Radiocarbon 44:455-472
Smith, L. (1980), The Aboriginal Population of Australia, Australian National University Press, Canberra
Tatz, C. (1999). [http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/rsrch/rsrch_dp/genocide.htm Genocide in Australia], AIATSIS Research Discussion Papers No 8, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra
Windschuttle, K. (2001). [http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/20/sept01/keith.htm# The Fabrication of Aboriginal History], The New Criterion Vol. 20, No. 1, September 20.
Bean, C. Ed. (1941). [http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/ww1/1/index.asp Volume I - The Story of Anzac: the first phase], First World War Official Histories 11th Edition.
Australian Electoral Commission (2000). [http://www.aec.gov.au/_content/when/referendums/1999_report/index.htm 1999 Referendum Reports and Statistics]
Parliamentary Library (1997). [http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rn/1997-98/98rn25.htm The Reserve Powers of the Governor-General]
Australian Government. (2005). [http://www.budget.gov.au/ Budget 2005-2006]
Department of the Environment and Heritage. [http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/about-biodiversity.html About Biodiversity]
Macfarlane, I. J. (1998). [http://www.rba.gov.au/PublicationsAndResearch/Bulletin/bu_oct98/bu_1098_2.pdf Australian Monetary Policy in the Last Quarter of the Twentieth Century]. Reserve Bank of Australia Bulletin, October
Parham, D. (2002). [http://www.pc.gov.au/research/confproc/mrrag/mrrag.pdf Microeconomic reforms and the revival in Australia’s growth in productivity and living standards]. Conference of Economists, Adelaide, 1 October
Australian Bureau of Statistics. Labour Force Australia. Cat#6202
Australian Bureau of Statistics. [http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/94713ad445ff1425ca25682000192af2/1a79e7ae231704f8ca256f720082feb9!OpenDocument Year Book Australia 2005]
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2003). Advancing the National Interest, [http://www.dfat.gov.au/ani/appendix_one.pdf Appenidix 1]
Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2001 Census, [http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@census.nsf/ddc9b4f92657325cca256c3e000bdbaf/7dd97c937216e32fca256bbe008371f0!OpenDocument A Snapshot of Australia]
Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affiars. (2005). [http://www.immi.gov.au/facts/06evolution.htm The Evolution of Australia's Multicultural Policy]
Parliament of Australia, Senate (2005). [http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/legcon_ctte/expats03/ Inquiry into Australian Expatriates]
[http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?docid=2250&track=82083 NCLS releases latest estimates of church attendance], National Church Life Survey, Media release, 28 February 2004
Australian Film Commission. What are Australians Watching?, [http://www.afc.gov.au/gtp/freetv.html Free-to-Air, 1999-2004 TV]
Australian Bureau of Statistics, [http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/68180154bf128d91ca2569d000164365?OpenDocument Population Growth - Australia’s Population Growth]

External links


- [http://wikitravel.org/en/Australia Wikitravel guide to Australia]
- [http://www.gov.au/ Australian Government Entry Portal]
- [http://www.australia.gov.au/ Commonwealth Government Online]
- [http://www.immi.gov.au/ Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA)]
- [http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/australia/index.html DFAT: Country Information]
- [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-27.000000,133.000000&spn=38.871300,61.703613&t=h&hl=en Satellite images of Australia] (Google Maps)
- [http://www.nla.gov.au/ National Library of Australia]
- [http://www.nma.gov.au/ National Museum of Australia]
- [http://www.australia.com/ Official Australia Tourism Website]
- [http://www.bom.gov.au/ Bureau of Meteorology]
- [http://www.m2006.com.au/ Official website of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games] A Category:Continents Category:Island nations Category:Members of the Commonwealth of Nations Category:Monarchies Category:Oceanic countries zh-min-nan:Ò-tāi-lī-a ko:오스트레일리아 ms:Australia ja:オーストラリア simple:Australia th:ประเทศออสเตรเลีย

Surry Hills, New South Wales

Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, Australia. To its west lies Central Station, to its north Darlinghurst, to its east Moore Park and to its south Redfern. It contains Australia Post's head office and Prince Alfred Park. Once a working class Irish suburb, Surry Hills today is demographically characterisable as a mixture of relatively affluent newcomers who have gentrified the suburb, long-time residents and an enormous number of transients. The large number of hostels and other facilities for transients and the homeless in the area, particularly those provided by the Salvation Army, combined with the proximity to the centre of Sydney, mean that Surry Hills has the greatest concentration of such people in Australia. Architecturally, Surry Hills is largely composed of Victorian terraced housing, but with some warehouses and several large developments of flats from the twentieth century in the west of the suburb.

External links

Category:Suburbs of Sydney Category:Incomplete Sydney suburbs

Manly, New South Wales

Manly is a suburb in Local Government Area of Manly Council on Northern Beaches of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is most notable for its beaches, which are popular tourist destinations, and during the 19th and early 20th century Manly was one of Australia's most popular seaside holiday resorts. Manly was named by Capt. Arthur Phillip, after his famous encounter with the confident members of the Kay-ye-my clan of Australian Aborigines who lived in the area at the time of European occupation. While scouting for fresh water in the area, Phillip encountered members of the clan on Manly Beach and after a misunderstanding he was speared in the shoulder by one of the clan; to his lasting credit, the progressively-minded Phillip ordered his men not to retaliate. Transport services to Manly include an efficient Ferry service from Manly Wharf, and bus services to the city and other suburbs. High-rise buildings and apartments now line the foreshore; a testament to both the high popularity of the area and the compliance of the local council to the whims of developers. The ferry service formerly advertised Manly as "seven miles from Sydney, and a thousand miles from care." Manly is blessed by having Sydney Harbour on its western side with calm water, ferry wharf, swimming area, aquarium, sailing and yacht clubs. Yet a short 300 metre walk down the "Corso" lined by shops to the Eastern side is the Pacific Ocean and the famous Manly Beach.

External links


- [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/after-150-years-manlys-still-the-quay-tosydney/2005/09/09/1125772697570.html After 150 years, Manly's still the quay to Sydney, The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 September 2005] Category:Beaches of Australia Category:Suburbs of Sydney Category:Incomplete Sydney suburbs



Ken Bradshaw

Ken Bradshaw (born October 4, 1952) is a professional surfer and winner of the 1982 Duke Kahanamoku Surfing Classic. Bradshaw successfully navigated a wave estimated at 28 meters in January, 1998 near Oahu, Hawaii. He took part in a hypothermia experiment for Discovery Channel and survived for 2 hours at 0 degrees Celsius without clothing. His body temperature plummetted to 35 degrees. Ken is a vegetarian.

INXS

]] ]] INXS (pronounced "In Excess") is an Australia rock group. The band was formed in 1977 and comprised Michael Hutchence (lead vocals), Andrew Farriss (guitar and keyboards), Tim Farriss (lead guitar), Jon Farriss (drums), Garry Gary Beers (bass), and Kirk Pengilly (saxophone and guitar). On September 20, 2005, Canadian singer J.D. Fortune became the band's new lead vocalist after a twelve-week competition on the CBS reality show Rock Star: INXS.

History

INXS began under the name The Farriss Brothers but the band changed their name to INXS in 1979, just prior to the release of their self-titled debut album in 1980. INXS and its follow-up, 1981's Underneath the Colours (produced by Richard Clapton) were hits in their native Australia, and their third album titled Shabooh Shoobah was released worldwide. The single "The One Thing" brought them their first top 40 hit in America, while "Don't Change" became a staple in the set list of college rock bands who played the frat circuit. With the Nick Launay-produced fourth album, The Swing in 1983, the band received significant attention in the US and UK, as the single "Original Sin" became a minor pop radio hit and the band's charismatic singer Michael Hutchence gained attention for his MTV-ready looks. The band, which had started out as a New Wave act featuring more synthesizers than guitar, gradually moved in a more straight-ahead Rock oriented direction through the first half of the 1980s. By 1985's breakthrough album Listen Like Thieves the band had perfected a matured sound influenced by The Rolling Stones and Chic but true to the band's original roots in the Aussie pubs. In the US, the first single, "This Time" stalled at #81 in late 1985, but the band roared out of nowhere with the second, "What You Need", which in early 1986 became a top five hit, bringing the band their first breakout U.S. hit. The band's worldwide peak of popularity came with 1987's Kick, a punchy, confident set of pop-rock gems that yielded four top-ten US singles, including the number-one hit "Need You Tonight". They toured heavily behind the album throughout 1987 and 1988. Afterwards, the band took a break and Hutchence released a side project of sorts called Max Q, which received decent reviews, but at best attained a cult status. However, the band had alot of pressure on thier shoulders as fans and critics alike having high expectations about their follow-up album to Kick. In 1990, INXS released X. "X" continued the same type of punchy rock tunes that "Kick" so easily did but because so many fans and critics had high expectations, they were disappointed as some of tracks just wasn't good enough "in their eyes" as they said that some of the tunes just aren't good, especially compared to "Kick". Nevertheless, "X" did put out some rememberal tracks such as "Suicide Blonde" and "Disappear". In 1991, INXS performed at Wembley Stadium on the 13th July during their "Summer XS" tour of London to a sold out audience of 72,000 fans. During this show, INXS organised a film crew to shoot their show onto video to come out simultanesly as their live album "Live Baby Live" (the video was also called "Live Baby Live"). 1992's Welcome to Wherever You Are was an experimental album consisting of sitars, a 60-piece orchestra and a much more "raw" sound to their music. It received mixed reviews but it certainly didn't go well commerically and found them struggling to stay relevant as alternative rock began to dominate the airwaves and more traditional rockers like INXS fell out of favor. 1993's Full Moon, Dirty Hearts was their attempt to capitalize on the grunge movement, and while it received mixed reviews, it plunged the band further into obscurity, despite the track "Please (You Got That)" featuring the legendary Ray Charles. 1994 brought the first of many 'Greatest Hits' compilations. Hutchence, meanwhile, remained in the public eye, dabbling in modeling and film acting and dating several models and public personalities including Kylie Minogue, Helena Christensen and Paula Yates. Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, INXS was a major force in Australian popular music, leading the way into worldwide popularity for several Australian bands. The band worked closely with several other Australian artists, such as The Models and Jenny Morris, helping to establish their careers. By the mid-nineties, however, their popularity had waned, especially in the US, where their "Greatest Hits" compilation failed to reach the top 100. In 1997, the group released a comeback album titled Elegantly Wasted, which garnered mixed reviews. It fared respectably in Australia, Canada and Great Britain, but floundered in the US. On November 22, 1997 Hutchence was found dead in his Sydney hotel room, an apparent victim of suicide (some speculate his death was actually an accident, the result of autoerotic asphyxiation). Since Hutchence's death, INXS has continued, using Terence Trent D'Arby, Suze DeMarchi and Jimmy Barnes as temporary lead singers. Jon Stevens began singing with INXS in 2000 and was officially named a member of the band in 2002. However, he left INXS in 2003 to pursue a solo carrer, only recording a contractually-obligated song called I Get Up, released as a single (which charted in the top 100 on the Australian ARIAnet Singles Chart) in the same year, and it was used in the Rugby Union World Cup 2003 and the EA Sports Rugby 2004 video game.

Rock Star: INXS

INXS returned to the news in 2004 when it was announced that a new reality television program titled Rock Star: INXS would feature a contest to find a new lead vocalist for the band. The show, which debuted on the CBS network July 11, 2005 (and on VH1 in the UK and on FOX 8 in Australia), featured 15 contestants vying for the position of lead singer. The show was executive produced by Survivors Mark Burnett and hosted by Brooke Burke and former Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro. On September 20, 2005, J.D. Fortune (real name Jason Dean Bennison, mothers maiden name Fortune) of Oakville, Ontario, Canada won the eleven week competition, which culminated in his singing the Rolling Stones's "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and INXS' "What You Need" in the finale of the show to become the new lead singer of INXS. He will record the new album with producer Guy Chambers and will go on a world tour with INXS in 2006. Runner-up Marty Casey will also join the world tour as the opening act, along with