Great White Sharks Australia

Great White Sharks , also known as great whites, white pointers, white sharks, or white death, are the ocean's most scariest and feared predator, they can be found on all coasts of Australia.

Their size ranges between 3.5 to 5+ metres long, and weigh on average 1,300kg+. The Great White is grey in colour on the top, and white underneath.

The largest Great white shark reliably measured was a 6.0 m (19.7 ft) individual reported from Ledge Point, Western Australia in 1987. However, a larger great white shark specimen was verified by T. C. Tricas and J. E. McCosker in 1984. This specimen was 6.4 m (21 ft) long and had a body mass of about 3,324 kg (7,330 lb).

A non confirmed great white shark was captured near Kangaroo Island in Australia on April 1, 1987. This shark was estimated to be more than 7 m (23 ft) long.

Great white sharks, like all other sharks, have an extra sense given by the Ampullae of Lorenzini, which enables them to detect the electromagnetic field emitted by the movement of living animals. Every time a living creature moves it generates an electrical field and great whites are so sensitive they can detect half a billionth of a volt. Even heart beats emit a very faint electrical pulse. If close enough, the shark can detect even that faint electrical pulse. Most fish have a less-developed but similar sense using their body's lateral line.

Great white sharks infrequently attack and sometimes even sink boats. In a few cases they have attacked boats up to 10 metres (33 ft) in length. They have bumped or knocked people overboard, usually 'attacking' the boat from the stern.

Great white sharks are carnivorous, and prey upon fish (e.g. tuna, rays, other sharks), cetaceans (i.e., dolphins, porpoises, whales), pinnipeds (e.g. seals, fur seals, and sea lions), sea turtles, sea otters, and seabirds. Great whites have also been known to eat objects that they are unable to digest. Upon approaching a length of nearly 4 metres (13 ft), great white sharks begin to target predominately marine mammals for food. These sharks prefer prey with a high content of energy-rich fat. Shark experts used a rod-and-reel rig and trolled carcasses of a seal, a pig, and a sheep to their boat. The sharks attacked all three baits but rejected the sheep carcass.

It is not very well known why sharks attack us. With millions on people swimming in Australian waters every day and only about one fatal shark attack per year, we are surely not the favourite food of sharks. Sharks are known to like seal meat and some scientists believe that fatal shark attacks happen when they mistake us for seals. Others argue that sharks would have brains big enough to distinguish us from seals and suppose it may be a combination of reasons which varies from case to case.

Great white sharks also test-bite buoys, flotsam, and other unfamiliar objects, and might grab a human or a surfboard to identify it.

There have been 195 known fatal shark attacks in Australia.



More than 900 men were thrown to the mercy of possible Great white sharks in the Pacific Ocean, when their American warship, the USS Indianapolis ,carrying parts and the enriched uranium for the atomic bomb Little Boy, which would later be dropped on Hiroshima was split in two by Japanese torpedoes in July 1945. When rescuers arrived four days later, they found 579 men dead, with many chewed to pieces by circling sharks. Woody James, among just 316 survivors, said later: "The sharks were around, hundreds of them...Everything would be quiet and then you'd hear somebody scream and you knew a shark had got him."

Crew of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35)

Outback

Tasmanian devil Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary

Bonorong is not a zoo but a wildlife sanctuary, specialising in the care and rehabilitation of orphaned and injured wildlife, while giving visitors an up-close and personal experience.

After many years in court regarding trademark, A deal with Warner Bros. allows the Tasmanian Government to manufacture and sell up to 5000 special edition Taz plush toys with all profit going towards funding scientific research into the Devil Facial Tumour Disease.

The Tasmanian Government and Warner Bros. have previously disputed the government's right to use the character as a tourism promotion, which Warner Bros. offered if they paid for it. The government refused this offer.

All of the animals are at the sanctuary for a reason and a significant majority of  funding comes from generous guests that visit the park. They need people to visit them to continue there hard work. 

At Bonorong you will see a number of species that are sadly now extinct everywhere but Tasmania. They include the Tasmanian Devil, the Eastern Quoll, the Tasmanian Pademelon and the shy Tasmanian Bettong. These four marsupial species have made their last stand Tasmania and other marsupials sadly are at risk of joining that list.

At Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary the Tasmanian Devils are active during the day, so you can view them at any time.

Australia has the highest number of mammal extinctions in the last 200 years and the people at Bonorong are determined to make sure these amazing animals don’t join that list. As well as these animals you will see everything from golden possums, potoroos and emus to the brilliant spotted-tailed quolls, wombats and echidnas.

 

 

 

For the ultimate up-close wildlife experience, join the ‘Nocturnal Nights’ tours, an exclusive out-of-hours guided tour of the park with the owner or manager. Bookings are essential.

Bonorong Wildlife Park is situated in Brighton, 25-minutes’ drive (25 kilometres/15 miles) north of Hobart.

Koala Bears

The koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia.

The koala is found in coastal regions of eastern and southern Australia, from Adelaide to the southern part of Cape York Peninsula. Populations also extend for considerable distances inland in regions with enough moisture to support suitable woodlands. The koalas of South Australia were largely exterminated during the early part of the 20th century, but the state has since been repopulated with Victorian stock. The koala is not found in Tasmania or Western Australia.

The koala lives almost entirely on eucalypt leaves. Like wombats and sloths, the koala has a very low metabolic rate for a mammal and rests motionless for about 16 to 18 hours a day, sleeping most of that time. Koalas can be aggressive towards each other, throwing a foreleg around their opponent and biting, though most aggressive behaviour is brief squabbles.

In 1788 the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) estimate there would have been 10 million koalas.

In 2008 we estimate there are less than 80, 000 koalas.

Australia has one of the highest land clearing rates in the world. 80% of koala habitat has already disappeared.

Although koalas themselves are protected by law, around 80% of any remaining habitat occurs on privately owned land and almost none of that is protected by legislation.

The Australian Koala Foundation estimates that as a result of the loss of their habitat, around 4,000 koalas are killed each year by dogs and cars alone.

The AKF believes that the Australian Government should be responsible for the protection of koala habitat on private land and not leave it up to the present piece-meal approach of each state being responsible.

The AKF estimates that there are likely to be less than 100,000 koalas remaining in Australia today. 64% of their habitat has already been lost. This makes it vitally important to save what is left.

Clearing of the eucalypt forests means that all wildlife - including koalas - will suffer from:

•Increased disturbance by humans

•Starvation

•Injury or death from traffic

•Injury or death from dogs and cats

•Effects of garden pesticides getting into waterways

•Increased competition for food and territory because of overcrowding

•Increased stress on animals, making them more susceptible to disease.

Australia Day 2023

Every year Australia Day, held on January 26, is the focus of huge controversy and debate. While many Australians see it as a chance to celebrate the country's lifestyle,culture and achievements, typically through barbecues and public events, the date is not a happy one for Australia's Indigenous people.

What you talking about mate? Our mob were here first!

Since the first settlers, Australians have celebrated a national day. In the process, they have also defined what it means to be Australian. January 26 has traditionally marked the landing of Captain Phillip at Port Jackson in present-day Sydney, thereby claiming Australia for the British Empire. Early settlers, perhaps naturally, marked the anniversary of the colony's establishment. 

Australia Day has consequently evolved from a small commemorative New South Wales holiday into a major national celebration. Though it has often been criticised, it has nevertheless emerged as the most inclusive celebration of a national day in Australia, expressing the national diversity which has become such an important part of the Australian national character.

 Whereas once it celebrated the staunchly British nature of Australian society (or was disparaged for this approach), it now embraces multicultural Australia, including all ethnic backgrounds, racial differences and political viewpoints. Australia Day today is a celebration of diversity and tolerance in Australian society.

Australian Humour

Australian humour has a long history that can be traced back to our origins as convict colonies. It is therefore no surprise that a national sense of humour quickly developed that responded to those conditions. This unique sense of humour is recognised (although maybe not always understood) the world over as being distinctly Australian. Our humour is dry, full of extremes, anti-authoritarian, self-mocking and ironic.

The country itself is the ultimate joke, the wave you body-surf into shore after a day at the beach could contain a shark or a rip-tide and, when you get back, your house could have been burnt to the ground in a bush fire. That's where the whole 'no worries' thing comes from.

Mark Little  

When convicts first arrived in Australia, convict etiquette demanded suffering in silence whilst the law considered complaints as insolence and punished it with a flogging. As both Convict etiquette and the law prevented the Convicts from discussing their emotional distress, they were forced to make jokes to deal with their emotional turmoil.

When comforting someone who is dying of cancer, it probably isn't tactful to joke about how much one is enjoying a mini-series. Yet such black humour is one of the most notable aspects of Australian humour. For example, when a serial killer kidnapped backpackers and buried their bodies in the Belangalo State Forest, a hardware shop in Moss Vale (near the forest) began selling souvenir shovels with the letters 'B.S.F' engraved upon them. Similarly, when seven bodies where discovered decomposing in barrels of acid in the country town of Snowtown, the town's stores began selling souvenir coffee mugs with captions such as "come to Snowtown, you'll have a barrel of a time."

In 1967 Prime Minister Harold Holt went for a swim at a Portsea beach and was never seen again. As a mark of 'respect', construction soon began on the Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Pool.

In Australia, no matter who you are or where you come from you are required to 'take a joke', especially at your own expense (have the piss taken) and then join in 'taking the piss' where others (often newcomers to your social circle) are the target.

To be an Aussie means having a good sense of humour and a 'good sense of humour means being able to 'take the mickey'. This widespread Aussie custom of baiting, teasing and insulting 'enjoys such broad permission that objecting to it is totally ineffective'.

As well a breaking 'civilised conventions on obscenity and filth', its function is to reinforce the egalitarian but conformist nature of Australian society.

 

Wombat Recipe

Right oh you little bugger! lets see what sought of tucker we can make out of ya.

As the Wombat is a huge keg of prime muscle with a high fat content, there could be a lucrative trade in raising them for the abattoir.

However farming them is difficult as if they are enclosed, they will tunnel their way to freedom. Like fellow escape artists the Kangaroo and the Echidna, any enclosure of a Wombat requires a much greater financial investment than that required of a cow, horse or sheep. Such an investment would unlikely deliver a return as so few Australians would be willing to eat them.

source:Convict Creations

Wombat Casserole

1.5kg Wombat meat
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 pkg. baby carrots
6 potatoes, quartered
1 small pkg. lentils
1 can tomato juice
Sliced celery
Onions
Green beans
Method:

Place all ingredients in casserole dish and cover with foil. Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 12 hours. Eat hearty with a bottle of Bundy.

Wombats are a protected species throughout Australia

Redback spiders

Redback spiders are considered one of the most dangerous spiders in Australia.The Redback spider has a neurotoxic venom which is toxic to humans with bites causing severe pain. There is an antivenom for Redback bites which is commercially available.

Throughout Australian history, only 14 deaths from redbacks have been recorded. However thousands of people are bitten each year across Australia,  bites generally occur as a result of a person placing a hand or other body part too close to the web, such as when reaching into dark holes or wall cavities. Bites can also occur if a spider has hidden in clothes or shoes.

Bites from Redback spiders are generally characterised by extreme pain and severe swelling. The bite may be painful from the start, but sometimes only feels like a pinprick or mild burning sensation. Within an hour victims generally develop more severe local pain with local swelling and sometimes goosebumps. Pain, swelling and redness spread proximally from the site. Systemic envenoming is heralded by swollen or tender regional lymph nodes; associated features include malaise, nausea, vomiting, abdominal or chest pain, generalised sweating, headache, fever, hypertension and tremor.
Rare complications include seizure, coma, pulmonary edema, respiratory failure or localised skin infection. Severe pain can persist for over 24 hours after being bitten


Redback spiders usually prey on insects but they can capture larger animals that become entangled in the web including king crickets, trapdoor spiders, and small lizards. Commonly prey stealing occurs where larger females take food items stored in other spiders' webs. Most commonly, ants stray into the web. Redback spiders are known for deadly poison and lightning speed.



Its an amazing bit of Australian trivia that the song Redback on the Toilet Seat was written and recorded by Slim Newton (not Slim Dusty). It's a common misconception that this song was sung by Slim Dusty.

It was Newton's first record and earned him three gold records. 

LYRICS



There was a red-back on the toilet seat

When I was there last night,

I didn't see him in the dark,

But boy! I felt his bite!

I jumped high up into the air,

And when I hit the ground,

That crafty red-back spider

Wasn't nowhere to be found.

There was a red-back on the toilet seat

When I was there last night,

I didn't see him in the dark,

But boy! I felt his bite!

And now I'm ere in hospital,

A sad and sorry plight,

And I curse the red-back spider

On the toilet seat last night.

Rushed in to the missus,

Told her just where I'd been bit,

She grabbed the cut-throat razor blade,

And I nearly took a fit.

I said "Just forget what's on your mind,

And call a doctor please,

'Cause I've got a feeling that your cure

Is worse than the disease."

There was a red-back on the toilet seat

When I was there last night,

I didn't see him in the dark,

But boy! I felt his bite!

And now I'm ere in hospital,

A sad and sorry plight,

And I curse the red-back spider

On the toilet seat last night.

I can't lay down, I can't sit up,

And I don't know what to do,

And all the nurses think it's funny,

But that's not my point of view.

I tell you it's embarrassing,

(And that's to say the least)

That I'm too sick to eat a bite,

While that spider had a feast!

There was a red-back on the toilet seat

When I was there last night,

I didn't see him in the dark,

But boy! I felt his bite!

And now I'm ere in hospital,

A sad and sorry plight,

And I curse the red-back spider

On the toilet seat last night.

And when I get back home again,

I tell you what I'll do,

I'll make that red-back suffer

For the pain I'm going through.

I've had so many needles

That I'm looking like a sieve,

And I promise you that spider

Hasn't very long to live!

There was a red-back on the toilet seat

When I was there last night,

I didn't see him in the dark,

But boy! I felt his bite!

And now I'm ere in hospital,

A sad and sorry plight,

And I curse the red-back spider

On the toilet seat last night.

Yabby Aussie Crawfish Crayfish

Yabbies are common throughout Victoria and New South Wales, although the species also occurs in southern Queensland, South Australia and parts of the Northern Territory, making it the most widespread Australian crayfish.

Yabbies are found in swamps, streams, rivers, reservoirs and farm dams at low to medium elevations.

Yabbies feed primarily on algae and plant remains, at night, but also opportunistically feeding on any fish or animal remains they encounter at any time of day.

Yabbies are an important dietary item for Australian native freshwater fish like Murray cod and golden perch.

Catching yabbies

Or "yabbying", in rivers and farm dams is a popular summertime activity in Australia, particularly with children. The most popular method involves tying a piece of meat to a few metres of string or fishing line, which in turn is fastened to a stick in the bank, and throwing the meat into the water. The string is pulled tight when a determined yabby grasps the meat in its claws and tries to make off with it. The line is then slowly pulled back to the bank, with the grasping yabby usually maintaining its hold on the meat. When the meat and the grasping yabby reaches the water's edge, a net is used to quickly scoop up both the meat and the grasping yabby in one movement.

Other methods of catching yabbies involve various types of nets and traps. Local fishing regulations must be checked before using any nets and traps for yabbies; many types of nets and traps are banned as wildlife such as platypus, water rats and long-necked turtles can become trapped in them and drown.

Cooking Yabbies

As well as being easy to catch, yabbies are quite easy to cook. For the best results, leave the yabbies in just enough fresh water to cover their heads overnight so they can excrete all of the mud and dirt from their system. After this, freeze the yabbies. To cook, place them into a pot of boiling water until they turn red. Peel them similar to the way you would peel prawns, remembering to move the digestive tract. Enjoy with thousand island dressing or add to pasta dishes.

Kangaroo Shooting

Contrary to claims by regulatory agencies, the industry here in Australia is not fully professional, with a large proportion of casual shooters amongst licensees.

Kangaroos that are inaccurately targeted (not hit in the head from 80 to 200 metres at night) may suffer a painful, protracted death and their carcasses will not be utilised. Pouch-young joeys are clubbed on the head. Young-at-foot are supposed to be shot, but since the industry is self-regulated, they are often left to die of starvation or predation.

Taken together, it is likely that up to a million young are killed annually as collateral damage and their carcasses not used. This is an unacceptable practice by international standards. They are the by-products of the greatest massacre of wild animals in the world. In a similar case of harvested terrestrial wildlife, the products derived from young Canadian Harp Seals – which are clubbed to death – have been banned in most westernised countries.

Red kangaroos are now being killed at a rate three times higher than they are reproducing. In the 1960's their average age was 12; today it is 2. Their average weight was 35 kg in the 1960's, which
 today is 18kg. Commercial killing has put insupportable pressure on Red kangaroos which now threatens the species. 

Australia has the highest rate of extinctions in the world but there appears to be no shame, only apathy about this appalling record. 

The Myth 


Kangaroos degrade and destroy the environment.


Fact 

The soft padded feet and long tail of the kangaroo are integral to the ecological health of the land as regenerators of native grasses. It is destructive agricultural practices on marginal land that are proving to be unsustainable.

  
 
 

The best methods for dispatching joeys include beheading them or stomping them beneath your boot. The bigger ones you grab by the back legs and smash against a nearby rock or even the truck’s tire. After we killed five or six ‘roos, Craig a shooter would stop to gut them, pulling the babies out to dispatch them en masse. After one such performance Craig peered at me through the swirling dust and sighed.“Mate, I’ve been doin’ this for fifty years, and this part always makes me feel like such a ****

A Shooters Story


I was a professional kangaroo shooter 38 years ago. Now I spend an inordinate amount of time in the defence of animals that are doing poorly at the hands of humans.


You may ask as to what has led me to do a complete turnabout in my thinking, and expect some profound answer explaining that at such and such a moment in time the sky opened up and all of a sudden I saw the light. Sorry to disappoint, but it did not happen this way.




If there is any profundity in my "conversion", it is that I have come to the realization that we are all led down differing paths in life by our genetic make-up and the circumstance that we find ourselves in.

In my case, 38 years ago, the whole social, political and animal concern scene was vastly different to today's. There was a predominate attitude of human matters being at the fore of thought and a mish-mash of ideas when dealing with the other animals on the planet. On the one hand, personal pets were gaining in the welfare stakes, as were wild creatures that had "fluffy" appeal. On the other, domestic stock conditions were degrading rapidly into the factory farm situation that is still rampant to now.

This some decades of time saw European cities and other population centres around the Western World explode into greater awareness of the suffering of our "food". Unfortunately, socio/economic pressures, had rural climes, to a large extent, excluded from this expansion of a new way in thinking about the rest of nature.


In this distant past, the kangaroo was erroneously thought of as a pest that was diminishing the financial returns of those who depended on their income in outback areas.

This excuse was reasoning enough for kangaroos to be killed without compassion, for they were the enemy. Even so, I, and I would suggest, many other kangaroo shooters, were and are, very uneasy with the practice of having to kill Joey's on a never ending basis. It was not understood then, that the Joey-at-foot would also die in a state of terror by psychological deprivation, predation or starvation. Many kangaroo shooters now convince themselves that this joey escapes and lives happily ever after. Delusions of this sort are not uncommon in the industry and in governments and their acting agents.

Self-delusion played a big part in my experience as a kangaroo shooter but let me state here in the most unequivocal manner that is possible, to be able to self deceive is part and parcel of being human. There will be those that read this in a most judgmental way, comforting themselves with the thought that they could never had done such a thing as kangaroo shooting. Be very careful of that kind of thinking because it does not accord with the facts about the capacity of humanity to be inhumane to people and animals, given the right set of circumstance.

 Be very careful that you are not self-deluding yourself on this point, for if you are, you are just the person who could be a kangaroo shooter if the situation dictated it so.


I do come across this kind of condemnation but it so insignificant when compared to the mental anguish I put myself through on a daily basis as to be non-existent. This will be carried till the day I die.

Thoughts of the terrible wounding and as stated, the slaughter of the innocents and now with greater knowledge, thoughts of the at-foot-Joey's left to fend for themselves in their thousands. Thoughts of taking the lives of countless numbers of kangaroos for convenient reasons. Thoughts of being a part of the juggernaut that was and is altering the genetic make up of a marvellous animal. Thoughts of my part in vilifying the kangaroo with the end result of it not having the awed respect, as it should, of the Australian people. Every time there is a wanton act of cruelty to kangaroos, I must bear some of the blame.

I stopped being a kangaroo shooter for many reason, with the cruelty only one of the many.
The kangaroo is not a pest and it is only the greedy and the foolhardy who believe it is a resource to be used at whim.


Australia must re-define its stubbornly inadequate definition of what is compassion and in doing so reap the rewards of not only doing the right thing, but the very tangible benefits of the eco-tourist dollar.

No doubt, other kangaroo shooters will read this, so it seems appropriate to leave a message for them.


If you can see past the self-delusion of what you are doing to other sentient and suffering capable creatures, for the sake of your future mind, do not wait for kangaroo shooting to be discarded as a remnant of our brutish past, as it will, but choose to get out now. The rest of your life will thank you for this very wise action.


This I guarantee.


The kangaroo is a universally loved icon yet millions are slaughtered to accommodate destructive agricultural practices. 





David Nicholls


Write to David Nicholls with your support at the email address below.




ExKangarooShooter@hotmail.com


Australia's leaders hide behind a protective wall of propaganda and irresponsible legislation, so that a few may gain from the death of a species.

Mud Crabs

Mud Crabs are marine and estuarine coastal dwellers that can tolerate low salinity for extended periods, preferring shallow water with a muddy bottom in mangroves, sheltered estuaries and tidal flats (though females with eggs are often found well offshore).
Found around most of the Australian coast from NSW north around to Shark Bay, WA; most of the commercial catch is from Queensland and NT, with some also from NSW. Caught in pots, drop nets and dillies.

Season
You can catch mud crabs year round, with peaks from January to April in Queensland and NSW and from May to August in NT.

Size and Weight
Commonly about 17cm in carapace width and 500g-1kg, but can grow to 28cm and 3kg. Size restrictions vary from state to state.

To Cook

The shell is a dull dark blue-green to mottled brown when uncooked; like all crustaceans, they turn orange when cooked. Average yield is 25% (from claws and body, largely from front claws). The flesh is translucent when raw and white to off-white when cooked, it has a medium-strong, sweet flavour, low oiliness and is moist and flaky. Body meat has a medium texture, while claw meat is firmer. Some people enjoy the stronger-tasting ‘mustard’ or brown meat (internal organs) in the body. The most humane, and easiest, method of killing any crustacean is to chill it in the freezer for about 45 minutes until it becomes insensible (but not long enough to freeze it). Once chilled, it should be killed promptly by splitting in half or dropping into rapidly boiling water.

Cooking Methods

Steam, poach, deep-fry, pan-fry, stir-fry (it’s best to partially cook by steaming, boiling or poaching before pan- or stir-frying). Do not recook cooked Crabs, pick the meat and use it in salads, sandwiches, as a garnish for soups, or in dishes where it is just gently warmed, such as pasta, risotto, Crab cakes and omelettes. The large front claws can be battered or crumbed  and deep-fried.

Goes Well With

Anchovies, black pepper, butter, chervil, chilli, coconut, coriander, cream, fish sauce, dill, garlic, ginger, lemon, lemongrass, lime, mayonnaise, nutmeg, onion, parsley, soy sauce, tarragon, tomatoes, turmeric.

Witchety grub Bush Tucker

The witchetty grub also spelled witchety grub or witjuti grub is a term used in Australia for the large, white, wood-eating larvae of several moths. Particularly it applies to the larva of the cossid moth Endoxyla leucomochla, which feeds on the roots of the Witchetty bush.

The grub is the most important insect food of the desert and was a staple in the diets of Aboriginal women and children.
I’ve tried one raw, they are very gooey and eggy and quite disgusting, but they can bite your tongue if you forget to bite their heads off. When cooked some say the flavour is variously described as almond-like or similar to peanut butter. Some popular recipes include Singed Witchetty Grubs and Witchetty Grub Soup.

Barbecued Grubs

Barbecued, witchetties are often eaten as an appetizer. They are cooked over a fire on pieces of wire, rather like shasliks or satays. It takes about two minutes each side for the meat to become white and chewy and the skin crusty. Barbecued witchetties taste quite like chicken or prawns, serve with a peanut sauce.

Catholics in Australia

The first Catholics to reside in Australia arrived with the First Fleet in 1788. They were mostly Irish convicts, together with a few marines. One-tenth of all convicts transported to Australia were Catholic, and half of these were born in Ireland, while a good proportion of the others were English-born but of Irish extraction. Most of the rest were English or Scottish. By the year 1803, a total of 2086 Irish convicts, nearly all of whom were Catholic, had been transported to Botany Bay. Estimates are that about four-fifths of these were ordinary criminals and most of the remainder 'social rebels', those convicted of crimes of violence against property and landlords. Only a very small number could be regarded as genuine political rebels: about 600 in the entire history of transportation, and hardly any after 1803.

Father John Joseph Therry 

The first priests

Although many Irish convicts were merely nominal Catholics -- in fact, many were quite irreligious -- many others diligently and courageously kept their faith alive despite the fact that, for most of the next thirty years or so, priests were only sporadically available to provide them with the sacraments. According to the 1828 Census, out of a total Catholic population of about 10 000, there were 374 adults who had been born in Australia and raised in a totally lay environment, the Catholic faith passed on to them despite the absence of priests. It was not until 1800 that the first priests arrived in the colony -- as convicts! One of these, James Dixon, was granted conditional emancipation and permission to say Mass for the Catholics of Sydney, Liverpool and Parramatta on successive Sundays, a practice that continued from 1803 until March 1804, when the Castle Hill rebellion so alarmed Governor King that he withdrew Dixon's privileges. Dixon soon after returned to Ireland, and Mass was not legally celebrated again in the colony until Fathers John Joseph Therry and Philip Connolly, chaplains appointed by the Government in London, arrived in 1820. Their arrival can be regarded as the formal establishment of the Catholic Church in Australia.

Bishop John Bede Polding 

The first bishop

The first Catholic bishop in Australia was John Bede Polding. Like the man who prepared the way for his arrival and who became his first Vicar-General, William Ullathorne, and like his successor, Roger Vaughan, Polding was an English Benedictine monk. Polding's dream was to establish a Church founded on monastic ideals, in which scholarship and sublime liturgy , accompanied by Gregorian chant, would civilise and convert the new country, just as they had in earlier centuries in Europe. But Polding's priests were mainly Irish, and this was not their conception of what the Church should be like. Their efforts, and the efforts of the Irish bishops who were appointed to other newly established dioceses, soon combined with Australia's singular geographical and social environment to subvert Polding's vision.

Irish clergy dominated Australian Catholic life until fairly recently, and it was not until the 1930s that Australian-born priests outnumbered them. Irish priests continued to come to Australia throughout the twentieth century, a few arriving even in recent years.

Catholic schools

At least two Catholic schools were established in the early years of the nineteenth century but neither survived very long, and it was not until after the arrival of Therry and Connolly in 1820 that significant development took place. By 1833, there were about ten Catholic schools in the country. From this time until the end of the 1860s, Catholic schools received some government assistance under a variety of schemes, but campaigns for 'free, secular and compulsory' education had begun in the 1850s and it became increasingly clear that Catholic schools would not be able to rely on government aid for much longer. Between 1872 and 1893, every State passed an Education Act removing state aid to Church schools. This was a turning point for Catholic schools and, indeed, for the Catholic community in Australia. Bishops and people decided to persevere with the Catholic system. With no money to pay teachers, the bishops appealed to religious orders in Ireland and other European countries, and soon religious sisters and brothers were responding to the crisis.

The Christian Brothers came to Australia first of all to Sydney in 1843 

The growth of religious orders


There were already a few religious orders in Australia: as well as the Sisters of Charity, there were also, among others, the Good Samaritan Sisters, founded by Polding in 1857, and the Sisters of St Joseph, founded in 1866 by Fr Julian Tenison Woods and Mary MacKillop, now recognised as Australia's first saint. By 1871, these 'Josephites' were running thirty-five schools in the Adelaide diocese. By 1880, there were a total of 815 sisters from all orders teaching in schools; by 1910 the number exceeded 5000. The sisters not only set up schools in the cities but also established little parish schools all over Australia, providing a Catholic education for the children of the bush. Their efforts, with almost no money and in the face of considerable hardship, were nothing short of heroic. The largest of the male teaching orders, the Christian Brothers, had 115 brothers teaching in thirty schools by 1900. Under the influence of the religious orders, Catholic schools not only survived but flourished; the sisters and brothers were to be the mainstay of the schools for a hundred years.

Today's Catholic community

The outcome of all these changes in society and the Church is that today's Catholic community looks very different from that of the 1950s. Mass attendance rates have fallen; the number of priests, sisters and brothers is declining and their average age is increasing. The relationship between clergy and people has changed. Old forms of devotion like the Rosary have nearly disappeared but there has been a growth of interest in alternative forms of prayer borrowed from a variety of cultures and traditions. An array of leadership roles which were once the preserve of priests and religious -- in education, health care, parish life and many other fields -- has been filled by lay people, and lay people (by no means all Catholics) comprise virtually the entire staff at Catholic schools and the majority of students at Catholic theological colleges. Some Catholics see these changes as a tragedy which the bishops either have been powerless to stop or have conspired to promote, but most regard them as welcome evidence of a Church prepared to adapt to meet changing circumstances. Yet the changes that have taken place have primarily been changes in rules and practices. The Church's teachings have been re-interpreted in the light of modern understandings of history, sociology, the sciences and other fields of human endeavour, and then re-expressed in language more suitable for the times. By and large, however, the teachings themselves have not changed.