More Fair Dinkum Than Thou

In tandem with the Australian Government’s Citizenship Test, this project is employed to test Australian citizens (or anyone really) on the ‘fair dinkum-ness.’

NATIONAL SECURITY WARNING:

Those who fail to pass this test are a potential threat to national security. Failed candidates can expect to be placed under an immediate Control Order for up to twelve months, where their intake of media, daily communications and visitors will be regularly monitored. Failed candidates also have the opportunity to submit for re-education.

Please select the answer that is the most accurate:

1. Between which date span were mortality rates for Indigenous infants nearly three times higher than those for non-Indigenous Australian infants?

a) 1999 and 2003
b) 1799 and 1815
c) 1960 and 1967
d) 1980 and 1988
e) 1650 and 1656

2. Australia’s longest serving detainee in an immigration detention centre is Peter Qasim. For how long was he detained before his release in 2005?

a) Three years
b) Six months
c) Seven years
d) 20 years
e) 18 months

3. In which year did Indigenous Australians become official citizens of the Federation of Australia, and thereby gain the right to vote Federally, and for the Commonwealth to make laws in relation to Indigenous issues?

a) 1901
b) 1945
c) They were always considered citizens and voting is mandatory.
d) 1967
e) 1788

4. What percentage of Tasmania’s old growth Eucalyptus regnans forests have been clear-felled and/or logged?

a) 15 per cent
b) None of it Tasmania protects its old growth forests
c) 25 per cent
d) 85 per cent
e) 40 per cent

5. What was the primary cause of the initial dramatic drop in population numbers of the Eora people at the time of British invasion/settlement?

a) Open warfare, musket fire
b) Cannibalism
c) Small pox
d) Mass suicides
e) Alcoholism

6. When the Norwegian liner the Tampa moored close to Christmas Island in Australian territorial waters with 438 rescued Afghanis seeking asylum in Australia on board the Australian Government:

a) Stormed the ship with SAS troops to ‘secure’ the asylum seekers.
b) Refused to allow the Red Cross access the ship to assess and meet humanitarian needs.
c) Refused to allow the Tampa to disembark its rescued group; and pressured Indonesia, New Zealand, Nauru and Norway to accept the asylum seekers.
d) Drafted a Border Protection Bill that allowed for the forcible removal of any vessel from Australian territorial waters; with the provision that no civil or criminal proceedings could follow against the Commonwealth relating to such operations.
e) All of the above.

7. In 1819, when visiting Sydney, Frenchman Jacques Arago witnessed:

a) An orderly town with surprisingly civilised ex-convict farmers and merchants.
b) A circus featuring native animals trained to do tricks.
c) That, at private parties and small gatherings, Governor Macquarie wore women’s attire and took laudanum.
d) A gladiator-style contest a fight to the death between two Aboriginal men who were offered bread and brandy for their participation.
e) A mutated virus that developed from Pneumonia, leading to sudden deaths, less than 12 hours after infection.

8. Terra Nullius means

a) Wide open spaces
b) This land belongs to no one
c) A new frontier
d) A homeland, similar to Zion
e) Good soil

9. Legally speaking, the ultimate authority figure, or Head of State, in Australia is:

a) Jesus Christ
b) Alan Jones
c) A 68-year-old power walker
d) A woman in her 80s who is a citizen of another country, and who allows images of herself to be manhandled by grubby fingers in over 10 countries
e) Rupert Murdoch

10. To which country did Australia attempt to sell razor wire in the 1980s?

a) Britain
b) Brazil
c) South Africa
d) Indonesia
e) New Caledonia

11. What was the key rationale behind the White Australia Policy?

a) To maintain a pristine natural environment.
b) To protect against Chinese invasion during the 1850s Gold Rush.
c) To ‘breed-out’ Indigenous blood by separating darker-skinned Aboriginal people and assimilating lighter-skinned Aboriginal people into White society.
d) To protect against skin cancer by encouraging people to wear a hat and sunscreen.
e) To ensure the Australian Cricket Team maintains tradition by wearing regulation white uniforms.
f) To protect against military attack from Asia.

12. The Racial Discrimination Act made the use of racial criteria for any official purpose illegal. When was this implemented?

a) 1993, under Paul Keating
b) 1901, with Federation
c) 1975, under the Whitlam Government
d) 2001, under John Howard
e) 1955, under Robert Menzies

13. Recent figures show that the average life expectancy of an Australian Indigenous person is:

a) 80.2 years
b) 60.8 years
c) 52.5 years
d) 86.1 years
e) 76.8 years

14. Homosexual sex was illegal in Tasmania until:

a) 1997
b) 2007
c) 1884
d) 1967
e) 1988

15. The policy of mandatory detention of persons without a visa in Australia was first initiated by:

a) Robert Menzies in 1960
b) John Howard in 1998
c) Philip Ruddock in 2004
d) Paul Keating in 1995
e) Bob Hawke in 1992

16. The forcible removal of Aboriginal children from their families ceased in:

a) 1803
b) 1921
c) The early 1970s
d) The mid-1950s
e) 2000

17. When Governor Phillip arrived at Botany Bay on 18 January 1788 he decided

a) To let the convicts have a swim.
b) He cursed Joseph Banks, declared that the place was useless to anchor at, turned around and headed north.
c) He led a chorus of ‘Bound for Botany Bay’ one last time.
d) He disembarked the ships slowly but without incident.
e) All of the above.

18. When travelling to Australia in the First Fleet, women convicts were not allowed above deck because of:

a) Fear that they couldn’t swim.
b) Fear of the spread of measles and mumps that had been contracted by many of the ships’ crews.
c) Fear of the women’s rampant sexuality.
d) General social conventions.
e) Plain prudishness the men’s clothing had become so ragged they weren’t fit to be viewed by ladies.

19. Bennelong, the first Indigenous man to learn English, drink rum and wear European clothes, was rewarded for this ‘transformation’ with Governor Phillip’s friendship, and transported to London in 1792 as a ‘curiosity.’ He died:

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a) A wealthy and successful Londoner.
b) Re-united with his family in Eora land.
c) An alcoholic at the age of 40.
d) At the point in Sydney Harbour named after him.
e) After a ritual sacrifice ceremony.

20. Writing the sentence, ‘Pick up your arms and shoot the PM,’ is

a) A silly thing to say, but harmless.
b) Likely to cause a riot.
c) A good thing to write on a T-shirt and wear at an airport.
d) Technically illegal.
e) A satirical motto used in RSL Clubs.

21. ‘Mateship’ means

a) The purest realisation of the concept that everyone is equal.
b) An excuse for men to touch each other and not feel guilty.
c) Nationalistic rhetoric that can be employed willy-nilly by those in power to accuse someone of being ungenerous, unfair or elitist.
d) A kind of unserious friendship where you ask no questions and look after your own interests
e) A term used as early as the Eureka Stockade in 1854 that rallies people against their oppressors, solidifying a lack of respect for authority, and emphasising the power of collective agreement

22. During Australia’s early settlement/invasion, the number of people killed in frontier warfare between Europeans and Aboriginal people was:

a) Approximately 10,000 Aboriginal people, and over 6000 Europeans.
b) There was no frontier warfare, Aboriginal people gave in peacefully.
c) Over 20,000 Aboriginal people and 2500 Europeans.
d) 50 Europeans, 25 Aboriginal people.
e) 3000 Europeans, 15,000 Aboriginal people.

23. Convict townships in Australia were initially founded on:

a) Ingenious engineering.
b) Hard work and the concept of a ‘fair-go.’
c) Slavery-style work camps fuelled by rum.
d) A pioneering spirit and free market capital.
e) Marxist-influenced political strategies.

24. Australia’s land is generally

a) Fertile, nutrient rich with iron-red soil.
b) Perfect for cattle farming a sheep grazing.
c) Very similar to China.
d) Non-arable, arid or semi-arid, and totally unsuited to farming.
e) Mainly temperate scrub, easy to manipulate.

25. Under which legislation can the following scenario take place:

An individual may be detained, without evidence, without criminal involvement; the detainee may be interrogated by intelligence agents, and disclosing that the individual has been detained or interrogated is, in almost all circumstances, illegal. It is also a criminal act punishment includes life imprisonment to provide funds or in-kind support to a potential terrorist; it is not essential that the terrorist ‘supporter’ know that the receiver is a terrorist, only that the alleged terrorist is ‘reckless.’

a) Australian Protection Against Communism Act 1960
b) Australian Anti-Terrorism Act 2005
c) British and Northern Ireland Security Pact 1988
d) American Anti-Terrorism Bill 2001

26. Which of the following phrases is unAustralian:

a) Slip slop slap
b) Click Clack Front ‘n’ Back
c) Cops are Tops
d) That’s unAustralian!
e) No Hat No Play
f) That’s not cricket!

27. At the beginning of World War II, Robert Menzies:

a) Signed a secret peace accord with Russia.
b) Attempted suicide.
c) wrote ‘no one cares about Poland anyway.’
d) Was so anti-Hitler he could barely discuss foreign policy without frothing at the mouth.
e) Attempted to introduce mandatory military service for all Australian men and women aged 16 to 45.

Answer sheet

1.      a
2.      c
3.      d
4.      d
5.      c
6.      e
7.      d
8.      b
9.      d
10.      c
11.      c
12.      c
13.      b
14.      a
15.      e
16.      c
17.      b
18.      c*
19.      c
20.      d
21.      * Hell, this one is a debate in itself! My vote is c and d.
22.      c
23.      c
24.      d
25.      b
26.      I personally think it is UnAustralian to use the term ‘UnAustralian.’*
27.      c

* Several of these answers are open for discussion