Australian History Facts Quiz: MCQ

1.

The name Australia was formally adopted in which year?

A.

1956 AD
B.

1817 AD
C.

200 BC
D.

1824 AD

Correct Answer
D. 1824 AD

Explanation
The name "Australia" became popular when used in a book published in 1814 called A Voyage to Terra Australis by the navigator Matthew Flinders, the first person known to have circumnavigated Australia. Governor Lachlan Macquarie of New South Wales began using the word in his dispatches (letters) to England, and on 12 December 1817 recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted. In 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as "Australia".

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2.

QANTAS is the oldest operating airline in the world.

A.

True
B.

False

Correct Answer
A. True

Explanation
The Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services was started in Queensland by Paul McGuinness, Hudson Fysh, Fergus McMaster, and Arthur Baird in 1920. It was originally used for delivering mail and by the Royal Flying Doctor’s service of Australia.

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3.

When was the White Australia Policy formally abolished?

A.

1972, by Gough Whitlam
B.

2007, by Kevin Rudd
C.

1901, by Queen Elizabeth
D.

Yesterday, by a deranged pelican

Correct Answer
A. 1972, by Gough Whitlam

Explanation
The White Australia policy is a term used to describe a collection of historical policies that intentionally restricted non-white immigration to Australia from 1901 to 1972. After several gradual relaxations of policies that restricted nonwhite immigration, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam enforced a number of changes, called amendments, to ensure all people had an equal opportunity to live in Australia.

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4.

The name ‘Australia’ comes from what language?

A.

Latin
B.

English
C.

Indonesian
D.

Multiple Aboriginal dialects

Correct Answer
A. Latin

Explanation
The name "Australia" is derived from the Latin Australis, meaning "Southern". Legends of an "unknown land of the south" (terra australis incognita) date back to Roman times. The first use of the word "Australia" in English was in 1625, although the name was not formally adopted until 1824.

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5.

It is believed that Indigenous Australians arrived more than 4200 years ago from where?

A.

England
B.

Africa
C.

America
D.

South East Asia

Correct Answer
D. South East Asia

Explanation
Human habitation of Australia is estimated to have begun between 42,000 and 48,000 years ago. These first Australians may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians; they may have arrived via land bridges and short sea-crossings from what is now South-East Asia.

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6.

The first European to see Australia was:

A.

Dutch Navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606
B.

British Captain James Cook in 1770
C.

German Dictator Adolf Hitler in 1931
D.

Roman Emperor Julius Ceasar in 200 BC

Correct Answer
A. Dutch Navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606

Explanation
The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland was made by the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon, who sighted the coast of the 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 they made no attempt at settlement.

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7.

The first European to claim Australia was:

A.

Roman Emperor Julius Ceasar in 200 BC
B.

German Dictator Adolf Hitler in 1931
C.

Dutch Navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606
D.

British Captain James Cook in 1770

Correct Answer
D. British Captain James Cook in 1770

Explanation
In 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast of Australia, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain.

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8.

The Indigenous Australian population fell drastically in the 150 years since European settlement, mainly due to:

A.

Infectious European diseases their bodies weren’t used to, forced resettlement and cultural disintegration.
B.

War with white settlers
C.

War with each other
D.

The White Australia Policy

Correct Answer
A. Infectious European diseases their bodies weren’t used to, forced resettlement and cultural disintegration.

Explanation
The Indigenous Australian population, estimated at 350,000 at the time of European settlement, declined steeply for 150 years following settlement, mainly because of the infectious disease combined with forced re-settlement and cultural disintegration. The removal of children from their families, which historians such as Henry Reynold have argued could be considered genocide by some definitions, may have contributed to the decline in the indigenous population. Such interpretations of Aboriginal history are disputed by some commentators as being exaggerated or fabricated for political or ideological reasons. This debate is known within Australia as the History Wars.

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9.

What does Terra Nullius mean?

A.

Scared of nothing
B.

Scary Nutbag
C.

Empty, or no person’s land
D.

Australia

Correct Answer
C. Empty, or no person’s land

Explanation
Terra nullius (literally "no person's land", effectively "empty land") is a term used to justify the settlement of Australia and imposing European laws and customs on the Indigenous Australians. It was thought that, because the Indigenous Australians had no written law, that they had no law at all and claimed no ownership of the land. This assumption was found to be false by the High Court in 1992.

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10.

What was the Eureka Stockade?

A.

A big party
B.

A beef stock flavoured soft drink that makes you very excited.
C.

The first Australian Broadway Musical
D.

A gold miners' revolt in 1854 near Ballarat, Victoria

Correct Answer
D. A gold miners' revolt in 1854 near Ballarat, Victoria

Explanation
The Eureka Stockade was the setting of a gold miners' revolt in 1854 near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, against the officials supervising the mining of gold in the region. Gold miners were not happy with having to pay for expensive mining items, the cost of a Miner's Licence, taxes, and the violent and unreasonable way they were treated by police and other officials. The miners refused to pay for their licenses and erected a stockade, or a small wooden fence gathered weapons and erected their own Flag, which some called the Australian flag. This was considered treason by the government and soldiers were sent to attack the stockade. 22 miners and 6 soldiers were killed in the battle, which lasted 15 minutes as the miners had little ammunition for their guns and were not trained in military combat.

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