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Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of 227,444 km2 (87,817 sq mi); the second-most-populous state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; and the most densely populated state in Australia (30.6 per km2). Victoria's economy is the second-largest among Australian states and is highly diversified, with service sectors predominating.
Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to the north and South Australia to the west and is bounded by the Bass Strait to the south (with the exception of a small land border with Tasmania located along Boundary Islet), the Southern Ocean to the southwest, and the Tasman Sea (a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean) to the southeast. The state encompasses a range of climates and geographical features from its temperate coastal and central regions to the Victorian Alps in the northeast and the semi-arid northwest.
Named in honour of Queen Victoria, Victoria was separated from New South Wales and established as a separate Crown colony in 1851, achieving responsible government in 1855. The Victorian gold rush in the 1850s and 1860s significantly increased Victoria's population and wealth. By the time of Australian Federation in 1901, Melbourne had become the largest city in Australasia, and was the seat of Federal government until Canberra became the national capital in 1927. The state continued to grow strongly through various periods of the 20th and 21st centuries due to high levels of international and interstate migration. Melbourne hosts a number of museums, art galleries, and theatres; in 2016 a sports marketing company named it the world's sporting capital. (Full article...)
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Melbourne Airport (IATA: MEL, ICAO: YMML), also known as Tullamarine Airport, is an international airport serving Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operating 24 hours a day with on-site parking, shopping and dining, Melbourne Airport is the second-busiest airport in Australia measured by passenger movements. Established in 1970, replacing Essendon Airport, Melbourne Airport is the main and sole international airport serving Victoria.
The airport comprises four terminals: one international terminal, two domestic terminals and one budget domestic terminal. It is 18 kilometres (11 miles) northwest of the city centre, adjacent to the suburb of Tullamarine. The airport has its own suburb with its own postcode — Melbourne Airport, 3045 respectively. The facility presently covers 2,741 hectares (6,773 acres) of airport property, making MEL among the largest airports in Australia in terms of land area. (Full article...)
Map of the far southeast of Australia, with Monaro Highway highlighted in red
Monaro Highway is a 285-kilometre-long (177 mi) highway in Victoria, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory, in Australia, linking Cann River in Victoria to Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) via the Monaro region. From its southern terminus, it follows the nearby Cann River upstream towards the New South Wales border through heavily forested terrain. Within New South Wales (NSW), it makes its way through further forest before reaching the pastures typical of the Monaro. There are multiple towns and villages along the highway, including Bombala, Nimmitabel and Cooma. The terrain within the Monaro is largely hilly, and there are numerous crossings. The road also parallels the former Bombala railway line in several locations. Within the ACT, the road becomes a high volume roadway and serves the southern suburbs of Canberra. The highway has more recently had a grade-separated dual carriageway extension constructed within Canberra, as part of the Eastern Parkway construction project. It is designated part of route M23, and route A23 within Canberra, and route B23 within Victoria and New South Wales, with a concurrency where it also carries route B72 between the two sections of Snowy Mountains Highway. (Full article...)
Woodfull in 1934
William Maldon Woodfull OBE (22 August 1897 – 11 August 1965) was an Australian cricketer of the 1920s and 1930s. He captained both Victoria and Australia, and was best known for his dignified and moral conduct during the tumultuous bodyline series in 1932–33. Trained as a schoolteacher, Woodfull was known for his benevolent attitude towards his players, and his patience and defensive technique as an opening batsman. His opening pairing with fellow Victorian Bill Ponsford for both his state and Australia remains one of the most successful in history. While not known for his tactical skills, Woodfull was widely admired by his players and observers for his sportsmanship and ability to mould a successful and loyal team through the strength of his character.
Woodfull started playing cricket from a young age. He made his professional debut in Melbourne's district competition staying until the age of 19. He made his first-class debut for Victoria at the age of 24 late in 1921–22. After scoring a century in his second match, Woodfull was promoted to open the following season, and he opened for the rest of his career. After scoring three centuries, including a 236, in 1925–26, he was selected for the 1926 tour of England. Woodfull made eight centuries during the tour and topped the Australian averages and was named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year. (Full article...)
Rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government-owned railway lines. The network consists of 2,357 km of Victorian broad gauge (1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)) lines, and 1,912 km of standard gauge (1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)) freight and interstate lines; the latter increasing with gauge conversion of the former. Historically, a few experimental 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge lines were built, along with various private logging, mining and industrial railways. The rail network radiates from the state capital, Melbourne, with main interstate links to Sydney and to Adelaide, as well as major lines running to regional centres, upgraded as part of the Regional Fast Rail project and the Regional Rail Revival project.
The government-owned VicTrack owns all railway and tram lines, associated rail lands and other rail-related infrastructure in Victoria, which it leases to Public Transport Victoria which then sublets assets and infrastructure as appropriate to rail and tram operators. The state has four railway networks: (Full article...)
Patrick Dangerfield preparing to mark the ball during the Cats' round 20 match
The 2018 season was the Geelong Football Club's 119th in the Australian Football League (AFL). It was the club's eighth season under senior coach Chris Scott, with Joel Selwood appointed as club captain for a seventh successive year. Geelong (known as the Cats) participated in both the inaugural AFLX competition and the 2018 JLT Community Series as part of their pre-season schedule, and the club's regular season began on 25 March against Melbourne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The Cats finished the home-and-away season with a 13–9 win–loss record and placed eighth on the league's ladder, qualifying for the 2018 finals series as a result. Geelong were defeated in an elimination final against Melbourne by 29 points, and therefore did not progress past the first finals week.
Mark Blicavs was named Geelong's best and fairest player, polling 234 votes for the Carji Greeves Medal ahead of joint runners-ups Patrick Dangerfield and Tim Kelly on 233.5 votes each. It was Blicavs' second Carji Greeves Medal, having previously won the award for the 2015 season. Tom Hawkins was the club's leading goalkicker for the seventh successive season, scoring 60 goals. Dangerfield and Tom Stewart were selected in the 2018 All-Australian team, with Stewart also receiving the AFL Coaches Association's Best Young Player award. The Cats also fielded a reserves team in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and a women's team in the VFL Women's (VFLW) competition. The women's team finished runners-up after they were defeated in the VFLW Grand Final by Hawthorn. (Full article...)
Epacris impressa, also known as common heath, is a species of plant in the heath family Ericaceae. It is native to south-eastern Australia (the states of Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales). French botanist Jacques Labillardière collected the species in 1793 and described it in 1805. Four forms have been identified, but no subspecies are recognised. Growing in heathland, shrubland or open forest, it is generally a small shrub around 0.5 to 1 m (1 ft 8 in to 3 ft 3 in) tall, with small stiff leaves. The red, pink or white tube-like flowers appear from late autumn to early spring. Honeyeater birds, particularly the eastern spinebill, feed upon the nectar of the flowers. It regenerates after bushfire by seed or by resprouting.
A highly regarded garden plant, the common heath was first cultivated in England in 1825; over seventy named cultivars have been developed, most of which have now vanished. A pink-flowered form, often referred to as "pink heath", is the floral emblem of the state of Victoria. Epacris impressa has proven a difficult plant to propagate reliably, which has limited its use in horticulture and revegetation. It grows best in well-drained but moist soil in a semishaded position. (Full article...)
The Tanami Desert where Ricky Megee was stranded for 71 days
Ricky Megee (born 1970/1971) is an Australian, most notable for having been stranded in the Outback and surviving for 71 days in 2006. Megee later gave contradictory statements as to how he came to be stranded crossing the Northern Territory and Western Australia. On one occasion he said that his car broke down, and on another that he had been carjacked by an armed gang. However, a doctor later confirmed that Megee's appearance was consistent with having lived in extreme conditions. Like most deserts, the Tanami can reach 40 °C (104 °F) during the day but still be very cold at night. Megee made his own primitive shelters and survived by drinking rainwater and eating small animals and available vegetation for nourishment. He was eventually discovered by a group of station hands near Katherine, Northern Territory, and taken to Darwin for medical assistance. Although some doubts were later raised as to the exact chain of events as Megee related them, the police did not find evidence that a criminal offence had occurred. (Full article...)
2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait of Gallagher
Jessica Gallagher (born 14 March 1986) is an Australian Paralympic alpine skier, track and field athlete, tandem cyclist and rower. She was Australia's second female Winter Paralympian, and the first Australian woman to win a medal at the Winter Paralympics at the 2010 Vancouver Games. She competed at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, where she won a bronze medal in the women's giant slalom visually impaired.
She is legally blind, and represents Australia internationally in three sports: skiing, athletics and cycling. Besides her skiing achievements, she has represented Australia in athletics at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, and won a silver and a bronze medal at the 2011 Christchurch IPC Athletics World Championships in long jump and javelin, respectively. She has also represented the state of Victoria as a junior in netball and basketball. Gallagher was selected in the Australian cycling team with her pilot Madison Janssen for the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Her "long term goal is to be the first Australian to medal at a summer and winter Paralympics or Olympics". This was achieved when she won a bronze medal in the women's B/VI 1000m time trial in Rio. (Full article...)
Official portrait, 2010
Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the 13th deputy prime minister from 2007 to 2010. She is the first and only woman to hold either office.
Born in Barry, Wales, Gillard migrated with her family to Adelaide in South Australia in 1966. She attended Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. Gillard went on to study at the University of Adelaide, but switched to the University of Melbourne in 1982, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1986 and a Bachelor of Arts in 1989. During this time, she was president of the Australian Union of Students from 1983 to 1984. In 1987, Gillard joined the law firm Slater & Gordon, eventually becoming a partner in 1990, specialising in industrial law. In 1996, she became chief of staff to John Brumby, the Leader of the Opposition in Victoria. Gillard was first elected to the House of Representatives at the 1998 election for the Victorian division of Lalor. Following the 2001 election, she was appointed to the shadow cabinet. In December 2006, Gillard became the running mate of Kevin Rudd in a successful leadership challenge to Kim Beazley, becoming deputy leader of the opposition. After Labor's victory at the 2007 election, she was appointed as deputy prime minister, and was also given the roles of Minister for Education, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, and Minister for Social Inclusion. (Full article...)
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap Sons and Daughters. Although successful in Melbourne, Neighbours underperformed in the Sydney market and was cancelled by Seven Network four months after it began airing. It was immediately commissioned by rival Network Ten for a second production season, which began screening on 20 January 1986. Neighbours became the longest-running drama series in Australian television history. In 2005, it was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame.
The storylines concern the lives of the people who live and work in Erinsborough, a fictional suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The series centres on the residents of Ramsay Street, a dead end street, and its neighbouring area, the Lassiters complex, which includes a bar, hotel, café, police station, lawyers' office and park. Neighbours began with a focus on three households created by Watson – including the Ramsay and Robinson families, who have a long history and an ongoing rivalry. Over the serial's early years, three additional houses on the street were introduced as regular settings. Pin Oak Court, in Vermont South, is the real cul-de-sac that has doubled for Ramsay Street. The houses featured are real and the residents allow the production to shoot external scenes in their yards. The interior scenes are filmed at the FremantleMedia studios in Forest Hill. (Full article...)
Reg Saunders in 1940
Reginald Walter Saunders, MBE (7 August 1920 – 2 March 1990) was the first Aboriginal Australian to be commissioned as an officer in the Australian Army. He came from a military family, his forebears having served in the Boer War and the First World War. Enlisting as a soldier in 1940, he saw action during the Second World War in North Africa, Greece and Crete, before being commissioned as a lieutenant and serving as a platoon commander in New Guinea during 1944–1945. His younger brother Harry also joined the Army, and was killed in 1942 during the Kokoda Track campaign.
After the war, Saunders was discharged and returned to civilian life. He later served as a company commander with the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR) during the Korean War, where he fought at the Battle of Kapyong. Saunders left the Army in 1954 and worked in the logging and metal industries, before joining the Office of Aboriginal Affairs (later the Department of Aboriginal Affairs) as a liaison officer in 1969. In 1971, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his community service. He died in 1990, aged 69. (Full article...)
Harvey in 1950
Robert Neil Harvey (born 8 October 1928) is an Australian former cricketer who was a member of the Australian cricket team between 1948 and 1963, playing in 79 Test matches. He was the vice-captain of the team from 1957 until his retirement. An attacking left-handed batsman, sharp fielder and occasional off-spin bowler, Harvey was the senior batsman in the Australian team for much of the 1950s and was regarded by Wisden as the finest fielder of his era. Upon his retirement, Harvey was the second-most prolific Test run-scorer and century-maker for Australia.
One of six cricketing brothers, four of whom represented Victoria, Harvey followed his elder brother Merv into Test cricket and made his debut in January 1948, aged 19 and three months. In his second match, he became the youngest Australian to score a Test century, a record that still stands. Harvey was the youngest member of the 1948 Invincibles of Don Bradman to tour England, regarded as one of the finest teams in history. After initially struggling in English conditions, he made a century on his Ashes debut. Harvey started his career strongly, with six centuries in his first thirteen Test innings at an average over 100, including four in 1949–50 against South Africa, including a match-winning 151 not out on a sticky wicket. As Bradman's team broke up in the 1950s due to retirements, Harvey became Australia's senior batsman, and was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1954, in recognition of his feat in scoring more than 2,000 runs during the 1953 tour of England. (Full article...)
George Henry Stevens Trott (5 August 1866 – 9 November 1917) was an Australian cricketer who played 24 Test matches as an all-rounder between 1888 and 1898. Although Trott was a versatile batsman, spin bowler and outstanding fielder, "it is as a captain that he is best remembered, an understanding judge of human nature". After a period of some instability and ill discipline in Australian cricket, he was the first in a succession of assertive Australian captains that included Joe Darling, Monty Noble and Clem Hill, who restored the prestige of the Test team. Respected by teammates and opponents alike for his cricketing judgement, Trott was quick to pick up a weakness in opponents. A right-handed batsman, he was known for his sound defence and vigorous hitting. His slow leg-spin bowling was often able to deceive batsmen through subtle variations of pace and flight, but allowed opposition batsmen to score quickly.
Trott made his Test debut in 1888, on a tour of England, and would tour England another three times (in 1890, 1893 and 1896), scoring more than 1000 runs on each occasion. For the 1896 tour, Trott was elected captain by his teammates. Despite England winning the series two Tests to one and retaining The Ashes, Trott's ability as a captain was highly regarded. In the return series in Australia during the 1897–98 season, Trott's team was more successful, winning the five-Test series 4–1 and regaining The Ashes. At a time when the federation of the Australian colonies was under discussion, the victory saw Trott praised as a "national institution" and his team as having "done more for the federation of Australian hearts than all the big delegates put together". (Full article...)
The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), sometimes inaccurately called the koala bear, is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae. Its closest living relatives are the wombats. The koala is found in coastal areas of the continent's eastern and southern regions, inhabiting Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is easily recognisable by its stout, tailless body and large head with round, fluffy ears and large, dark nose. The koala has a body length of 60–85 cm (24–33 in) and weighs 4–15 kg (8.8–33.1 lb). Its fur colour ranges from silver grey to chocolate brown. Koalas from the northern populations are typically smaller and lighter in colour than their counterparts further south. These populations are possibly separate subspecies, but not all researchers accept this.
Koalas typically inhabit open Eucalyptus woodland, as the leaves of these trees make up most of their diet. This eucalypt diet has low nutritional and caloric content and contains toxic compounds that deter most other mammals from feeding on them. Koalas are largely sedentary and sleep up to twenty hours a day. They are asocial; only mothers bond to dependent offspring. Adult males communicate with bellows that intimidate rivals and attract mates. Males mark their presence with secretions from scent glands located on their chests. Like other marsupials, koalas give birth to young known as joeys at a very early stage of development. They crawl into their mothers' pouches, where they live for their first six to seven months. They are fully weaned around a year old. Koalas have few natural predators and parasites, but are threatened by pathogens such as Chlamydiaceae bacteria and koala retrovirus. (Full article...)
Miller reading Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 1951
Keith Ross Miller AM MBE (28 November 1919 – 11 October 2004) was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. His ability, irreverent manner and good looks made him a crowd favourite. Journalist Ian Wooldridge called Miller "the golden boy" of cricket, leading to him being nicknamed "Nugget".
A member of the record-breaking Invincibles, at the time of his retirement from Test cricket in 1956, Miller had the best statistics of any all-rounder in cricket history. He often batted high in the order, sometimes as high as number three. He was a powerful striker of the ball, and one straight six that he hit at the Sydney Cricket Ground was still rising when it hit the upper deck of the grandstand. Miller was famous for varying his bowling to bemuse batsmen: he made sparing use of slower deliveries and would often adjust his run-up, surprisingly bowling his fastest deliveries from a short run. He was also a fine fielder and an especially acrobatic catcher in the slips. (Full article...)
Bana in 2009
Eric Banadinović AM (born 9 August 1968), known professionally as Eric Bana (/ˈbænə/ ⓘ), is an Australian actor. He began his career in the sketch-comedy series Full Frontal before gaining notice in the comedy drama The Castle (1997) and the biographical crime film Chopper (2000).
After a decade of roles in Australian television shows and films, Bana gained Hollywood's attention for his performance in the war film Black Hawk Down (2001) and for playing Bruce Banner in the superhero film Hulk (2003). He played Hector in the war epic Troy (2004), and took a leading role in Steven Spielberg's historical thriller Munich (2005). In 2009, he played the villain Nero in the science-fiction film Star Trek, which was a critical and commercial success. Bana continued to work steadily in the 2010s, portraying Lieutenant Commander Erik S. Kristensen in Lone Survivor (2013), and playing police Sergeant Ralph Sarchie in the horror film Deliver Us from Evil (2014). In 2018, Bana played the title role in a true crime miniseries, Dirty John. In 2020, he returned to Australia to star in outback thriller The Dry. (Full article...)
Kew Asylum c. 1990
Kew Lunatic Asylum is a decommissioned heritage-listed psychiatric hospital located between Princess Street and Yarra Boulevard in Kew, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Operational from 1871 to 1988, Kew Asylum was one of the largest asylums ever built in Australia. Later known as Willsmere, the complex of buildings were constructed between 1864 and 1872 to the design of architects G.W. Vivian and Frederick Kawerau of the Victorian Public Works Office to house the growing number of "lunatics", "inebriates", and "idiots" in the Colony of Victoria.
The first purpose-built asylum in the Colony of Victoria, Kew was also larger and more expensive than its sister asylums at Ararat and Beechworth. The asylum's buildings are typical examples of the Italianate architecture style which was popular in Victorian Melbourne. Designed to be elegant, beautiful, yet substantial, and to be viewed as "a magnificent asylum for the insane" with the aim of portraying Melbourne as a civilised and benevolent city whilst avoiding the jail-like appearance of other asylums. These aims were furthered by the use of low ha-ha walls and extensively landscaped grounds. Long considered of cultural and historic significance to Melbourne, Kew Asylum and its complex of buildings were registered on the Register of the National Estate in March 1978. (Full article...)- William Johnson (born 27 February 1959) is a former English cricketer. Johnson was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm off break. He was born in Sunderland, County Durham.
Johnson made his debut for Durham against Bedfordshire in 1986 Minor Counties Championship. He played Minor counties cricket for Durham from 1986 to 1988, making 7 Minor Counties Championship appearances and 4 MCCA Knockout Trophy appearances. He made his only List A appearance against Somerset in the 1988 NatWest Trophy. He scored 16 runs in this match, before being dismissed by Gary Palmer. (Full article...) 
Bresciano with Australia in 2006
Mark Bresciano (/brɛˈʃɑːnoʊ/ breh-SHAH-noh; Italian: [breʃˈʃaːno]; born 11 February 1980) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder.
Born in Melbourne, Bresciano played youth football for Bulleen Lions, before moving into the National Soccer League with Carlton. In 1999, he moved to Italian Serie B side Empoli, beginning a twelve-year stay in the country. In 2002, he moved to the Serie A with Parma, later playing for Palermo and SS Lazio. From 2011, he spent the final four years of his career in the Middle East, first with UAE Pro League side Al Nasr and then Qatar Stars League club Al-Gharafa where he last played in 2015. (Full article...)
2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait
Ellie Victoria Cole, AM (born 12 December 1991) is an Australian retired Paralympic swimmer and wheelchair basketball player. After having her leg amputated due to cancer, she trained in swimming as part of her rehabilitation program and progressed more rapidly than instructors had predicted. She began competitive swimming in 2003 and first competed internationally at the 2006 IPC Swimming World Championships, where she won a silver medal. Since then, she has won medals in the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, the Commonwealth Games, the Paralympic Games, the IPC Swimming World Championships, and various national championships.
Following the 2012 London Paralympics, where she won four gold and two bronze medals, Cole underwent two shoulder reconstructions and made a successful return to swimming at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships, winning five medals, including three golds. She subsequently represented Australia at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. In claiming her seventeenth Paralympic medal in Tokyo, Cole became Australia's most decorated female Paralympian with six gold, five silver and six bronze medals from four Paralympic Games. (Full article...)
Portrait of Kong Meng c. 1887
Lowe Kong Meng (born 1830 or 1831; died 22 October 1888) was a Chinese-Australian businessman. Born into a trading family in Penang, Kong Meng learned English and French at an early age and worked as an importing merchant around the Indian Ocean. In 1853 he moved to Melbourne where he started a business importing goods for Chinese miners during the Victorian gold rush. After 1860, as the Chinese population in Melbourne peaked, he diversified into other lines of business, including investing in the Commercial Bank of Australia. Kong Meng was a prominent and well-regarded member of Melbourne's elite, and for a time was one of the city's wealthiest men. He was a leading defender of Chinese Australians at a time when their status was politically controversial and they were subjected to targeted taxation, discrimination and violence. (Full article...)
Trumble in around 1893
Hugh Trumble (19 May 1867 – 14 August 1938) was an Australian cricketer who played 32 Test matches as a bowling all-rounder between 1890 and 1904. He captained the Australian team in two Tests, winning both. Trumble took 141 wickets in Test cricket—a world record at the time of his retirement—at an average of 21.78 runs per wicket. He is one of only four bowlers to twice take a hat-trick in Test cricket. Observers in Trumble's day, including the authoritative Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, regarded him as ranking among the great Australian bowlers of the Golden Age of cricket. He was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1897 and the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame, established in 1996, inducted him in 2004.
A tall and thin off spinner, Trumble delivered the ball at a quicker pace than most spin bowlers, using his height and uncommonly long fingers to his greatest advantage. He was at his best on the softer pitches of England, but his accuracy and variations in pace enabled him to take wickets on the harder pitches of Australia as well. He was a dependable lower order batsman and a fine fielder in the slips. He was recognised as a shrewd thinker about the game and was popular with team-mates and opponents, with a penchant for practical jokes. (Full article...)
Flight Lieutenant Isaacson with Lancaster Q-for-Queenie, 1943
Peter Stuart Isaacson, AM, DFC, AFC, DFM (31 July 1920 – 7 April 2017) was an Australian publisher and decorated military pilot. He was the owner of Peter Isaacson Publications, publisher of various trade journals and suburban newspapers including the Southern Cross and the Sunday Observer in Melbourne. During World War II, he served in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as a pilot with RAF Bomber Command and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Force Cross and the Distinguished Flying Medal.
Isaacson grew up in Melbourne and started working for a newspaper when he was sixteen. He joined the RAAF in 1940. Following his stint in Bomber Command, he became well known in Australia for his tours in the Avro Lancaster Q-for-Queenie to promote the sale of war loans and, in particular, for flying his plane under the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1943. He transferred to the RAAF Reserve after the war, retiring as a wing commander in 1969. From 1956 he served as a Trustee, Chairman, and finally Life Governor of the Victorian Shrine of Remembrance. In 1991 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his publishing and community work. (Full article...)- Miller reading Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 1951
Keith Ross Miller AM MBE (28 November 1919 – 11 October 2004) was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. His ability, irreverent manner and good looks made him a crowd favourite. Journalist Ian Wooldridge called Miller "the golden boy" of cricket, leading to him being nicknamed "Nugget".
A member of the record-breaking Invincibles, at the time of his retirement from Test cricket in 1956, Miller had the best statistics of any all-rounder in cricket history. He often batted high in the order, sometimes as high as number three. He was a powerful striker of the ball, and one straight six that he hit at the Sydney Cricket Ground was still rising when it hit the upper deck of the grandstand. Miller was famous for varying his bowling to bemuse batsmen: he made sparing use of slower deliveries and would often adjust his run-up, surprisingly bowling his fastest deliveries from a short run. He was also a fine fielder and an especially acrobatic catcher in the slips. (Full article...) 
White in Melbourne, c. 1940
Sir Thomas Walter White, KBE, DFC, VD (26 April 1888 – 13 October 1957) was an Australian politician and pilot in the First World War. In 1914 he became one of the first airmen trained for the Australian Flying Corps (AFC), and the following year he was among the first AFC members to see action when he was deployed to the Middle East with the Mesopotamian Half Flight. After carrying out several missions behind Turkish lines, he was captured in November 1915 but escaped in July 1918. White was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and twice mentioned in despatches for his war service. He married Vera Deakin, a Red Cross worker and daughter of former Australian prime minister Alfred Deakin, in 1920.
White began his parliamentary career in 1929 when he was elected to the House of Representatives as the Member for Balaclava in Victoria. He served as Minister for Trade and Customs in Joseph Lyons's United Australia Party government from 1933 to 1938, but resigned when he was excluded from Lyons's inner cabinet. He joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War and saw service in Australia and the United Kingdom. Returning to parliament as a member of the newly formed Liberal Party in 1945, he served as Minister for Air and Minister for Civil Aviation in Robert Menzies's government from 1949 to 1951. His term coincided with the commitment of RAAF squadrons to the Korean War and the Malayan Emergency. Australia's high commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1951 to 1956, White was knighted in 1952 and died in 1957. (Full article...)
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Middle Island is a small (c. 2 ha), rocky island lying close to the shore of south-western Victoria, Australia, in Stingray Bay next to the city of Warrnambool. It is a wildlife sanctuary that is home to breeding colonies of little penguins (Eudyptula minor) and short-tailed shearwaters (Ardenna tenuirostris). It is closed to general public access because of the low penguin population.
Because of the proximity of the island to the coast, it is accessible at low tide to predators such as foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and stray dogs. As a result, the penguin colony declined to a low of ten breeding pairs by 2005. In 2006 an attempt began to protect the birds from foxes by the use of Maremma Sheepdogs trained to protect penguins rather than sheep and to act as a deterrent to foxes. The dogs, who work in pairs, spend five or six days a week on the island during the breeding season from October to March. Since then the penguin population has been increasing and by 2016 had reached nearly two hundred. In 2017, when high tides and bad weather prevented the dogs from being taken to the island, as many as 140 penguins were killed by foxes. Numbers have since rebounded, and the project inspired a similar effort that began in late 2020 to protect newly released eastern barred bandicoots at Werribee Open Range Zoo by having the dogs mind a flock of sheep. The island is featured prominently in the 2015 film Oddball.
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Firebrace Street, Horsham's main street, in 2006
Horsham (/ˈhɔːrʃəm/) is a regional city in the Wimmera region of western Victoria, Australia. Located on a bend in the Wimmera River, Horsham is approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) northwest of the state capital Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, Horsham and surrounds had a population of 20,456. It is the most populous city in Wimmera, and the main administrative centre for the Rural City of Horsham local government area. It is the eleventh largest city in Victoria after Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Wodonga, Mildura, Shepparton, Warrnambool, Traralgon, and Wangaratta.
An early settler James Monckton Darlot named the settlement after the town of Horsham in his native England. It grew throughout the latter 19th and early 20th centuries as a centre of Western Victoria's wheat and wool industry, becoming the largest city in the Wimmera and Western Victoria by the early 1910s. Horsham was declared a city in 1949 and was named Australia's Tidiest Town in 2001 and Victoria's Tidiest Town in 2021. (Full article...)- Geelong (/dʒɪˈlɒŋ/ jih-LONG; Wathawurrung: Djilang/Djalang) is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, about 75 km (47 mi) southwest of Melbourne. With an estimated population of 282,809 in 2023, Geelong is the second-largest city in the state of Victoria. It is the administrative centre for the City of Greater Geelong municipality, which is Port Phillip's only regional metropolitan area, and covers all the urban, rural and coastal reserves around the city including the entire Bellarine Peninsula and running from the plains of Lara in the north to the rolling hills of Waurn Ponds to the south, with Corio Bay to the east and the Barrabool Hills to the west.
The traditional owners of the land on which Geelong sits are the Wadawurrung (also known as Wathaurong) Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation. The modern name of Geelong, first recorded in 1827, was derived from the local Wadawurrung name for the region, Djilang, thought to mean "land", "cliffs" or "tongue of land or peninsula". The area was first surveyed by the European settlers in 1838, three weeks after Melbourne. During the 1850s Victorian gold rush, Geelong experienced a brief boom as the main port to the goldfields of central Victoria. The town then diversified into manufacturing, and during the 1860s became one of the largest manufacturing centres in Australia with its wool mills, ropeworks, and paper mills. During the city's early years, inhabitants of Geelong were often called Geelongites or Pivotonians, derived from the city's nickname of "The Pivot", referring to the city's role as a shipping and rail hub for Ballarat and the Western District. (Full article...) 
Melbourne Cup 2013
The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms part of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. It is the richest two-mile handicap in the world and one of the richest turf races. The event starts at 3:00 pm on the first Tuesday of November and is known locally as "the race that stops the nation".
The Melbourne Cup has cemented itself as a part of Melbourne and Australian culture, having been run every year since 1861. The day of the race has been a public holiday for much of Victoria since 1876. It was originally run over two mi (3.219 km) but was shortened to 3,200 m (1 mi 1,740 yd) in 1972 when Australia adopted the metric system. This reduced the distance by 18.688 m (61 ft 3+3⁄4 in), and Rain Lover's 1968 race record of 3:19.1 was accordingly adjusted to 3:17.9. The present record holder is the 1990 winner Kingston Rule with a time of 3:16.3. (Full article...)
Main St, Bacchus Marsh
Bacchus Marsh (Wathawurrung: Pullerbopulloke) is a town in Victoria, Australia, located approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) north-west of the state capital Melbourne, at a near equidistance to the major cities of Melbourne, Ballarat and Geelong.
As of the 2021 census, Bacchus Marsh has a population of 7,808, while its statistical urban area (including the suburbs Darley, Maddingley, and Hopetoun Park, among others) has a population of 24,717. Bacchus Marsh is the largest urban area in the Shire of Moorabool local government area. (Full article...)
Hawthorn's Glenferrie Road shopping strip, facing north towards Kew
Hawthorn is an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Hawthorn recorded a population of 22,322 at the 2021 census. (Full article...)
Lake Elizabeth, formed from a landslide in August 1953, it broke its banks allowing the West Barwon River to flow.
The Great Otway National Park is a national park located in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia. The 103,185-hectare (254,980-acre) national park is situated approximately 162 kilometres (101 mi) southwest of Melbourne, in the Otway Ranges, a low coastal mountain range; its highest peak is Mount Cowley, 670 metres (2,198 feet), and is within the park. The park contains a diverse range of landscapes and vegetation types. (Full article...)- The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park in Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition.
Founded in the 1860s, the club began playing out of parklands historically part of Carlton not far from its current base. It quickly became one of the major football clubs in the city. It was a foundation member of the Victorian Football Association (VFA), winning the inaugural premiership in 1877. In 1896, Carlton joined the breakaway Victorian Football League (since renamed the AFL), and alongside rivals Collingwood, Essendon and Richmond is regarded as one of the league's historical "Big Four" clubs, with 16 VFL/AFL premierships (a joint record with Collingwood and Essendon). The club's AFL Women's team has competed since the league's inaugural 2017 AFLW season. (Full article...) 
Panorama of the MCG before
the 2017 AFL Grand Final
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the eleventh-largest stadium globally and the second-largest cricket stadium by capacity. The MCG is within walking distance of the Melbourne CBD and is served by Richmond and Jolimont railway stations, as well as the route 70, 75 and 48 trams. It is adjacent to Melbourne Park and is an integral part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct.
Since it was built in 1853, the MCG has undergone numerous renovations. It served as the main stadium for the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games, as well as hosting two Cricket World Cup finals: 1992 and 2015. Noted for its role in the development of international cricket, the MCG hosted both the first Test match and the first One Day International, played between Australia and England in 1877 and 1971, respectively. It has also maintained strong ties with Australian rules football since its codification in 1859, and has become the principal venue for Australian Football League (AFL) matches, including the AFL Grand Final, the world's highest attended league championship event. (Full article...)
Mars (Eureka) Stadium aerial 2022
Eureka Stadium, known commercially as Mars Stadium, is an oval-shaped sports stadium located in the Eureka Sports Precinct of Wendouree, 2.9 km (1.8 mi) north of the city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. (Full article...)
Aerial view of The Royal Exhibition Building in the Carlton Gardens and the Melbourne central business district
The Carlton Gardens is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located on the northeastern edge of the Central Business District in the suburb of Carlton, Melbourne, in the state of Victoria, Australia. The gardens are a popular picnic and barbecue area, and are home to an array of wildlife, including brushtail possums.
The 26-hectare (64-acre) site contains the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne Museum and Imax Cinema, tennis courts and an award-winning children's playground. The rectangular site is bounded by Victoria Street, Rathdowne Street, Carlton Street, and Nicholson Street. According to the World Heritage listing, the Royal Exhibition Buildings and Carlton Gardens are "of historical, architectural, aesthetic, social and scientific (botanical) significance to the State of Victoria." (Full article...)
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by kicking the ovoid ball between the central goal posts (worth six points), or between a central and outer post (worth one point, otherwise known as a "behind").
During general play, players may position themselves anywhere on the field and use any part of their bodies to move the ball. The primary methods are kicking, handballing and running with the ball. There are rules on how the ball can be handled; for example, players running with the ball must intermittently bounce or touch it on the ground. Throwing the ball is not allowed, and players must not get caught holding the ball. A distinctive feature of the game is the mark, where players anywhere on the field who catch the ball from a kick (with specific conditions) are awarded unimpeded possession. Possession of the ball is in dispute at all times except when a free kick or mark is paid. Players can tackle using their hands or use their whole body to obstruct opponents. Dangerous physical contact (such as pushing an opponent in the back), interference when marking, and deliberately slowing the play are discouraged with free kicks, distance penalties, or suspension for a certain number of matches depending on the severity of the infringement. The game features frequent physical contests, spectacular marking, fast movement of both players and the ball, and high scoring. (Full article...)- The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition and plays its home games at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Melbourne is the world's oldest professional club of any football code. A loosely organised Melbourne side began playing in the winter of 1858. The following year, the club was officially established and four members codified "The Rules of the Melbourne Football Club"—the basis of Australian rules football. The club was a dominant force in the early years of the game and a foundation member of the Victorian Football Association (VFA) in 1877 and the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1896, now the national AFL. Melbourne has won 13 VFL/AFL premierships, the latest in 2021. The club was a foundation team of the AFL Women's league (AFLW), and won its first AFLW premiership in 2022 season 7. (Full article...) 
Eureka Tower as viewed from east of Southbank, August 2010
Eureka Tower is a 297.3 m (975 ft) skyscraper located in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction began in August 2002 and the exterior was completed on 1 June 2006. The plaza was finished in June 2006 and the building was officially opened on 11 October 2006. The project was designed by Melbourne architectural firm Fender Katsalidis Architects and was built by Grocon (Grollo Australia). The developer of the tower was Eureka Tower Pty Ltd, a joint venture consisting of Daniel Grollo (Grocon), investor Tab Fried and one of the Tower's architects Nonda Katsalidis.
Construction began August 2002. The tower was officially opened on 11 October 2006. The building's design is themed around the Eureka Stockade. It contains 556 apartments serviced by 13 lifts. Level 88 features an observation deck and level 89, a restaurant, cocktail bar and event space. The building is home to the annual Eureka Climb and a 2013 experiment involving airplants. (Full article...)- Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the South-Eastern region of Melbourne, Victoria. They compete in the A-League Men, the highest division of soccer in Australia, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL).
Founded in 2009 as Melbourne Heart, the club competed under that name from its inaugural 2010–11 A-League season until the end of the 2013–14 season. It was rebranded as Melbourne City following its acquisition by the City Football Group (CFG) and Holding M.S. Australia in January 2014. In August 2015, CFG assumed full ownership of the club after purchasing Holding M.S. Australia’s stake. (Full article...) 
View of Coburg and the apartments on Pentridge Boulevard, looking towards Melbourne CBD, 2020
Coburg is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km (5.0 mi) north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located mainly within the City of Merri-bek local government area, with a handful of properties on Elizabeth Street, Coburg's eastern boundary, located in the City of Darebin. Coburg recorded a population of 26,574 at the 2021 census.
Coburg's boundaries are Gaffney Street and Murray Road in the north, Elizabeth Street and Merri Creek in the east, Moreland Road in the South and Melville Road, Devon Avenue, Sussex Street and West Street in the west. Coburg is designated one of 26 Principal Activity Centres in the Melbourne 2030 Metropolitan Strategy. (Full article...)
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Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that the largest IMAX cinema in the Southern Hemisphere is in Melbourne?
- ... that the film The Taverna was shot at a Greek restaurant in Melbourne over sixteen days?
- ... that Argentine naval officer Barry Melbourne Hussey was known as El Ingles ('The Englishman') by his comrades?
- ... that the government of Victoria, Australia, has a program to remove 110 level crossings by 2030, the fastest rate in the state's history?
Subcategories
In the News (for Australia)
- 7 September 2025 – Leongatha mushroom murders
- Erin Patterson is sentenced to life in prison plus an extra 25 years without parole for 33 years for the 2023 poisoning of four relatives with Beef Wellingtons laced with poisonous death cap mushrooms, killing three and injuring the other in Leongatha, Victoria, Australia. (BBC News)
- 26 August 2025 – Australia–Iran relations, Terrorism in Australia, Antisemitism in Australia
- Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese announces the closure of the Australian embassy in Tehran, the expulsion of Iranian ambassadors from Australia, and designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization after an Australian Security Intelligence Organisation investigation links the IRGC to least two antisemitic attacks, including the 2024 Melbourne synagogue attack and an arson attack on a North Bondi kosher restaurant. (Sydney Morning Herald) (Reuters)
- 26 August 2025 – Porepunkah police shootings
- Two police officers are shot and killed and a third is wounded in a suspected sovereign citizen terrorist attack in Porepunkah, Victoria, Australia, sending the town into lockdown. The perpetrator remains at large. (ABC News Australia)
- 24 August 2025 – Gaza war protests
- An estimated 300,000 people across Australia, including at least 100,000 in Melbourne, march to protest the Israeli escalation of the Gaza war and its plans to militarily seize the entirety of Gaza, while also calling for the Australian government to sanction Israel. (AP)
Topics
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| Regions and sub-regions / districts |
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To-do list
Here are some tasks you can do to help at WikiProject Victoria:
-
Requests: – Missing topics
- Local Government Association of Victoria – request from pre 2016
- Maroon, Victoria – request from pre 2016
- University of Western Victoria – request from pre 2016
- Lincoln Square (Melbourne)
- Awakenings Festival – Horsham
- Central Goulburn Irrigation Area
- Rochester Irrigation Area
- Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project
- Heytesbury fires – (1886)
- Victoria bushfire season 1969 – Lara (1969)
- Barwon (region) – sub-region of Barwon South West (region)
- Great South Coast (region) – sub-region of Barwon South West (region)
- Loddon Campaspe (region) – sub-region of Loddon Mallee
- Redlinks in navbox (Protected areas in Victoria)
- Aura Vale Lake Park (part of Cardinia Reservoir Parks)
- Barwon Bluff Marine Sanctuary
- Beechworth Historic Park
- Beware Reef Marine Sanctuary
- Birrarrung Park (part of Yarra Valley Parklands)
- Candlebark Park (part of Yarra Valley Parklands)
- Cape Liptrap Coastal Park
- Cardinia Creek Parklands
- Cardinia Reservoir Parks
- Corner Inlet Marine and Coastal Park
- Eagle Rock Marine Sanctuary
- Jawbone Marine Sanctuary
- Lake Tyers State Park
- Longridge Park Camp (part of Yarra Valley Parklands)
- Marengo Reefs Marine Sanctuary
- Maribyrnong Valley Parklands
- Maroondah Reservoir Park
- Merri Marine Sanctuary
- Mushroom Reef Marine Sanctuary
- Nooramunga Marine and Coastal Park
- Nortons Park (part of Dandenong Valley Parklands)
- Point Cooke Marine Sanctuary – part covered in Point Cook Coastal Park#Marine
- Point Danger Marine Sanctuary
- Point Gellibrand Heritage Park
- Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary
- Shallow Inlet Marine and Coastal Park
- Shepherds Bush (Victoria) (part of Dandenong Valley Parklands)
- Silvan Reservoir Park
- Steiglitz Historic Park
- Sugarloaf Reservoir Parks
- The Arches Marine Sanctuary
- Tirhatuan Park (part of Dandenong Valley Parklands)
- Wabba Wilderness Park
- Wilsons Promontory Marine Park
- Wimmera River Heritage Area Park
- Woodlands Historic Park
- Yarra Flats Park (part of Yarra Valley Parklands)
- Yarra Valley Parklands
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Expand: – stubs: 5,192
- List of schools in Victoria
- Mount Rothwell Biodiversity Interpretation Centre
- Melbourne Workers Theatre
- City West Water
- Belgrave Lantern Festival
- Red Tuesday bushfires – (1898)
- 1925–26 Victorian bushfire season – Black Sunday (1926)
- Linton Bushfire – (1998)
- 2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires
- Mount Lubra bushfire – (2006)
- 2006–07 Eastern Victoria Great Divide bushfires
- Goulburn (region) – sub-region of Hume (region)
- Ovens Murray (region) – sub-region of Hume (region)
- Images: – requested images: 259
A list of articles needing cleanup associated with this project is available. See also the tool's wiki page and the index of WikiProjects.
Geelong To-do |
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Here are some tasks you can do to help at WikiProject Geelong:
A list of articles needing cleanup associated with this project is available. See also the tool's wiki page and the index of WikiProjects. |
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