Gentlefolk,
This post describes our main activities during the month of April 2025.
The contents of this post are in the following sequence:
Photos of our activities during April 2025.
News items which caught my eye in April 2025.
An overview by MSNBC of key actions by President Trump in his first 100 days in the White House (frightening but fascinating!). Just think, Trump has only just started - still 3 years 9 months to go!
International Trade (Bloomberg will restrict this newsletter to paid subscribers ($299 pa) from 10 May 2025, so this will likely be the last inclusion in my blog).
Highlights of April 2025
Domestically, the highlight was the family get-together over Easter at Cabarita Beach. Jen & family came from Brisbane, Andrew and family from Sydney. Paul & Niniek also came from Sydney, as did David & Kath Everingham and kids.
We celebrated Vera's 80th birthday (again).
With Andrew & Caz & kids heading to London and Nate to the USA, both in August 2025, this was probably the last time our immediate family will be together - very special.
Internationally, the media in April continued to be dominated by President Trump. He declared April 2 as "Independence Day", when announcing his tariff policies which, he said, would totally restructure the economy and Make America Great Again. Unfortunately (for him) most experts and investors did not share his confidence - stock markets tanked and by the end of the month Trump had reversed or amended most of his initial actions.
According to polls, Trump's approval rating on 29 April (the 100th day of his administration) was about 37%, the lowest of any President in the last 8 decades after their first 100 days.
Herewith photos of some of our activities in April 2025:
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| Shana and Greg Mills visited the Sunshine Coast. |
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| It was a rainy day, so we visited the Sea Life aquarium in Mooloolaba. |
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| We had lunch at the popular Rice Boi restaurant. |
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| The Indonesian Christian community Oikumena held a pre-Easter service. |
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| The lovely choir of the Indonesian Christian community. The service was followed by a delicious lunch of Indonesian dishes. |
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| For Xmas, Jen & Andrew gave us tickets to the "Kings of Country Rock" concert at the Caloundra Events Centre. The first half was Eagles songs, and the second half Credence. A terrific band, |
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| Diane and Tom Noetel popped in. They live on the Gold Coast. Tom & I grew up in the same street in Cooma. They recently returned from skiing in Japan. |
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| Me with the Boland familyL John, Mary, Peter and his wife Bambi. It was John's 75th birthday and we celebrated at his Village on Bribie Island. Another family from Cooma days back in the 1950s & 60s. |
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| John Boland and his wife Maria are members of a Celtic music band which entertained the guests. John has experienced many serious health issues, but he always bounces back and is remarkably positive. |
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| A local singer, Mark Tabone, entertained the residents of our Village. A fun night of music and dancing. |
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| Another good book by Jeffrey Archer, master story-teller. Detective Chief Inspector William Warwick of Scotland Yard |
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| The apatment hotel at Cabarita Beach where we stayed over Easter 16 - 21 April. |
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| Many lovely beaches along this coast. |
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| Sid, Andrew & Caz. |
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| Andrew got tickets for the Byron Bay Blues Fest. |
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| It was crowded at the Blues Fest. |
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| Our favourite Blues entertainer was 26 year old Christone "Kingfish" Ingram from Mississippi. |
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| A terrific performer. |
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| Tom, Nate and Andrew fishing at Hzstings Point. |
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| Nate and Sid taught Jay Jay how to fish. |
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| Nate and Eddie. |
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| Some of the group, left to right: Kath, Tom, David, Paul, JJ, Miles, Niniek, Bea, Kurt, Eddie, Sid. |
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| Jen and Andrew spoke about Vera. |
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| To commemorate her 80th birthday, Jen and Andrew presented Vera with a wonderful photo book. |
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| The back cover of the photo book featured a photo of Vera and me at Sambolo Beach in 1989. |
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| Jen asked friends to descibe Vera: so many nice descriptors - she is such a special person who has touched many over the years. We couldn't have asked for a better mother, wife and friend. |
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| Jen and Andrew arranged lunch for everyone at this restaurant Shana and Greg Mills and Simone and Marty Roberts joined us too. It was a great venue and a memorable afternoon. Thanks!!! |
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| A view of the pool from the Spice Den restaurant. The venue had a Balinese atmosphere - made us feel right at home! |
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| Vera with Jen and Andrew - we are truly blessed to have such wonderful kids, grandkids and friends. |
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| Vera, Shana and Niniek. |
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| Vera blowing out candles on the birthday cake, watched by Jen, Simone and Shana. |
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| All the gang: Jen & Tom & Kurt, Nate & Sid, Andrew & Caz & Eddie & Jay, David & Kath & Bea & Miles, Paul & Niniek, Marty & Simone & Francesca & Isaac, Greg & Shana, Vera & me. |
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| Us, with Jen and Andrew - we are blessed tohave such great kids. |
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| The younger kids enjoyed an Easter egg hunt on Sunday morning in front of the hotel. |
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We had lunch in Surfers with Lia and Bruce Timbs. Old friends - Paul & Niniek knew them in Jakarta and we met them in Canberra. Lia and Bruce moved to the Gold Coast (where Bruce grew up) about 20 years ago.
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| Vera & Niniek in front of a beautiful Golden Panda tree. |
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| On our drive back to Caloundra, we stopped at Gaven to say hello to old Canberra friend Hugo Hofgartner and his sister Hildegard who was visiting from Germany. |
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| The "official party" at the ANZAC Day ceremony in the village Clubhouse. |
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| Charles and Nikki Yu visited us - with Charles' parents from Qingdao, China. Charles was a student of mine when I taught English at the China University of Petroleum; he moved to Australia and they now happily settled in Brisbane where Charles has a job as an engineer and Nikki works in childcare. |
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| Vera with Sismani, they were classmates at Teachers College in Jogja in the 1960s. Sismani now lives in Nambour, about 40 mins from us. |
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| The Social Club organsied a band to perform in the Clubhouse - good music & dancing =, great fun. |
News items which caught my eye in April 2025.
($ are US dollars unless otherwise shown)
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Global
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Hungary: withdrew from
the International Criminal Court, to facilitate visit by Israeli PM
Netanyahu. India: Parliament
passed law restricting Muslim property ownership. France: Marine Le Pen,
leader of right-wing National Rally, was found guilty of embezzling party
funds and banned from running for office for 5 years. Dominican
Republic: 124+ dead in a fire in a night club. Germany: Finally, a CDU
– CSU coalition was announced with Friedrich Merz as Chancellor; it will have
208 seats in the Bundestag, AfD 152, SPD 120, Greens 85, Left 64. Golf: Rory McIlroy
beat Justin Rose to sin the US Masters (he now won all the majors). UK: the Govt took
control of British Steel. Liverpool crowned Premier League champions. Canada: In the general election on 28 April the Liberal Party (with PM Mark Carney) was unexpectedly returned to office, on an anti-Trump wave. Predictions are that the Liberals will end up with 169 seats just short of 172 needed for a majority in the House of Commons. The Conservative Party should get 144 seats, BQ 22, NDP 7, Greens 1. The leaders of the Conservative Party and the NDP both lost their seats. The turnout rate was about 68%. Pakistan: commenced
deportation of undocumented Afghans. India: Moslem gunmen
killed 26+ in Kashmir; bilateral tensions high. Vatican: Pope Francis
died aged 88. Cardinal’s conclave will meet in 7 May to elect the new Pope. Spain: huge power
outages in Spain and Portugal. Yemen: US has hit
about 800 Houthi targets since 15 March in an effort to stop them attacking
shipping.
|
|
Israel –
Hamas & Hezbollah |
IDF killed 15 UN
emergency workers who were in a convoy of ambulances. The IDF destroyed
to the remaining operational hospital in Gaza. International
Court of Justice began hearing case against Israel’s actions as the occupying
power of Gaza. Israeli missiles
hit Beirut.
|
|
Russian
invasion of Ukraine |
USA expressed
impatience with lack of progress in achieving peace in the Russia-Ukraine
conflict. Putin announced a
3 day ceasefire commencing 8 May (anniversary of Soviet victory over Nazi
Germany). Trump said he wants a permanent ceasefire while negotiations take
place.
|
|
USA
|
Another tumultuous month in the USA; 29 April marked 100 days of Trump administration – see
overview from MSNBC below. The Economist
reported that Pres Trump averages 4,149 words per week on social media,
mainly Truth Social and X. President Trump
called 2 April “Liberation Day”. He announced minimum tariff of
10% on all countries, but 60+ with large trade surpluses with USA got higher
tariffs: eg China 34% (then 54%, finally 154%); Vietnam 46%; Taiwan 32%; Japan
24%; India 26%; South Korea 25%; Indonesia 32%, etc. Australia attracted 10%,
with uninhabited Heard Island singled out??? Trump claimed
that America had been “raped and pillaged” for decades by friends and
foes alike. China reacted by
increasing tariffs on imports from the USA by 34% – Trump then raised tariffs
on China to a total of 154% (some, apparently as high as 245%) and China
raised to 124%. China imposed export controls on rare earths, and cancelled
orders of planes and parts from Boeing. In 2024 USA
imports of goods from China totaled $439B (US had a goods trade deficit with
China of $295B). eg 90% of Apple phones are made in China - no wonder they are worried. Wall Street
crashed following Trump’s announcements, and bond rates went up. On 10 April Trump
“Paused” the new tariffs for 90 days (except China) while countries started negotiations on new trade deals. Stock Markets were very volatile because of the uncertainty, and US reliance on so many products
from China which are now much more expensive. On 12 April Trump
exempted imports of smart phones, computers, chips, and solar panels from
import tariffs above 20%. Growing anti-Trump
movement, demonstrations in many cities. The latest polls show Trump’s
support at around 37%, the lowest approval
rating for a President after 100 days in 80 years. Hotly contested
election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court was won by Democrat Susan Crawford
despite Elon Musk’s huge financial support ($20M) of the Republican
candidate. Harvard rejected demands by the Trump administration, which responded by freezing $2B in grants and threatened to remove its tax exempt status. Harvard is suing. President of El
Salvador Najib Bukele met Trump in the White House; said he can take more
criminals deported from the US. Secretary of
State Marco Rubio announced 22% cut in Department of State personnel; many
domestic and overseas offices/missions will close. Secretary of
Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, had her Gucci handbag (containing $3K cash, etc) stolen
in a restaurant; thief was later arrested by the Secret Service. Elon Musk will
reduce his involvement with DOGE to spend more time on Tesla, which is facing
a major downturn. Kobe Bryant’s
first jersey for the LA Lakers (No. 8, 1995) sold for $7M (it last sold for
$115K in 2012) Actor Val Kilmer died aged 65. The deadline for TikTok to divest was extended (yet again) for 75 days, from 5 April.
|
|
Australia |
Campaigning for the
Federal election to be held on 3 May. Early polls indicated a close result,
but lately Labor seems to have pulled ahead. Labor holds only 5 of 30 seats in Qld.
Will be very interesting to see how the TEALS/independents go this time. Floods in Western
Queensland devastated an area twice the size of Victoria; huge stock losses. Trial started of Erin Patterson accused of murdering 3 relatives by feeding them poisonous mushrooms.
|
From Politico via The Guardian, 29 April 2025.
Here are four sobering, universal truths from Politico to
take away about Trump 2.0:
This presidency matters like few before it. In
just three months, Trump has torn up the West’s postwar security
settlement and its central economic premise. He’s reshaped the
federal government and brought some of America’s most powerful institutions to
heel. He’s threatening to go much further. And we still have 1,361 days to
go.
The speed of change has been breathless. The
Trump 2.0 project hit the ground running on Day 1 and has been utterly ruthless
in pursuit of its goals. Never before has the “move fast and break things”
edict been applied so successfully to American government. Much of this work
will not be quickly undone.
Trump is pushing every boundary of
what’s possible as a president. He has shown little interest in abiding by
constitutional or legal norms. He has successfully shackled one of the three
branches of government (the legislature) to his whims, and has the other (the
judiciary) under constant attack. His political opponents are in disarray. So
how this all ends is anyone’s guess.
But Trump’s power has limits. He has
backed down - humiliatingly - in the face of the bond markets. He’s been
aggressive and obstructionist with the courts but has walked the line on
outright defying them. He’s been reduced to sending Vladimir
Putin pleading messages on social media. And he is term-limited.
100
actions in 100 days: Trump’s second term follows a pattern of going it alone
Trump has signed few laws, preferring instead to sign
executive orders and levy tariffs.
April 29, 2025 By Ryan Teague Beckwith, Newsletter
Editor MSNBC
President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office have shown
just how much he likes to act alone.
While past presidents used their honeymoon period to get
signature legislation through Congress, Trump has signed very few bills.
Instead, he’s focused on a flurry of executive orders, unilaterally imposed
tariffs, and mass firings and spending cuts that Congress did not approve but
has, so far, let slide.
Here’s a look at 100 actions taken by Trump, his
administration and the GOP-controlled Congress over his first 100 days:
Signing
laws
• Signed the Laken Riley Act, which allows federal
immigration officers to detain and deport undocumented people who have been
charged with crimes, in addition to those who have been convicted.
• Signed three Congressional Review Act resolutions
that overturn Biden administration regulations and a stopgap funding bill, for
a total of five bills — fewer than any president in the last
seven decades by this point.
Implementing
tariffs
• Announced tariffs on Mexico and Canada, sparking
a consumer-led “Buy Canadian” movement that has hurt U.S. companies.
• Announced various tariffs on China that
collectively add up to 145%, sparking a trade war with the country.
• Announced sweeping tariffs on every major U.S.
trade partner, ranging from 10% to 54%, to take effect on April 2, which he
dubbed “Liberation Day.”
• Included the Heard and McDonald islands, which are
uninhabited, on the list of countries getting a tariff.
• Admitted that the formula for the tariffs
involved looking at the trade deficit with a country and dividing it by the
value of goods the U.S. imports from that nation.
• Saw the S&P 500 lose $5 trillion in value
over two of the worst days for the stock market in modern history in response
to “Liberation Day.”
• “Paused” the sweeping tariffs on nearly every
country for 90 days because bond traders were “getting a little queasy.”
• Posted on social media that it would be a “great
time to buy” shortly before announcing the pause, raising questions about
insider trading.
• Raised the overall average effective tariff rate from
2.5% to around 27%, the highest for the U.S. since 1903.
Cutting
government
• Named billionaire Elon Musk as a “special
government employee” in charge of a White House team to cut spending.
• Renamed the U.S. Digital Service, which advised
agencies on technical issues, into the U.S. DOGE Service (also known as the
Department of Government Efficiency, which is not in fact a government
department) after a Musk joke.
• Repeatedly said that DOGE was “headed by” Musk,
including in a joint address to Congress.
• Told courts that Musk did not head DOGE — or
even work for it — and declined to say who did head it, then later identified a
little-known employee as its acting administrator.
• Froze billions of dollars in foreign aid and
sought to all but dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development.
• Attempted mass firings at the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau, which protects consumers from financial fraud.
• Dramatically cut spending and staff at the
Department of Education, which Trump has vowed to abolish (though this would
require an act of Congress).
• Slashed staff at the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration who handle weather forecasts, among other things.
• Used police and private security to enter the
U.S. Institute of Peace as part of an effort to take control of the nonprofit
and gut it.
• Tried to quickly rehire federal workers on
critical issues such as bird flu, nuclear weapons and medical
devices.
• Ordered the General Services Administration to
begin ending leases on roughly 7,500 federal offices around the country.
• Sent 2 million federal workers an email offering
to pay them through September if they resigned.
• Required federal workers to write down five
accomplishments each week, then didn’t do much with the emails.
• Rehired a member of Musk’s team who resigned
after media resurfaced old social media posts in which he said he was “racist
before it was cool.”
• Gave some Republican senators Musk’s phone
number so they could call him to get problematic DOGE spending cuts reversed.
• Saw widespread protests at Musk-owned Tesla
dealerships, plummeting sales of its cars and a 71% drop in profits.
• Promoted Tesla on the White House lawn and said
vandalism against the company will be treated as domestic terrorism.
• Reduced the amount of money expected to be saved
by the Musk effort from a goal of $1 trillion to $150 billion.
Deporting
noncitizens
• Signed an executive order to make it possible to
detain migrants at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay.
• Sent two groups of migrants to Guantanamo Bay
and released a photo of migrants being boarded onto a military plane.
• Struck a deal to pay El Salvador $6 million to
imprison deportees at its notorious CECOT megaprison.
• Invoked the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act, last used
to incarcerate Japanese Americans during World War II, to begin deporting
people the administration alleges are gang members.
• Sent three planes with more than 200 migrants to El
Salvador despite a federal judge’s orders not to deport anyone under
the act until his court had held a hearing on the issue.
• Lost two appeals of the continued block on
deportations before the Supreme Court, including one released at 12:55
a.m.
• Conceded in a court filing that Maryland
resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia was among those deported due to “an
administrative error.”
• Fired the Justice Department lawyer who signed
that court filing and had been praised by the judge for his candor.
• Appealed a judge’s order to have Abrego Garcia
returned from El Salvador, then lost in a unanimous Supreme Court decision.
• Said Abrego Garcia’s return is up to El Salvador,
even as President Nayib Bukele claimed he doesn’t “have the power to return
him.”
• Detained Columbia University grad student Mahmoud
Khalil over his pro-Palestinian activism.
• Detained Tufts University grad student Rümeysa
Öztürk, a Turkish citizen, over an editorial she co-authored in the student
newspaper.
• Deported a 10-year-old U.S. citizen recovering
from brain cancer after detaining her family on their way to a medical checkup.
• Sent two U.S. citizens, including a
four-year-old boy with Stage 4 cancer, on a deportation flight to Honduras with
their mother.
• Detained 19-year-old U.S. citizen Jose
Hermosillo for 10 days over a disputed claim that he had entered the country
illegally.
• Said that the administration can’t give everyone
it wants to deport a trial because that would take “without exaggeration, 200
years.”
Firing
officials
• Fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and
two other top military officials late on a Friday in an unusual move.
• Fired the two Democratic commissioners on the
Federal Trade Commission in what appeared to be a violation of a 1935 Supreme
Court decision.
• Won an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court to
stop a lower court ruling that restored the two FTC commissioners to their jobs
while their case proceeds.
• Fired the director of the National Security Agency and
other top national security officials after a meeting with far-right activist
Laura Loomer.
• Fired a pardon attorney who said she believes
she was ousted because she refused to restore Mel Gibson’s right to carry a
gun.
• Moved to fire the Democratic chairwoman of the
Federal Election Commission, who said her firing was invalid and refused to
step down.
• Threatened to oust Federal Reserve Chair Jerome
Powell, leading to a spike in gold prices and a slide in the
dollar.
• Signed a sweeping executive order to try to
bring independent agencies under White House control based on a fringe legal
theory.
Targeting
law firms
• Stripped security clearances from the law firm
Covington & Burling for its work with former special counsel Jack Smith.
• Stripped security clearances from Paul Weiss for
hiring a lawyer who worked on the Manhattan district attorney’s case against
Trump.
• Stripped security clearances from Perkins Coie
for its ties to the Steele dossier during the 2016 election.
• Stripped security clearances from WilmerHale for
hiring Robert Mueller and a top aide.
• Stripped security clearances from Jenner &
Block for hiring a lawyer who worked on the Mueller investigation.
• Stripped security clearances from Susman
Godfrey, which represented a voting machine company that sued Fox News.
• Faced lawsuits from four of the law firms over
the suspension of their security clearances.
• Announced deals with nine law firms to avoid
similar sanctions in exchange for providing nearly $1 billion worth of pro bono
legal services to the administration.
Targeting
universities
• Canceled $400 million of funding to Columbia
University unless it overhauled admissions and ceded control of several
academic departments.
• Has not, to date, restored funding to Columbia,
despite the university agreeing to nearly all of the demands.
• Canceled $2.2 billion to Harvard University to
punish it for refusing to comply with a similar list of demands.
• Suspended $175 million in funding to the
University of Pennsylvania for allowing a transgender swimmer to compete.
• Notified Brown, Cornell, Northwestern and Princeton of
cuts or potential cuts to hundreds of millions in funding.
• Faced a lawsuit from Harvard that argued the
frozen grants violate the college’s First Amendment rights.
• Was criticized in a letter signed by 150
university and college presidents for attempting to use funding to influence
their policies.
Targeting
the media
• Put 1,300 staffers at the Voice of America on
paid leave amid plans to shutter the news agency, which was set up during World
War II.
• Barred The Associated Press indefinitely from
the Oval Office and Air Force One for continuing to use the name “Gulf of
Mexico” to refer to the Gulf of Mexico.
• Posted on the Federal Communications Commission website
raw footage and transcripts of the CBS interview with Kamala Harris over which
Trump sued.
• Opened an investigation into San Francisco radio
station KCBS for its coverage of immigration enforcement actions.
• Took control of a White House press pool that
has been run independently by journalists for more than a century.
• Briefly allowed a Russian state media reporter into
the Oval Office to cover a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy.
• Invited far-right podcaster Tim Pool, who has allegedly
received money from Russia, to a White House press conference.
• Argued in a speech to the Department of Justice
that reporting by independent news outlets is biased and should be “illegal.”
Issuing
pardons
• Granted sweeping pardons and commutations to
more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the
Capitol.
• Broadened Jan. 6 pardons to include charges that
stemmed from police searches while investigating those cases.
• Supported restitution payments for Jan. 6
defendants whose convictions were wiped out.
• Launched a review of federal prosecutors’ use of
an obstruction of justice charge against some Jan. 6 defendants that the
Supreme Court said was used too broadly.
• Claimed that pardons of House Jan. 6 committee
members and some others by then-President Joe Biden were now “void.”
• Pardoned former Nikola Corp. CEO Trevor Milton of
federal crimes related to defrauding investors, after he made significant
political donations to Trump and his allies.
• Pardoned the four founders of cryptocurrency
exchange BitMEX and the corporation itself of money laundering charges.
• Granted clemency to Jason Galanis and Devon
Archer, who had given unfavorable testimony about Hunter Biden.
Changing
public health policy with RFK Jr.
• Announced a plan to give the food industry two
years to phase out all artificial dyes.
• Said (by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert
Kennedy Jr.) at a press conference that people with autism will “never hold a
job” or “go out on a date.”
• Began amassing private medical records of people
with autism from government and private sources.
• Claimed, without evidence, that getting a “wild
infection” of measles boosts the immune system, in an interview with Kennedy.
• Cut thousands of scientists and public health
staffers amid a dramatic restructuring of the Department of Health and Human
Services.
• Was criticized for inconsistent messaging about
vaccines in interviews and public appearances.
• Promoted Steak ‘n Shake beef tallow-cooked fries in
an interview with Kennedy.
And
finally...
• Accidentally added a journalist to a group chat
of top officials on Signal discussing war plans in Yemen. (National security
adviser Mike Waltz.)
• Criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to
his face in a shockingly contentious White House meeting.
• Sent Vice President JD Vance to Greenland, where he
argued that Denmark has not “done a good job.”
• Loosened restrictions on water flow for
showerheads after Trump complained they make it hard to wash his “beautiful
hair.”
• Said the U.S. should “take over the Gaza Strip,” perhaps
through military action, and redevelop it as the “riviera of the Middle
East.”
• Blamed, without evidence, Federal Aviation
Administration efforts to hire a more diverse staff for an air crash near
Washington, D.C.
• Proposed a “gold card” visa that would allow
people to become lawful permanent residents for $5 million.
• Posted an illustration of Trump wearing a crown
on social media with the words “LONG LIVE THE KING!”
• Repeatedly floated the idea of running for
an unconstitutional third presidential term in 2028.
......
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
My 30 year career as an Australian Trade Commissioner gave me an interest in matters related to international trade. I subscribe to Bloomberg's excellent daily newsletter "Supply Lines".
Here are some of the interesting graphs in the Bloomberg newsletter during April 2025; they are self-explanatory.
Bloomberg has indicated that this newsletter would only be available to paid subscribers (US$299 pa) from 10 May 2025. When free access stops I will, regretably, no longer include this section in my blog. Pity, as it's been an excellent source of information on international trade develpoments.
In the meantime, herewith the latest (and probably the last) offering, for April 2025.
Sample Questions
for Halcyon Nirimba Trivia, 7pm on Monday 7 April 2025
|
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Question |
Answer |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Who is the Canadian
Prime Minister? |
Mark Carney. |
|
|
When was the
first iPhone introduced? |
2007. |
|
|
Which SE Asian
country was the first to legalise same sex marriage recently? |
Thailand |
|
|
Who is the
current Prime Minister of NZ? |
Christopher
Luxon. |
|
|
Victoria
is larger in area than New Zealand – True or False? |
False. NZ
263,000 sq km; Victoria 227,000 sq km.. |
|
|
What is the current population of Singapore? 5 – 6 – 7M? |
6M. |
|
|
Singapore is bigger in area than the Sunshine Coast Regional Council: True or False? |
False. Singapore 750 sqkm; Sunshine Coast Regional Council 3,126 sq km. |
|
|
What is the estimated population of Indonesia? 250 – 260 – 270 – 280M? |
280 million |
|
|
How far is Taiwan from the Chinese mainland? 100. 130, 160, 190 km? |
130km. |
|
|
T/F Taiwan is
larger in area than Tasmania. True or False? |
False. Taiwan
36K sq km; Tassie 68K sq km. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
What is the
cost of an adult 10 year validity Australian passport? |
$412 (allegedly
the most expensive in the world). |
|
|
More
Aussies died in WW2 than in WW1: True or False? |
False. (WW2
39,657 WW1 61,678) |
|
|
When was the current Parliament House opened in Canberra? |
1988 |
|
|
In the last
Parliament, how many seats were there in the Australian House of
Representatives? How many in the Senate? (one point each = 2) |
HoR 151. Senate 76. |
|
|
Which is
Peter Dutton’s electorate? When did he enter Parliament? How old is he? |
Dickson
(northern suburbs of Brisbane). 2001. 54 years. |
|
|
Out of the
total of 93 seats in the current Qld State Parliament, how many are held by the
LNP? |
52 |
|
|
Qld has
won more State of Origin series than NSW. True or False? |
True: Qld 24,
NSW 17. |
|
|
Who played
most State of Origin games for Qld? |
Cameron Smith
(with 42). |
|
|
In which year
did Cliff Young win the first Sydney to Melbourne ultramarathon? How old was
he then? How far was the race? |
1983. 61 years old.
875km. |
|
|
How many
Justices are there on the Australian High Court? What is the mandatory
retirement age for Justices of the Australian High Court? (one point each = 2) |
Seven . 70 years. |
|
|
In which year
was Google Maps launched? |
Google Maps
was launched in 2005. |
|
|
Who is the
most successful Olympian ever? |
American
swimmer Michael Phelps has 28 medals. |
|
|
Who is
Australia’s most successful Olympian? |
Swimmer Emma
McKeon has 14 Olympic medals. |
|
|
In which year was the Soviet Union dissolved/ceased to exist? |
1991. |
|
|
What is the
length of the earth’s circumference (measured around the equator)? |
40, 075 km
(equator) |
That's it for this post.
