Famous Queenslanders Trivia Quiz

Answer: Joh Bjelke-Petersen

Johannes Bjelke-Petersen was born in 1911 in Dannevirk, New Zealand. His family moved to Australia in 1913. He was elected to State Parliament in 1946 and was the Premier of Queensland from 1968 to 1987. He was knighted by the Queen in 1984 for 'services to commerce and finance'. A controversial figure, he was noted for his unorthodox, and some would argue, dubious, ways of getting things done. His political career essentially unravelled as a result of the Fitzgerald Enquiry into "Illegal Activities and Police Misconduct". He faced trial in 1991 on a charge of committing perjury at the enquiry, but the trial jury was deadlocked and failed to reach a unanimous verdict.

Famed for his colourful turns of phrase, Sir Joh referred to press conferences as "Feeding the chooks", and when asked to explain issues that were of concern to others, he would frequently reply "Don't you worry about that", a phrase which in Queensland, has become metaphoric for saying "I don't intend to tell you, lest you find out!"

Sir Joh was once quoted as saying "The greatest thing that could happen to the state and the nation is when we get rid of all the media. Then we could live in peace and tranquillity, and no one would know anything." Much as this author has issues with the conduct of the media, I have much greater issues with politicians who want them to know nothing!

Sir Joh died in April 2005, aged 94.

Of the other choices, Jorn Utzon was the Danish architect who designed the Sydney Opera House. Michael Laudrup is a Danish footballer who has played for Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid. He represented Denmark at two World Cup finals and three European Championship finals (winning in 1992). Anton Sorensen was my Danish-born grandfather on my mother's side. He died in 1974.

Answer: Pat Rafter

Patrick Rafter was born in Mt Isa on 28 December 1972. He won the U.S. Open in two consecutive years, 1997 and 1998.

Since ceasing the professional tennis circuit he appeared in a number of television commercials, the most notable being for milk, and Bonds' "Really comfy undies".

"Rocket" Rod Laver did win the Open twice, in 1962 and 1969. He is also a famous Queenslander. However, he was born in Rockhampton. John Newcombe also won the Open twice (in 1967 and 1973), but was born in Sydney, New South Wales. Ken Rosewall was also born in Sydney, and won the Open twice, in 1956 and 1970.

Answer: Geoffrey Rush

Geoffrey Rush was born in the garden city of Toowoomba on 6 July 1951. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1996, for his performance in "Shine". The movie was about the life of pianist David Helfgott, who was institutionalised after suffering mental breakdowns.

Answer: Diane Cilento

Diane Cilento (pronounced Dee-arn Chill-ento) was born in October 1933, in Mooloolaba, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. She was married to Sean Connery from 1962 until their divorce in 1973.

Diane was an actress of some note, being nominated for an Academy Award for her role in 1963's "Tom Jones".

Answer: Mike Chapman

Born in Queensland in 1947, Mike Chapman found success both as a record producer and songwriter. His notable production credits includes Blondie's "Parallel Lines" and The Knack's "Get The Knack".

Together with Nicky Chinn, he co-wrote "Can The Can", "48 Crash", "Daytona Demon", "The Wild One" & "Devil Gate Drive" (Suzi Quatro), "Wig Wam Bam", "Blockbuster", "Hell Raiser", "Ballroom Blitz" & "Teenage Rampage" (The Sweet), "Simply The Best" (Tina Turner), "Don't Play Your Rock 'N Roll To Me", "Lay Back In The Arms Of Someone" & "Living Next Door To Alice" (Smokie), "Love Is A Battlefield" (Pat Benatar), "Kiss You All Over" (Exile), "Mickey" (Toni Basil) and "Lay Your Love On Me" & "Some Girls" (Racey).

The Chinn-Chapman hit-writing factory is surpassed only by Stock-Aitken-Waterman, clearly in output, but I suggest questionably in overall quality!

Reading up on Chapman suggests that he is a difficult person to work with. Deborah Harry of Blondie and Doug Fieger (The Knack) are both quoted with less than charitable statements regarding his methods.

Answer: Anne Geddes

Finding biographical information on Anne Geddes was a challenge. Anne was born in Queensland in 1956 but the date and place remains elusive. Her photographic representations of the joy of mother and/or child have won her many awards and worldwide kudos. Typically, her photos depict children in sleepy poses dressed as animals, flowers or fairies.

Her books and calendars have been published in over fifty countries. Anne Geddes is now a resident of New Zealand.

Susie O'Neill, Tracey Wickham and Leisel Jones are all swimmers who have represented Australia at Olympic and Commonwealth Games level. They are also famous Queenslanders, however, that's where their relationship to Anne Geddes ends!

Answer: Bernard O'Reilly

Alfonso Bernard O'Reilly was born on 3 September 1903 at Hartley, New South Wales. His family moved to Brisbane when he was in his early teens, and in 1917 he joined his older brothers at their dairy farming enterprise in the MacPherson Ranges, near the Queensland-New South Wales border.

In the mid 1920's the family established a guest house to cater for the growing number of visitors to Lamington National Park.

On 19 February 1937 a Stinson airliner did not arrive in Sydney as scheduled after leaving Brisbane during a cyclone. With the aircraft still unfound after a week, O'Reilly searched the McPherson Ranges based on a combination of his expert knowledge of the area, coupled with statements of locals who had seen or heard the aircraft fly overhead. Two days later he found two survivors. Four on board had died when the aircraft had crashed into dense rainforest.

Author: As a small boy in the late 60's and early 70's, my family used to spend holidays at O'Reilly's Guest House. We were friends of the O'Reilly's (they had a son named Shane, who was my age, and I remember we would sometimes play together. As a consequence I looked forward to my holidays there). The guest house was quite small and the O'Reilly's made a point of keeping everything as much of a family atmosphere as they could.

I recall that once a week, they would show slides and Bernard O'Reilly would recall the story of how he had located the two survivors of the Stinson crash. He told the story with such clarity, thirty years later, I can still picture him doing so in my mind. I once visited his house and recall seeing his framed letter of appreciation from (I think) King George the 6th.

To this day, his exploits remain largely unknown to many Queenslanders (and certainly most Australians). In my opinion though, he was a true hero and worthy of inclusion on any list as a famous Queenslander. Bernard O'Reilly died in 1975.

The other choices in this quiz are John Proud and Joe Binstead, the two survivors who O'Reilly rescued. The other survivor, James Westray, had set out for help, but ultimately died from injuries sustained when he had fallen, trying to descend a waterfall.

Answer: Greg Norman

Born on 10 February 1955, Gregory John Norman is unfairly remembered for the golf tournaments he spectacularly lost, rather than those he triumphantly won. Norman won The Open Championship twice, in 1986 and 1993, but his catalog of near misses makes for more impressive reading.

He lost the PGA Championship in 1986 after Bob Tway holed a miracle bunker shot. He lost The Masters the year after in a playoff with Larry Mize who sunk a 45 yard chip. Moreover, Norman cemented a reputation for the 'Sunday Slump', where he would take a comfortable lead into the last days' play, only to find new and disappointing ways to surrender his advantage.

A series of injuries and operations, together with his participation in his many business interests, have severly limited his appearances in tournaments in recent years. Dubbed "The Great White Shark", his best years are behind him, and what many felt for so long was just around the corner, never materialised.

Of the other choices, Ian Baker-Finch was born in Nambour, Queensland, in October 1960. Despite having also won The Open Championship (in 1991), Baker-Finch is also somewhat of a golfing tragic, suffering a devastating loss of form and confidence. In 1995 and 1996, he participated in 29 tournaments, not making the cut in any of them. His ultimate implosion came in The Open Championship of 1997 where he shot 92 in the first round. He withdrew and never played another tournament.

Craig Parry and Robert Allenby aren't Queenslanders! What are they doing here? They are, however, well known Australian golfers. As far as I am aware, neither Allenby, Baker-Finch or Parry lie awake at night having bad dreams about Tway and Mize!

Answer: Qantas

I hope you didn't try putting a 'U' somewhere in there! Qantas stands for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited". Originally operating out of Winton in Western Queensland, the company began operations in the early 1920s. Very soon after, the base shifted to nearby Longreach. Some other notable facts about Qantas include:

On 29th December 1974, Qantas created a world record for carrying the most passengers on an aircraft when it evacuated 673 people on a Boeing 747 flight from Darwin. The city had been demolished by Tropical Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Eve. In March 1979, Qantas sold it's last Boeing 707 and for a period of time thereafter were the world's only all-Boeing 747 fleet.

In August 1989 the original Qantas 747-400, "City of Canberra", landed in Sydney after a non-stop flight from London. The 18,001km flight represented the longest non-stop commercial flight on record. The "Flying Kangaroo" that appears on the tailfin of Qantas aircraft was orginally adapted from the Australian one penny coin.

In the 1988 movie "Rain Man", it is stated that Qantas has never had a fatal crash. This is not entirely accurate. The fact is that Qantas has never had a single fatality on any of its jet aircraft. As, an aside, it is said that Qantas is the only airline not to cut that scene from the movie before showing it to passengers.

Answer: Steve Irwin

Born Stephen Robert Irwin in Essendon, Victoria, on 22 February 1962, the Crocodile Hunter, as he became known, was arguably the world's best-known Queenslander.

Irwin's family moved to Queensland in 1970. His parents started Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park at Beerwah. Years later, Irwin took the park over and changed the name to "Australia Zoo".

A tireless proponent of wildlife rescue, Irwin funnelled the profits of his television programs, Australia Zoo and the advertising appearances for the Australian Government's Quarantine Service into the animal conservation fund he created, "Wildlife Warriors".

On 4 September 2006, Irwin was pierced in the chest by a stingray spine at the Great Barrier Reef, during a break whilst filming a documentary, ironically entitled "The Ocean's Deadliest".

As for the other choices, they were all Queenslanders, but died 'normally'. Leonard Teale, a highly respected television and stage actor who was also well known for his recital of the poem "The Man From Snowy River" died in 1994. Russ Hinze, the portly (make that morbidly obese) Queensland Parliamentarian, affectionately known as the "Minister for Everything" died in 1991. Sir Joh, as outlined in Question 1 of this quiz, passed away in 2005.