Inspirational Australian Women Quiz

Answer: Leanne Tander

Leanne Tander, wife of Garth, started competing in motorsport in 1993 with karts then progressing to Formula Ford in 1998. She started competing in V8 Supercar racing in 2001 with Garry Rogers Motorsport then moved between Improved Production racing, the Australian Production Car Championship and Australian Formula three before getting back into a V8 Supercar in 2009 for Team McGrath. The Team McGrath car was sponsored by the McGrath Foundation, an Australian foundation set up to support women suffering from breast cancer, and their families.

Leanne finished first in both the Victorian Improved Production Car Championship and New South Wales Improved Production Car Championship in 2005 and second in the Australian Drivers Championship in 2007 and 2008.

Natalie Lowndes, Deborah Bargwanna, Renee Winterbottom are all wives of Australian V8 Supercar drivers but none actually race themselves.

Answer: Netball

Playing for the Australian national netball team from 1993 until 2007, and the Sydney Swifts (Australian national competition) from 1997-2007, Liz became known as one of the best defending players in the sport world-wide. At 6' tall, Liz was an excellent Goal Keeper for both her state and national team. She captained the Australian team from February 2004 until her retirement in 2007 and at that time held the record for the most capped payer for Australian Netball, at 122 games.

Liz was named Australian Netball's Most Valuable Player 4 times (1996, 1998, 2002 and 2006) and was made a 'Member of the Order of Australia' for "for services to netball and the encouragement of women in sport and to the community through support for a range of charitable organisations".

Answer: Anna Bligh

Anna Bligh was first elected into parliament in 1995 and promoted to a ministry position in 1998 as Minister for Families, Youth and Community Care and Disability Services. Becoming Deputy Premier and Minister for Finance, State Development, Trade and Innovation in 2005 and gaining the portfolio of Treasury in 2006, Anna was nominated unopposed and became the leader of the Queensland Labor Party in 2007.
In 2009, Anna Bligh became the first female to be popularly elected to the position of Premier. The two previous female premiers became premier following the resignation of male premiers but were both defeated at the following respective state elections. Carmen Lawrence was one of these women spring-boarded to power but defeated in a Western Australian state election in the early 1990s.
Anna Bligh was named the 37th Premier of Queensland.
Meg Lees and Natasha Stott-Despoja were both leaders of the Australian Democrats.

Answer: Bindi Irwin

Bindi Irwin is an inspiration to young children and nature lovers everywhere. After seemingly inheriting her passion for nature from her parents, Steve and Terri Irwin, Bindi commits 10 percent of her wage to Wildlife Warriors, a charity founded by her family in 2002.

Voted 'Television Moment of the Year' in Australia by readers of the Australian TV Week Reader Poll in 2006, Bindi stood in front of a crowd of 5000 people and a 300 million strong worldwide television audience to read the following statement at her father's memorial service:

"My daddy was my hero - he was always there for me when I needed him. He listened to me and taught me so many things, but most of all he was fun.
I know that Daddy had an important job. He was working to change the world so everyone would love wildlife like he did. He built a hospital to help animals and he bought lots of land to give animals a safe place to live.
He took me and my brother and my mum with him all the time. We filmed together, caught crocodiles together and loved being in the bush together.
I don't want Daddy's passion to ever end. I want to help endangered wildlife just like he did.
I had the best daddy in the whole world and I will miss him every day. When I see a crocodile I will always think of him and I know that Daddy made this zoo so everyone could come and learn to love all the animals. Daddy made this place his whole life, now it's our turn to help Daddy."

Matilda Ledger is the daughter of the late Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams, Kerry Leyland is the adult daughter of the late Mike Leyland (known for the documentaries he made with his brother, Mal, in the late 70s and early 80s about outback Australia) and Virginia Tingwell is the adult daughter of late Charles 'Bud' Tingwell (a well-known Australian actor).

Answer: Jane McGrath

Jane McGrath (1966-2008) was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997 at the age of 31. Together with her husband Glenn, they established the McGrath Foundation to raise money to provide funding for breast care nurses in Australia, with the emphasis on regional and rural areas.

The McGrath Foundation has established corporate partnerships and other high-profile events to raise funds for the foundation. With cricket's 'ladies day' (day 3 of the first test match of the year) being re-named 'Jane McGrath Day' and the first ever 'pinked' V8 Supercar competing in the 2009 Bathurst 1000, the McGrath Foundation is also communicating to the public the importance of breast cancer awareness and being 'breast aware'.

Tracy Bevan, wife of cricketer Michael Bevan, is the Executive Director of the McGrath Foundation (as at 2009), Kellie Hayden (and husband Michael Hayden) are 'Friends of the McGrath Foundation', and Simone Warne was once married to Shane Warne. Michael Bevan, Michael Hayden and Shane Warne were all once great cricketers for Australia.

Answer: Natasha Stott-Despoja

Natasha Stott-Despoja (South Australia) and was a Democrats senator between 1995 and 2008. She was appointed to the Senate at the age of 25 and the youngest woman to ever become a member of the Parliament of Australia. She was elected leader of the Australian Democrats in 2001 but resigned in 2002 due a lack of support from the party's national executive. At her retirement from politics in 2008, she was the Australian Democrats' longest-serving senator.

Meg Lees was the Australian Democrats' leader prior to Natasha Stott-Despoja. Julia Gillard became the first female Australian Deputy Prime Minister in 2007, and Kate Ellis assumed office as a Member of the Australian Parliament for Adelaide in 2004.

Answer: Cathy Freeman

Melinda Gainsford-Taylor, Tamsyn Lewis and Nova Peris-Kneebone all ran with Cathy Freeman in the 4x400m relay at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, finishing 5th and setting a new Australian record of 3:23.81.

Cathy Freeman carried the hopes of a nation when she ran and won the 400m at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. She became the only second Australian Aboriginal Olympic champion (with the first being Nova Peris-Kneebone for field hockey in Atlanta).

Cathy took a break in 2001 but returned to the track in 2002 for the Commonwealth Games where she competed as a member of the 4x400m relay team, this time coming away with a gold medal.

Answer: Marathon

Kerryn McCann ran her first marathon at the age of 19, placing third at the Australian Championships. Doing well in international competition, Kerryn set a new Australian record with a time of 2:25:59 and a 5th place finish at the London Marathon in 2000. Kerryn took a break from the sport between after 2002 for the birth of her second child (and first daughter) but started training again in 2003 before competing in the Athens Olympics in 2004, placing 31st in the marathon.

In 2006, Kerryn successfully defended her Commonwealth title winning the marathon in a time of 2:30:54, at the age of 38. In 2000 she set two Australian records one each for the 5000m and the half marathon.

Kerryn died in December 2008 after a battle with breast cancer.

Answer: Megan Gale

Despite being born in Western Australia, Megan Gale has been described as 'Italy's hottest star since Sophia Loren'. Megan moved from Perth to Sydney after winning a modeling competition when she was 18. She appeared in a series of commercials for Omnitel (Vodaphone Italy) from 1999.

Megan has modeled for many Italian and Australian fashion designers and was the face of Australian department store 'David Jones' from 2001 until her retirement from catwalk modeling in 2008. Megan has also tried acting and television presenting and reporting and has been appointed as a 'National Ambassador for the Red Cross'.

Elle McPherson, Jennifer Hawkins and Gemma Ward are all Australian models who have made a huge name for themselves in Australia, both for their modeling and the fact that they have all shown that they are not just 'another pretty face'.

Answer: Fiona Wood

Fiona Wood moved to Australia in 1987 after marrying Tony Keirath, a Western Australia surgeon. She was first thrust into the public eye in 2002 after working (along with her team) to save 28 patients, flown to Royal Perth Hospital after the Bali bombings. In 2005, she was named Australian of the Year and was voted the most-trusted Australian in a Reader's Digest poll for five consecutive years (2005-2009).

Her work with burns victims also means she has been named and Australian Living Treasure.

Fiona Wood has patented her invention for spray-on skin for use on burns victims, something she developed with the help of scientist Marie Stoner. The spray-on skin was developed using the US-invented technology of cultured skin, a process whereby sheets of skin are grown and placed on a victim's wounds. The extra benefit of using the spray-on skin (as opposed to using skin sheets) is the decreased scarring and increased strength of the skin after healing.

Hanna Sexton was the first female surgeon in Melbourne (late 1890s) and Laura Fowler was the first female surgeon Adelaide (mid-1890s). Fiona Stanley is well known for her work in public health and her research into maternal and child health (late 1990s - early 2000s).