World Heritage Sites of Australia Quiz

Answer: Pay dispute with the New South Wales government

In 1955, the New South Wales government under Premier Joseph Cahill held an international design competition for a dedicated opera house. Jørn Utzon's innovative design was the winner out of 233 entries and construction began in 1958. Computers were used in designing the shape of the striking parabolic shells that dominate the structure, and it was decided that the shells would be created as sections from a sphere.

The cost and time to completion of the project far overran the original 1957 estimates, which were that the structure would cost AU$7 million and the completion date was supposed to be January 26 (Australia Day), 1963.

The actual final cost was $102 million, and it was not completed until 1973! In 1965, New South Wales had a change of government and the new Premier Robert Askin was a vocal critic of the project, and his new Minister for Public Works, Davis Hughes, would prove to be a major thorn in Utzon's side. Utzon was owed more than $100,000 in fees, yet Hughes withheld funding from him. Utzon made several threats to resign, which Hughes gladly accepted. Utzon left Australia and construction was completed under the supervision of an architect named Peter Hall.

In a final insult, Utzon was not even invited to the opening ceremony officiated by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 1973 and his name was not even mentioned. Despite this, his relationship with the management of Sydney Opera House seems to have improved in later years, as in 1999 he agreed to develop a set of "Design Principles" that would act as a permanent reference to guide all future changes to the building.

Answer: Dingoes can roam freely over 99.8% of the Island.

Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island and is a major tourist destination. Although dingoes are potentially dangerous wild animals, they are protected by law as native animals and are permitted access to nearly all of the island apart from a few very small areas that have dingo-deterrent fences and grids set up by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Authority for the protection of both humans and dingoes.

These fences were installed in areas with a history of high-risk interactions between human and dingoes attracted to the easy availability of food. All visitors to the island are targeted with 'Be dingo-safe!' information provided on signs, brochures, and other media.

There is no evidence of the dingo population dying out and they are not actively culled, although particular high-risk individuals may be euthanised.

Answer: Female factory

Although female factory might sound like a crazy place where women are manufactured like robots, it was actually a prison and workhouse for women, who were required to work long hours in unpleasant conditions. Over half of the women convicts transported to Australia went to Tasmania, then known as Van Diemen's Land, with most of them going to Cascades Female Factory.

The prison was located on the site of a former distillery and operated from 1828 to 1856. In the nineteenth century, it was widely believed that work was redemptive and could be used to reintegrate women convicts into respectable society. Women sent to the prison were divided into three classes, based on their previous conduct and prospects for rehabilitation, and were strictly segregated. Women in each class generally did different work, with those in the lowest class given the more menial labours, such as laundering The site was located near a damp swamp, and became notorious for overcrowding, disease, and high birth and mortality rates. Today it is a museum and tourist attraction, and became a UNESCO world heritage site in 2010 because of its historic significance in the history of convict transportation in Australia.

Answer: Alligator Rivers

Kakadu National Park is located in Arnhem Land in a region called Alligator Rivers, which was so-named by the English explorer Phillip Parker King, who mistook the native crocodiles for alligators, which are not found in Australia. The park covers almost 20,000 square kilometres, making it the largest national park in Australia.

It is a dual World Heritage-listed site for both its natural and cultural value, as it is one of the richest biological regions in Australia and has been continuously occupied by Aboriginal people for at least 40,000 years. Visitors are drawn to the park for both its diverse wildlife (including the crocodiles) and its cultural significance.

For example, it contains some of the best examples of Aboriginal rock art in Australia.

It was inscribed by UNESCO in 1981. The park is managed jointly by traditional Aboriginal owners and the Director of National Parks. Ubirr contains art that depicts certain creation ancestors as well as animals from the area, including the thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger), which has been extinct on mainland Australia for 2000 years.

The rock formations there have been painted on for at least 40,000 years, and most of the paintings that currently exist were created about 2000 years ago, some of which have been repainted during that period, right up to modern times.

Answer: World's oldest known open cave system

The Jenolan Caves are part of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Greater Blue Mountains Area that was inscribed in 2000. Clay in the caves has been estimated to be approximately 340 million years old and marine fossils dating from the Silurian period can be found there.

The caves are a popular tourist attraction and are the most visited limestone caves in Australia. Eleven illuminated show caves are open to paying visitors, although other parts of the caves are still unexplored. The caves follow the course of a subterranean river, with more than 40 kilometres of passages and over 300 entrances.

Answer: False

Transportation to the island was a secondary punishment for convicts who had re-offended on the mainland. Although the island itself is pleasant enough and had rich farmland, conditions for convicts were brutal in the extreme. Originally uninhabited when the British arrived, a small farming colony was set up in 1788 and subsequently abandoned in 1804 because of the remoteness of the island.

The colony was resettled in 1824 when it was decided that the island's remoteness would work in its favour as a penal colony. Convicts were forced to work from sunrise to sunset, lived in cramped and unsanitary conditions, and were only provided one meal every 48 hours. Prisoners were commonly flogged for petty offences. Unsurprisingly, given the harsh conditions, uprisings were common and were brutally suppressed.

However, a report to the British Parliament in 1847 by a Catholic bishop about the colony's appalling conditions eventually led to its closure, and the settlement was wound down between 1847 and 1855. Today, the buildings in the historic area are maintained because of their cultural significance to Australia and were added to UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2010.

The remaining buildings consist of the Government House, which is one of the earliest and most intact remaining government house buildings in Australia, as well as military barracks, the Commissariat Store, and elegant Quality Row houses that provided quarters for military and civil officers.

Answer: Yes

The Royal Exhibition Building was designed by the architect Joseph Reed. Its eclectic design was inspired by many sources including Byzantine, Romanesque, Lombardic and Italian Renaissance styles. As well as hosting the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880 (the eighth World's fair), it was also the venue for the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition in 1888, which celebrated a century of European settlement in Australia.

The opening of the first Parliament of Australia on 9 May 1901 was also held there.

In subsequent decades, the condition of the building began to deteriorate, and there was serious talk of demolishing it for replacement by office blocks. Melbourne City Council voted against this in 1948, and it was one of the venues for the 1956 Summer Olympics. Beginning in the 1980s, the building underwent extensive renovations, for example, most of the timber staircases have been replaced, while attempting to remain true to the original design.

It was the first building in Australia to be awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 2004 because of its significance as one of the last remaining major 19th-century exhibition buildings in the world.

The building is still used as a commercial exhibition venue, hosting many events on a regular basis. Additionally, many local schools and universities use it as an exam hall.

Answer: Aquaculture

Located in the traditional Country of the Gunditjmara people in what is now Victoria, natural lava flows were used to connect three components of a complex system of aquaculture based on deliberate redirection, modification and management of waterways and wetlands.

The system was created and maintained over a period of 6600 years using channels, weirs, and dams to manage water flows to systematically trap, store, and harvest short-finned eels. Present-day Gunditjmara people maintain traditional cultural knowledge and practices associated with the site.

In 2007, the native title rights of the Gunditjmara people were recognised by the Australian Federal Court because of their ongoing connection with the land. The site became a UNESCO world heritage site in 2019 because of its cultural significance.

Answer: Oldest surviving public building in Australia

Although Parramatta is a major metropolitan area today, the house was constructed to be the "country" residence of the Governor of New South Wales in 1799, who decided to relocate from their previous residence in the heart of Sydney because of crime and unsanitary conditions. The house served as the residence of ten governors from 1800 to 1847. Today the house is located on grounds of 85 hectares that contain several historic buildings in addition to the house itself, relics of an old observatory, historic plantings, and archaeological sites such as former roads, convict huts, and stables. The house is open to visitors and became a UNESCO world heritage site in 2010 because of its historically significant association with convict transportation.

Parramatta is quite far inland from the site of the first European settlement in Australia, which was in Sydney. Captain James Cook was buried at sea by the British Navy. There were never any treaties between the British Government and any Australian Aboriginal tribe.

Answer: 1991

Unlike the east coast of Australia, the Swan River Colony in what is now Fremantle, Western Australia, was established as a "free settlement" rather than a penal colony. However, due to demand for cheap labour, the colony agreed to accept some convicts from Britain.

These arrived in 1850 and were employed in the building of the prison, as the existing gaol was too small, and convicts were ready to be housed in the new prison by 1855. Eventually, the prison began being used for locally sentenced prisoners in addition to transported convicts.

After transportation of convicts ceased in 1868, it was used exclusively for local prisoners. A women's wing was set up for female prisoners in 1887. Misbehaving prisoners could be flogged - a practice that continued until 1943 - although staff were often reluctant to inflict this punishment and it was sometimes impossible to find any willing to do it.

The prison contained a gallows room that was the only lawful place of execution in Western Australia between 1888 and 1984.

The first hanging was performed there in 1889 for murder, and serial killer Eric Edgar Cooke was the last person to be hanged there in 1964. The state government decided to decommission the site in 1983, although it was not closed until 1991. After its closure as a prison, it was decided that the existing buildings would be reused for other more benign purposes. For example, wedding services could be held in the chapels. Such a romantic venue! The site became a tourist attraction, and a hostel for short-stay accommodation opened in the Women's Prison in 2015. The site became a UNESCO world heritage site in 2010 because of its historic importance in Australia's history of convict transportation.