#Australian Capital Territory

[hoiist]

Know an Australian? Send this too them! Know someone who's spent time in Australia and has an opinion? Send this to them too! We can start a fight

[aceoffangirls]

YAYYYY (she said sarcastically)

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Mangrove tree seedling - Port Kembla, New South Wales

Photo credit: Alex Pike, Australian Capital Territory

[haveyoubeentothiscity]

Population: 456,692

The submitter commented, “Apparently a fair amount of non Aussies think that Sydney is the capital of Australia when it's actually Canberra even though Canberra can fit into Sydney more than 12 times over.”

[drhoz]

2093 - Camponotus consobrinus - Banded Sugar Ant

I saw quite a few ant species on te Australian leg of my holiday, and this species, common enough to be a household pest in parts of the Eastern states, was the most common.

Originally described as Formica consobrinus in 1842. 'consobrinus' means cousin, referring to the resemblance the species has to C. herculeanus, although that species in from northern Eurasia and North America. Its actual relatives are in the nigriceps species group, which also includes C. clarior, C. dryandrae, C. eastwoodi, C. loweryi, C. longideclivis, C. pallidiceps and C. prostans and of course nigriceps itself, which replaces consobrinus as you move west into drier areas.

This species dominates the nocturnal ant community, and has a constant war going with the mostly diurnal meat ants (Iridomyrmex). Both species will block up the nest entrances of the other, and when daily rounds of sabotage aren't enough may invade the other nest and attempt to exterminate their rivals.

Sugar is a major part of their diet, and to bring other workers to a new food source they often run in tandem, physically carry one of their sisters, or leave a pheremone trail.

Nests may be found in holes in wood, among the roots of plants, insides the twigs of trees and shrubs, between rocks or in the soil, and under paving stones.

Mt. Ainsley, ACT

[slidesworthseeing]

Found stereo slide: the new Australian Capital Territory Law Courts building, Canberra, Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country, circa February 1964. Photo by Macdonald S Reed

[canberramaidan]

Canberra, Australia: Lake Burley Griffin and Black Mountain.

[twofoursixohjuan]

yes I'm counting territories under 'states' for the purposes of starting a bigger brawl

not restricted to Australians only. all reasons valid

[inatungulates]

Bryde’s whale “Balaenoptera” brydei

Observed by brettd75, CC BY-NC

[axvoter]

Blatantly Partisan Party Review IX (federal 2022): David Pocock

Running where: ACT

Prior reviews: None, this is a new party

Yes, I mean this is a new party. To have a name appear above the line on Senate ballots, you must be a registered party (hence no-party-no-more Nick Xenophon getting the unlabelled Group O in SA). Normally, individuals running on a “don’t ya know me and what I stand for?” platform tack on something so that they are the Jacqui Lambie Network or the Rex Patrick Team or Katter’s Australian Party. David Pocock, however, has had an inspired moment and simply registered his party’s name as his personal name. This isn’t the David Pocock Group, Network, or Team. This is David Pocock.

I should explain what’s going on in the ACT for those unfamiliar. The territory leans strongly left: it has had a Labor territorial government since 2001, currently in coalition with the Greens (and the Liberals have only held power for approx. 8 years since the first territorial election in 1989). At federal level, however, it only elects two senators, each requiring a quota of 33.3%, so (since no party is ever getting 66.6%), it always elects one Labor and one Liberal. This means that the ACT’s senate representation is often seen to not really reflect Canberrans’ views. Labor always gets a quota, but sometimes the Liberals drop below it—usually so slightly that they get over the line with just a handful of preferences, but this has led some others to sense opportunity. The Greens have polled as high as 22.9% (2010) but they have not drawn enough of that vote from former Liberal voters to leap into the second seat. This year we have two high profile independent campaigns hoping they might succeed instead: Kim Rubenstein (see forthcoming review of Kim for Canberra) and David Pocock.

If you're a rugby union fan, you already know Pocock from his playing days, during which he captained the Wallabies. He had strong and outspoken political views as a player, and now he's trying to go a step further and win office. Pocock has been involved in conservation activities for about as long as he’s been in the public eye. His commitment is such that he was arrested in 2014 for his role in a non-violent protest against coal mining expansion in northern NSW.

Pocock declared his candidacy for the ACT last year and is running hard with a focus on climate policy and integrity. These two issues form the core of his platform. Moreover, he is committed to a First Nations Voice to Parliament (the first step in the Uluru Statement’s call for Voice, Treaty, Truth) and to territorial rights and equality across Australian society.

If I have a critique, it is that his enviro policy is a bit too obsessed with electrification for electrification’s sake. It needs more attention to the source of the electricity (is it renewable?) and electric cars have so many non-tailpipe-related environmental issues that Pocock really needs clearer policies to expand and improve active and public transport.

As I browsed Pocock’s policies, I found myself wondering why he is not simply running for the Greens. I suspect it is that he thinks he has a better chance of peeling off socially-liberal, climate-conscious Liberal voters this way. It appears, too, that he is uninterested in being subject to party discipline and wants independence beyond parroting a party line. Given that one of the main reasons I’ve never gone into politics is because I prize my own independence and would struggle to toe a party line on all occasions, I respect that.

It seems his policies and principles suggest he would make reasonable independent judgements on issues that come before parliament. I find little objectionable in his platform, which seeks greater equality and future opportunities. And, look, you know someone is on the right path when I—a New Zealander whose first and firmest sporting love is the All Blacks—am prepared to talk positively about a man who scored a try against us in a Rugby World Cup grand final (we won, though).

My recommendation: Give David Pocock a good preference.

(Indeed, if you are tossing between voting 1 Greens or Pocock, there are some strategic implications to consider in terms of who is more likely to get ahead of the Liberals if there is a tight count)

Website: https://www.davidpocock.com.au/

[aussie-sclerophyll]

Tidbinbilla echoes with the stories of an ancient past and the voices of today.

[aceoffangirls]

I keep thinking about how uncreative the Aussie states and territories are named. Like

There is already a place called Wales so we can't name it that. Well it’s a new land and it’s south let’s call it: New South Wales

We should name something after the Queen so let’s call this part : Victoria

I think we need more named after the Queen so let’s call this part: Queensland

This part is north and it’s a territory so let’s call this part the: Northern Territory

This part is south so let’s call it: South Australia

This part is in the west so let’s call it: Western Australia

Tasmania was just named after its European discoverer (you're not on the mainland so)

And finally let’s name the Capital of Australia: Australian Capital Territory

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Australasian Robins: "Female Flame"

Bird: Flame Robin, Bicentennial Trail to Red Rock Gorge, Canberra, ACT

By Reeni Martinez

BirdLife Australia Photography Awards

[commonpeople2359]

Download free posters and social media images from the following link:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-9i-rB4kbMzOkZIu8QzHglG39_bVU5zJ

Put them on your socials. Post them to forums. Send them to your friends. 

Print them out and paste them up around your city, neighbourhood, work, universities.

[drhoz]

#2075 - Dicranosterna sp.

Larva this time - another genus of Acacia-eating leaf beetles, and like Peltoschema, in the Paropsine subfamily. 36 described species, all endemic to Australia, which, admittedly, has a lot of Acacias.

Mt. Ainsley, ACT

[slidesworthseeing]

Found slide: The Canberra leg of the Olympic Torch relay, on its way to Melbourne, approaches the Australian Capital Territory border at Sutton, Ngunnawal and Ngambri country, 19 November 1956 (photographer unknown)