Australia is the only island continent on the planet which means that changes caused by planet-warming pollution - warmer seas which can drive stronger storms and more acidic oceans which wreak havoc on the food chain - are even more deadly here.

I love food all types of food. I love Korean food Japanese Italian French. In Australia we don't have a distinctive Australian food so we have food from everywhere all around the world. We're very multicultural so we grew up with lots of different types of food.

I think Australian food is probably some of the best in the world.

In Australia they set up a special fund to kick films off. It was quite an enlightened sort of move. You could go to this government bureau with scripts and and get finance for films.

Now both my films have been number one at the Australian box office and it took about two years just to get the finance for this film so if it's hard for me then God help everyone else.

In Australia there is a very famous show called 'Home and Away.' I was cast on that at 15. The day I started filming my life changed.

My parents were drawn to the idea that there was space and opportunity in Australia. For the meagre sum of £10 you could sail your entire family out to Australia so that's what my father chose to do.

While I was trying to save money to go to the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Australia I ended up getting all of this experience which meant that by the time I had enough money in the bank to go to school I didn't really need to go to school anymore.

These are important reforms. Infrastructure education health hospitals closing the gap with indigenous Australians. Also the Apology to the first Australians. As Prime Minister of the country I am proud of each and every one of these achievements.

Most Indians go into education. Their parents just push them into education like parents in Australia push them into sports.

Well my thoughts about California are kind of mythological. To me as well as being a real place it's a place where people go to find something - to find happiness or to realize their dreams. So it has that kind of quality of heroism and heartache and Australia has that as well.

I didn't really get into golf until I was about 14. My mom and dad were taking lessons from a pro an hour and a half from our farm in Cohuna Australia. When they got home I'd ask my mom to explain everything they learned - drills and all.

I wasn't aware of my dad being an actor when I was young. I remember there was an Australian children's entertainer on television called Ralph Harris and when I'd say my father was an actor kids would say you know 'oh is he Ralph Harris?' And I had to say no and then they would lose interest.

But although Australia was also involved in the Vietnam conflict I can remember my dad telling us that if we were in Australia we wouldn't be drafted until we were 20.

Australia is a nation of compassion. Courage and compassion. And the third of these great values: resilience.

To me anyone with an Australian accent wielding a tennis racket is cool.

Australia is so cool that it's hard to even know where to start describing it. The beaches are beautiful so is the weather. Not too crowded. Great food great music really nice people. It must be a lot like Los Angeles was many years ago.

I love having my birthday at Australia Zoo.

I want to work with kids and help develop them show them the right way the right morals and attitude into how to become a better footballer. Australia has many different cultures but I'd like to bring in the indigenous style bring their competitiveness athleticism and raw ability into the frame.

With just about every player in Australia his whole goal and ambition is to play for Australia. That's why they're playing first class cricket. It's just a different attitude.

I went to England in the '70s and I was in my early 20s. There was still a residue of that era of being an underclass or colonial. I assume it must have been a more aggressive and prominent attitude 40 years before that because Australia internationally wasn't regarded as having much cultural value. We were a country full of sheep and convicts.

Americans are the most generous country on the planet. I've worked in Europe I've worked in Australia. There is no where else where you get absolutely no attitude for being a foreigner. If you do your job well they embrace you.

It is a matter of public shame that while we have now commemorated our hundredth anniversary not one in every ten children attending Public schools throughout the colonies is acquainted with a single historical fact about Australia.

And currently there are four to five new works in the pipeline for upcoming celebrations such as the Sydney 2000 Olympics Australian Federation my 50th Birthday and Sydney Dance Company's 25th Anniversary.