Australia+by+Eda

 **__Have you ever heard of Pie-Floaters and Vegemite before??__**

 Australian food is similar to British food because the early settlers of Australia were from Britain. One of the common staple foods of Australia is meat such as beef, pork, chicken, and game meat. Which can be made into meat pies, pie-floaters or grilled. Pie-floaters are a traditional Australian meal consisting of a meat pie sitting on pea soup covered by tomato sauce. Vegmite is also a popular staple food. Vegmite is a dark brown food paste made from yeast extract. It is considered a national food in Australia and is spread on sandwiches, toast and cracker biscuits. Another staple food of Australia is black tea. It is considered a necessity. So as you can see, Australians still eat much of the same food as the British do today. [|This is a link to a meat pie recipe.] [|This is a link to another Australian recipe.] __Some things you might want to know about Australia:__ 1. There are 7% Asian, 92% white and 1% aboriginal and other. 2. The Great Barrier Reef is 2,967,893 square miles. 3. The official name of Australia is Commonwealth of Australia.

 Fun Facts about Australia: lifetime!
 * The average Australian consumes 165,000 eggs in thier
 * The Great Barrier Reef is the longest reef in the world at 2010 kilometers! * Australia's first radio station was built in !912.

Links: [|This is a link to the CIA World Fact Book about Australia's government..] [|This is a link to a website about the tallest mountain in Australia.]  [| This is a link to the Save the Koala website.]

Type of Government: Federal Parliamentary Democracy

The federal government is based on a popularly elected Parliament with two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Each has equal powers to initiate the passage of laws. The Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General, who by convention under the Constitution, must appoint the parliamentary leader of the party, or coalition of parties, which has a majority of seats in the House of Representatives. This majority party or coalition becomes the government, with ministers appointed from both chambers to serve in the Cabinet or outer ministry. The other major political party or coalition is called the opposition. Australia lets people also have freedom of speech and religious tolerance. And when you turn 18 you may enroll to vote.