A woman has died in Australia while taking part in a contest to eat as many lamingtons as possible.
The woman, aged 60, is reported to have had a seizure during the event at a hotel in Hervey Bay, Queensland, to mark Australia Day on Sunday.
Contestants had earlier been filmed speed-eating the lamingtons, a traditional sponge cake covered in chocolate and desiccated coconut.
She was given CPR at the scene and taken to hospital but later died.
Witnesses said the woman had crammed one of the cakes into her mouth when she appeared to get into difficulties.
Footage has emerged showing other patrons of the pub cheering on the eaters, who have glasses of water next to them, before the accident.
The Beach House Hotel in Hervey Bay posted a message on Facebook expressing condolences to the family and friends of the woman, who has not been named.
They thanked the ambulance service for their "prompt and professional response while this tragic incident was unfolding".
Eating competitions are a popular game during Australia Day, a national holiday marking the arrival of the first Europeans to Australia.
Contestants usually win prizes for eating as many cakes, pies, hot dogs or other food in a limited time.
A woman has died in Australia while taking part in a contest to eat as many lamingtons as possible.
The woman, aged 60, is reported to have had a seizure during the event at a hotel in Hervey Bay, Queensland, to mark Australia Day on Sunday.
Contestants had earlier been filmed speed-eating the lamingtons, a traditional sponge cake covered in chocolate and desiccated coconut.
She was given CPR at the scene and taken to hospital but later died.
Witnesses said the woman had crammed one of the cakes into her mouth when she appeared to get into difficulties.
Footage has emerged showing other patrons of the pub cheering on the eaters, who have glasses of water next to them, before the accident.
The Beach House Hotel in Hervey Bay posted a message on Facebook expressing condolences to the family and friends of the woman, who has not been named.
They thanked the ambulance service for their "prompt and professional response while this tragic incident was unfolding".
Eating competitions are a popular game during Australia Day, a national holiday marking the arrival of the first Europeans to Australia.
Contestants usually win prizes for eating as many cakes, pies, hot dogs or other food in a limited time.
A woman has died in Australia while taking part in a contest to eat as many lamingtons as possible.
The woman, aged 60, is reported to have had a seizure during the event at a hotel in Hervey Bay, Queensland, to mark Australia Day on Sunday.
Contestants had earlier been filmed speed-eating the lamingtons, a traditional sponge cake covered in chocolate and desiccated coconut.
She was given CPR at the scene and taken to hospital but later died.
Witnesses said the woman had crammed one of the cakes into her mouth when she appeared to get into difficulties.
Footage has emerged showing other patrons of the pub cheering on the eaters, who have glasses of water next to them, before the accident.
The Beach House Hotel in Hervey Bay posted a message on Facebook expressing condolences to the family and friends of the woman, who has not been named.
They thanked the ambulance service for their "prompt and professional response while this tragic incident was unfolding".
Eating competitions are a popular game during Australia Day, a national holiday marking the arrival of the first Europeans to Australia.
Contestants usually win prizes for eating as many cakes, pies, hot dogs or other food in a limited time.
A woman has died in Australia while taking part in a contest to eat as many lamingtons as possible.
The woman, aged 60, is reported to have had a seizure during the event at a hotel in Hervey Bay, Queensland, to mark Australia Day on Sunday.
Contestants had earlier been filmed speed-eating the lamingtons, a traditional sponge cake covered in chocolate and desiccated coconut.
She was given CPR at the scene and taken to hospital but later died.
Witnesses said the woman had crammed one of the cakes into her mouth when she appeared to get into difficulties.
Footage has emerged showing other patrons of the pub cheering on the eaters, who have glasses of water next to them, before the accident.
The Beach House Hotel in Hervey Bay posted a message on Facebook expressing condolences to the family and friends of the woman, who has not been named.
They thanked the ambulance service for their "prompt and professional response while this tragic incident was unfolding".
Eating competitions are a popular game during Australia Day, a national holiday marking the arrival of the first Europeans to Australia.
Contestants usually win prizes for eating as many cakes, pies, hot dogs or other food in a limited time.
SYDNEY—Tens of thousands of people skipped the usual picnics and barbecues during Australia’s national holiday on Sunday and marched in solidarity with indigenous Australians, as the country wrestles with whether it is doing enough to recognize the nation’s colonial past.
The holiday, called Australia Day, is at the center of the debate because it is held every year on Jan. 26, the date British settlers landed in what is now downtown Sydney in 1788. In recent years, at least six municipalities have canceled festivities out of respect for indigenous Australians, who call the day Invasion Day or Survival Day.
Supporters of Australia Day, which like the Fourth of July is often celebrated with fireworks and flag waving, are also taking action. New rules from the conservative government require municipalities to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day. A new ad campaign from a government-owned nonprofit focused on the country’s multiculturalism to ramp up support for the holiday.
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“We acknowledge that we are people of an ancient land, with ancient stories, drawing on an ancient culture,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said during his Australia Day address on Sunday. “We also acknowledge our stories of more recent times.”
Mr. Morrison, who has defended holding Australia Day on Jan. 26, used Sunday’s holiday to announce a new service medal for firefighters who have battled the country’s devastating wildfires this season.
Protesters at the indigenous-rights march in Sydney, the country’s largest city, said that if the government wants to unite people, it should change Australia Day to a date that isn’t painful for indigenous Australians. They make up about 3% of the population but face higher unemployment, lower homeownership and higher incarceration rates than other Australians. Marchers brought signs that said, “I live on stolen land” and “Australia is a crime scene.”
Muriel Green’s shirt sports the indigenous national flag.
Photo:
Mike Cherney/The Wall Street Journal
“This is our day of mourning,” said Muriel Green, 48, an indigenous Australian who attended Sunday’s rally. “It’s pretty sad the government doesn’t acknowledge us.”
One organizer estimated about 50,000 people attended, and some marchers said the turnout appeared to be about the same as last year. Police didn’t provide an estimate.
In contrast, the waterfront along Sydney Harbour—across town from the indigenous march—had a carnival atmosphere on Sunday afternoon, including food stalls and street performers on stilts. Drinking a beer in a bar nearby, Ian McNab, 62, said he supported celebrating Australia Day on Jan. 26 because of the historical connection to the day the first British settlers arrived.
“A lot of bad things happened throughout the world, and we don’t change things,” said Mr. McNab, a retired police officer who was wearing a shirt with the word “Aussie” and the Australian flag on it. “It’s a beautiful place, Australia. People should live together and be happy.”
The country’s political leaders are routinely asked whether Australia Day should be moved. Anthony Albanese, the leader of the opposition Labor Party, said in a radio interview Thursday that Australia Day should remain on Jan. 26—noting that it has been used to educate people about how the arrival of Europeans affected indigenous people.
Richard Di Natale,
the leader of the Australian Greens, which is the third-largest party and has campaigned to change the date, said on Twitter that the “only thing we should be celebrating on Jan. 26 is the resilience of indigenous communities and culture since invasion.”
Some have suggested holding Australia Day on May 8, shortened as M8, honoring the oft-used “mate” in Australian English. Jan. 26 has been a public holiday in Sydney since at least 1818 but wasn’t established as a nationwide holiday in its current form until 1994.
The debate over Australia Day has parallels to shifting attitudes about Columbus Day in the U.S. That holiday honors the arrival of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus to the Americas in 1492 but is being recast as Indigenous Peoples’ Day in some places.
Celebrating Australia Day in Sydney.
Photo:
peter parks/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
There is no disputing that indigenous Australians were violently kicked off their land, said Joy Damousi, a history professor at the University of Melbourne and president of the Australian Historical Association. Australians are realizing that the modern country’s origin story can’t be told without acknowledging the experience of indigenous people, she said.
Polls show there is still support for Australia Day. Last year, the conservative Institute of Public Affairs found that 75% support marking Australia Day on Jan. 26. But a 2018 poll from the left-wing Australia Institute found that 56% of respondents didn’t care when Australia Day was held.
Angela Morsley, 42, attended the indigenous-rights march for the first time Sunday after her daughter saw an ad for it on social media.
Australia Day was “the start of a lot of trauma for a whole bunch of Australians,” said Ms. Morsley, a lawyer. “We just passed some people on the way here who had Australian-flag paraphernalia, and the more you see that these days the more distasteful to us it becomes.”
Investigators on Saturday also retrieved the plane'scockpit voice recorder and are analyzing data to determine what caused the crash, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said.
The firefighterswere killed when their C-130 plane collided with terrain near the town of Cooma, Australia, on Thursday, the bureau said.
The water-bombing tanker had been chartered by the NSW Rural Fire Service, state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said in a news conference last week. It was called in to fight a bushfire near Cooma.
The three victims were identified by their employer, Oregon-based Coulson Aviation, as Capt. Ian McBeth, 44, of Great Falls, Montana, who was piloting the plane; First Officer Paul Clyde Hudson, 42, of Buckeye, Arizona; andFlight Engineer Rick DeMorgan Jr., 43, who lived in Navarre, Florida.
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of McBeth, CNN affiliate WDAF reported.
"Ian was a devoted father and husband, a brave first responder, and a selfless service member who made the ultimate sacrifice helping the people of Australia combat the catastrophic fires devastating their country," the governor said in a statement, according to the news station. "Our service members and their families already sacrifice so much, and Ian took his call of duty even further to help those in need across the world."
On Sunday, the NSW Rural Fire Service said it was "brilliant" seeing Coulson Aviation aircraft back up today after "what has been a tragic week."
"Both 737 Large Air Trackers have flown three missions today on fires burning in the states south. Once again providing valuable assistance to crews," it said on Twitter.
Australians, already reeling from months of devastating bushfires, have been warned they face a potential "bonanza" of "super dangerous" funnel-web spiders. While experts have voiced fears that the bushfires have killed as many as a billion wild animals, and pushed as many as a 100 species closer to extinction, the deadly spiders are apparently thriving.
An Australian funnel-web spider is seen at the Australian Reptile Park in a January 23, 2006 file photo.
Getty
Jake Meney, of the Australian Reptile Park, north of Sydney, told Australia's 9 News on Wednesday that hot temperatures and days of rain have increased humidity, creating perfect conditions to lure the spiders out of their hiding places.
He said the park has seen an increase in the number of funnel-web spiders, which are native to eastern Australia, being brought into the park by members of the public. The increase prompted the park to issue a warning for Australians to keep an eye out for the creatures.
🚨WARNING! FUNNEL-WEB SEASON IS HERE! 🚨
We are issuing a message of warning to the public as recent wet weather conditions followed by hot days have created perfect conditions for funnel-web spiders to thrive.
We're asking for any collected spiders to be brought to the park to contribute to our lifesaving antivenom program! 🕷️
Male funnel-web spiders are of particular concern, as they are more likely to emerge seeking mating partners — and their venom is six-times more potent than that of their female counterparts.
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"Females don't move around too much," Meney, who looks after spiders and reptiles at the park, told 9 News. "They mostly wait for the males to come and find them, but that's bad news because it's the males that are super dangerous."
"A male funnel-web bite is extremely dangerous and extremely serious and has caused deaths in the past," he noted.
In a video post on the Australian Reptile Park's Facebook page, a staff member warned that "funnel-web spiders are potentially one of the most dangerous spiders on the planet in terms of a bite towards a human," but he noted there had not been any confirmed deaths from the spider's bite since the 1980s.
Officials airdrop vegetables from helicopters for animals amid Australia's fires
Meney said anyone bit by a funnel-web should "apply immediate first aid, which would usually be applying pressure or a compression bandage to stop limit circulation to the entire limb." He added that anyone bitten by a fennel-web should immediately be taken to a hospital.
Meney said funnel-webs don't jump and can't climb on smooth surfaces, so they are most likely to be found at ground level.
"Piles of clothing, and shoes (are) a tempting retreat for them especially when they've wandered too far away from their burrow and they can't find their way back before daylight," he said.
For those with the nerve, Meney said the spiders aren't difficult to catch. "If you see one on the ground just slowly put a jar over it or just put the jar in front of it and it will usually just crawl straight in."
The Australian Reptile Park said anyone who captures a funnel-web can bring them to the park or one of the drop zones set up around Sydney.
