mia-mia—a temporary shelter of the Aborigines, usually a simple frame of branches covered with bark, leaves or grass. It is also used in Australian English to describe a temporary shelter erected by a traveller. The earliest evidence for the word mia is from Nyoongar in Western Australia (it first recorded in 1833). The term was applied indiscriminately to a small piece of bark of the melaleuca made to hold small fish and frogs; or to a shelter made from small sticks, rudely stuck into the ground and covered with large pieces of the same material. There is much later evidence of this form from Western Australia in word lists of the Nyoongar language, but the reduplicated form (i.e. mia-mia) appears in only one late-nineteenth century source. Moreover, the Western Australian word does not appear in Australian English contexts until the twentieth century. In the Victorian records the word is variously spelt, often with a final m, and most commonly in the reduplicated form: mai-mai, miam-miam, myam-myam, mya-mya, etc. (it is first recorded in 1836). But the word does not appear in other collections of the vocabulary of the Wathawurung and Woiwurrung peoples. And yet from 1837 it appears in many Victorian newspapers, journals, and books. It was a term, it seems, known to all people in the new settlements of Melbourne and Geelong. The editors of Australian Aboriginal Words in English came to the conclusion that mia-mia must have originated in Western Australia, and was brought across to Victoria by non-indigenous people. The basic question is whether this is credible. But from early in the nineteenth century, whalers and sealers moved regularly along the southern coast of Australia, from Western Australia to Victoria and Tasmania, and if there is any credibility in the story that mia-mia comes from Western Australia, it is only these whalers and sealers who could have passed it on. But there are further problems with the Western Australian story. In addition to the fact that in Western Australia the reduplicated form appears only in one late example, in none of the Western Australian examples is there the final m that is so common in the Victorian examples. Moreover, why would a group of Victorian Aborigines have the need for a new word to describe an object they had no doubt used, and already had a word for, for thousands of years?

Miali—Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory.

Mick—1. a Roman Catholic. 2. an Irishman.

Mickey Mouse—1. (rhyming slang) grouse; wonderful; excellent. 2. childish; unsophisticated; shoddy; cheap.

micky—an unbranded, uncastrated calf approaching one year of age.

micro oven—a panel van (does a chick in three minutes).

mid-oceanic ridges—occur on the ocean bed, where lava erupts out of long fissures running for hundreds of thousands of kilometres across the major ocean floors. Basalt magma from deep within the earth flows up to the ocean floor and out through long fissures or volcanic vents, forming new oceanic crust. Mid-oceanic ridges are only visible above the sea floor at a few places, such as Iceland and the Australian Territory of Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean.

middies—women's shoes with small heels.

middling—1. fairly well in health. 2. second-rate; so-so; mediocre.

middy—a measure of beer: 10 ounces for New South Wales, 7 ounces for WA or 284 ml.

midge—1. a small person. 2. biting sandfly—the tiny, two-winged flies that breed in the inter-tidal zone.

midstorey—in a forest, those plants that form an intermediate height between the canopy or sub-canopy and the understorey.

midsummer madness—foolishness; extreme folly.

miffed—annoyed; irritated offended.

miffy—offended; sensitive; easily upset.

Migratory Birds Ordinance 1980—gives effect to the agreement between the government of Australia and the government of Japan for the Protection of Migratory Birds and Birds in Danger of Extinction and their Environment (JAMBA), signed in 1974 and ratified in 1981. JAMBA obliges respective governments to take measures to preserve and enhance the environment of birds protected by the agreement, and to prevent damage to such birds and their environment. The Migratory Birds Ordinance 1980 also gives effect to the agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the People's Republic of China for the Protection of Migratory Birds and their Environment (CAMBA). This agreement was ratified in August 1988.

Milingimbi Community—an Aboriginal community approximately 500km east of Darwin and 250km west of Nhulunbuy, Milingimbi is situated on an island a half kilometre off the mainland and forms part of the Crocodile Island Group. A restricted (dry) traditional community, the combined populations of the Homelands and Milingimbi community has approximately 1000 residents in about 13 clan groups. There are approximately 50 non-Aboriginal residents. There are six established outstations but housing shortages, drinking water and access determine the level of occupation. Located in the Northern Territory.

Milirrpum v. Nabalco—the first Aboriginal land rights case: a Federal Court action taken by the Yolngu people against the Nabalco Corporation, which had secured a twelve-year mining lease from the federal government. The plaintiffs claimed they held sovereign rights over the land and sought declarations to occupy the land free from interference pursuant to their native title rights. Justice Blackburn found that Yolngu could not prevent mining on their lands because Australia was legally terra nullius. Blackburn held that native title was not part of the law of Australia; that if it had ever existed, native title rights were now extinguished; and even if extinguishment had not occurred, the plaintiffs were unable to prove the elements required to establish native title. However, the judge did acknowledge the claimants' ritual and economic use of the land, and that they had an established system of law. This last point was to become the grounds on which the legal fiction of terra nullius was voided, two decades later, in the Mabo case.

milk a car—extract or siphon petrol out of the tank of a car.

milk bar—corner shop where many general purpose items may be purchased, such as bread, milk, confectionery, newspapers etc.

milk the till—to steal, pilfer money from a cash register where one is employed.

milk-sop—1. effeminate man; coward; weakling. 2. spiritless, dull, boring person; fuddy-duddy.

milkie/milko—a milkman; person who sells or delivers milk.

milking bail—"bailed up" was used to describe a confined animal, a “bail” being a wooden bar or frame that held an animal in a stall. Dairy farmers still talk about putting a cow into a “milking bail”. Used in this sense the word “bail” comes from the same source as the bails in cricket—apparently from an Old French word meaning “a horizontal piece of wood fixed upon two stakes”.

milkmaid—Burchardia umbellata (family: Liliaceae), widely distributed in the south-west of WA. Among Aborigines, plant roots were important vegetable foods, and in Australia's south-east Burchardia umbellata was such a food source. Its long tuberous roots were available all year round and were cooked before eating.

milky plum—Persoonia falcata, a small tree that is very common in the open woodlands and forests in northern Australia. The fruit are often seen in large numbers, forming a carpet under larger trees. The plums remain green when ripe, but become soft to the touch; they have an unusual taste and the skin is often spat out. The tree fruits in the late dry and early wet from October to March. This plant is also used for a number of medicinal purposes. A leaf infusion may be taken internally to treat coughs, diarrhoea and chest infection; alternatively, a few leaves may be chewed. An eye wash is made from scrapings of inner wood and inner bark boiled in water and then strained. A bark infusion is also used to treat ear disorders. The hard timber is used to make boomerangs, woomeras, axe handles and clap sticks.

Millaa Millaa—one of the most spectacular regions of the Atherton and Evelyn Tablelands in North Queensland. (Millaa Millaa is Aboriginal for 'lots of water'). The falls in the district feature clear mountain water which cascades over dramatic volcanic basalt drops, legacy from an ancient volcanic past. Located 60k from Innisfail.

Millstream Falls National Park—the widest falls in Australia, spilling over an old basalt lava flow. Here in the rain shadow of the eastern Great Dividing Range, the dry open woodland vegetation offers a stark contrast to the rainforest only kilometres away. This park was the site of an army camp during World War II and is located 3.5km past Ravenshoe on the Mt Garnet Road.

Millstream-Chichester National Park—most of the 200,000ha park in Western Australia is a landscape of rolling hills, spectacular escarpments and winding, tree-lined watercourses. The Chichester Range rises sharply from the coastal plain and includes rocky peaks, tranquil gorges, and hidden rock pools such as Python Pool. Scattered white-barked gums and spiky spinifex clumps cover the stony plateau, which gradually slopes down to the bed of the Fortescue River. In the midst of this landscape is the remarkable oasis of Millstream, where fresh water springs from an aquifer to create the lushly tropical Chinderwarriner Pool. Paperbark and palm trees surround this deep pool on the Fortescue River. Previously two separate parks, the area was expanded into one park in 1982, and it has significant natural, recreational and cultural values. The broad area of land straddling the Fortescue River, from the Hamersley Range through to the Chichester Escarpment is the homeland of the Yinjibarndi people. Ngarrari (Millstream) was an important campsite for inter-tribal meetings. Visitors camped beside Chinderwarriner Pool, where they feasted on fresh fish and edible plant roots, harvested wood for spears and collected rocks for ritual purposes. Millstream was named in 1861 by the explorer F T Gregory, who reported its favourable grazing prospects. The pastoral lease, first taken up in 1865, changed hands several times before Les Gordon assumed management of the property in 1923. In its heyday the station covered more than 400,000 hectares and ran 55,000 sheep.

Milne, William—was born the son of a Glasgow merchant on 17 May, 1822. He left Scotland in 1839 to emigrate to the South Australia. Milne took over the wine business of Patrick Auld in 1857 and joined the SA Parliament in 1857, representing Onkaparinga until 1868. In 1869 he was elected to the Legislative Council and knighted. It was his support for the Torrens Real Property Act and a Bill for the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line which persuaded the SA Government to recognise his contribution by naming the ‘Hundred of Milne’ after him in the Northern Territory in 1871. The Honorable William Milne became President of the Legislative Council in 1875 and died in South Australia in 1895.

Milo—a very popular chocolate-flavored drink powder, usually made with hot milk.

Mimi spirits—in Dreamtime legends, the Mimi spirits are tall, thin beings that live in the rocky escarpment of northern Australia as spirits. Before the coming of Aboriginal people they had human forms. The Mimi are generally harmless but on occasion can be mischievous. When Aboriginal people first came to northern Australia, the Mimi taught them how to hunt and cook kangaroos and other animals. They also did the first rock paintings and taught Aboriginal people how to paint.

mimosa—1. any leguminous shrub of the genus Mimosa, especially M. pudica, having globular usually yellow flowers and sensitive leaflets which droop when touched. 2. any of various acacia plants with showy yellow flowers.

mince pies—(rhyming slang) eyes.

mince/mince-meat—ground meat; hamburger.

mind (one's) p's and q's—make an effort to speak, behave well, properly; refrain from using vulgar language.

mind out—watch out; look out.

Minerals Council of Australia—a national industry body representing the Australian minerals industry. It replaced the Australian Mining Industry Council in 1995.

Mingginda—an Aboriginal people of the area around modern-day Mount Isa, Queensland.

mingil—1. pituri. 2. okiri.

mingy—mean; stingy; miserly; parsimonious.

minister/minister of state—a member of parliament who is also member of the executive government, and who is usually in charge of a government department.

ministerial responsibility—a doctrine providing that Ministers are responsible for government policies and actions of public servants in administering policy and making decisions. See also responsible government and Westminster system.

Ministerial Taskforce on Indigenous Affairs—a part of the federal government's new governance structures for Indigenous affairs. It is intended to provide direction to policy development in this area, as well as co-ordination and resource allocation for Indigenous people. It will report to Cabinet on directions and priorities in Indigenous policy. The Ministerial Taskforce will be advised by the National Indigenous Council. The taskforce will meet directly with the Council at least twice a year.

ministry—(the...) members from both houses of parliament chosen from the party or coalition of parties with a majority in the lower house to administer the country, who are formally appointed by the governor-general as his or her ministers of state. Together with the governor-general, the ministry form the executive government.

Minjilang Community, Inc—an Aboriginal community located 230km north-east of Darwin in west Arnhem Land. The island community has an area of 120sq km and is the most northerly inhabited part of the territory. There is a population of approximately 300 people residing in the community and its outstations. The island is offshore from the Coburg Peninsula. Minjilang Council employs several staff and is assisted by employees from the Barrah CDEP in providing community services such as housing maintenance and repair, parks and gardens, garbage collection, civil works (roads, barge landing and airstrip), mechanical workshop, essential services (power, water and sewerage), Centrelink and postal agencies.

Minmi—Minmi paravertebra, an ankylosaur—a type of dinosaur equipped with bony armour—but possibly more primitive than most. It lived 100-95 million years ago (early Cretaceous). Compared with other ankylosaurs, Minmi had long legs and extra bony plates alongside its backbones. These bony plates may have been for extra muscles to attach to, and this extra muscle power may have made Minmi a fairly speedy runner, possibly the fastest-moving ankylosaur in the world. Minmi lived on the floodplains and in woodlands, eating soft, low-growing plants. The closest living relatives of Minmi are birds. Minmi fossils have been found at two sites in central Queensland. Fossils for 90 per cent of Minmi's skeleton have been found, making it the most complete dinosaur skeleton found in Australia. Minmi bones were the first ankylosaur fossils to be found in the Southern Hemisphere.

Minnamurra Falls Reserve—The first 900m of the Minnamurra Falls loop walk is suitable for wheelchair access. The upper falls walk area will give you a view of the rainforest canopy and below and then continues on to the upper falls of the Minnamurra River. The river drops to a picturesque pond and then links with the falls of a tributary creek before it drops into the slot canyon. Located within the Minnamurra Rainforest Park.

Minnamurra Rainforest Park—this important sub-tropical rainforest area extends from the plateau of the Southern Highlands to the foothills of the Jamberoo Valley. Over 90 species of ferns and more than 80 species of native trees have been identified in the 400ha of bush, including the rare Illawarra fig, red cedar, cabbage tree, the epiphytic elkhorn and various palms. Wildlife includes spectacular bird species, such as lyrebirds, parrots and honeyeaters. Located in Jamberoo, New South Wales.

Minnamurra River—a unique mangrove ecosystem on Sydney's south coast. Netting is illegal, but many a peaceful hour can be spent fishing for whiting, bream, flathead and blackfish.

minnerichi—(see: red mulga tree).

Minnom Mission—The Pilliga Reserve was formed in 1902, with an area of around 60 acres being reserved, a further 85 acres were added in 1908. The reserve is generally called Minnom Mission by the Wailwan people. In the early years people moved a lot between Pilliga, a big camp at Wingadee and Cuttabri. In 1912 a school was set up at Pilliga and the Aborigines Protection Board used that to push people onto the reserve. In 1923 the Board made the reserve into a station and had a manager put on. A timber mill was built there and it became a big producer of timber for the Board's stations and reserves throughout the area.

minority government—an elected government lacking an outright majority of seats in Parliament. Minority governments cannot survive without the support of other parties or independents who hold the balance of power in the Lower House. A party or coalition of parties does not have to have an outright majority of seats in the Lower House to be able to form a government. The key to the survival of a government in a parliamentary system depends on its ability to maintain the confidence, or support, of the Lower House. Equally, a government lacking the support of a majority can survive if the other groups in the House are unable to unite to express a lack of confidence. Minority governments were common at the federal level in the first decade of Federation.

Mintabie—the opal field lies west of the main north-south road between Adelaide and Alice Springs, just south of the Northern Territory border in South Australia. The workings are clustered together on the edge of a north-easterly facing scarp. In contrast to other opal fields, the area is thickly vegetated with mulga and mallee trees growing in a predominantly sandy soil; this greatly reduces the dust problem common to most other fields. Aborigines are reported to have sold black opal from an unknown source in Coober Pedy as early as 1919. It took local miners over 10 years to discover floaters along the Mintabie escarpment, but mining was intermittent because of the isolation of the field and the harder rocks in which the opal occurred. In 1976, heavy equipment was moved into the area but blasting is at times necessary because of the hardness of the overlying rocks, before the heavy equipment can be used. In recent years the production has rivalled, and even exceeded that of Coober Pedy. By 1980, a small settlement had grown at Mintabie, but miners still had to travel some 400km to Coober Pedy or 500km to Alice Springs for their main supplies. Now the situation has eased because of the completion of the standard gauge railway to Alice Springs from the south. The geology of the opal bearing horizons at Mintabie differs from that of the other Australian opal fields. Although Mintabie is still at the very edge of the Great Artesian Basin, the opal is found in more consolidated beds underlying the Lower Cretaceous. The opal occurs mainly in these Paleozoic horizons, which have yet to be dated accurately, but may be Devonian or as old as Ordovician. The rocks in which the opal occurs are cross-bedded sandstones, dipping slightly to the south-west. The opal occurs in horizontal bands parallel to the bedding, or at times in vertical or steeply dipping fissures. Opal has also been found at deeper levels in an underlying, somewhat less consolidated sandstone.

Minties—Australians chew their way through 2,500 tonnes of Minties each year. For seventy years they've been one of Australia's favourites. In Russel Ash's The Top Ten of Everything 1991, they were voted 6th best selling sweet in Australia, and Nestlé's 2nd best seller. The Minties story began in 1851 when young James Stedman arrived from England to be apprenticed to confectioner W J Gates of Sydney. After hours, the ambitious young man was moonlighting for himself, making his own brand of sweets, which he sold from the Stedman family store. In 1874 he bought his employer's business and set up his own factory. No-one is completely sure when Minties were actually first made, but it was sometime in the 1920s. Today, they are basically the same product—a hard but chewy, white sweet made from glucose, sugar and water. Advertising posters, and now the new wrappers, rely on exaggerated human situations for their humour. Many of these have become collectors items.

Miriam Mir—a language spoken on the island of Mer, the easternmost island within the Torres Strait. The language, which is spoken by the Meriam people, is derived from a New Guinean language spoken around the Fly River.

Mirima National Park—a rugged area of sandstone hills and valleys, noted for spectacular rock formations. The distinctive shapes of Mirima that can be seen today were produced by uplift and erosion during the last 20 million years. Spinifex grassland, various eucalypts and tree species of the dry tropics such as the boab and the kapok grow in the flatlands around these sandstone outcrops. Woollybutt grows close to the cliff bases and bloodwood grows in the moister areas of the main valleys. Mirima is the local Aboriginal name for the area, and examples of ancient Aboriginal rock art can be found here throughout the park. The park covers an area of 1817ha and is situated adjacent to the Kununurra, in the Kimberly region of Western Australia.

Mirrar—an Aboriginal people located in the Kakadu region of the Northern Territory. The Mirrar have been the traditional owners of their land since time immemorial, but today there are just 25 members of the clan left. Though opposed by the Mirrar, uranium mining has operated on Mirrar land for some time now. Mirrar country encompasses the Ranger and Jabila mineral leases, the mining town of Jabiru and parts of Kakadu National Park, as designated under the Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act 1976.

miscue—slip-up; mistake; fault; blunder.

miserable as a bandicoot—1. sad; unhappy; dejected. 2. mean; stingy; parsimonious; miserly.

miseries—1. wretched, unhappy state of mind or circumstances. 2. illness; sick.

misery guts—1. wretchedly unhappy person. 2. constant complainer, whinger.

Miss Goody Two-Shoes—(of a woman, girl) affectedly prim, proper, chaste, good.

Miss House and Garden—(derog. of a woman) over-proud of the appearance of one's house and garden.

mission/mission station—a term loosely used to refer to reserves, government stations and Christian institutions where Aboriginal people were placed, beginning in 1810. . Many of the missions were established and run by Christian missionaries but were nonetheless used to restrict the movements of Aborigines, taught European beliefs and used as cheap labour. A policy of assimilation was adopted whereby it was hoped that the reproduction of Aboriginal people could be controlled. In most cases, missions were regulated by state governments, once Aborigines Protection Boards were set up.

Missus Kafoops—(derog.) pseudonym for a disliked woman whether the real name is known or not, especially for a woman who affects airs and graces.

mistletoe—an important nectar source for birds, butterflies, brushtail possums and yellow-bellied gliders. The mistletoes flower abundantly every year, while other nectar sources—such as their host eucalypts—flower irregularly. About 25 species of native butterflies and moths also feed on mistletoes during their larval stage. Of those, eight species of dahlias are entirely dependent on mistletoe. Aborigines ate the fruit of the native mistletoe and washed the flowers through water to make a sweet drink.

mistletoe bird—Dicaeum hirundinaceum, a native bird with a symbiotic relationship to mistletoe. The gut of this bird is very short, thereby allowing the sticky mistletoe berry to pass through in about twenty-five minutes. The sticky seed covering remains, and the seed is wiped onto the branches of host trees so that a future supply of mistletoe fruit is assured. Feeds on mistletoe berries, as well as berries from a few other species, such as box-thorn, saltbush, hawthorne and pepper trees. The mistletoe bird leads a migratory life flying along regular migration routes which correspond with the ripening of the berries.

Mitchell, Major Sir Thomas Livingston—Surveyor-General to the Colony of New South Wales, 1827-1854. He had trained as a military officer and served in the Napoleonic wars in Spain where he developed skills as a surveyor. He also compiled a mammoth work on the war titled Maps and Plans of the War from 1808 to 1814, in the Spanish Peninsula and South of France. In his posting to the new colony of Port Phillip District, he undertook expeditions to survey the Darling River. Mitchell set out in 1836 to confirm that the Darling joins the Murray River, and to explore the hinterland. He covered 1700km before returning to Sydney with his report, within that same year. As a result of his glowing reports of the regions he had visited and described as "Australia Felix", settlers from New South Wales converged upon the future state of Victoria within months. Mitchell was knighted for his discoveries in 1837.

Mitchell Falls—a magnificent waterfall formation located in the Mitchell Plateau, a remote part of predominantly Aboriginal land in the Kimberley region of north-west Western Australia. The track to Mitchell Falls ends at Mertens Creek from which a walk of about one hour (return) takes you to Little Merten Falls and allows time to explore and swim. The walk to the falls is over rough country. The track is marked with stone cairns and is reasonably well-worn, but if in doubt walk in close vicinity to the creek.

Mitchell grass—four species of the genus Astrebla, hardy, tussock-forming perennial grasses of arid and semi-arid Australia. It is very well-adapted to moderate grazing pressure because it evolved with intermittent grazing and wildfires, prior to European settlement. These grasses cope well with droughts through a deep root system, and by maintaining reserves of starch in rhizomes at the base of their tussocks. These reserves are used to promote new growth when sufficient rainfall occurs to allow plant growth, generally once or twice a year.

Mitchell Grass Downs—mitchell grass country. It is generally open, treeless, rolling downs, particularly in the dry tropics of northern Australia and the arid inland. The relative absence of trees is partly due to the heavy grey and brown cracking clay soils that these grasses grow in, and partly due to the bushfires. The Mitchell Grass Downs are a major pastoral region of Australia.

Mitchell Plateau—one of the most scenic and biologically important areas in Victoria. Patches of rainforest grow around the margins of the plateau, where they are protected from fire and receive additional moisture. Open woodlands of grey box, white gum and other trees and shrubs grow around the valleys and creeks. Pandanus and paperbarks line the watercourses. Up to 50 mammal species, 220 bird species and 86 kinds of reptiles and amphibians occur in the area, including the saltwater crocodile, death adder, king brown snake and taipan. The Mitchell Plateau is renowned for its scenery, particularly the Mitchell Falls and the Surveyors Pool.

Mitchell River—draws it's water from the Wonnangatta and Dargo High Plains before entering the western shore of Lake King through silt jetties. From this point it becomes a series of long, narrow, winding silt jetties that extend eastwards into the lake for 8km. The silt was deposited over millions of years as the Mitchell River slowed at the point of its entry into the lake. These jetties are second in size only to the silt jetties of the Mississippi River on the Gulf of Mexico. However, a process of erosion has shortened and narrowed them further, since they were first mapped in the 1840s. The Mitchell River is located in the Lakes region of Victoria.

Mitchell River delta—one of Australia 's largest river systems, often flooding in the wet season. It extends southwards from the area around Bairnsdale along the western shore of Lake King to Eagle Point Bluff, about 6km north-east of Paynesville, on the western shore of Lake King. From this point it becomes a series of long, narrow, winding silt jetties that extend eastwards into the lake for 8km. The silt was deposited over millions of years as the Mitchell River slowed at the point of its entry into the lake. These ‘jetties’ are the second largest of their type in the world. However, a process of erosion has shortened and narrowed them since they were first mapped in the 1840s.

Mitchell River National Park—surrounds the Mitchell River, which passes between high cliffs into which it has carved gorges. Remnants of temperate rainforest line some of these gorges. More than 150 bird species and 25 mammal species have been recorded in the park, including 6 species that are rare or threatened in Victoria. Giant kanooka trees grow at the water's edge, and within the gullies grow pittosporum, lilly-pilly and yellow-wood. On the ridges above the river a drier forest of wattle and eucalypt predominates. Mitchell River National Park is 11 900ha in size and reputedly contains some of Gippsland's best forest country, 300km from Melbourne. The park is part of the traditional lands of three groups of Aboriginal people—the Worrora, Wunambal-Gaambera and Ngarinyin, and is known to them as Ngauwudu. The falls are known as Punamii-unpuu and Surveyor's Pool is more correctly named Aunauyu. The Department of Conservation and Land Management is entering into cooperative management arrangements with the members of the Kandijwal Community. Traditional owners' wishes are being sought and these will be passed on to visitors.

mite—a child.

mix it—to fight with (someone): e.g., You wouldn't want to mix it with him—he's a champion boxer.

mixed forest—a cool temperate rainforest in which the rainforest trees grow as an understorey amongst old-growth giants. It is very rare, only occurring in places that have not had fire for extensive periods of time.

mixed sclerophyll-rainforest—rainforest is vulnerable to fire. A fire here provides an opportunity for eucalypts to become established and to gain dominance over rainforest species. The result is a mixed sclerophyll-rainforest community.

mo—1. moment: e.g., Just a mo! 2. moustache.

Moa Island—a large island 10km east of Badu in the Torres Strait. It is home to two settlements: St Pauls Village and Kubin Village. Each has different origins. Their Badu enemies are said to have annihilated Moa's first inhabitants in the early 1860s.

mob—1. collective name for people with similar peculiarities or interests: e.g., That footy team is a mob of galahs! 2. group of friends, acquaintances or relatives: e.g., I'm taking me new boyfriend home to meet me mob this arvo.

mobs—lots of; plenty of: e.g., He's got mobs of money.

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