repro—reproduction.

reserve (price)—the lowest (undisclosed) price a vendor will accept.

reserve land—Crown land set aside for public purposes: for example, hospitals, schools, conserving plants and animals, national parks, recreation, and for the use of Aboriginal people.

Resource Assessment Commission—(RAC) was established under the Resource Assessment Commission Act (1969) as an independent body to inquire into and report on major, complex conflicts regarding the use of a natural resource.The RAC was intended to contribute to informed public debate and satisfy the concerns of industry for a more rational and predictable process for the making of conservation and development decisions. The Act states that there should be an integrated approach to conservation and development (including all ecological and environmental considerations) by taking both conservation and development aspects into account at an early stage—in regards to policy principles for resolving competing claims for the use of resources. The first dispute resolved by the RAC was in regard to mining in Coronation Hill.

Resource Assessment Commission Act—(RAC) legislation that established the Resource Assessment Commission, an independent body to inquire into and report on major, complex conflicts over the use of a natural resource. The RAC was intended to contribute to informed public debate and satisfy the concerns of industry for a more rational and predictable process for the making of conservation and development decisions. The Act states that there should be an integrated approach to conservation—including all environmental and ecological considerations—and development, in regards to policy principles for resolving competing claims for the use of resources. The first dispute resolved by the RAC was in regard to Coronation Hill.

responsible government—a term used to for the system of executive government accountability in the Westminster systems of parliamentary democracy. Accountability is due first to the parliament and ultimately to the people. This system of accountability is intended to ensure that the government acts in ways that are approved by the people it governs.

rest—short term of imprisonment.

rest on (one's) oars—relax; cease work for a while.

restricted trading—government-mandated days and hours within which stores can be open for trade.

resurrection grasses—among the best examples of plants well adapted to the harsh conditions of Kakadu's stone country are the resurrection grasses, which dehydrate in the absence of moisture and spring back to life within 24 hours of rain.

retrench—reduce the number of employees; lay off: e.g., I was retrenched and now I'm on the dole.return—(of a journey)—to go somewhere and come back; round-trip: e.g. It's six kilometres return to Ipswich.

return ticket—round-trip ticket.

returned soldier—soldier who has served overseas.

rev-head—1. term of abuse for speeding driver, usually young and usually when they've cut in front of you, or done something stupid or dangerous.

RFDS—(see: Royal Flying Doctor Service).

Rhodes scholar—(rhyming slang) dollar.

rhubarb—1. noisy argument, commotion. 2. rubbish; nonsense; worthless talk.

Rhyll—the sheltered port of Rhyll on the north-east tip of Phillip Island offered safe moorings to early explorers. George Bass landed there in 1798 and stayed for 10 days while repairing his boat. In December 1826 the site was established as a temporary British settlement called Flagstaff and eventually settled in 1856. Rhyll is named after a holiday resort in North Wales. Population approximately 449, located 140km south of Melbourne, Victoria.

rhyming slang—originally invented by the Cockney English, it was brought to Australia by convicts. Basically, rhyming slang is the use of two or more words, the last of which rhymes with the intended word. For example, plates of meat are feet. However there are some variations, the most common of which is to drop the rhyming word altogether, e.g., ava captains (have a look). Sometimes, when the rhyming word is dropped the remaining word takes on a plural form for no logical reason. A third step is to abbreviate (or corrupt) the first word, so that not only is the rhyming word gone but the first word in the phrase is corrupted.

ribbed spike-rush—Eleocharis plana, the dark green, flat-stemmed spike-rush occurs extensively in swamps within floodplains, sometimes (for example, in some diamantina and Bulloo wetlands) occupying all space between any shrubs that are present. Their mature seed-heads provide a distinctive, short, brown-yellow vegetation community. Flowers: spring-summer. Grows in moist situations; widespread inland, extending east, within New South Wales, to Canberra. Also occurs in Queensland and South Australia. Also known as flat spike-sedge.

ribbon grass—Chrysopogon fallax, a strong, tussock-forming perennial growing to 90cm—135cm. Found mainly on medium- or fine-textured soils. It is a characteristic plant of floodplains, creek banks, river levees and floodouts, depressions, and gentle alluvial slopes receiving runoff from adjacent hills. Commonly associated with short annual grasses and forbs, coolibah, river red gums, mulga, ghost gum and to a lesser extent bloodwood, snappy gum and gidgee. Plants are moderately palatable and is reasonable quality feed when green. Also known as or golden beard grass.

ribbon gum—Eucalyptus viminalis, a large tree with usually smooth bark and billowy masses of foliage. The predominantly white bark peels in strips, leaving cream, pink and tan patches. It grows very rapidly and can reach a height of 160'. The juvenile leaves are opposite, but green, and long and narrow. Overall a rather large, beautiful, messy, soft-outlined tree. Closely related to manna gum and white gum, and easily confused with them when mature, but generally not quite as hardy.

ribbonweed—Vallisneria gigantea a common species of seagrass.

rich—1. ridiculous; preposterous; exaggerated. 2. lewd; coarse; indecent; vulgar. 3. excessive; extreme.

Richard Cranium—dick-head; a stupid, disliked, contemptible person.

Richmond birdwing—Triodes richmondia, a species of butterfly named for the Richmond Valley in which it is commonly found, in northern New South Wales. This species is superficially similar to the Cairns birdwing and the Cape York birdwing, but smaller. The caterpillar is dark brown with several rows of dark spines tipped with yellow, and grows to a length of about 6cm. The male butterflies have black forewings, each with an iridescent green streak along the costa, and similar green spots around the tornus. The hindwings are an iridescent green with black spots, and have an orange patch. The females are less colourful but larger. They are black with cream spots and patches, and have a wingspan of about 11cm. If the female butterfly lays her eggs on Dutchman's pipe—a common garden plant in the same family as the native foodplant—the caterpillars feeding on this vine die at around the second instar, just like those of the Cairns birdwing. These butterflies were once common in the hills inland from Byron Bay and in southern Queensland.

Richmond birdwing vine—Aristolochia praevenosa, a vigorous climber that is the food plant for the caterpillars of the Richmond birdwing butterfly. This plant has become rare in the wild and so has the butterfly.

Richmond Range National Park—includes the rainforests of Cambridge Plateau, which are internationally significant, included on the World Heritage List as part of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves. The park includes 400 species of flowering plants as well as brush box, blue gum, flooded gum, giant stinging trees, hoop pines, strangler figs, Moreton Bay figs and white booyongs. The fauna in the region includes spotted-tail quoll, yellow-bellied glider, squirrel glider, brush-tailed phascogale and Albert’s lyrebird. Located 40 km west of Kyogle, New South Wales.

Richmond River—discovered in 1828 by Captain Henry Rous, in the HMS Rainbow, and was named after the fifth Duke of Richmond. Early settlers travelled upstream to Broadwater, but the cedar-getters first came across the country from the Clarence River. As word spread, another party of cedar-getters and their families arrived in 1842 on the Sally, and a camp was established at what is now East Ballina, because of the high ground and good water supply. In the 1860s gold was found in the sands at the mouth of the Richmond River.

Richmond River system catchment—comprises the Richmond River, its major tributary the Wilson River and North Creek. The approximate length of the main arm (the Richmond River itself) is 170km, the tidal limit being 90km from the ocean. The town of Ballina is located at the entrance and Lismore is located on the Wilson River. Almost all the Richmond catchment is devoted to intensive agriculture, horticulture, crop or pasture production. The draining of wetlands for agriculture and cropping has left less than one-fifth of the original wetlands. After a century of clearing the Big Scrub rainforest, less than one-half of one per cent of the original forest remains. Located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales.

Richmond Valley—from 6000BP to 1838 the Bundjalung people were the sole occupiers of the area in what is now New South Wales. But then the valley became the main source of the prized 'red gold' of cedar. Although the colonials used it for building and joinery work, by the middle of the nineteenth century most of those magnificent trees found themselves sailing halfway around the globe to feed the Empire's growing middle class's furniture needs. Many forms of this spectacular environment have been preserved in a number of national parks. On the high ridges of the Border Ranges survives an ancient relic of the period when Australia was part of Gondwanaland. Antarctic beech trees spread their buttress roots through the surrounding rainforest to anchor them to the shallow soils of the ridges. Some of the streams in the mountains feed into the Richmond River, which flows past Kyogle and onto the coastal plain, where it meets the tidal push from the ocean and spreads out into wetlands which support a huge variety of waterbirds: spoonbills and swans, jabirus and jacanas, ducks and darters.

RID (Scheme)—(Queensland) Reduce Impaired Driving: a scheme similar in some respects to the RBT.

ride pillion—ride behind the driver on a motor bike.

ridge/ridgy-didge—genuine; the truth; an unequivocal assurance: e.g., What I've just told you is the ridgy-didge.

riding for a fall—doing, behaving in a manner that is heading for trouble, failure.

riding on the pig's back—experiencing a period of success; extreme good fortune.

riding on the sheep's back—pertaining to the success of the Australian economy because of the sheep industry: e.g., Australia has been riding on the sheep's back for decades

.rifle-range—(rhyming slang) coinage; change (money).

riflebirds—Family: Paradisaeidae Genus: Ptiloris. There are three species of riflebird found in Australia; they are all very similar in plumage and size, but have separate distributions. Both sexes have long, slender, downward-curving bills and short tails. The adult male is velvet black above, with an iridescent shine on the crown, throat and breast, and on central tail feathers of some species. The female is mostly red-brown above, paler buff below and lacks iridescence. In flight, the male's wings sound like rustling silk. The name is believed to possibly come from the resemblance of the male plumage to the uniform of the British Army rifle regiment. Riflebirds are found in rainforests and nearby dense forests and woodlands. Australian birds are considered to be resident, and do not migrate to New Guinea. Riflebirds search for insects under bark, probing with their long curved bills in a treecreeper-like manner. Fruits and seeds are also eaten, and birds occasionally feed in association with other fruit-eating species such as bowerbirds. Riflebirds breed from October to January and later into February for the magnificent riflebird. During this time, the males call from an exposed perch high in the canopy, to attract a mate. Once she is present he curves his wings up and tilts his head back in display. He then sways his body in a circular motion, reflecting the colours of his throat in the sunlight. The wings are clapped loudly together during the display, the noise audible up to 60m away. In all cases the female is believed to perform nest building and incubation duties and cares for the young, while the male may mate with other females. The nests are a loose saucer of vine tendrils and other rainforest vegetation. Each species lays two eggs, but it is not known how long the eggs take to hatch and how long the chicks remain in the nest. Young riflebirds take four to seven years to reach full sexual maturity.

rig up—hastily make, arrange, erect, assemble.

rigged out—dressed up, especially conspicuously.

right—very; absolute; total: e.g., He's a right idiot!

right as rain—okay; safe; satisfactory; as planned or expected.

right hand must never know what the left is doing—pertaining to total secrecy, confidentiality.

right slap-bang in the hey-diddle- diddle—in the exact centre; on target.

right up (one's) jumper—following extremely closely behind (one)—especially of a vehicle: e.g., That police car was right up my jumper the whole way.

righto you lot!—interjection indicating that one has had enough of the activity, talk etc going on; plea for the cessation of a particular activity, discussion, noise, etc.

ring—bum; anus.

ring up (someone)—make a telephone call to (someone).

ring-in—a substitute, especially a fraudulent one at the last moment in horse-racing.

ring-piece—rectum; anus; bum.

ring-tailed dragon—Ctenophorus caudicinctus, a common lizard to the open spinifex deserts, such as that found at Uluru National Park. This is a small to medium sized, ground-dwelling species which can often be seen moving from one spinifex to the next. Another common habitat type is the desert ranges, such as those in Kings Canyon National Park. The most common agamid species found in such rocky outcrops is Ctenophorus caudicinctus, which is very agile and can move very quickly across the rocky surfaces. To maintain his territory he must be constantly vigilant for rival males. To do this, nothing beats the view from the top of a high rock. The problem is that under the fierce sun the rock is hot enough to fry an egg. His solution is a quick dash to the top, sitting with toes raised off the hot rock to stop them burning. He scans his territorial domain and quickly makes a dash for the cool shade.

ringed xenica—Geitoneura acantha ocrea, restricted to the south Mount Lofty Ranges. It is a relict from probably the end of the last Ice age, when the southern areas of South Australia were cooler and received a much higher rainfall. Males will establish territories by perching on or near the ground in clear areas, waiting for newly emerged females. When fertile females are chased by males, they signal to the males that they are fertile by settling on the ground and fluttering their wings. This signal makes the males quickly lose interest. The butterflies have an irregular flight, and prefer to settle on or near the ground. Like most satyrs, the wing undersides are cryptically camouflaged. It is difficult to detect these butterflies when they are settled with wings closed and erect, owing to their close resemblance to the ground, or to dead leaf and plant debris, particularly in dappled forest light. The butterflies are sometimes more common along the base of cool, shady rock faces where their camouflage is nearly perfect. On very hot days the butterflies will congregate together in cool, shady areas.

ringer—1. a stockman, drover; station hand. 2. the fastest shearer of sheep. 3. identical with; twin.

ringie—person in charge of a two-up game.

ringtail possum—Seudochirus peregrinus is found in dense scrub in eastern Australia. Ringtail possums are usually greyish-brown to reddish-brown with a cream underbelly. They have prehensile tails with a distinctive cream-to-white tip. The tail has a long friction pad (bare skin) extending from the tip along the underside, which is used to grip branches and carry nesting material. The first two digits on the fore foot oppose the remaining three. Ringtails have rounded ears and brown, bulging eyes. They are smaller than brushtail possums, measuring up to 35 cm in body length with a 30-35 cm tail. They are territorial and usually solitary except for family groups of mother and young. Ringtails sleep by day in tree hollows or in a spherical nest called a drey, which is about the size of a soccer ball, and made from stringy bark, twigs etc. Ringtails are found in dry to wet sclerophyll forest as well as coastal heath. They require dense understorey of banksias, wattles and pink ti-trees etc. Home range is approximately 5 hectares.

Rio Tinto Group —a UK-based multi-national mining conglomerate. The company's mineral production encompasses iron ore, diamonds, silver, copper, gold, coal, bauxite, aluminium, alumina, uranium, talc and salt. Rio Tinto comprises wholly owned subsidiaries (such as Borax, Comalco, Hamersley, Pacific Coal, Kennecott and Rio Tinto Iron & Titanium), partly owned subsidiaries (Coal & Allied and Palabora) and non-managed, associate companies (Escondida, Freeport and Neves Corvo) in which public shareholders, other companies or governments are partners. Group headquarters are in London. The Melbourne office is the Australian representative office of the Rio Tinto Group and provides support for Australian-based operations, services investor relations and other external relations requirements and fulfils Australian statutory obligations.

Rio Tinto's Iron Ore Group—wholly owns Hamersley Iron in Western Australia. Hamersley wholly owns five mines and also operates the 60 per cent owned Channar mine, a joint venture with an Australian subsidiary of the China Iron & Steel Industry & Trade Group Corporation. The Iron Ore group also includes Rio Tinto's 53 per cent interest in Robe River Iron Associates' two mines in Western Australia, as well as the HIsmelt® direct iron smelting technology developed in Western Australia.

rip along—to drive, go, at great speed.

Rip Curl Pro—a major world championship tour event, it forms part of the professional tour of the top 44 male surfers chasing the world championship title. The contest, started in 1975, is one of the most prestigious surfing events in the world. It is held over 11 days—large swells roll onto the ancient coastline where the high cliffs provide a backdrop to Bells Beach. The contest is sometimes taken down to Winki pop or Johanna, not far from Bells Beach. This overcomes the syndrome know as "Bells Bonkers", the long flat spells that sometimes settle over the area.

riparian—of or having to do with a lake, pond, stream, etc. Riparian land is any land that adjoins or directly influences a body of water. It includes land alongside small creeks and rivers, the riverbank itself, gullies that sometimes run surface water, areas surrounding lakes, and lagoons on river floodplains that interact with the river in times of flood. Riparian vegetation is any that grows under the conditions provided by riparian land.

riparian vegetation—vegetation that exists in association with a natural source of fresh water, such as a lake, pond, stream, etc. Riparian vegetation may be found: immediately alongside small creeks and rivers, including the riverbank itself; within gullies and dips that sometimes run with surface water; adjacent to drains and channels that empty into streams or wetlands; surrounding lakes; in wetlands, billabongs, and floodplains that interact with the river in times of flood; and vegetation dependent on groundwater supplied by a river.

riparian zones—these are vegetated buffer strips bordering water courses. Without a well-managed riparian zone, excessive sediment enters the stormwater system from overland flow or the erosion of channel banks. When this sediment discharges into waterways from the stormwater system, it tends to clog the streambed, smothering native flora and destroying the egg-laying sites of fish.

ripe—1. drunk; intoxicated. 2. lewd; obscene; vulgar.

ripper—excellent; splendid, admirable person or thing: e.g., He's a ripper bloke.

ripper-tune (Boris)!—exclamation of pleasure, excitement, admiration.

Riratjingu—Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory.

Risdon Cove—site of the first British settlement in Van Diemen's Land and the second-oldest settlement in all of Australia. Risdon Cove soon proved unsuitable for settlement, due to the inadequate stream and the poor landing place, and was abandoned in favour of Sullivan’s Cove within eight months. The Risdon Cove settlement, which was established on the Derwent River in 1803, has remained virtually as it was 200 years ago. The site of Risdon Cove was granted in 1996 to the Tasmanian Aboriginal Lands Council (TALC).

rise—increase in pay; a raise: e.g., We all get a rise since the latest Accord.

rising sun—a badge, originally a half-circle of swords and bayonets radiating from a crown, especially as worn by the Australian Imperial Force in WWI.

rissole—1. R.S.L .- Returned Serviceman's League club. 2. a compressed mixture of meat and spices, coated in bread crumbs and fried; hamburger patty.

river banksia—Banksia seminuda, grows as a tree in the south-west of Western Australia in moister and richer soils than other banksias. The flowerheads, 20cm and more in height, are beautiful, with yellow perianths and red styles.

river basin—catchment areas of major rivers draining to the sea (always named after these rivers): the 245 river basins as defined by the former Australian Water Resources Council. These form sub-basins of the drainage divisions.

river bottlebrush—Callistemon Sieberi – this bottlebrush shrub most often has yellow flowers but pale pink flowers are sometimes produced. The flowers are seen November—May and are up to 8cm long and 3cm in diameter. Commonly has a cream flower but a pink variety can also be found. The nectar-rich flowers are very attractive to birds. It sometimes has pendulous branches and grows to 3m high and 2m wide. This is a very hardy plant that occurs across large areas of Australia including New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria and the ACT. It’s found growing naturally along creek banks and is suited to wet soils and for use around dams and water features.

river cooba—Acacia stenophylla, a common component of watercourse-fringing vegetation in inland arid areas of eastern Australia. It is an erect or spreading shrub or small tree to 20m tall with a rounded crown, varying in form over its distribution but usually single-stemmed with pendulous branchlets. It is tolerant of saline, alkaline and waterlogged soils. It is highly tolerant of waterlogging, enabling it to survive in areas where flooding occurs, such as beside watercourses and on floodplains. River cooba usually grows in heavy soils on plains and gentle slopes adjoining flood zones, depressions and watercourses, or along watercourses subject to periodic flooding. It is a dominant small tree of watercourses in the Murray-Darling Basin. It frequently forms monospecific stands., and generally lives for more than 50 years. Also known as stringy acacia.

river pandanus—Pandanus aquaticus, a semi-aquatic tree that commonly grows along the banks of permanent freshwater streams in the Top End. Its fruit is inedible. Although seed dispersal by turtles is considered rare, three species of freshwater turtles in northern Australia may be responsible for the seed dispersal of Pandanus aquaticus seeds: the northern snapping turtle, the pitted-shelled turtle and the Australian mollusc-eating turtle are all known fruit eaters; when the fruit, by chance, falls into a water course, it could thus be dispersed. Seeds collected from the fecal droppings of these turtles all germinated at a 90% level. While some of the seeds can be eaten by birds and mammals, some of the seeds are too large to be part of the diet of these animals. It is felt that as the turtles move along floodplain forests, bask, nest, and travel between habitat, seed dispersal is possible.

river people—the Bakandji, who lived along the Darling River near Wilcannia, in western NSW.

river red gum—Eucalyptus camaldulensis, the most widespread eucalypt in Australia, found in all states except Tasmania. It is a large, spreading hardwood to 45m tall, with deep red wood. The bark is pale grey to white and sheds in broad strips. Aboriginals used the smooth bark for making shields, shelters, dishes and canoes. Many trees scarred during the removal of large bark sheets for the making of canoes have been recorded in the Melbourne area, one of them in the Fitzroy Gardens. The leaves were used in steam baths to treat ailments, and the gum (resin) was used to treat diarrhoea and burns. This tree grows on riverine flats that are subject to periodic inundation, typically forming woodland areas along the banks. River red gums are of high conservation value for the habitat they provide for many birds and animals.

Riverina—an ancient riverine plain and bioregion covering the alluvial fans—composed of unconsolidated sediments with evidence of former stream channels—of the Lachlan, Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers west of the Great Dividing Range, extending to the Murray. Much of the geology and geomorphology of the region is similar to that of the Darling Riverine Plains bioregion. The upper catchment landscape is a series of overlapping, low-gradient alluvial fans. The lower tract of the river is a floodplain with overflow lakes. Discharge from past and present streams control patterns of sediment deposition, soils, landscapes and vegetation. As in the Darling Riverine Plains, three types of wetland are found: delta-like swamplands, particularly on the Lachlan, terminal drainage basins and lakes on Willandra Creek, and overflow lakes on the Murray. Vegetation consists of river red gum and black box forests, box woodlands, saltbush shrublands, extensive grasslands and swamp communities.

Riverina Plain—the Riverina bioregion. The Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers and their major tributaries, the Lachlan and Goulburn Rivers, flow from the highlands in the east, westward across the Riverina.

riverine forest—river red gum forests naturally dominate the low-lying floodplains of predominantly clay soils adjacent to rivers and creeks which are subject to regular flooding. At the time of European settlement these floodplains were mostly grassy open forest lands dominated by large, widely spaced river red gums. There was little diversity of understorey trees but a diverse groundlayer of grasses, reeds and sedges.

Riversleigh fossil sites—once an isolated cattle station in the far north-west of Queensland, and now one of the most important fossil sites—the world's richest Oligo-Miocene (15-25 million years ago) mammal records. Before the 1983 discoveries at the World Heritage-listed Riversleigh fossil sites, only 70 species of older fossil land mammals were known for the whole of the Australian continent. Since then, the preserved remains of thousands of ancient inhabitants of northern Australia have been recovered, including one of the best fossil bat records in the world. Almost half of what is known about the evolution of Australian mammals in the last 30 million years comes from bones found at a single site in the Riversleigh fossil beds. Since then, the preserved remains of thousands of ancient inhabitants of northern Australia—including giant pythons, carnivorous kangaroos and marsupial lions—have been recovered from Riversleigh. Riversleigh was added to the World Heritage List in 1994, along with Naracoorte in South Australia. Located in the Mount Isa region of north-west Queensland.

Riversleigh Fossils Centre- part of the new 12 million dollar Outback at Isa complex in Mount Isa. Feel yourself virtually transported to a bygone world when you come face-to-face with the prehistoric inhabitants of Australia. Far removed from the latter-day realities of technological advancement and space travel, the Riversleigh Fossils Centre reconstructs the world as it was millions of years ago. Inside the state-of-the-art museum, video displays and dioramas bring the world alive in a colourful way, while scientific displays of fossils give an accurate look at what remains of that ancient world. You can also take a guided tour of the laboratory where Outback at Isa's resident palaeontologist and trained staff, who remove fossil bones of extinct creatures from limestone. Located in the Mount Isa region of north-west Queensland.

Riversleigh killer kangaroo—Ekaltadeta ima, early to middle Miocene. Unlike modern kangaroos, the Riversleigh killer kangaroo was a flesh-eater. It was probably able to prey on animals as large as itself. It gripped its prey with its powerful arms and ripped through the meat with its strong jaws and sharp teeth.

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