Yahoo!7 Answers Australia

Back in August, we had a special initiative in the Travel category where we invited you to share your fondest memories of landscapes, cityscapes, seascapes and skyscapes through your travel stories and anecdotes.

Spread over four weeks, with each week catering to one particular theme, this initiative showcased the best holiday destinations and the most awesome travel stories that came from you!

The four questions we asked on each category received plenty of really great responses. So we’d like to thank you all for your responses to this initiative as we announce the winners of each question whose best answer won 50 bonus points.

Our first question was about landscapes – What was your most picturesque and idyllic holiday in the countryside?. This question received 30 responses.

The question, What was your most memorable beach or seaside holiday?, received 34 responses.

Our readers had many interesting plane stories and advice on where to catch the best sunrise/sunset. We received 18 responses for the question – Do you have a special travel story about air travel or an unforgettable skyscape you have experienced?.

What was your best moment in a foreign city? Why was it so memorable? – This last question received 18 responses.

Congratulations to our winners! You can read all the winning stories, here.

Did you enjoy this initiative? Leave us a comment below.

And once again, thank you all for making this Travel initiative a success! And if you are inspired enough by this and are preparing to set off somewhere anytime soon, Bon Voyage!

Kate
Community Manager

We receive emails regularly from many of you expressing your interest in writing a blog post on the Answers blog.

As much of our success is down to our amazing community members, we want to extend an offer to all you – the opportunity to volunteer a blog post and have it published on the Answers blog!

Have you ever fancied being famous in Australia?  Then this is your chance!  If your blog hits the spot we may even feature it on our sister-blogs in one of the 21 countries where we blog and translate it into some of the 9 languages we operate in.  This is your chance to have your voice heard, and have millions of people read your words!

If that isn’t incentive enough, how about an extra 50 points for each post we publish?

How do I become a guest blogger?

Simple – come up with a suggestion or a full blog post and email it to y_answrs_team_au@yahoo.com.au

However, there are a few tips and rules we’d like you to follow:

1)      What should you write about?

Focus on what would interest the Answers Community.  We are open to any subject area, even if only slightly related to Answers. This could include educational, instructional or informative topics.  Some examples are as follows:

• Subjects that you may have professional or personal experience in, for example if you have recently planned a wedding, you may want to pitch a topic on “How to organize a wedding?”
• Ideas based on your personal experience on Answers, such as tips on getting the most out of Answers, things that could be improved, and anything that you would like to share with the Answers community.

2)      Use correct spelling and grammar.  The more understandable your suggestion is, the higher the chance it has to be used or chosen as a possible blog topic.

3)      If you use any Answers content in your blog posts, it should adhere to the Community Guidelines

Finally, the legal bit – your blog will be featured on the site in accordance with our Terms of Service. We reserve the right to translate and make editorial changes to your blog if selected.

We look forward to hearing from you – y_answrs_team_au@yahoo.com.au

Earlier today, Independent MP Bob Katter, declared his support for the Coalition. Shortly after 3pm this afternoon, the two remaining Independent MP’s – Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott – declared their support for the Australian Labor Party and a Gillard Government.

This means that Julia Gillard will form the first minority government in Australia since 1940 and as the Leader of the Australian Labor Party, she is now Australia’s elected Prime Minister.

It’s been a gruelling 17 days since Australia first went to the polls and slowly became acquainted with the reality of a hung parliament. The nation has been divided, literally, with seats at a 74-74 draw with Katter’s decision to support the Coalition. So it really did come down to Oakeshotte and Windsor to support one of the parties with the only alternative to call another election.

What are your hopes and expectations for Australia under the leadership of the Gillard Government?
- Yahoo!7 Australia Answers Team

We’d like to know your thoughts around the formation of this new government and what you would like to see come out of our Federal leadership going forward into 2011 and beyond. Answer via the question above or leave a comment below!

Kate
Community Manager

By this time tomorrow, we should hopefully know who our next Prime Minister will be!

Expectations are that the key Independents – Bob Katter, Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor – who currently hold the balance of power, will make their decisions public either by the end of today or early tomorrow morning.

Speculation has been rife as to which party they will lend their support to, especially as Green’s MP Adam Bandt and Independent MP Andrew Wilkie have both declared their support for the Australian Labor Party.

So who do they choose? The Coalition – Liberals and Nationals – which would see Tony Abbott as our new Prime Minister or the Australian Labor Party, which would see Julia Gillard sworn in as the leader of our nation. It’s not a decision they would be taking lightly, they all have their own constituents and policies to consider. Whatever their end decision may be, they will no doubt be considering these first and foremost and selecting the party which recognises them best.

We’d like to know your thoughts on the current battle for power and which way you think the Independents will sway:

What party are the Independents likely to support in order to form the new Australian government and why?
- Yahoo!7 Australia Answers Team

Leave a comment below or answer via the question above.

Kate
Community Manager