From: Michael Jennings
'Your "Australian urban birdie" is an Australian white Ibis (usually referred to as a "sacred Ibis" by Australians. For some reason Australia's cities are now full of these, while they were quite rare when I was a child.
'As for the casino in Brisbane, it is more a defensive measure than "out-of-state gamblers who don't understand
elementary math". For many years gambling was legal in the state of New South Wales but not in any of the states that surround it. (New South Wales was founded by criminals and corrupt British naval officers, and as a consequence it remains the shonkiest state to this day). As a consequence large gambling palaces full of slot machines were built just over the borders surrounding that state. There was a huge drain of gambling money out of Queensland (and out of Victoria to the south as well) and as a consequence gambling was legalised in most other states as well in order to stop the flow. (Technically these gambling palaces are private "clubs" rather than "casinos" per se (Australians only use the word casino for places where table games such as roulete and card games are permitted, and "clubs" in NSW are only allowed to offer slot machines, keno, and bookmaking). Even though business is down, there are
still some enormous buildings devoted to these kind of things in border towns. Not too far from Brisbane is "Seagulls Leagues Club" at Tweed Heads on the Gold Coast, which is a large example.'
