"Australia.  Can it be brought 22 days nearer?"  From The Children's Newspaper, 1921.

From How People Live in Australia by Martin & Sim, 1971.

From Australia and New Zealand by Keltie & Gilmour, 1929.

From At Home in Distant Lands by Ernest Young, 1890.

From How People Live in Australia by Martin & Sim, 1971.

From Chatterbox, 1890.

From How People Live in Australia by Martin & Sim, 1971.

From All About Animals: Facts, Stories and Anecdotes, 1900.

From Ancient Times, A History of the Early World, Second Edition by James Henry Breasted, 1935.

From The Children's Newspaper, 1930.

From Home Words for Heart & Hearth by Charles Bullock, 1900.

From Australian Women's Weekly, 1955.

From How People Live in Australia by Martin & Sim, 1971.

It's been said that "Australia isn’t so far away" (Duong Van Mai Elliott, The Sacred Willow).  But the reason may surprise you.  "Australia [is] in France."  From The Children's Newspaper, 1938.

From Myths and Legends of Australia by A. W. Reed and illustrated by Roger Hart.

This is actually offered as "proof" of study abroad in Australia.  Overlooking the offensive stereotype of the continent, a novelty cutout of a kangaroo at a zoo is perhaps even less convincing than posing with a baguette and calling it France.  From Duke's 1994 yearbook.

Here's a Ficus Macrophylla (Moreton Bay Fig) from Australian Botany by William Robert Guilfoyle, 1884.

It was determined in 1855 that Australia was a mistake.

"It seems our pretty young royals are shrinking before our eyes" (A Current Affair, July 13, 2011).  Pictured, Brisbane decorates for Queen Elizabeth II in 1954.