1. A group of protesters stormed an awards ceremony this year. What were they dressed as, and what were they protesting?

   1. Steaks, protesting the live cattle exports industry in Australia

   2. Sausages, protesting the male domination of the Australian film industry

   3. Milk bottles, protesting the nanny state and Sydney’s lockout laws

   4. Schmackos, protesting greyhound racing in Australia

2. Which Australian artist won the most Arias in 2016?

   1. Flume

   2. Courtney Barnett

   3. Keith Urban

   4. Sia

3. After delivering a deeply odd apology to the Australian government for smuggling two dogs into the country, Johnny Depp appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and described Barnaby Joyce as:

   1. A red-faced potato man

   2. An overgrown baby

   3. Inbred with a tomato

   4. One child standing on another’s shoulders while wearing a big coat

4. 

   The day radio and screen star Andy Lee's children's book came out, the publisher’s website crashed owing to public demand. What was the title of the book?

   1. The Smell of Other People

   2. We Found a Hat

   3. What About a Book About Nothing

   4. Do Not Open This Book

5. Which of the following screen stars did NOT appear in a stage production in Australia this year?

   1. Delta Goodrem

   2. Richard Roxburgh

   3. Shaun Micallef

   4. Yael Stone

6. Alex Dyson and Matt Okine quit their hosting spots on Triple J breakfast in December. What was their catchphrase?

   1. Slap on the cans

   2. It’s gonna be a scorcha

   3. What a bloody legend

   4. Pack 'er up, boys

7. 

   In March John Cleese announced he was considering pursuing legal action against an Australian theatre company. Why?

   1. The company's flagship show was a cabaret-style event hosted by an impersonator called “John Cheese”, and he had been caught on a Vine making racist comments

   2. The company had been running ads in industry magazines passing off Fawlty Towers quotes as its own

   3. The company had been running Fawlty Towers-inspired dinner-and-show events called “Faulty Towers”

   4. He watched one of their productions and thought it was terrible

8. 

   Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife was a radical reimagining of a classic Australian short story. Which acclaimed Australian author wrote the original?

   1. Banjo Paterson

   2. Norman Lindsay

   3. Tim Winton

   4. Henry Lawson

9. Australian hip-hop artist Drapht won best urban album at the Arias for his record Seven Mirrors, which followed a four-year hiatus. During that time, what was Drapht doing?

   1. Producing records for other people

   2. Building seven literal mirrors, and writing a song about each

   3. Opening and operating an organic wholefoods restaurant

   4. Pursuing a career as a screen actor in a new, acclaimed Australian television series

10. At the Melbourne comedy festival, two comedians got married at a public ceremony in support of marriage equality. What are their names?

    1. Zoë Coombs Marr and Hannah Gadsby

    2. Zoë Coombs Marr and Rhys Nicholson

    3. Rhys Nicholson and Tom Ballard

    4. Tom Ballard and Wil Anderson

11. Unusual for having no submission process, the Windham-Campbell prize for writers awards US$150,000 to nine very surprised authors each year – and this year Helen Garner was among them. How did she find out?

    1. She found the email in her junk mail and thought it was a hoax

    2. She forgot to attend the ceremony and heard her name called on the radio

    3. Richard Flanagan sent her a text

    4. She read about it in the paper

12. What is the most correct definition of the phrase "parallel importation restriction" (PIR)?

    1. PIRs allow Australian booksellers that want to bulk order buy from overseas publishers. As a result, Australian publishers are forced to make that book available in Australia quickly through other booksellers.

    2. PIRs make overseas booksellers that want to bulk order Australian books buy from the publisher that holds Australian rights to that book, and not from one overseas. In return for this, the Australian publisher has to make that book available in Australia quickly.

    3. PIRs make Australian booksellers that want to bulk order buy from the publisher that holds Australian rights to that book, and not from one overseas. In return for this, the Australian publisher has to make that book available in Australia quickly.

    4. Literally no one knows what this phrase means.

13. 

    Adriano Zumbo, whose cooking show, Zumbo’s Just Desserts, gave Australia toothache this year, is most famous for a particular dessert to which he has given his name. What is it?

    1. The Zumbomisu, like tiramisu but with a Zumbo twist (extra booze)

    2. The Zumbaron, a macaron flavoured with things that should never be found in sweets

    3. The Zumbanana split, the most decadent banana split you’ve ever eaten

    4. The Zumboroquembouche, a croquembouche covered in miniature Zumbo heads made out of sugar

14. In November, under the ABC’s new managing director Michelle Guthrie, all but one of Radio National’s music shows were cut. What remains?

    1. The Inside Sleeve

    2. The Live Set

    3. The Rhythm Divine

    4. The Music Show

15. The Avalanches finally released their second album after a 15-year wait. What was the name of its first single?

    1. Frankie Sinatra

    2. Bette Davis Pies

    3. Tony Di Blasi

    4. Marilyn Maroon

16. In Tim Minchin's song Come Home (Cardinal Pell), urging Pell to return to Australia to face Australia’s royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, Minchin calls Pell which of the following names?

    1. Pompous buffoon

    2. Goddamn coward

    3. Georgie-Poo

    4. All of the above

17. Which painting won the Archibald prize this year?

    1. Louise Hearman’s portrait of Barry Humphries

    2. Mark Etherington’s portrait of Ken Done

    3. Nick Stathopoulos’s portrait of Deng Adut

    4. Natasha Bieniek’s portrait of Wendy Whiteley

18. 

    AB Original – Briggs and Trials' new hip-hop act – made headlines with the release of their debut single, featuring Dan Sultan. What was the key message of that song?

    1. Indigenous incarceration rates are a national crisis

    2. The Triple J Hottest 100 should be moved from 26 January

    3. Australia Day should be moved from 26 January

    4. A treaty for Indigenous Australia is long overdue

19. Mad Max: Fury Road swept the technical awards at this year's Oscars, breaking Australia's previous record of three wins for The Piano. Which of the following was not won?

    1. Best costume design

    2. Best visual effects

    3. Best sound editing

    4. Best sound mixing

20. Two former contestants on The Bachelor Australia, Megan Marx and Tiffany Scanlon, sparked speculation that they were in a lesbian relationship by posting a racy photo of themselves on Instagram. What were they doing in the photo?

    1. Skinny dipping together at the beach

    2. Taking part in a photo shoot for a men's magazine

    3. Lying naked in a bed of rose petals, American Beauty-style

    4. Eating a bowl of spaghetti together topless

Solutions

1:B - Chanting "End the sausage party!," about 15 women dressed as sausages lay down on the red carpet at the Aacta awards before security guards dragged them away. , 2:A - He won five Arias in total., 3:C - Depp said: 'He looks somehow inbred with a tomato. It’s not a criticism, I’m just saying, I was a little worried … he might explode.', 4:D, 5:B, 6:D, 7:C - Interactive Theatre International has staged its Faulty Towers dining experience in major capital cities around the world since 1997. The company says it did seek permission., 8:D, 9:C - Solomon's Cafe, in Highgate, Perth, closed in March 2016., 10:B - Hannah Gadsby officiated, True Australian Patriots – a trio that parody the Australian far-right –showed up in protest, and Wil Anderson appeared from the side of stage to have his arms signed., 11:A - Only after checking with her publisher and contacting the university was she able to confirm that she had won. 'I nearly keeled over,' Garner said., 12:C, 13:B - Zumbarons come in such flavours as Thai green curry, laksa, grilled cheese toastie and pork bun., 14:D, 15:A, 16:D, 17:A, 18:C - Trials explained that the single, titled January 26, draws attention to the 'absolute absurdity of celebrating the day that our ancestors were slaughtered'., 19:B - This award was won by Ex Machina – but Mad Max also won best film editing, best production design and best makeup and hair styling, bringing its tally to six., 20:D

Scores