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The Wiggles

The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. As of 2022, the group members are Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, Tsehay Hawkins, Evie Ferris, John Pearce, Caterina Mete and Lucia Field. The Wiggles were founded in 1991 by Field, Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt, Greg Page and Phillip Wilcher. Wilcher left the group after their first album. Page retired in 2006 due to ill health and was replaced by understudy Sam Moran, but returned in 2012, replacing Moran. At the end of 2012, Cook, Fatt and Page retired and were replaced by Gillespie, Pryce and Emma Watkins. Cook and Fatt retained their shareholding in the group and all three continued to have input into its creative and production aspects, while engaging in occasional reunion performances. Watkins departed the group in 2021, with the group subsequently adopting an expanded line-up of eight members.

Field and Fatt were members of the Australian pop band the Cockroaches in the 1980s, and Cook was a member of several bands before meeting Field and Page at Macquarie University, where they were studying to become pre-school teachers. In 1991, Field was inspired to create an album of children's music based upon concepts of early childhood education, and he enlisted Cook, Page, and Fatt to assist him. They began touring to promote the album and became so successful, they quit their teaching jobs to perform full-time. The group augmented their act with costumed characters Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus and Wags the Dog, as well as the human character Captain Feathersword, played by Paul Paddick since 1993. Shirley Shawn the Unicorn was later introduced. They originally travelled with a small group of dancers, which later grew into a larger troupe. The group's albums, DVDs and television programs have been produced independently since their inception. The height of their popularity came in the early 2000s, after they broke into the American market.

The group were formally consolidated in 2005. They were listed at the top of Business Review Weekly's top-earning Australian entertainers four years in a row and earned A$45 million in 2009. The Wiggles have enjoyed almost universal approval throughout their history, and their music has been played in pre-schools all over the world. They have earned multiple Gold, Platinum and double Platinum records; have sold 23 million DVDs and 7 million CDs; and have performed, on average, to one million people per year. The band has earned multiple Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Music Awards, and they have been inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

1988–1991: Background
Anthony Field and Jeff Fatt were members of the Cockroaches, a Sydney pop band known for their "good-time R&B material" and several singles recorded by independent labels during the 1980s. In 1988, Field's infant niece, who was the daughter of Cockroaches founder and band member Paul Field, died of SIDS, causing the group to disband. Anthony Field enrolled at Macquarie University in Sydney to complete his degree in early childhood education, and later stated that his niece's death "ultimately led to the formation of [the] Wiggles". Murray Cook, also "a mature-aged student", was the guitarist in the pub rock band Bang Shang a Lang before enrolling at Macquarie. Greg Page, who had been a roadie for and sang with the Cockroaches during their final years, had enrolled in Macquarie to study early childhood education on Field's recommendation. Field, Cook, and Page were among approximately 10 men in a program with 200 students.

In 1991, while still a student, Field became motivated to use concepts in the field of early childhood education to record an album of music for children. The album was dedicated to Field's niece. A song he wrote for the Cockroaches, "Get Ready to Wiggle", inspired the band's name because they thought that wiggling described the way children dance. Like a university assignment, they produced a folder of essays that explained the educational value of each song on the album. They needed a keyboardist "to bolster the rock'n'roll feel of the project", so Field asked his old bandmate Fatt for his assistance in what they thought would be a temporary project.

The group received songwriting help from John Field, Anthony's brother and former bandmate, and from Phillip Wilcher, who was working with the early childhood music program at Macquarie. After contributing to their first album, hosting the group's first recording sessions in his Sydney home, and appearing in a couple of the group's first videos, Wilcher left the group and went into classical music. The group reworked a few Cockroaches tunes to better fit the genre of children's music; for example, the Cockroaches song "Hot Tamale", written by John Field, was changed to "Hot Potato". Anthony Field gave copies of their album to his young students to test out the effect of the group's music on children; one mother returned it the next day because her child would not stop listening to it.

To promote their first album, the Wiggles filmed two music videos with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and created a self-produced, forty-minute-long video version. Finances were limited, so there was no post-production editing of the video project. They used Field's nieces and nephews as additional cast, and hired the band's girlfriends to perform in character costumes. Cook's wife made their first costumes. They used two cameras and visually checked the performance of each song; that way, according to Paul Field, it took them less time to complete a forty-minute video than it took other production companies to complete a three-minute music video.

1991–1993: Early career
The Cockroaches' former manager, Jeremy Fabinyi, became the group's first manager. Using their previous connections, he negotiated with the ABC to help them promote their first recording. The album cost approximately A$4,000 to produce and it sold 100,000 copies in 1991. Anthony Field and Cook got teaching jobs, while Page finished his degree, so they could only perform during school holidays; finding time to do so was, as Field reported, "challenging". Fabinyi advised them to tour in unusual settings throughout Sydney and New South Wales. The Wiggles' debut performance was at a friend's daycare facility in Randwick, New South Wales, for about a dozen children. They played for crowds at shopping centres like Westfield in Sydney and at small pre-school events and parties, and busked at Circular Quay, then moved on to regional tours and shows for playgroup associations, averaging about 300 people in the audience. They were promoted by local playgroups or nursing mothers' associations with whom they split their proceeds. They performed at pre-schools with other ABC children's performers; when 500 people attended these concerts just to see the Wiggles, they started doing their own shows, and according to Field, "Suddenly people started rolling up to performances in astonishing numbers".

In 1993, Field, Cook, and Page decided to give up teaching for a year to focus on performing full-time, along with Fatt, to see if they could make a living out of it. As Fatt reported, "it was very much a cottage industry". They used many of the business techniques developed by the Cockroaches, choosing to remain as independent and self-contained as possible. John Field, Mike Conway, who later became the Wiggles' general manager, trumpeter Dominic Lindsay, and Cockroaches saxophonist Daniel Fallon performed with them. Anthony Field, with input from the other members, led most of the production of their music, home video releases, and live shows. Their act was later augmented with supporting characters: the "friendly pirate" Captain Feathersword and the costumed characters Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus, and Wags the Dog. These characters were initially performed by the band members themselves: Field played Captain Feathersword and Wags; Cook played Dorothy; and Fatt played Henry. In 1993, actor Paul Paddick permanently joined the group to play Captain Feathersword; he later became known as "the fifth Wiggle" and was as popular as the regular bandmembers. At first, the group travelled with a small group of dancers hired from a local dance studio to perform with them.

After the production of their second album, the Wiggles, who were called by their first names when they performed, began to wear costumes on stage as Fabinyi suggested and as the Cockroaches had done, and adopted colour-coded shirts: Page in yellow, Cook in red, Fatt in purple, and Field in blue. The coloured shirts also made it easier for their young audience to identify them. As Field reported, the decision to emphasise colour was "a no-brainer, considering our pre-school-age audience". Cook and Fatt already owned shirts in their colours, but Field and Page "met in a Sydney department store and literally raced to see who got the blue shirt".

1993–2004: Australian and international success
Through the rest of the 1990s, the Wiggles maintained a busy recording and touring schedule, becoming as Field reported and despite his strong dislike of touring, "the hardest-working touring act in the country". They released multiple albums and home videos and, depending upon the word of mouth of their audience, performed to increasingly large audiences in Australia and New Zealand despite having to re-introduce themselves to a new audience of children approximately every three years. They produced a new album and video each year and toured to promote them. By late 1993, they "grew bigger than anyone had thought", and hundreds attended their concerts; by 1995 they had set records for music and video sales. In 1997, Twentieth Century Fox produced a feature-length film, The Wiggles Movie, which became the fifth-highest grossing Australian film of 1998, earning over a million-and-a-half dollars.

In spite of their early success in Australia, Paul Field reported that the band was unable to produce a television program on the ABC, where they felt they would receive the most exposure to the pre-school market. "Around 1996–1997", they filmed a television pilot for the ABC, but as The Sydney Morning Herald reported in 2002, "the project never got off the ground due to irreconcilable artistic differences". As a result, the Wiggles financed a TV program of 13 episodes themselves and sold it to Disney Channel in Australia and to Channel Seven, where it became a hit. By 1998, the Wiggles were ready to move on to international markets, despite its members' health issues, especially Anthony Field's. The reaction of producers in the UK was less positive than the group would have liked, although they were eventually able to make inroads there, but their real success came in the US. Disney arranged for them to perform at Disneyland in California, where they were discovered by Lyrick Studios, the producers of Barney & Friends. Both Anthony and Paul Field reported that Lyrick, despite their initial misgivings about whether American audiences would accept the band's Australian accents, came to understand the Wiggles and their goals, and after successful tests with American children, enthusiastically promoted them.

The Wiggles used many of the same promotion techniques in the US that they had used in Australia, and chose to keep their concerts simple and maintain the same values that were successful in Australia. The Wiggles performed during the intermission of Barney Live stage shows, which The New York Times likened to "getting the warm-up slot for the Stones" in the pre-school entertainment world. In 2000, when video sales took off in the US, Lyrick began to distribute Wiggles videos and advertised them by including Wiggles shorts as trailers in their Barney videos, which, as Anthony Field stated, "pushed us over the edge". At first, the group's videos were distributed in boutique stores such as FAO Schwarz and Zany Brainy, and on-line. According to Paul Field, they entered the mass media market when their videos became top-sellers at Amazon.com, and their first two videos, Yummy Yummy and Wiggle Time, landed in the top ten at Amazon.com. Stores such as Wal-Mart began to take notice, and began to sell Wiggles videos. The band released nine DVDs in the next three years to keep up with the demand.

As they had done in Australia, the Wiggles chose to tour, but start off small, with simple props and sets instead of hiring a touring company. Some of their first appearances in America were at Blockbuster Video parking lots in 1999 to small audiences—as Fatt said, "a dozen people". They performed at small venues such as church halls and 500-seat theatres in Brooklyn and New Jersey, and upgraded to larger venues as ticket sales increased. Anthony Field reported that one week they would perform to 8,000 in Sydney and to 20 people the following week at a parking lot in a small town in the US. One time, they performed for a dozen people at the Mall of America in Minnesota, but half of the audience were hired by Lyrick. Eventually, they moved to larger arenas such as the Beacon Theatre and Madison Square Garden. They performed at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, for six weeks. Their audiences began to increase, and they toured Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, the US, and the UK.

The Wiggles' popularity in the US increased "in the shell-shocked weeks after the terrorist attacks on New York City in 2001", when the group performed there, even when other acts cancelled their tours, a decision that earned them loyalty and respect. According to Cook, the press proclaimed that they were braver than many Australian sports teams that had cancelled their appearances. Paul Field stated, "New York has really embraced them. It was a kind of watershed." Strong sales of the Wiggles videos eventually caught the attention of Disney Channel in the US, who was impressed by their "strong pro-social message". In January 2002, Disney began showing Wiggles video clips between their programs. By June of that year, the popularity of the clips prompted Disney Channel to add both of the Wiggles' television series to their schedule and showed full episodes multiple times per day. Anthony Field reported that despite their "modest production values", the shows were popular with pre-schoolers.

Beginning in 2002, the Wiggles filmed four series worth of television programs exclusively with the ABC. The network called them "the most successful property that the ABC has represented in the pre-school genre". By the end of 2002, according to Field, "we knew we were involved in something extraordinary in the US". Their concert schedule in North America doubled, seemingly overnight; they began performing up to 520 shows per year all over the world. They also began to produce other stage shows in places the Wiggles themselves were unable to visit, in Australia, the UK, and US, that featured their characters, a host, and a few dancers. The Age called this time period (about the mid-2000s) the group's "high point"; they earned A$45 million a year in revenues, and had several licensing deals and an international distribution agreement with Disney.

Despite their success, Anthony Field almost left the group in 2004, shortly after his marriage and the birth of his first child, due to his serious medical issues, which were worsened by the Wiggles' demanding tour schedule. After meeting chiropractor James Stoxen in Chicago, Field improved his health to the point that he was able to continue. He began to hire teams of chiropractors for himself, his fellow bandmembers, and cast members in every city they performed, which he credited with making it possible for them to fulfill their touring requirements.

2005–2006: Page's retirement
In December 2005, lead singer Page, at age 33, underwent a double hernia operation. He withdrew from the Wiggles' US tour in August 2006, after suffering fainting spells, lethargy, nausea, and loss of balance. He returned to Australia, where doctors diagnosed his condition as orthostatic intolerance, a chronic but not life-threatening condition. Page's final performance with the Wiggles was in Kingston, Rhode Island.

On 30 November 2006, the Wiggles announced Page's retirement from the group. In a video message posted on the group's web page, Page said: "I'll miss being a part of the Wiggles very much, but this is the right decision because it will allow me to focus on managing my health." The Sydney Morning Herald called it "unsettling". Page was replaced by Sam Moran, who had served as an understudy for the Wiggles for five years and had already stood in for Page for 150 shows. Initially, the Wiggles struggled over their decision to replace Page, but after their audience's positive response to Moran, they decided to continue as a group because they thought that was what their young audience would want. According to Fatt, who called it "a huge decision" and "a teachable moment" for them, they chose to be honest with their young audience as they made the transition from Page to Moran. As part owner of the Wiggles, Page received a payout of about $20 million.

2006–2012: Moran era
Although Moran's transition as the Wiggles' lead singer was "smooth" for the young children of their audience, it was more difficult for their parents. Moran said that "most children understood". Field reported that by the group's 20th anniversary in 2011, due to the ever-changing nature of their audience, most of their young fans were unfamiliar with Page. Cook stated that Moran's transition was challenging for the group because replacing their lead singer "changed their sound". Fatt characterised Moran's singing style as more operatic, so they chose different keys to sing and perform. The Wiggles never publicly disclosed how much Moran was paid, but it was reported that he earned $200,000 per year. Moran was featured in his first album and video as a member of the group in early 2007, and a new series of the Wiggles' television program featuring Moran was filmed and began airing in Australia.

At the end of 2007, the Wiggles donated their complete back catalogue of 27 master tapes to Australia's National Film and Sound Archive. Their business ventures during these years included opening up "Wiggles World" sections in theme parks in North America and the Arab World, internet offerings, the creation of new television shows, and a five-year-long partnership with the American television network Sprout in 2009. In December 2010, Cinemalive beamed a Wiggles concert live from Acer Arena into movie theatres all over Australia, for children and their families unable to attend their shows.

In early July 2011, Fatt developed arrhythmia and underwent "urgent but routine" heart surgery, when he was fitted with a pacemaker after feeling unwell for several weeks and blacking out. He missed the group's US tour as a result, after not missing a show in 20 years. Also in mid-2011, the Wiggles celebrated their 20th anniversary with circus-themed shows and performances throughout Australia and the outback in a circus tent, as well as a "physically grueling" birthday-themed tour of 90 shows throughout Australia, which Paul Field called "one of the biggest of their careers". Sydney's Powerhouse Museum commemorated the group's anniversary with an exhibit that displayed Wiggles memorabilia.

In 2011, the worldwide financial crisis hit the group, and they recorded their first drop in revenues in 10 years, at approximately $2.5 million, a total decrease of 28 percent. Royalties partially offset the difference between their 2010 and 2011 revenues. Their managing director Mike Conway called 2011 their toughest year financially. For the first time, they had negative equity, with more liabilities than assets, and the owners had to provide the funds for them to continue operations. Conway stated that their losses were due to less touring time in the US, difficulties in placing their DVDs in Walmart, and their required investment in a new digital platform.

2012: Reunion with Page and departure of Cook, Fatt and Page
In January 2012, and amidst a great deal of controversy, the Wiggles announced that Page had regained his health and was returning to the group in the place of Moran. He returned as an employee "exactly on the same level as [Moran]", rather than a co-owner, having relinquished his business interest in the group after he left in 2006. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the band members' interest in Page's return was sparked when they reunited during the group's induction in the ARIA Hall of Fame in November 2011. It was originally planned for Page to remain with the group temporarily until August 2012. Business Review Weekly reported that the presentation of Moran's departure had been mishandled and had potentially damaged their brand image. Paul Field agreed, stating that they "could have handled the communication and management of the transition better". Cook later admitted that they were shocked by the backlash in the press and among the parents of their audience. As part of his severance package, Moran continued to collect song royalties and was granted use of the Wiggles' studios.

In mid-2012, the Wiggles announced that Cook, Fatt and Page would be retiring from touring with the group; Emma Watkins, the first female member of the Wiggles, replaced Page, Lachlan Gillespie replaced Fatt, and Simon Pryce replaced Cook. Anthony Field remained in the group because he found it too difficult to give up and because he still had a passion for educating children. According to Paul Field, staying in the band "was a vital decision to placate American, British and Canadian business partners". Cook, Fatt and Page remained involved with the creative and production aspects of the group. Fatt and Cook had been talking about quitting touring for many years; Cook announced his intention to retire first, citing a desire to spend more time with his family, and then Fatt announced his own retirement shortly thereafter. Page, who was still struggling with his health issues and had stated that his interest was in working with the group's original line-up, was subsequently asked to extend his stay until the end of the year so he would leave alongside Cook and Fatt, to which he agreed.

Cook reported that the original members were confident that the new group would be accepted by the fans because they passed on their founding concepts of early childhood education to Gillespie, Pryce and Watkins. The new members, like Moran (who was not approached to return), were salaried employees. Watkins had previously worked with the group, first performing character roles in 2010, when Anthony Field approached her to join the main line-up. He had initially asked her to tour with the group after being impressed by a behind-the-scenes video she had filmed. Once she had joined the group, Field asked Watkins to dye her hair red, as well as learn how to play the drums. Gillespie had joined the company performing as part of the live shows in 2009, while Pryce had previously worked as a backing vocalist on some of the band's albums.

The group, for their farewell tour, visited eight countries and 141 cities, for a total of almost 250 shows in over 200 days for 640,000 people. Gillespie, Pryce and Watkins wore "in training" T-shirts, and debuted the song "Do the Propeller" during these concerts. The final televised performance of the original band members, along with the new members, was on 22 December 2012, during the annual Carols in the Domain in Sydney. Their final performance, after over 7000 shows over the years, was on 23 December at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Also by 2012, the Wiggles performed to audiences whose parents attended their shows in their early years, and they were hiring performers who were part of their audience as young children.

2013–2021: "New Wiggles" era
The new iteration of the Wiggles, with Field and its new members, began touring in early 2013. Cook became the group's road manager in mid-2013. Pryce reported that since the Wiggles' audience changed every few years, the transition to the new group was easier for their young audience than it was for their parents. One of their challenges, especially for their early tours, was learning the Wiggles' catalogue of 1400 songs. After a seven-year absence from Australian television, they filmed a new television series, called Ready, Steady, Wiggle!, in their spare time at their studio in Sydney between tours and on the road. Watkins, who had a film-making degree, played an important role in its production. Field admitted that they found it "hard going" until they returned to television. Merchandise featuring the original group outsold the new group's products, and they failed to sell-out their concerts. By 2014, however, the Wiggles found success with their new line-up, when they doubled their concert ticket sales from the year before, and won the 2014 ARIA Award for Best Children's Album with Apples & Bananas. In 2015, Paul Field called the new group "an amazing success". According to Kathy McCabe of News Corp Australia, it took 18 months for the new group to be accepted by their audience. In 2014, it was announced that the Wiggles would produce their second feature film; comedian Ben Elton was slated to write the script and co-write the soundtrack.

McCabe credited their success to Watkins, who became the group's stand-out member. According to Field, an American journalist called her young fans, who came to concerts dressed in yellow and wearing bows like her, the "mini Emma army". She was so popular that a new television series, Emma!, featuring Watkins as a solo performer, was produced in 2015. Anthony Field compared Watkins to Elvis Presley, while Paul Field called her "an aspirational role model" for their young audience and reported that she had increased their fan base of girls. Up to 80% of the audience at concerts would emulate her costuming and wear yellow; by 2021 it was estimated that 50% of the group's merchandising was specific to the "Emma" brand. In early 2015, Gillespie and Watkins revealed that they had been dating for two years; they announced their engagement in May 2015. They were married in April 2016, but made public their separation in August 2018.

At first, the members of the new group were salaried employees, but in 2020, Peter Ker of The Australian Financial Review reported that Watkins and Gillespie had each acquired approximately 8% of the company and were given directorships in June 2018; Pryce was the only member who did not have equity in the business. Ker also reported that Anthony Field owned 36%, while Fatt and Cook each owned 24% of the business. A new costumed character, Shirley Shawn the Unicorn, was added in 2019, who was later revealed to identify as non-binary. The COVID-19 pandemic halted the group's capacity to tour in 2020, which led to a downsizing of the company's staff and an increase in filming online content.

Throughout the new members era, the original line-up engaged in occasional reunion performances. In February 2016, the original group members performed a charity concert for an over-18 audience at the Dee Why RSL club in Sydney. The original line-up performed reunion charity concerts on 17 and 18 January 2020 to raise funds for the Australian bush fires with proceeds going to the Australian Red Cross and the WIRES Wildlife Rescue Service. Onstage on 17 January, Page suffered a cardiac arrest; he stopped breathing and required CPR and three jolts from a defibrillator. Page was discharged from hospital the following week. In March 2021, the Wiggles performed on Triple J's Like a Version segment. Cook and Fatt returned alongside Field, Gillespie, Pryce and Watkins to cover Tame Impala's "Elephant" which they interspersed with "Fruit Salad"; the cover reached No. 1 on the annual Triple J Hottest 100 poll for 2021. This was the first cover to top the chart, as well as the first time a children's act had led the ranking.

2021–present: Expanded line-up
The Wiggles commemorated their 30th anniversary in January 2021 with a song entitled "We're All Fruit Salad!", containing lyrics centred around unity and acceptance, and featuring guest performers of different cultural backgrounds, after Field expressed a desire to include more diversity in the band. In August 2021, four new members were added to the Wiggles, with the aim of embracing cultural and gender diversity, and better reflecting contemporary society. Evie Ferris, Kelly Hamilton, Tsehay Hawkins and John Pearce debuted in an exclusive web series entitled Fruit Salad TV, made available on YouTube in September.

Watkins announced her departure from the group in October 2021 and was replaced by Hawkins in the primary line-up; she became the band's first woman of colour. The expanded line-up made their live performance debut as the pre-match entertainment of an Australia women's national soccer team game in November, followed by a national Australian concert tour in early 2022. Caterina Mete, the long-standing choreographer for the Wiggles, joined the group at the commencement of the tour. Field's daughter, Lucia Field, debuted as a member in July, wearing blue like her father. The group made their first appearance on the cover of the Australian edition of Rolling Stone magazine in September, before making history as the first band in Australia to perform two arena tours in one year. A new instalment of the Ready, Steady, Wiggle! television series, the first to feature the expanded line-up, premiered in March 2023; additional series premiered in 2023 and 2024. Wiggle and Learn, a new web educational series titled, was first made available on YouTube in February 2024, with further episodes released every two weeks throughout the year. A corresponding album, Wiggle and Learn: 100 Educational Songs for Children, will be released in August 2024 as the group's 100th album release.

The original line-up continued to perform occasionally during this period. Cook, Fatt, Anthony Field and Page performed an adults-only reunion tour at arenas around Australia in early 2022. They also made contributions to the 2022 tribute album ReWiggled, which debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart and became the group's first number-one album in Australia. ReWiggled was named Best Children's Album at the 2022 ARIA Awards, where the Wiggles were presented with the award for Best Australian Live Act, for their dual tour featuring the group's regular and original members. The original quartet also performed at Falls Festival across Australia in late 2022 and early 2023. A documentary detailing the group's history, entitled Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles, premiered in October 2023 on Amazon Prime Video.

Musical style
The Wiggles have written new music each year since their inception; they sequestered themselves for a month each summer and wrote three albums' worth of original children's music based on simple concepts familiar to young children, and using several genres of music and types of instruments. Most of their songs were short and started with the chorus because they felt that young children needed to be presented with a song's topic in their first few lines. They wrote songs individually at first, but eventually wrote as a group, often with John Field, trumpet player Dominic Lindsay, and Paddick. Fatt, the only member of the original group without a degree in early childhood education, tended to focus on composing music. Fatt told reporter Brian McElhiney, who called the group's songwriting process "a collaborate affair", that they wrote repetitive pop songs or jingles, which were appealing to children. Watkins reported that she was invited to write songs for their albums, even though she was primarily a dancer. John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival, who appeared in a Wiggles video in 2002, told The New York Times that he was "very impressed" with the group's songwriting, especially with their drum sound.

According to Anthony Field, the transition from writing music for an adult rock band to writing children's music was not a big one for the Wiggles. He explained that the music of the Cockroaches and the Wiggles was similar, but just featuring different subject matter in the lyrics. Moran stated that the Wiggles wrote songs they liked and would listen to, and then made them appropriate for children. They approached simple and relocatable topics, such as food and nutrition, as teachers would in a pre-school setting, with simple melodies that were easy for children to sing and remember. The group sang the same 60s-style pop as the Cockroaches, but with different lyrics, although they were not confined to songs about love and could write about anything that interested and excited young children, which was limitless. The music they chose to write and perform was influenced by nursery rhymes, folk music, and rock songs of the 1950s and 1960s. Page reported, "First and foremost, we're entertainers". The Wiggles captured the interest of children by first entertaining them, and then by presenting them with educational messages.

The group wrote and performed children's music that was different from what had been done previously; as Cook stated, "we didn't just go down the route of what people think is kids' music". They were not tied to one style or genre of music and often experimented in the studio; while some of their recordings were orchestral, others had a more live feel. The group were aware that their songs were often children's first exposure to music. Guitar Magazine speculated that since Cook was one of the first guitarists children were exposed to, he may be the most influential guitarist in the world. Cook was conscious that he was probably the first guitarist children would see and appreciated the opportunity to inspire children to learn to play guitar later. In 2013, after Cook retired from touring with the group and became their touring manager, he reported that newer bands like Regular John approached him and said that the Wiggles were the first band "they got into".

Educational theory
The Wiggles' songwriting and performances were rooted in their professional training as pre-school teachers and in the concepts of early childhood education. Field reported, as he studied music for young children at university, being "shocked ... at the non-inclusive way music for children was usually performed". According to Field, children had to sit silently as musicians played "traditional songs often featuring negative or outdated lyrics and dealing with subject matter of no interest to small children". The lack of songs with themes and topics that interested children inspired Field to record the Wiggles' first album.

The group's "golden rule", according to Field, was to make the content of their songs and shows "developmentally appropriate and fun". Their music, stage shows, and television and DVD productions were developed, as The New York Times reported, "from the premise that a young child has a short attention span, is curious about a limited number of objects and activities, loves having a job to do and is thrilled by mastering basic movements". They also respected their audience's intelligence and insight about entertainment, information and honesty. As Field said, "Young children identify with relevant concepts, and enjoy being entertained and being part of the entertainment. They are willing to commit to interacting if you are direct, inclusive, and positive". The group understood that challenging young children to engage in difficult tasks is more effective than simply telling them to do it. They believed that young children were egocentric, so they stared continually into the camera in their videos and TV shows, and explained every action because they believed that young children needed to be told what to expect so that they do not feel left out and in order to feel safe.

The Wiggles' stage shows are full of action and audience participation. By the group's "New Wiggles" iteration, they featured inside jokes for the adult members of their audience and the bandmembers tended to wander throughout the audience. Pryce, as an experienced stage performer, was conscious that their shows were the first live theatre young children experienced; as a result, the group adapted the content of their shows to accommodate their audience's development and understanding. Paddick's role as Captain Feathersword became more important in the mid-1990s, especially in the group's stage shows, when he was able to incorporate his circus and opera training, as well as impersonations that were popular with their audience's parents.

They believed in empowering children by practices such as greeting their audience members with "Hello, everyone", instead of "Hello, boys and girls" which, as Paul Field explains, "unnecessarily separates children and has undertones of condescension". Kathleen Warren, the band members' former professor at Macquarie University, believed that the group's practice of asking their audience to "Wake Up Jeff" when Fatt pretended to fall asleep was "very much in keeping with the way they work with children". Warren stated that asking children to interrupt Fatt's slumber helped them build confidence and to feel more in control of their lives. Fatt was the only original member of the Wiggles without a background in early childhood education; he explained that was the reason falling asleep was chosen as his gimmick and that "it was a way of getting me involved in the shows without actually having to do anything". Paul Field reported that children in the Wiggles' audience felt "great excitement" and were disappointed if not given the opportunity to help Jeff in this way. Anthony Field, who called it "a simple audience participation and interaction gag we've done since the start of the group", claimed that it endeared Fatt to their audiences. The group's members took turns falling asleep in the early days of the group, but it became Fatt's gimmick because "it was a perfect fit". When Fatt retired, Gillespie took over the task of falling asleep.

Simple movements were developed by their choreographers, including Leeanne Ashley, to accompany each song because, as The New York Times reported, they believed "in the power of basic movements to enchant young children". According to reporter Anders Wright, they intentionally made mistakes in their dance moves in order to identify more with their young audience. The group incorporated more dancing into their performances after the birth of Field's oldest daughter in 2004. In later years, corresponding with Field's developing interests in acrobatics and gymnastics, they added these elements to their stage shows, including, as Field reported, hiring several world-class athletes such as former trampoline champion Karl Shore. Watkins, whom Paul Field called "a dancer of many disciplines", was initially hired as a member of their troupe and referred to herself as "mainly a dancer".

Between 1999 and 2003, to test the group's appeal across cultures, Warren used one of the Wiggles' CDs as an educational tool in a village near Madang, on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. She found that the Madangese children were able to relate to the group's songs, and that they were able to sing along and participate in their simple choreography. Although the Wiggles' recorded and performed songs, dances, and musical styles from different cultures and languages, the Wiggles did not find that adapting their music to non-Australian cultures was necessary to reach children in other countries. The Wiggles recognised that as long as they spoke at the same level as their audience, their Australian accents would not matter, and that young children were able to adapt to a variety of contexts and to different pronunciations of common words, no matter where they resided.

Brand and finances

Throughout the group's history, the members and management have retained full creative control and ownership of every aspect of their business in an effort to remain as independent as possible. As Field stated, the band's corporation was "not your regular 'corporate culture'. The group does not have a chief executive, instead making decisions through consensus and made business decisions based upon their experience as performers and their knowledge of early childhood education. Endorsements of toys and other products are made carefully and only with products that correlated with their image. There are high expectations regarding the behaviour and attitude of everyone associated with the group, although in 2021, Watkins denied the existence of "a Wiggles code-of-conduct manual hidden away somewhere". Other ventures of band's corporation included franchising their concept to Africa, South America, and Taiwan.  The group also licensed "Wiggles World" sections to various theme parks in the United States and Australia, as well as play centres in both regions.

The Wiggles became formally consolidated in 2005. The group's board of directors consisted of the original three members, as well as Paul Field, who had been the manager of the group since the mid-1990s, and Mike Conway, who had worked for Ernst & Young in England and became a co-manager in 2001. It was reported that as part owner of the Wiggles, Page was given a A$20 million payout when he left the group in 2006; he officially ceased to be a company shareholder in 2008. After their retirement in 2012, Cook and Fatt, as well as Anthony Field, each retained 30% ownership of the brand, and Paul Field and Conway each owned 5%. Gillespie, Pryce and Watkins were reported to be salaried employees when they joined the group in 2012. Paul Field departed as the company's general manager in March 2020, in the midst of a period of "organisational change". It was reported through corporate filings that Watkins and Gillespie each acquired approximately 8% ownership of the business as well as company directorships in June 2018, while Pryce had not gained equity of the group. At the time of reporting, it was suggested that Anthony Field owned 36% of the brand, becoming the majority shareholder, while Fatt and Cook each owned 24%. By 2021, it was estimated that the group earned A$30 million per year.

Reception
The Wiggles have enjoyed "almost universal approval" throughout their history. Their songs have been sung and played in pre-schools around the world. Between 2000 and 2010, the Wiggles earned 21 Gold records. The group's albums have been certified by ARIA as double Platinum, Platinum and Gold in Australia, as well as certified Gold in the US. The original group performed, on average, to one million people per year. The Wiggles' music has also received over one billion streams on digital services. In 2014, The Sydney Morning Herald called their shows slick and fast-paced.

After 2003, front-row tickets to their sold-out concerts in the US were scalped for US$500. The group responded by reducing the number of seats sold per transaction, in order to keep prices down and avoid further tickets scalping. In 2008, the group found themselves in the midst of what The Daily Telegraph called a "ticketing scandal"; scalpers tried to sell an A$19 ticket on eBay for almost A$2,000 and a set of three tickets for A$315 for concerts in Melbourne, and a group of three tickets to a Wiggles UNICEF charity concert in Sydney had a price tag of A$510. The tickets were taken off eBay and voided.

In what Paul Field called "one of the highlights of their 15 years of being together", The Wiggles were awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Australian Catholic University in 2006. Cook gave an address during the private ceremony honouring them. They were awarded another honorary doctoral degree in 2009 from their alma mater, Macquarie University. The group were named UNICEF goodwill ambassadors in 2008; they held a special concert to raise money for the organisation. In 2010, the four original members of the Wiggles were appointed Members of the Order of Australia for their service to the arts in Australia, especially children's entertainment, and for their contributions and support of several charities. They called the honour their "biggest recognition yet". The group has always invited children with special needs and their families to pre-concert "meet and greet" sessions. According to Fatt, many parents of these children have reported that the Wiggles' music has enhanced their lives, and that children with autism "respond to [the] Wiggles and nothing else". The Wiggles, throughout their history, have visited and performed for patients at the Sydney Children's Hospital every Christmas morning.

Controversies
In 2020, a song released six years earlier titled Pappadum received significant backlash for its portrayal of Indian culture. The song's lyrics are the word pappadum repeated over and over again, and the accompanying music video sees the Wiggles dancing in traditional Indian style whilst wearing sarees, dhotis and waving pappadums about. Member Anthony Field, who wrote the song, issued an apology stating that he wrote it as a celebration of Indian culture. The song has since been removed from live concerts.

In 2021, Australian senator Matt Canavan of the National Party accused the Wiggles of going "woke", following the group's introduction of several new ethnically diverse members. Canavan stated that "the Wiggles are free to do what they like. It was nice while it lasted. But you go woke, you go broke.” His comments were largely criticised by fans welcoming the changes.

In 2023, the Australian city of Bunbury, Western Australia used a loop of the song Hot Potato to deter homeless people from setting up shelter at a popular spot, which caused a lot of outrage among locals. The Wiggles released a statement, saying that this use of their music went against their message of bringing joy and happiness to people. After the band approached the city, the music has since been switched off.

Members
Current members
 * Anthony Field – Blue Wiggle (1991–present)
 * Lachlan Gillespie – Purple Wiggle (2013–present)
 * Simon Pryce – Red Wiggle (2013–present)
 * Tsehay Hawkins – Yellow Wiggle (2021–present), Red Wiggle (2021)
 * Evie Ferris – Yellow Wiggle (2022–present), Blue Wiggle (2021–2022)
 * John Pearce – Purple Wiggle (2021–present)
 * Caterina Mete – Red Wiggle (2022–present)
 * Lucia Field – Blue Wiggle (2022–present)

Former members
 * Murray Cook – Red Wiggle (1991–2012)
 * Jeff Fatt – Purple Wiggle (1991–2012)
 * Greg Page – Yellow Wiggle (1991–2006, 2012)
 * Phillip Wilcher (1991–1992)
 * Sam Moran – Yellow Wiggle (2006–2012)
 * Emma Watkins – Yellow Wiggle (2013–2021)
 * Kelly Hamilton – Supporting Yellow Wiggle (2021–2022)

Discography
Studio albums

 * The Wiggles (1991)
 * Here Comes a Song (1992)
 * Stories and Songs: The Adventures of Captain Feathersword the Friendly Pirate (1993)
 * Yummy Yummy (1994)
 * Big Red Car (1995)
 * Wake Up Jeff! (1996)
 * Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas (1996)
 * The Wiggles Movie Soundtrack (1997)
 * Toot, Toot! (1998)
 * It's a Wiggly Wiggly World (2000)
 * Wiggle Time! (2000)
 * Yule Be Wiggling (2000)
 * Hoop Dee Doo: It's a Wiggly Party (2001)
 * Wiggly Safari (2002)
 * Wiggle Bay (2002)
 * Go to Sleep Jeff! (2003)
 * Whoo Hoo! Wiggly Gremlins! (2003)
 * Top of the Tots (2003)
 * Cold Spaghetti Western (2004)
 * Santa's Rockin'! (2004)
 * Sailing Around the World (2005)
 * Here Comes the Big Red Car (2006)
 * It's Time to Wake Up Jeff! (2006)
 * Splish Splash Big Red Boat (2006)
 * Racing to the Rainbow (2006)
 * Getting Strong! (2007)
 * Pop Go the Wiggles! (2007)
 * You Make Me Feel Like Dancing (2008)
 * Sing a Song of Wiggles (2008)
 * Go Bananas! (2009)
 * Hot Poppin' Popcorn (2009)
 * Let's Eat (2010)
 * Ukulele Baby! (2011)
 * It's Always Christmas with You! (2011)
 * Surfer Jeff (2012)
 * Taking Off! (2013)
 * Furry Tales (2013)
 * Pumpkin Face (2013)
 * Go Santa Go! (2013)
 * Apples & Bananas (2014)
 * Wiggle House (2014)
 * Rock & Roll Preschool (2015)
 * Meet the Orchestra! (2015)
 * Wiggle Town! (2016)
 * Carnival of the Animals (2016)
 * Dance Dance! (2016)
 * Nursery Rhymes (2017)
 * Duets (2017)
 * Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas! (2017)
 * Nursery Rhymes 2 (2018)
 * Wiggle Pop! (2018)
 * Big Ballet Day! (2019)
 * Party Time! (2019)
 * Fun and Games (2020)
 * Choo Choo Trains, Propeller Planes & Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car! (2020)
 * Lullabies with Love (2021)
 * Halloween Party (2021)
 * Super Wiggles (2022)
 * Ready, Steady, Wiggle! (2023)
 * The Sound of Halloween (2023)
 * The Sound of Christmas (2023)
 * Wiggle and Learn: 100 Educational Songs for Children (2024)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: The Wiggles


text:
Parliament of South Africa

The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature; under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-eighth Parliament was first convened on 14 June 2024.

From 1910 to 1994, members of Parliament were elected chiefly by the South African white minority. The first elections with universal suffrage were held in 1994.

Both chambers held their meetings in the Houses of Parliament, Cape Town that were built 1875–1884. A fire broke out within the buildings in early January 2022, destroying the session room of the National Assembly. It was decided that the National Assembly would temporarily meet at the Good Hope Chamber.

Before 1910
The predecessor of the Parliament of South Africa, before the 1910 Union of South Africa, was the bicameral Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope. This was composed of the House of Assembly (the lower house) and the Legislative Council (the upper house). It dated back to the beginnings of Cape independence in 1853 and was elected according to the multi-racial Cape Qualified Franchise system, whereby suffrage qualifications were applied equally to all males, regardless of race.

The buildings of the Cape Parliament went on to house the Parliament of South Africa, after union.

1910–1994
When the Union of South Africa was established in 1910, the Parliament was bicameral and consisted of the King or the Queen, the Senate, and the House of Assembly (known in Afrikaans as the Volksraad).
 * The King (from 1952, the Queen of South Africa) was represented by the Governor-General.
 * The Senate consisted of senators nominated by the four provinces, and by the Governor-General, initially for a period of ten years. The number of senators was changed from time to time. The Senate was chaired by a President of the Senate chosen by the senators from among themselves.
 * The House of Assembly consisted of members who were directly elected by the voters. Each MP represented an electoral district (constituency), and most of them were elected on the basis of their political party. The number of constituencies and parliamentary seats was increased from time to time, in line with increases in the population. The House was chaired by a Speaker chosen by the MPs from among themselves.
 * Only white men could be senators or MPs.
 * The franchise (right to vote) was originally granted to white men in all four provinces, to black men in the Cape Province and Natal, and to Coloured men in the Cape Province – in all cases, the minimum age was 21 years.

The composition of Parliament was changed by constitutional amendments from time to time:
 * From 1930, white women had the vote, and the right to serve as senators and MPs, on the same basis as white men.
 * In 1934, Parliament was declared "the sovereign legislative power in and over the Union".
 * From 1937, black voters were separated from the other races – in the Senate they were represented by four elected senators (two for the Cape, one for Natal, one for the Orange Free State and Transvaal), and in the House of Assembly by three "native representative" MPs elected in separate black constituencies.
 * From 1950, white voters in South West Africa, which was under South African administration at that time, were represented by four senators and six MPs.
 * From 1957, Coloured voters were separated from the whites – in the Senate, they were represented by separate senators, and in the House of Assembly by MPs elected in separate Coloured constituencies. To pass this amendment in the face of strong opposition (and two Supreme Court rulings), prime minister Johannes Strijdom had to enlarge the Senate and appoint enough pro-government senators to get the two-thirds majority he needed to force through the constitutional change.
 * Representation of black voters was ended in 1960.
 * Voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1960.

In a referendum held in 1960, a small majority of white voters approved the conversion of the country from a constitutional monarchy to a parliamentary republic.

1961–1984
The Republic of South Africa was established in 1961. The only change made to the composition of the Parliament was the substitution of the State President for the Queen. A few significant changes were made later:
 * Coloured representation was ended in 1968, leaving both the Senate and the House of Assembly representing white voters only.
 * South West Africa ceased to be represented in Parliament from 1977, following the passing of the South West Africa Constitution Amendment Act of that year.
 * The Senate was abolished with effect from 1 January 1981, changing Parliament to a unicameral legislature.

1984–1994
A new Constitution, introduced in 1984, re-enfranchised the Coloured population (women as well as men) and enfranchised the Indian population. It retained the existing House of Assembly for whites and established a House of Representatives to represent the Coloureds, and a House of Delegates for the Indians, making Parliament a tricameral legislature. Blacks continued to be excluded.
 * Each house consisted of members elected to represent constituencies, plus a few additional members elected by the MPs, and some nominated by the State President.
 * Each house legislated on "own affairs" exclusive to its own race group, and they legislated jointly on "general affairs" affecting all races. In practice, the House of Assembly, which had more MPs than the other two houses combined, continued to dominate the legislature.
 * Each house was chaired by a chairman elected by its members from among themselves. They were coordinated by a Speaker of Parliament, elected by the members of all three houses in a joint sitting.
 * The existing House of Assembly, elected in 1981, was deemed to have been re-elected in 1984, to coordinate its term of office with those of the two new houses. However, this was later overturned by the Supreme Court, and a separate election had to be held for the House of Assembly in 1987. The House elected in 1987 was then dissolved with the other houses in 1989.

The black majority were still disfranchised, and the new system lacked legitimacy even among the Coloureds and Asians, many of whom boycotted elections. In a referendum held in 1992, 68.73% of (only white) voters approved the reform process that effectively ended Apartheid. In late 1993, one of the last pieces of legislation passed by the tricameral Parliament was the Interim Constitution, which took effect on 27 April 1994, the same day as the first non-racial elections.

Since 1994
A new interim constitution, introduced in 1994 after four years of negotiation, finally introduced all-race democracy and enfranchised men and women of all races on equal terms, the minimum age remaining 18 years. Parliament was reconstituted to consist of a Senate and a National Assembly.
 * The Senate consisted of 90 senators, ten nominated by each of the nine provinces. It was chaired by a President of the Senate elected by the senators from among themselves.
 * The National Assembly consists of 400 members, elected by voters on a proportional representation/party list system. There are no electoral districts, and each party is allocated a number of seats proportionate to the percentage of the votes it receives across the country. It is chaired by a Speaker elected by the MPs from among themselves.
 * In 1997, the current Constitution of South Africa came into force, in which the Senate was replaced by a 90-member National Council of Provinces (NCOP), made up of a 10-member delegation from each province (six delegates elected by the provincial legislature, the Premier and three other members of the provincial legislature). The NCOP is chaired by a Chairperson elected by the members from among themselves.

The parliamentary system uses proportional representation, with voters voting for political parties rather than for candidates. Proportional representation allows for smaller parties to have a chance of acquiring seats in parliament, although these parties often combine in order to have a stronger voice within the political system, especially against the ANC. The Independent Electoral Commission is charged with keeping elections fair, regular, and equal. Parties submit closed lists of candidates to the IEC, and the IEC fills the seats allotted to individual parties using the candidate lists after election results come in. The electoral system has seen little corruption since 1994.

International Relations Minister and Cooperation Naledi Pandor has noted that during her term (starting 1994) a decline in political respectability had occurred in parliament, due to its members not engaging with one another in a courteous manner. She remarked that she felt undignified to be an observer of the crude behaviour, which also inhibited the conduct of successful politics.

2022 fire
On 2 January 2022, large parts of the Old Assembly Building and National Assembly building were damaged in a fire. A man was arrested and subsequently charged with arson.

Major political parties in parliament
African National Congress: The ANC was founded in 1912, but were banned by State President Charles Robberts Swart in 1960, remaining so until the ban was lifted thirty years later by President F. W. De Klerk. The ANC became the leading political party in South Africa after the first multi-racial election in 1994. The party's main platform rests on working towards racial equality and eradicating the socio-economic classes which are often based on race. The ANC has been considered a party for native South Africans, especially before 2009 when party leader Jacob Zuma faced multiple accusations regarding corruption, particularly using public funds for his own purposes. The economic difficulties in South Africa, as well as police brutality have both been blamed on the ANC. Currently, the ANC holds 230 seats in parliament. Support for the ANC went down between the 2014 and the 2019 general elections, with violent protests erupting all over the country in response to the allegations of corruption within the ANC and the non-delivery of municipal services.

Democratic Alliance: The DA was formed when the New National Party, the successor to the apartheid-era National Party, merged with the Democratic Party and the Federal Alliance in 2000 to form an alliance. The DA is an opposition party and has been traditionally supported by South Africa's minority communities (White, Coloured and Indian). In more recent years, the party has attempted to win votes from Black South Africans and as a result, Black support for the DA has risen over the past several years, going from 1% to 6%. The DA is a liberal party that favours free-market policies. The DA was allotted 89 seats in parliament after the 2014 general election, but the party's seat total decreased to 84 seats following the 2019 general election.

Economic Freedom Fighters: The EFF emerged eight months before the 2014 general election and won 25 seats in parliament. After the 2019 general elections, the EFF increased their seats in parliament to 44, the only party of the top three parties that achieved an increase of members in parliament. The EFF is a far-left revolutionary socialist political party, advocating for land expropriation and for an end to corruption within parliament.

Inkatha Freedom Party: The IFP, which was formed in 1990 was the successor to the former government in the now-defunct Kwazulu Bantustan, traditionally draws its support from the Zulu people. It has however made inroads into the minority electorate of Whites and Indians. The IFP was the third-largest party until it was unseated by the EFF and is one of the few parties to have consecutive representation in parliament since democracy in 1994. The IFP apart from the ANC was part of the National Government for 10 years. The IFP champions the rights of traditional leaders and advocates for policies which favour free markets. The party is opposed to socialism and communist policies.

Because the ANC has such a large majority in parliament, smaller parties are constantly forming alliances and coalitions in order to act as a stronger opposition to the ANC-run legislative and executive branches.

Seat of Parliament
Parliament sits at the Houses of Parliament, Cape Town, even though the seat of government is in Pretoria. This dates back to the foundation of the Union, when there was disagreement among the four provinces as to which city would be the national capital. As a compromise, Cape Town was designated the legislative capital, Bloemfontein the judicial capital, and Pretoria the administrative capital. The African National Congress (ANC) government has proposed moving Parliament to Pretoria, arguing that the present arrangement is cumbersome as ministers, civil servants and diplomats must move back and forth when Parliament is in session.

However, many Capetonians have spoken out against such a move, accusing the ANC of trying to centralise power. Under the Constitution, there is provision for Parliament to sit elsewhere than Cape Town on grounds of public interest, security or convenience and Parliament is permitted to provide in its rules and orders for sittings outside Cape Town. Rule 24 of the National Assembly Rules accordingly allows the Speaker to direct that the House will sit at 'a place other than the Houses of Parliament in Cape Town' after consulting the Leader of the House and the Chief Whip of each party represented in the House. Rule 23 of the rules of the National Council of Provinces allows the council to pass a resolution providing for it to sit elsewhere.

In 2018, the Government of South Africa formed a project steering committee to conduct a feasibility study into moving parliament to Pretoria and to identify potential sites for a new parliament building. In April 2019, the Minister of Public Works announced that a list of potential sites had been drawn up. In 2020, it was suggested that moving parliament to Pretoria would save R650 million per year.

In January 2022, a fire broke out at the Houses of Pariament building in Cape Town causing severe damage to the session rooms of both the National Council of Provinces and the National Assembly. The 2022 State of the Nation Address was held at Cape Town City Hall and subsequent meetings of the National Assembly will be held at Good Hope Chamber. The temporary debating chamber has previously been used for committee meetings of the National Assembly and has a seating capacity of 170, reduced to 70 during COVID-19 precautions. The National Assembly has 400 members.

Parliaments of the Union

 * 1st South African Parliament (1910–1915) – majority party: South African Party
 * 2nd South African Parliament (1915–1920) – majority party: South African Party
 * 3rd South African Parliament (1920–1921) – majority party: South African Party
 * 4th South African Parliament (1921–1924) – majority party: South African Party
 * 5th South African Parliament (1924–1929) – majority party: National Party
 * 6th South African Parliament (1929–1933) – majority party: National Party
 * 7th South African Parliament (1933–1938) – majority party: United Party
 * 8th South African Parliament (1938–1943) – majority party: United Party
 * 9th South African Parliament (1943–1948) – majority party: United Party
 * 10th South African Parliament (1948–1953) – majority party: National Party
 * 11th South African Parliament (1953–1958) – majority party: National Party
 * 12th South African Parliament (1958–1961) – majority party: National Party

Parliaments of the Republic

 * 13th South African Parliament (1961–1966) – majority party: National Party
 * 14th South African Parliament (1966–1970) – majority party: National Party
 * 15th South African Parliament (1970–1974) – majority party: National Party
 * 16th South African Parliament (1974–1977) – majority party: National Party
 * 17th South African Parliament (1977–1981) – majority party: National Party
 * 18th South African Parliament (1981–1984) – majority party: National Party
 * 19th South African Parliament (1984–1987) – majority party: National Party
 * 20th South African Parliament (1987–1989) – majority party: National Party
 * 21st South African Parliament (1989–1994) – majority party: National Party

Democratic Parliaments

 * 22nd South African Parliament (1994–1999) – majority party: African National Congress
 * 23rd South African Parliament (1999–2004) – majority party: African National Congress
 * 24th South African Parliament (2004–2009) – majority party: African National Congress
 * 25th South African Parliament (2009–2014) – majority party: African National Congress
 * 26th South African Parliament (2014–2019) - majority party: African National Congress
 * 27th South African Parliament (2019–2024) - majority party: African National Congress
 * 28th South African Parliament (2024–present) - no majority; plurality: African National Congress

title: Parliament of South Africa


text:
Outland Trophy

The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-American at two positions, Outland garnered consensus All-America honors in 1898 as a tackle and consensus honors as a halfback in 1899. Outland had always contended that football tackles and guards deserved greater recognition and conceived the Outland Trophy as a means of providing this recognition. In 1988, Jim Ridlon was commissioned to design and sculpt the Outland Trophy. A member of the National College Football Awards Association, the award has become one of college football's most prestigious.

title: Outland Trophy


text:
Talk:Robert L. Forward

Untitled
Shouldn't this page be moved to "Robert L. Forward"? --Naddy 03:37, 23 Nov 2003 (UTC)

I was about to rewrite the following text for style/grammar, but then I deleted it because the first three paragraphs are already stated earlier in the article (better written & wikified), and the last two are factually questionable (he didn't make any nanotubes, and I can't tell what the antigravity statement refers to):

 * He studied Antimatter propulsion and tried to make the very first Antimatter Engine for a Spaceship.

 * He was involved in Gravity Wave detection using Lasers.

 * He proposed using Lasers to propel Spaceships into orbit.

 * He wrote the very first articles on how to really make Gravity Control before E. Plodkletnov had success and how to make Antigravity devices.

 * He pioneered Solid Metastable Helium as a form of rocket propulsion and made Carbon Nanotubes made of Fullerenes to make cables to reach Outer Space by Elevator.

--Hob 22:45, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC) Could someone split this page up? I would think that with the popularity of Beast Wars, Bob Forward, Robert L. Forward's son, would have his own page. On clicking the name Bob Forward, I first thought that father and son were the same person.

I actually didn't know that Robert L. Forward was Bob Forward's son until I actually read this article. Bob Forward has been created. -- Victor  (talk)  07:40, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

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title: Talk:Robert L. Forward


text:
Kath & Kim

Kath & Kim (also written as Kath and Kim) is an Australian sitcom originally airing in the prime-time slot on ABC Television from 2002 and 2005 and subsequently on the Seven Network in 2007 and 2022. The show was produced by Riley and Turner Productions, the firm of Jane Turner and Gina Riley, who star as the titular characters of Kath Day-Knight, a cheery, middle-aged suburban mother, and Kim, her narcissistic daughter. Additional cast members include Glenn Robbins as Kel Knight, Kath's metrosexual boyfriend (later husband); Kim's henpecked husband Brett Craig (Peter Rowsthorn), and her lonely "second-best friend" Magda Szubanski as Sharon Strzelecki. The series is set in Fountain Lakes, a fictional suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The series received highly positive reviews from critics, who praised the humor and cast performances, particularly of Turner and Riley.

Aside from the television series which comprises four seasons, the franchise also includes a television film, Da Kath & Kim Code (2005), and a feature film, Kath & Kimderella (2012). The series also spawned a short-lived American remake, which ran for 17 episodes between 2008 and 2009.

A two-part special to mark its 20th anniversary, titled Kath & Kim: Our Effluent Life and Kath and Kim: 20 Preposterous Years, was screened on 20–21 November 2022.

Premise
Kath & Kim follows the day-to-day Australian suburban life of Kath Day-Knight (Jane Turner), her only child Kimberly (Kim) Diane Craig née Day (Gina Riley), Kim's husband and Computa City salesman, Brett Craig (Peter Rowsthorn), Kath's love interest and eventual husband who works as a "purveyor of fine meats", Kel Knight (Glenn Robbins), and long-time family friend Sharon Strzelecki (Magda Szubanski).

Storylines follow the characters' day-to-day lives, and document their personal struggles and the banality of their achievements and aspirations. Kath & Kim satirises the mother-daughter relationship and the habits and values of modern suburban Australians, and emphasise's the kitsch and superficial elements of contemporary society, particularly the traditional working class which has progressed to a level of affluence (or "effluence" as quoted by Kath) which previous generations had been unable to achieve. Despite this affluence, good taste and a sense of cultural sophistication still eludes the titular characters.

They visit places such as the Westfield Fountain Gate (some parts filmed at Westfield Southland), the local IKEA, Target and various local restaurants.

It also occasionally mocks Australian and international mass popular culture, such as popular reality television shows Big Brother and Australian Idol. It sometimes makes statements about Australian politics. The crass and embarrassing behaviour of the characters, and their gaudy, out-dated retro fashion sense are popular features of the show. Processed and widely recognised Australian foods, such as Jatz crackers, Tim Tams and Fruche yoghurt are frequently referenced in the series.

During the credits, most episodes end with Kath and Kim sitting in Kath's back yard, chatting about issues related to the episode. Sometimes these chats help to complete the story which was told during the episode.

Main cast

 * Jane Turner as Kath Day-Knight – A middle aged woman who strives to keep herself fit.
 * Gina Riley as Kim Craig – Kath's 20-something year old daughter who is known for being lazy and extremely self-centred.
 * Magda Szubanski as Sharon Strzelecki – Kim's "second-best friend", described as very unlucky in love and a sports enthusiast.
 * Glenn Robbins as Kel Knight – Kath's boyfriend and later husband, a metrosexual man who is a local "purveyor of fine meats"
 * Peter Rowsthorn as Brett Craig – Kim's husband

Recurring cast

 * Gina Riley as Robin (Dance Instructor)
 * Zara Harrington, Emma Le Boeuf and Makayla Berkers as Epponnee-Rae Craig – Kim's baby (series 2, episode 8 and onwards), and Morghyne de Vries played her as a young girl in the movie.
 * Jane Turner and Gina Riley as Prue and Trude, two snobby women who work in a homewares store (8 episodes, TV movie, movie)
 * Marg Downey as Marion, a new-age marriage celebrant and counsellor (6 episodes + movie)
 * Mick Molloy as Gary Poole, Kim's father (2 episodes + movie)
 * William McInnes (credited as Rock Hampton) as Sandy Freckle, long-time friend of Kel (2 episodes)
 * Tony Martin as Mark, romantic interest of Sharon (4 episodes)
 * Peta Brady as Kelly, Brett's supervisor at work (4 episodes + TV movie)
 * Mark Trevorrow as Daryl Lee, a camp man who works in a menswear shop (3 episodes and TV movie). Trevorrow also plays a similar character in the movie.
 * Luke Lennox as Brodie (1 episode + TV movie)
 * Matt Lucas as Karen, Sharon's maternal half-sister (2 episodes)
 * Shivantha Wijesinha as Imran (2 episodes)

Guest cast
Several guest stars are well-known Australian comedy performers, some of whom previously worked with Turner or Riley. Bublé and Lucas were fans of the show and asked to appear in it. Humphries declared himself a fan of the series before taking part.

Overview
The storyline of the first series follows Kath's engagement and plans for her wedding to Kel. Kim frequently stays in her mother's house owing to her rocky relationship with Brett (most of which is due to her own childish, spoilt, and rude behaviour towards Brett). Sharon's always around with a helping hand and her own relationship problems. Her history with Brett is also explored.

The second series follows Kim's pregnancy and her rekindled relationship with Brett. Kath and Kel's relationship goes through some teething troubles. Kim and Brett have a baby in the final episode of the second series whom they name Epponnee Raelene Kathleen Darlene Charlene Craig, shortened to Epponnee Rae. Several episodes of the third series focus on Epponnee Rae. The third-season finale features an adult Epponnee Rae, played by Kylie Minogue.

Development
The characters of Kath, Kim (created by Riley and Turner) and Sharon (created and played by Magda Szubanski ) first featured in their current forms during the mid-1990s as a weekly segment of the Australian comedy series Big Girl's Blouse (Seven, 1994–95), having appeared in a more embryonic incarnation earlier in the decade on the sketch comedy show Fast Forward (Seven, 1989–92). They also appeared in Something Stupid (Seven, 1998). Robbins had also appeared on Fast Forward, while Rowsthorn and Robbins had previously worked together on The Comedy Company.

The skits were developed by Riley and Turner into a full series. Big Girl's Blouse had been deemed a failure by the ABC who wanted to pull Kath and Kim. But it was championed by Robyn Kershaw the ABC Head of Drama so Kath and Kim had the distinction for a comedy show of being produced by the drama department, and was loved by the "suburban people" it supposedly attacked.

The name of the series "Kath and Kim" is a pun of the idiom kith and kin which is an old fashioned idiom for 'friends and family'.

Twenty-four episodes lasting approximately twenty-five minutes each across three seasons aired on ABC TV from 2002 to 2004. The series debuted on 15 May 2002 on the ABC Network with "Sex" and became one of the highest-rated shows for ABC. A replacement of a full series occurred in 2005 with the telemovie Da Kath & Kim Code. The fourth season of Kath & Kim began airing on the Seven Network on 19 August 2007, due to the contract expiring with ABC.

In late 2009, they announced that writing had begun on season 5, but by May 2010, Turner said: "We sort of felt like it was the end two years ago. We thought, 'We've done enough and the well is dry and we can't think of any more ideas' ... We think we might just leave it for now."

Writing
The alternative vocabulary including the mixed metaphors, hypercorrection, malapropisms, eggcorns (like "ravishing" instead of "ravenous"), and mis-pronunciations of the regular characters are much repeated by the show's fans. These include: "Look at moy" (look at me)—used by Kath to command attention during arguments, and "It's noice, different and unusual"—used by Kath, Kim and Sharon to express approval or agreement.

Filming
Kath's home, known as "Chateau Kath", was within the fictionalised suburb of Fountain Lakes, and served as the central filming location for the series. The home, located in Patterson Lakes, Victoria, 35 km east of Melbourne, was originally rented by ABC during the entire run of the series, and chosen for its likeness to Sylvania Waters. The property backs onto a canal, which ABC fenced off during filming in order for it to look more suburban. It was sold in 2016 for $1,485,000. In May 2022, the house was in the process of being demolished, which was completed by July 2022.

Other footage was filmed around the Melbourne suburbs of Cheltenham and Moorabbin; scenes set at Fountain Gate were actually filmed at Westfield Southland.

Costuming
Second-hand shops were used for Kath's clothing, whereas Kim was dressed in current trends.

Theme music and opening titles
The theme music for Kath and Kim is performed by Gina Riley and is a cover of the Anthony Newley song The Joker''. A reworked recording of its debut in the telemovie opening sequence, was utilized for the show's run on the Seven Network.

The title sequence shows the main five regular characters over a white background. In season 3, it was amended to include Epponnee-Rae and Cujo, before switching to a revised version of the previous sequence for the Seven Network run, where Cujo was retained. The five regular cast members are then credited over aerial shots of suburban houses (Szubanski is credited as a "special guest" despite appearing in every episode) before fading into an aerial shot of Kath and Kim's house (some episodes replace it with an aerial shot of the mall, while the episode "The Wedding" replaced it with a ground-level shot of a hospital).

Broadcast
Kath & Kim was broadcast Thursday nights at 8.30 pm throughout its run on ABC, while Seven Network aired the series Sunday nights at 7.30 pm.

The series premiered in the United Kingdom in April 2004, when it was broadcast on the now-defunct subscription channel LivingTV, and later on Ftn. It made its terrestrial television debut when it screened on BBC Two from 12 May 2005. The fourth season has never been broadcast in the UK, but did premiere when it was made available on Netflix.

In 2017, the rights to the series were acquired by the Nine Network which began airing repeats of the series from 1 August 2017 until 21 November 2017.

In 2018, the series was released on Netflix in several regions, as well as the films and TV specials. In July 2019, the series was launched onto Netflix in Australia as well as the Kountdown Specials and Souvenir Editions.

In 2022, to mark its 20th anniversary the Seven Network began airing repeats of the series from 29 September 2022.

Ratings
Kath & Kim premiered on 16 May 2002 and became one of ABC's highest-rated shows. When the show premiered on the Seven Network, it became the highest-rating episode in Australian television history, until the record was broken by Nine Network's Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities on 9 February 2009. The fourth season of Kath & Kim debuted with a record-breaking 2.511 million viewers peaking at 2.731 million. In its second and third episodes viewers fell to 1.994 & 1.817 million, respectively; however, viewers then rebounded for its fourth and fifth episodes with ratings of 2.047 and 2.157 million, respectively. Strong ratings continued with viewers of 2.049 and 2.066 million for the sixth and seventh episodes. The eighth episode and show's finale rated 2.338 million giving the fourth season an average viewership of 2.122 million, making it the highest-rating TV season in Australia for 2007 and the highest-rating of all four seasons of the show.

In 2007, Channel Seven started showing repeats of the show from season one onwards which had previously only aired on the ABC network. The repeats proved quite successful, with the first two rating 1.465 and 1.530 million, winning in a very competitive timeslot and being amongst the highest-rating shows of the week.

In the UK, its BBC premiere drew viewing figures of 1.691 million in May 2005.

Home media
The enduring public interest and popularity of Kath and Kim has led to a merchandising industry. The title family and supporting characters appear on everything from T-shirts to posters. The Kath & Kim series have been released on VHS (although titles are now discontinued in the VHS format) and DVD, in box sets and separate series editions in both region 4 (Australia, New Zealand, Latin America) as well as region 2 (Europe). The series has also had a CD release, featuring songs from the series and recordings from Kath and Kim. In addition, there has been clothing (such as aprons, T-shirts and oven mitts). Merchandise is available to purchase online, from the Kath & Kim official website.

CD releases
A CD, titled "Kath & Kim's Party Tape", was released on 2 May 2004. It reached #17 in the Australian Albums Chart and was certified Gold (50,000+ units sold).

In 2004, Kath & Kim's Party Tape was released in Australia under the Universal record label. It features 21 tracks including the full length version of the show's title theme, "The Joker" (as sung by Gina Riley) as well as Diana Ross and Lionel Richie's "Endless Love" and Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park".

 * 1) Gina Riley – "The Joker"
 * 2) Kath & Kim (Jane Turner and Gina Riley) – "Wine Time #1"
 * 3) The Tubes – "Don't Touch Me There"
 * 4) Bobby Hebb – "Sunny"
 * 5) Kath & Kim – "Wine Time #2"
 * 6) Diana Ross and Lionel Richie – "Endless Love"
 * 7) Status Quo – "Roll Over Lay Down"
 * 8) Kath & Kim – "Wine Time #3"
 * 9) The Supremes – "Rhythm of Life"
 * 10) Van McCoy – "The Hustle"
 * 11) Yvonne Elliman – "If I Can't Have You"
 * 12) Donna Summer – "MacArthur Park"
 * 13) Kath & Kim – "Wine Time #4"
 * 14) The Commodores – "Three Times a Lady"
 * 15) Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '66 – "Day Tripper"
 * 16) Kath & Kim – "Wine Time #5"
 * 17) Yvonne Fair – "It Should Have Been Me"
 * 18) Stephanie Mills – "Never Knew Love Like This Before"
 * 19) Kath & Kim – "Wine Time #6"
 * 20) Captain & Tennille – "Love Will Keep Us Together"
 * 21) Kath & Kim – "Lady Bump"

Feature film
On 9 March 2011, Turner and Riley announced plans for a movie, in which, Kath, Kim, Kel, Brett, Sharon and Epponnee would head overseas on holiday. Contracts were written to finance the film's production under the working title of The Kath & Kim Filum, with the word 'film' deliberately misspelt with the letter 'u' in typical Kath and Kim yumour. However, the title Kath & Kimderella was ultimately used, and the film was released in Australia on 6 September 2012. It was directed by Ted Emery (director of the television series) and produced by Rick McKenna. The holiday scenes were shot in Positano, Italy and filming took a total of two weeks.

The film was released in Australian cinemas on 6 September 2012. It grossed in excess of $2.1 million in its first weekend on Australian movie screens.

20th Anniversary special
In July 2022, it was reported that Kath & Kim will be returning for a 10-minute special to commentate 20 years of the series. The special will showcase a countdown of celebrity guests and unseen clips that didn't feature in the series, as well as the cast discussing their favourite scenes. Celebrity guests for the special will include Mason Cox, Sonia Kruger and Celia Pacquola. The two specials, Kath and Kim: Our Effluent Life and Kath and Kim: 20 Preposterous Years, aired on 20 and 21 November 2022, respectively.

American adaptation
Due to the success that Kath & Kim has achieved internationally, it was remade for US audiences by NBC. Riley and Turner served as executive producers on the US version. In this remake, actress Molly Shannon has taken the role of Kath Day, and Selma Blair the role of Kim. The character of Sharon does not appear at the insistence of Szubanski.

NBC chose Jason Ensler to direct. Michelle Nader developed the series for American television, which premiered in the United States as part of the Fall schedule of 2008. The series started to shoot in California in July 2008. NBC debuted the US adaptation on 9 October 2008, while Seven started screening it to Australian viewers on 12 October 2008. After airing only two episodes, Seven dropped the sitcom from their lineup due to poor ratings, only to bring it back several weeks later as a late-night schedule filler. In America, reviews were poor, but it averaged roughly around 5 to 7 million viewers per week, and was rewarded with a full season order in October 2008. On 19 May 2009, NBC announced that there would not be a second season of Kath & Kim.

title: Kath & Kim