Unfortunately the closest relative that I have that was a citizen of another country was a grandmother from Canada. Doesn't mean anything as far as a help should I wish to go across the border.
I've actually heard of Colleen McCullough, but not in a positive light. Didn't she pen The Thorn Birds romance dreck?
I also loved Walkabout [the film] and the book it was based on that I read later. Another great Australian film I saw years ago, on my list of favorite films actually, is
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith.
Patrick White a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature? Well that puts something by him on my TBR list.