What does the idiom Buckley's chance mean?

Answer 1

The Australian saying "Buckley's chance" means to have a very slim chance, or almost no chance at all, and came about as a result of an amazing story of survival in the Australian bush.

William Buckley arrived in Australia as a convict, and was a member of the first party of Europeans to attempt the first settlement on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. In December 1803, soon after his arrival, he escaped from custody.

Despite the friendliness of the local indigenous Wathaurong people, Buckley was worried they might turn hostile, and at first tried to survive on his own. However, he soon realised he was unable to fend for himself in the harsh bushland, and he sought out the Wathaurong again. On his way, he came upon a spear stuck in the grave of a recently deceased member of the tribe; the Aborigines, finding him with the spear, believed he was their tribal member returned from the dead, and greeted his appearance with feasting and a corroboree. Buckley spent the next 32 years living among the indigenous Wathaurong people, bridging the cultural gap between Europeans and Aborigines, and gaining many valuable bush skills. To keep the peace between the two races, Buckley gave himself up to free settler John Batman's landing party on 7 July 1835.