Yes: James Cook saw the east coast of Australia, and charted it over several months.
The large majority of Australians live along the Eastern Coast. Australia's 3 biggest cities sit along this coast - Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane. You can see city populations here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Australia_by_population
No Victoria is actually on the east coast of Australia. West coast of Australia is called Western Australia, the capital of which is Perth.
Brisbane is on the east coast of Australia.
Darwin is on the northern coast of Australia, and Melbourne is on the southern coast.
Yes. February is the final official month of summer in Australia, so the Gold Coast can easily see maximum temperatures higher than 30 degrees Celsius.
Coast Australia - 2013 Gold Coast to Sunshine Coast is rated/received certificates of: Australia:PG
Newcastle is located in south-east Australia on the Pacific Coast (which is the east coast).
In Western Australia, most sheep farming is restricted to the southwest coast and inland. See the related link for a map.
The total Length of Australia's Coast 34,218 kilometers.
It took Columbus three voyages to see the coast of America - his first two landed on Caribbean islands. Look at the map. With the continent of the Americas between him and Australia, which is on the far side of the Pacific Ocean, and no Panama Canal, the chances of his seeing that Australia are vanishingly small.
Because the coast of Australia is so "golden" (A.K.A. the sand) and it is full of beaches.