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The Greatest Of All - Our 50 Top Australians ----On Fow24news.com

 

THINK about the word "great". What does it really mean? More specifically, what does it mean to Australians?
For me, it's a description bestowed on someone with exceptional qualities - "he's one of the greats". It's also a tag that conveys a sense of pride and satisfaction - "mate, that's great, that is really great".

But how do you decide who our great Aussies are and then whittle that back to the 50 greatest Australians in history?
Those who have been integral in making our country a unique and special place, whether they be political leaders, war heroes, sports stars, indigenous icons, business identities, battlers, or those with a dream who refused to be denied.
And how do you then rank those amazing achievers?
On this Australia Day long weekend I've been asked to have a shot. It's a list that can't be 100 per cent correct and one that will probably trigger more debates than acknowledgments. But I'll have a go.
Flicking through the pages of history, I found myself working within four parameters when deciding if someone qualified. They focused on:
* Those whose efforts have helped define who we are as a people and how
Australia is perceived as a country.
* Trailblazers. Those stepping into the unknown or doing something for
the first time.
* Those who left a legacy for others to admire or benefit from.
* Those who inspired us.

Trimming the number down to 50 names was tortuous and coming up with rankings proved near-impossible.
There were many hurdles. Why should someone in public office or on the sporting field be any more worthy than a private quiet achiever with a dream?
How does a rock star rank above an unknown soldier about to go over the top with his heart hammering in fear and his head thinking of home? What setback does history play when judging someone's efforts 150 years ago
compared with the luxury of living in the modern era?

During his 2009 Presidential Inaugural address, Barack Obama famously said: "Greatness is never a given. It must be earned."
And those on the following list, in my opinion, have definitely earned their place.
On January 26, 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip sailed into Sydney Cove.
Boats groaning with convicts were unloaded onto a land that was already home to aborigines. In those moments the story of Australia was about to unfold.
And over the past 225 years some exceptional Australians have helped steer us towards where we are now as a country and how we see ourselves as a people.
Today, I'm attempting to name the 50 greatest to have played their part.
50. HONORARY AUSSIES This spot has been reserved for our "honorary Aussies" - those who aren't from Australia but whose contributions have been integral in shaping who we are. The likes of James Cook, Matthew Flinders, William Dampier, Dirk Hartog - men who took on the oceans in rickety boats to discover and chart the Great Southern Land. Others such as Sir Joseph Banks realised the uniqueness of our plants and wildlife. Then as the calendar dates race forward, the figure of Douglas MacArthur stands tall as the man who led our soldiers when the Japanese took aim at us in World War II. International sporting giants have also been part of our fabric - Kostya Tszyu, Guss Hiddink and Jim Stynes, for example. For all those who have visited and played your part, thanks for dropping by.
49. RICHIE BENAUD "Welcome back to the Em Cee Geee." The authoritative voice of cricket in Australia, whose work in the commentary box has made him an icon to generations of fans. As a player he captained his country 28 times, winning back the Ashes in 1958-59 then defending them twice. He played 63 Tests for Australia and was the first all-rounder to score 2000 runs and snare 200 wickets. His foray into TV began with the BBC in 1963 and while his helmet of white hair and beige jacket have developed their own cult following, in reality it's his behind-the-scenes professionalism that gives breath to his longevity. As he said recently: "Never ask a statement, remember the value of a pause - and there are no teams in the TV world called 'we' or 'they'. Only little things, but I believe they make a difference." Yes, they do.
48. FRED HOLLOWS Fred Hollows was a straight-shooter. A specialist in treating the eye disease trachoma, he stomped through the Outback helping Aborigines keep their sight. Between 1974 and 1976 his teams screened 100,000 people. After giving sight to indigenous Australia, he did the same in Africa. The wild colonial boy of Australian medicine with the gruff voice and tender touch was probably the first doctor to give life to the "aid abroad" crusades that have become a calling for medicos with a conscience. Hollows died in 1993 of cancer, but the sight he gave others lives on forever.
47. REG GRUNDY The game-show guru who has kept Australian families stuck on the couch watching prime-time TV for decades, Grundy started as a radio commentator in the 1950s and went on to build a TV production empire. His first success was taking the Wheel of Fortune show from radio to TV and the momentum built from there. From game shows he developed dramas such as The Young Doctors, Prisoner and Neighbours. His name is also part of Australian rhyming slang "Reg Grundies" for "undies".
46. GREG NORMAN It's a name that makes sports fans wince. How could he have won only two major golf tournaments? Has there ever been a more anguished Australian sportsman? With his blond hair and broad shoulders, Norman became a golfing icon in the 1980s inspiring young Aussies to pick up a club and stalk the fairways. On 29 occasions he finished in the top-10 placings of a major. In 1986 he led all four majors - the Grand Slam - after three of four rounds, but managed to win only the British Open. However, it was his 1996 meltdown in the US Masters that will never be forgotten. After three rounds "The Shark" led by six shots, but ended up losing by five to Nick Faldo - an 11-shot turnaround. But with every defeat he kept his dignity, never spitting the dummy or losing his cool despite the rage that must have been ripping his insides apart. A sporting great without question.
45. SIR HENRY PARKES The Father of Federation. A bankrupt twice in his working life, Parkes went on to become master politician, elected premier of New South Wales five times and realising there was a better way for the country to be run. He established the Federal Convention in 1891, bringing all states together as one country, which set the foundations for our present system of government. A visionary who also had, possibly, the best beard this side of Santa Claus.
44. SLIM DUSTY The king of country music. Beneath his battered stockman's hat, Slim held his guitar high and strummed the songs of the bush. From the 1950s he sold more than seven million records and probably had just as many friends. He'd sing about a Pub With No Beer, having a drink with Duncan and the self-reflecting Looking Forward, Looking Back about a man lamenting his unfulfilled life. His music reminded city dwellers that our organic origins are really in the Outback. He starred in the closing ceremony at the Sydney Olympics and, in 1997, the public voted him a National Living Treasure. More importantly, he was a mate. At his State Funeral in 2003, a tearful mourner who'd travelled six hours to stand among the mob outside St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, said: "Slim Dusty means Australia through and through."
43. ERROL FLYNN He died aged 50, but doctors who examined his body said it bore the physical ravages of a 75-year-old. That sums up the life of Errol Flynn, the Tasmanian devil who lived life in the fastest lane. Joan Crawford dubbed him "the most beautiful man who ever lived" and he soon became Hollywood's highest-paid star in the 1930s, playing the leading man in almost any movie involving a sword fight or swinging from a chandelier. His Shane Warne-esque appetite for women - from leading ladies to teenage girls - triggered the moniker "In Like Flynn", which fuelled his legendary status as one of the world's greatest ladies' men.
42. EDWARD HARGRAVES In the summer of 1851 Sydneysider Edward Hargraves returned from some wretched prospecting in California to try his luck in Australia. The countryside around Bathurst caught his eye so he set up his wooden cradle in Lewis Ponds Creek and started panning. Wow. Gold. G-O-L-D. Soon 300 eager diggers were on site and the rush was on. Eight months later gold was found in Ballarat and by 1870 Australia's population went from 400,000 to 1.6 million.
41. BARRY HUMPHRIES Blessed with possibly the sharpest tongue in Australian entertainment, Humphries is famous for creating the much-loved Dame Edna Everidge, whose stand-up shows have tickled worldwide audiences for almost 40 years. While the Dame's "hello possums" generates a warm welcome, her acerbic put-downs - "I'm trying to think of a word to describe your outfit . . . affordable" - are what litter 90 per cent of her performances, leaving audiences aching with laughter. Also the man behind Sir Les Patterson and the Barry McKenzie movies of the 1970s, Humphries holds an indelible place in the Australian entertainment archives. 4
0 CYRIL CALLISTER He's the man who "puts a rose in every cheek". Born in Ballarat in 1893, Callister became a food technologist and in 1922 he was given the task to make use of the yeast, rich in vitamin B, left over from brewing companies. He added celery, salt and onion and came up with a black muck that looked like axle grease, but apparently tasted much better. After a nervous start, locals developed a craving for the paste. Today Vegemite can be found in the cupboards of 80 per cent of Australian households, with 20 million jars sold each year. Is it our national food? Name me something more popular.
39. CAROLINE CHISHOLM Caroline Chisholm arrived in Australia in 1838 to find migrant women from Britain lying homeless and begging on the street. As others walked by, she vowed to make a difference. Over the next 10 years the daughter of a wealthy English landowner became a thorn in the side of the establishment - writing letters, hounding bureaucrats and pestering the Governor to make conditions better for those arriving in the colony. She found lodgings and jobs for more than 10,000 women and girls. As a salute to her achievements her portrait was chosen for our original $5 note - the first woman other than the Queen to appear on Australian currency.
38. JOHN HOWARD Behind the mild-mannered mask was a man with more stubborn persistence than a speaker trying to be heard. It took him 22 years in Parliament before he snatched the keys to The Lodge and when he got there he fought off his foes on both sides of the chamber to stay in the country's most powerful chair. Howard was PM from 1996 to 2007, overseeing major reforms on the waterfront, tax system (GST) and industrial relations (Work Choices). He also introduced the gun buy-back scheme after the Port Arthur massacre, taking more than 700,000 weapons off the streets. His hardline conservative stance polarised many, but for more than a decade the country felt secure under the Mr McGoo character who morphed into a Man of Steel.
37. MICHAEL HUTCHENCE Our ultimate rock star. As the frontman of INXS he blazed across the world in the 1980s and '90s singing hit after hit in packed stadiums from Sydney to London to Los Angeles. With his brooding dark looks and the best melodic scream since The Doors' Jim Morrison, Hutchence soon had audiences crying out for more. Along the way women such as Helena Christensen and Kylie Minogue fell into his arms with Hutchence revealing a favourite hobby was "corrupting Kylie". Born in Sydney in 1960 he linked up with the Farriss brothers in high school and they formed INXS. The band went on to record classics such as Don't Change, New Sensation and the mournful anthem Never Tear Us Apart. Every teenage boy wanted to be like him, every teenage girl wanted to go out with him and he dominated the musical decade we all want to relive. To finish the script, he also died a rock star. At the tender age of 37 he was found hanging from the back of a Double Bay motel room door, later adjudged by the coroner to be an accidental suicide.
36. BART CUMMINGS There are the eyebrows of barbed wire, the silver mane, and the knife-sharp answers to probing questions in the winner's stall. And, of course, there are the 12 Melbourne Cup victories. He won his first in 1965 and his last in 2008. He turned 85 in November and is 4/6 to win another "race that stops a nation" as an octogenarian. A legend of the turf.
35. VINCENT LINGIARI In 1966 Vincent Lingiari, a small, proud Kadijeri man, led a walk-off at a Northern Territory cattle station over frugal pay and brutal work conditions. It started a nine-year battle to return land rights to the Gurindji people and led to the 1976 NT Aboriginal Land Rights Act. Lingiari's stance made him an iconic figure representing the struggle of Aboriginal people. His story was also etched in Australian musical history in the touching Paul Kelly song From Little Things Big Things Grow.
34. ELIZABETH KENNY In the early 20th century polio epidemics among children rattled the world. Doctors believed those affected should be put in splints, keeping their legs locked. But Sister Elizabeth Kenny, a bush nurse with no formal qualifications, believed hot towels, massage and exercise were the key. It worked. Despite the establishment dismissing her theories, she cured hundreds of children across Australia and then did the same in the US, where she was named America's Most Admired Woman in 1952. 33. ALBERT NAMATJIRA When artist Rex Bartabee travelled to central Australia in 1936 to paint the MacDonnell Ranges, local Arrernte man Albert Namatjira accompanied him as a guide. For two months Namatjira watched and learnt the craft. With Bartabee's help, he began painting and soon became famous for his watercolour landscapes. Throughout the 1940s his work was hung in galleries all over Australia and he also held solo exhibitions. The Queen presented him with a coronation medal in 1954 and his work gave the world a glimpse of the raw creativity of our indigenous people.
32. DENNIS LILLEE At the top of his run-up the chant begins. You can hear it. Slowly, drunkenly by some, it takes shape. And then you join in. "Li-llee, Li-llee, Li-llee". The anthem sweeps around the ground, outside the stands and through the speakers of black-and-white TVs across the country. "Li-llee, Li-llee, Li-llee". Then, as he turns and starts loping forward - black hair bouncing, shirt billowing in the wind, top buttons undone, gold chain sparkling - the momentum picks up. The sunburnt mob gets louder, the words run together quicker, anticipation builds like electricity buzzing your skin. "Li-lleeLi-lleeLi-llee". At the crease he leaps in the air, suspended in the most immaculate fast bowler's pose left arm high and bent at the elbow, right arm about to unleash a red missile. The chant reaches a crescendo, the ball torpedoes down the pitch striking stumps, bat or body and the frenzied mob in the stands sit back smiling as they prepare to start all over again. Dennis Lillee was our greatest fast bowler - hostile, fast, accurate. Warne and McGrath have since taken more Test wickets, but they played twice as many matches. In the 1974-75 Centenary Test he took 6-26 in the first innings and 11 wickets for the match. When Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee were brought together in the late 1980s for a promotion to decide who between them was the "master" bowler Botham shrugged his shoulders and simply said: "This is a waste of time, the master of masters is Dennis Lillee."
31. LIONEL ROSE On five occasions the world's best bantamweight boxers popped out of their corner to try to beat Japanese champion Fighting Harada. Five times they lost. Between 1963 and 1968 Harada was unbeatable. Then a shy Aboriginal boxer from the outskirts of Melbourne got his chance. Lionel Rose, with his sweet smile and sorrowful eyes, boarded a plane and flew to Tokyo. Over 15 relentless rounds in front of a screaming local crowd with cigarette smoke and sweat soaking the stadium, the cagey Aussie kept coming forward taking it up to the champ. When the judges made their call it was Rose whose hand was raised high into the air the first Aborigine to win a world title.
30. DAME NELLIE MELBA The greatest soprano of her age. When Nellie's voice vibrated across European stages in the late 19th century, the world realised Australia was more than just kangaroos and ex-convicts. For 40 years she was the diamond diva putting Down Under on the cultural map and inspiring others to follow suit. As a reward she had a dessert - Peach Melba - named after her.
29. SIR ROBERT MENZIES Our longest-serving PM, winning eight elections and spending 17 years in The Lodge. Critics have said it was an era "on hold" rather than one of significant change, but Menzies did see in a number of reforms during a prosperous post-World War II period. He expanded migration from Europe, gave Aborigines the vote and introduced university scholarships. Menzies believed his two greatest achievements were forming the Liberal Party (from the remnants of the United Australia Party) and building a strong coalition with the Country Party. He was knighted in 1963 and died peacefully, aged 83, a highly respected figure and a Liberal hero.
28. AC/DC High-voltage rock 'n' roll since 1973. Almost 40 years later, they're still selling out shows around the world. From Jailbreak to TNT to Let There Be Rock, the mega-hits have fans head-banging at their concerts or singing along to the car radio, whether it be tuned to FM or the ABC. When Bon Scott died the baton was passed to Brian Johnson and the band never missed a beat. Rock on.
27. LAWRENCE HARGRAVE The man who could fly. As others braced themselves against the winds of Stanwell Park on the south coast of New South Wales, Hargrave wondered what it would be like to ride that wind. In 1893 he invented the box kite and on November 12, 1894, he lifted himself off the ground by using four of them. At the same time in America, the Wright Brothers were experimenting with hang gliders before taking to flight in 1903. Hargrave also invented the rotary engine, which powered rickety airplanes in the early years.
26. BETTY CUTHBERT Our "Golden Girl". With her mouth wide open and arms blazing, Betty Cuthbert won four Olympic track gold medals: Three in 1956 (100m, 200m and 4x100m relay) then, after injury ruined her 1960 chances, she amazingly won the 400m at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics the only athlete in history to win 100m and 400m golds. Last year she was the only Australian to be named in the IAAF Hall of Fame.
25. NORMAN LINDSAY One of our most creative souls, he could turn his hand to etching, sculpting, painting, drawing cartoons and writing. Born in Melbourne in 1879, Lindsay was kept indoors by his mother until he was six because of a skin ailment. During this time he learnt to draw. One of his first jobs was as cartoonist for The Bulletin in Sydney, working with Banjo Paterson. From there he became famous for his propaganda war posters, drawing the Germans as dark, threatening monsters and the Allies as children of the light. He wrote the iconic kids' book The Magic Pudding in 1918 and then turned to canvas. His paintings of fleshy, female nudes attracted controversy at every gallery in which they were hung. In 1994 the movie Sirens was based on Lindsay, starring Sam Neill and Elle Macpherson.
24. MARGARET COURT As a tennis player there was no woman better. She won 24 major titles from 1960 to 1973, including a Grand Slam in 1970. The closest to her are Steffi Graf (22) and Serena Williams (15). After travelling the world as a tennis star she gave up the racquet for a higher calling, becoming the Rev Dr Court at the Victory Life Centre where she preaches the word of God, feeds the poor and helps the homeless.
23. BARRY MARSHALL Barry Marshall is one of our greats because he put his own health on the line to prove a theory others wouldn't believe. And it won him a Noble Prize with his fellow researcher Robin Warren. In 1984, to prove stomach ulcers weren't caused by stress or spicy food but were rather a bacterium, he swallowed a glass of the concoction (Helicobacter pylori). When he became sick and developed gastritis (which leads to ulcers and cancer) he treated himself with antibiotics and cured himself. Millions of people suffer from stomach ulcers and now it can be easily treated.
22. BRUCE KINGSBURY In August 1942, with the Japanese flooding through Papua New Guinea and Australia under threat, Bruce Kingsbury faced the enemy on the Kokoda Track and yelled to his mates: "Follow me. We can turn them back!" Armed with his Bren gun he cut into the enemy like a hot knife, killing up to 30 Japanese soldiers before being shot as he waited for his battalion to catch up with him. Kingsbury's commanding officer said: "If he hadn't stopped them, it would have been like water pouring through a hole. You can argue that Kingsbury saved Australia." He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his incredible bravery.
21. RUPERT MURDOCH Born with ink in his blood, Rupert Murdoch built News Limited into an international media empire. Starting with The News in Adelaide in 1953 he went on to buy newspapers in every state - including The Sunday Times - before launching the national broadsheet The Australian in 1965. His empire spread to the tabloids in England and then Fox Movies in the US and pay-TV in Europe. As digital platforms evolved in the 21st century so did Murdoch's determination to keep pace, launching online, iPad and cyberspace experiences for the reader and branching into the Twitter-sphere himself. Though scarred by the recent News of the World phone-hacking scandals, the 81-year-old remains resilient, constantly backing his international businesses as they embrace the forbidding future.
20. SIR CHARLES KINGSFORD SMITH In an era when long-distance flight was still fraught with fear, Kingsford Smith was determined to push every boundary. In 1928 he made the first trans-Pacific flight from America to Australia, taking a nervous 83 hours. After that, he flew non-stop across Australia and then conquered a trans-Tasman flight to New Zealand. The daring pilot inspired young Australians to take to the air. But in 1935, while trying to break the England to Australia speed record, his plane crashed in the Andaman Sea in the early hours of November 8, 1935. Eighteen months later the wreckage washed up on the coast of Burma, but Kingsford Smith's body was never found. He died a daredevil living a dream.
19. BOB HAWKE He loved a drink (or seven), but realised if he was ever going to fulfil his dream and become PM he had to give up the booze. So he did. And he went on to become Labor's longest-serving leader and one of our greatest prime ministers. From 1983 to 1991 he became a great reformer and conciliator, overseeing many social changes that gave Australians better lives. There was occupational superannuation, the reintroduction of Medicare and an increase in pensions and public housing. He also dismantled the tariff system, privatised state sector industries and sold off the Commonwealth Bank.
18. DAME ENID LYONS Behind every great man is possibly a greater woman. Enid Lyons married future prime minister Joseph Lyons when she was 17 and he was 35. They had 11 children. When he died in office in 1939 she didn't fade into the background, but took on public office herself as a widow trying to juggle her kids and her calling. In 1943 she became the first woman elected to the House of Representatives and said in her maiden speech: "This is the first occasion on which a woman has addressed this House. For that reason, it's an occasion which for every woman in the commonwealth marks in some degree a turning point in history."
17. PHAR LAP "Big Red" was the horse that helped a nation. During the Depression Phar Lap just kept winning, chalking up 36 victories in 41 starts at one stage, including the 1930 Melbourne Cup. He then went to America and won its biggest race before mysteriously dying 16 days later in the arms of his distraught strapper Tommy Woodcock. An autopsy revealed his heart was 3kg heavier than that of a normal horse. His legend lives on through books and movies. The stuffed version of Phar Lap is Museum Victoria's most popular exhibit.
16. THE REV DR JOHN FLYNN An amazing man who spent his early working days visiting the forgotten souls of the outback who had two doctors trying to cover two million square kilometres. For 10 years he campaigned for an aerial medical service to treat the sick and stranded. In 1928 a lonely, single-engine, timber and fabric bi-plane took off from Cloncurry starting what is now known as the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Today there are 146 pilots who annually fly the equivalent of 25 round trips to the moon, looking after nearly 278,000 patients. All thanks to the vision and determination of John Flynn.
15. ROD LAVER "Rocket" Rod is acknowledged as the greatest tennis player in history. Ask Roger Federer today or any of Laver's past rivals and they'll all bow towards the left-handed legend. He's the only male or female to win two grand slams (1962 as an amateur and 1969 as a professional) despite being ineligible for five years while he played the pro circuit. Diminutive in stature at only 172cm, he had a left arm like Popeye, which gave him the power to ace most of his rivals.
14. NANCY WAKE Has there been a braver woman? She went to Paris to party in the 1930s, but saw instead Jews being tortured by the nazis and vowed to make a difference. Joining the French Resistance, she inflicted her own pain on the enemy, even killing a German sentry with her bare hands to stop him setting off an alarm. For years she smuggled food and supplies to the Allies and helped thousands of troops escape through Europe. The Gestapo tagged her "The White Mouse" because she always seemed to slip through their fingers despite being at the top of their Most Wanted list with a five million-franc price on her head.
13. SIR EDWARD 'WEARY' DUNLOP A revered figure in history. As skeletal Diggers lay around him barely breathing in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, Edward Dunlop stood tall. Each day for three years he eyeballed his heartless captors, protecting his men who were forced to build the notorious Burma-Thailand "Death Railway". A surgeon who played two rugby union Tests for Australia before World War II, he was tortured for protecting those he considered were too sick to work on the railway.
12. DAWN FRASER She calls herself a larrikin. Others, including Muhammad Ali, call her "the greatest athlete of the 20th century". At the 1956 Olympic Games she won the 100m freestyle in world record time. She claimed gold again in the same Olympic event in 1960 and 1964 the first swimmer to do so. Many believe she would have won gold again in 1968 but she was banned by stubborn officials after she marched without permission in the 1964 Opening Ceremony in Tokyo. The 1968 winner swam half a second slower than "Our Dawn's" 1964 time. A larrikin? Yep. A champion? No doubt whatsoever.
11. SIR MARCUS OLIPHANT Born with an insatiable curiosity, Marcus Oliphant was behind two major World War II inventions. The first was a radar device called the magnetron, which gave the Allies a huge advantage tracking down enemy planes and ships. The second invention was the nuclear bomb. The Adelaide boy was a pivotal member of The Manhattan Project that created the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. Though seen as a hero, his discovery haunted him. When one bomb destroyed Hiroshima, he said: "Proud that (it) worked, and absolutely appalled at what it had done to human beings." After the war he helped establish the Australian National University in Canberra and in 1971 he was appointed Governor of South Australia.
10. ALBERT JACKA Albert Jacka wasn't tall or particularly strong, but his heroics make up another chapter of the Gallipoli legend. When a major Turkish offensive took over an Aussie trench, Jacka had to stop their momentum. Without help he ambushed the enemy, killing seven Turks and forcing the others to retreat. Job done, he humbly reported to his commanding officer: "I managed to get the beggars, Sir." Then in 1916 at Pozieres in France he attacked a group of German soldiers who were rounding up Australian prisoners. His actions helped the Diggers overcome their captors and earnt him a Military Cross, the empire's second highest honour. Many believe the humble son of a Victorian dairy farmer should have been awarded three VCs.
9. EDITH COWAN A tough woman with a compassionate calling. Born in Geraldton in 1861, she was only seven when her mother died and just a teenager when her father was hanged for killing his second wife. After leaving school she became a pioneer advocate for women's and children's rights. In 1921 she won the seat of West Perth in the WA election, the first woman in Australia to enter Parliament. Having fought tirelessly for years to improve conditions for the vulnerable, she set about making changes. Two of her most important legacies were giving women financial security after a divorce and setting up the Children's Protection Society, which was the precursor of the Children's Court. Her significance in Australian history is recognised today with a university named after herand her portrait on our $50 note.
8. SIR DOUGLAS MAWSON He had the brilliant brain of a scientist but is remembered for making one of the most courageous solo journeys by any Australian adventurer. In 1911, fascinated by the bottom of the world, he headed south to chart the Antarctic coastline. But on a dangerous trek tragedy struck. One of his partners plummeted down an ice crevasse and the other died from physical exertion. Mawson was left alone 850km from base camp. On his brutal journey back he slipped down a crevasse but managed to haul himself to safety. For 30 days he battled frostbite and hunger as the whipping wind tried to break his spirit. Finally he reached supplies and waited in an cave for a week before stumbling on to meet explorers from the original expidition party. His miraculous escape from an icey grave became news around the world and he was knighted in 1914.
7. SIR JOHN MONASH A man born to lead. After thousands of Diggers were slaughtered in the first year of World War I, an Aussie, Lieut-Gen John Monash, was finally put in charge of the Australian Imperial Forces. Almost instantly the mood changed. Monash had fought at Gallipoli, he knew his troops and was confident in his strategies for success. Using revolutionary tactics including planes, troops and tanks he won the Battle of Hamel in 93 minutes (three minutes more than he had planned). He went on to command 200,000 Allied troops in a series of successful encounters with the enemy. Monash returned to his hometown of Melbourne after the war and throughout the 1920s was considered the greatest living Australian.
6. EDDIE MABO When the British arrived in Australia in the late 18th century they believed the country was "terra nullius" no one's land so they could claim whatever territory they wanted and do as they please. In 1936 an aboriginal boy was born on Murray Island in the Torres Strait who would change that forever. Eddie Mabo used to listen to his parents tell stories about their timeless connection with the land. When he was working as a gardener at James Cook University he met a lawyer who offered to help him make a case challenging the claim of "terra nullius". After a 10-year battle Eddie lost even though he was convinced he was right. So he took his claim to the High Court. Weary from fighting and riddled with cancer, he died in January 1992, aged just 55. Five months later the High Court ruled in his favour the land does belong to the indigenous people. Apart from changing the law, Eddie Mabo's public showdown with authorities also educated many Australians about the true spiritual bond the indigenous people have with the land beneath us.
5. SAINT MARY MacKILLOP Australia's saint. Mary started the Sisters of St Joseph in an empty stable in outback South Australia looking after orphaned children and local aborigines. The order spread throughout Australia and NZ. In 1961 and 1993 two women with terminal diseases prayed to Mary MacKillop and were cured. These events were the two miracles needed to be verified for her to be considered for sainthood. She was canonised in 2010 during a public ceremony in St Peter's Square at the Vatican.
4. JOHN CURTIN With World War II almost inevitable, John Curtin's daughter asked him a question as the pair looked out at the Indian Ocean from Cottesloe Beach: "Do you think the Japanese fleet will ever come over the horizon, Dad?" "I've stopped wondering if they ever will," her father replied. "The only question to be answered now is when." And what a dilemma it was for Curtin. A pacifist and socialist, he found himself Prime Minister of a country at war. His CV had its downsides. He was a two-time alcoholic. But he'd given up the grog for good and once he was sworn in as PM on October 7, 1941, he rose to the occasion. Just two months later the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour. Australia, for the first time in its history, independently declared war on a foreign power. Realising Britain was more engaged in the northern hemisphere, Curtin then delivered his famous New Year's message: "I make it quite clear that Australia looks to America, free from any pangs as to our traditional links with the United Kingdom."It infuriated Winston Churchill, but it was the day Australia stood up for herself. And we had to Singapore fell shortly afterwards and then bombs started crashing into Darwin. In March 1942 General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia and American and Australian troops fought side-by-side to repel the Japanese invasion. But the stress and the cigarettes were taking their toll. In November 1944 Curtin suffered a coronary occlusion forcing him in and out of hospital. On July 5, 1945, he died. Forty days later the Japanese surrendered.When Australia needed him, John Curtin stood tall to become the Prime Minister we all hoped he could be. He is buried at Karrakatta Cemetery and the inscription on his gravestone reads: "His country was his pride, his brother man his cause."
3. SIR HOWARD FLOREY Howard Florey is the man who saved millions. Born in Adelaide in 1898, he went on to study medicine where he latched on to the findings of a Scottish professor who discovered that mould produced a natural antibiotic. Florey was convinced this mould "penicillin" could be used to stop infections and cure the injured. In 1940 he tested his theory on eight mice and later said: "We sat up through the night injecting penicillin [into mice] ... it was one of the more exciting moments when we found in the morning that all the untreated mice were dead and all the penicillin-treated ones alive." Penicillin was soon being used on wounded Allied soldiers in World War II, sparing the injured from amputations and saving countless lives. He was awarded a Nobel Prize for his work one of only 14 Australians in history. When Florey died in 1968, then Prime Minister Robert Menzies noted: "In terms of world well-being, Florey was the most important man ever born in Australia."
2. SIR DONALD BRADMAN Bradman. Even the word has authority. The most dominant sportsman the world has ever seen. His story is Australian folklore. A country boy whose first makeshift bat was an idle cricket stump. For hours each day he'd hit a golf ball against a corrugated-iron water tank honing his skills as the ball fired back from every angle. At 13 he played a first-grade game for Bowral scoring 38 not out. He made his debut for NSW at 19 and hit a century. The next season he stepped out for his first Test against England scoring 18 and 1. Dropped for the second match he returned for the third and chalked up 79 and 112 to become the youngest player to score a Test century. He would go on to make 6996 Test runs at an average of 99.94 - bowled for a duck in his last innings when he needed only four runs for a triple-figure average. His 29 centuries came in just 81 innings including two triple centuries and 12 double centuries.And while his achievements are timeless, to appreciate his greatness they have to be looked at in the context of the time he played. "The Don's" Test debut was in 1929. Australia had lost 60,000 men in World War I and was still a sparsely populated country with a core percentage still living in the bush. For an Australian country boy to dominate the British Commonwealth's major sport was unique. And as the world slipped into Depression, his batting gave people hope; his humble manner made him a hero. In many pictures you'll see women crammed against the fences when Bradman comes out to bat, their smiling faces just as prominent as those of men looking on in awe. If he made runs or lost his wicket, newspaper headlines didn't even need to use his name "HE'S OUT" was one famous front page. There are countless reverent quotes about our greatest-ever sportsman but one that puts him and his aura into perspective came from someone unexpected. When Nelson Mandela was released from jail after 27 years one of his first questions was: "Is Don Bradman still alive?"
1. ANDREW 'BANJO' PATERSON Andrew "Banjo" Paterson, the bush poet who told our tale, has left a legacy that is intrinsic to who we are. His words funny, clever, inspiring, loyal are core traits of how we'd like to see ourselves. That sense of being uniquely Australian. Bred from our history as battlers who conquered the bush, moved on to the big city and now have the confidence to stare back at the rest of the world. Part of our Aussie culture is also loving a "yarn", a tale that makes us laugh or has a jibe at a mate, whether it be in the boardroom or around a barbecue. And Paterson could tell a story that made you feel you were there. "There was movement at the station for the word had passed around that the colt from old Regret had got away." Paterson was born at Narrambla near Orange in 1864 and grew up a country boy taking in the wonders of the world. When the family moved to Yass they lived near the main stock route between Sydney and Melbourne and young Banjo looked on as all levels of life ambled by gold prospectors, Cobb and Co coaches, bullock teams, weary travellers. He went to school in Sydney, studied law and worked as a solicitor. But he loved poems and stories. Tales about the city, the country and the characters he'd seen along the way. He offered his work to The Bulletin under the name Banjo (a favourite horse from the family's farm) and his craftwork soon became popular. The Man from Ironbark in 1892 was an example of his quick wit and astute observations. "There were some gilded youths that sat along the barber's wall. Their eyes were dull, their heads were flat, they had no brains at all." Other works included Clancy of the Overflow and Saltbush Bill, but nothing was as popular as The Man From Snowy River, the story about a stranger who outrode the best horsemen in the land. And he raced him down the mountain like a torrent down its bed, While the others stood and watched in very fear. But it was Waltzing Matilda that lifted him to legendary status. Written in 1895 on a Queensland farm veranda it has become our international anthem. A simple story about a swagman rolling the dice and losing it all. "And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong, You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me." Put to music in 1902, it has been sung by schoolchildren, cityslickers and soldiers ever since. In the past 20 years it's been bellowed with pride in sporting arenas around the world as a battle cry for Australian teams. For years no one sang it better than Wallabies fans when Australia lined up against the All Blacks, but there could be none more memorable than at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics when Slim Dusty roamed the stadium singing Waltzing Matilda with 110,000 patriotic fans in full cry. Watch it on YouTube and feel your skin shiver. Just as Twain or Shakespeare or Kipling are held in high regard in the US and UK, Paterson deserves to stand on a pedestal Down Under. What many people don't realise is he also saw the ravages of war first-hand. He was on the front line as a correspondent in the Boer War in 1899 and then signed on for World War I where he was promoted to captain. Wounded in 1916, he then rejoined his unit commanding the Australian Remount Squadron. After the war he continued in journalism and writing until struck down by illness in 1940. He died peacefully on February 5, 1941. On the night of his death, novelist Vance Palmer broadcast a tribute that encapsulated the enormity of his contribution to our country: "He laid hold both of our affections and imaginations; he made himself a vital part of the country we all know and love, and it would not only have been a poorer country but one far less united in bonds of intimate feeling, if he had never lived and written."
The Greatest Of All - Our 50 Top Australians ----On Fow24news.com Reviewed by FOW 24 News on July 31, 2017 Rating: 5   THINK about the word "great". What does it really mean? More specifically, what does it mean to Australians? For me, i...

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