Greatest Australian?

[Tony_Barber_s_Underwear]

It seems everyone else is having a go - so I would like to see your ideas for the most influental Australian. This can be in terms of his or her influence on Australia or on the world.

Here are a couple of my picks -

Don Bradman (Cricket Player) - Sure, he was just a cricketer, and he had his share of character flaws, but if you ask most Australians who the greates Aussie is, The Don’s name will come up.

John Curtin - (Prime Minister during WWII) - The man who stood up to Churchill and ‘looked to America’ during WWII.

H.V. “Doc” Evatt - (High Court Judge, Attorney General, UN General Secretary) Evatt was the first Australian to be general secretary of the UN (I think he has been the only Australian, but I am not sure).
Owen Dixon - (High Court Judge) As a law student, it was virtually impossible to read a decision without seeing the name of Dixon CJ. He sat on the bench for 35 years, and made some of the most influential judgements in our short history.
Let me know your thoughts. I’ll put some more up later.

• Bubba.

[TheLoadedDog]

Those are all good, and let me throw in:

Howard Florey

His role as the leader of the team of scientists that discovered and developed penicillin won him the Nobel Prize in 1945 with Fleming and Chain. He was knighted in 1944, and was decorated around the world by the UK, France, Australia and the US for his influence on the outcome of World War II. He was the first Australian elected to the prestigious position of President of the Royal Society in 1960, where he was known as ‘the Bushranger President’. He was made Baron Florey of Adelaide in 1965 and accepted the Chancellorship of the Australian National University in 1965.

Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson was an Australian poet and writer. Many believe he was the first poet to capture the Australian way of life.

And today, Henry Lawson’s work is an inspiration to many Australians.

Edith Cowan

Edith Cowan was a pioneer for women’s and children’s rights at the turn of the century.

She led the fight for massive social changes at a time when women were treated as second class citizens.

As the first woman elected to an Australian parliament, Edith proved that persistence pays.

Private John Simpson

On the 25th April 1915 he, along with the rest of the Australian and New Zealand contingent landed at the wrong beach on a piece of wild, impossible and savage terrain now known as Anzac Cove.

Attack and counter attack began.

During the morning hours of April 26th , along with his fellows, Jack was carrying casualties back to the beach over his shoulder – it was then that he saw the donkey.

Jack knew what he had to do.

From then on he became a part of the scene at Gallipoli walking along next to his donkey, forever singing and whistling as he held on to his wounded passengers, seemingly completely fatalistic and scornful of the extreme danger. He led a charmed life from 25th April 1915 until he was hit by a machine gun bullet in his back on 19th May 1915.

Professor Fred Hollows

By 1980 Fred was travelling all over the world to help set up eye health programs in developing countries.

He heard about a war in Eritrea in Africa and how doctors there were trying to get training in eye surgery.

“Each year in Africa about two and a half million people go blind…and they just go blind…they sit around in their huts.”
This became Fred’s passion. He wanted to help the Eritreans build their own eye lens factory. He asked Australians to support his dream. They donated more than 6 million dollars.

Dr Victor Chang

Dr. Chang was a man of vision and knew that operating on people was not enough. He knew a heart transplant meant that someone had to die first. It was a shortage of organ donors that lead him to the much needed research and development of various cardiothoracic devices and procedures. As a result, he set about designing and developing an artificial heart valve and an artificial heart.

…for starters. Oh, and my girlfriend Kim.

[sub](Bloody hamsters ate this post first time around. We need to send the SDMB some small marsupials)[/sub]

[jjimm]

Rolf Harris!

[TheLoadedDog]

No, Rolf is English.

No really.

Actually, I heard a long interview with him on the radio a year or so ago. He’s a really nice bloke. He can’t help being completely tragic.

[manwithaplan]

Peter Carey deserves a mention. 20 plus years of eloquent, accessible storytelling in an authentic Australian voice with two Booker Prizes so far.

And don’t forget that crocodile guy!

[yojimbo]

The forgotten Aboriginal

Great Aussies? I have to admit I don’t know a huge amount about the history of Australia apart from Burke and Wills, Ned Kelly, Dame Edna and Clive James so I’ll hold back on answering apart from …

Australia’s greatest export = Kylies ass.

Bradman was the man. I loved the Bodyline TV movie.

[Typo_Negative]

Angus Young!

He wasn’t born there, but he grew up there.

[Aro]

What about Mark “Chopper” Read

[Aro]

This site lists a lot of famous Aussies, of which I am embarressed to say I only know three.

[Silentgoldfish]

Me!

[hawthorne]

H.C. “Nugget” Coombs. A hugely influential public servant, economist and advocate of immigration, education, the arts and Aboriginal rights.

[Crafter_Man]

What about the lead singer from Air Supply? What was his name?

[Go_alien]

The Don! Probably the greatest sporstman ever. Provider of pleasure to millions. The yardstick against whom all other cricketers have been measured, and all have been found wanting found wanting.

He was the greatest in the sense that he dominated his sport for his entire career.

[Tony_Barber_s_Underwear]

I’ve also admired ** Billy Hughes **, if only for the tenacious way he stood up for Australia at the League of Nations after WWI - “I speak for 60,000 dead.”

• Bubba

[kambuckta]

I’m a seconder for Fred Hollows, and I’d bung in Dame Phyllis Frost too.
A raving lunatic at times, she has been a champion of the underdog, and she won’t take no bulltish from ANYONE…especially pollies…
I’m sure I posted in this thread yesterday, and IIRC, there was another post which mentioned the name of an Aussie I had never heard of…and I congratulated the poster on his/her expansive knowledge about Australia. That post too seems to have disappeared. Were the hamsters especially hungry last night or was I having bizzare dreams?

[Iguana_Boy]

Angus Young is from Glasgow, and don’t you forget it!!

Rolf Harris is Welsh, not English, if I remember correctly, but I could well be wrong there. He was certainly born in the UK.

And Mel Gibson is American, before anybody mentions him!

But how can all you guys forget the genius that is Yahoo Serious?

What?

[woolly]

AB “Banjo” Patterson was better than Lawson at everything except pathos … Lawson was pretty dammed good at pathos. (for the non-Oz, the “Banjo” refers to a horse, not the instrument)
You simply can’t have a list of great Australians without ** E.G. Whitlam** or ** R.G. Menzies** whatever your political persuasion.
** William P. Deane** is up there and will get pushed further up the list as history reassesses his achievements.
** HC “Nugget” Coombs** , a career of awesome public service.
** Rupert K. Murdoch** , media magnate (his mother ** Dame Edith** might make it on her own merits as well)

a couple on the outer circle:
William Farrer, Sydney Kidman, FS Faulkner,

[kambuckta]

RUPERT MURDOCH??? Have you taken leave of your senses Mr. Woolly? Rupert as a ‘Great Aussie’? The guy’s a twerp of the highest order. Maybe the Greatest Dickhead Aussie, but not great as in doing much good…IMHO, of course.

[TheLoadedDog]

AB “Banjo” Patterson was better than Lawson…
I’d be pissed off ol Banjo wasn’t such a noble opponent. They were both great, though o’ course I come down on the side of Lawson (who happened to be the one who spun a yard about an explosive dawg).

The friendly rivalry of the two was legendary, and resulted in my favourite ever piece of bitchery - from Patterson:

So you’re back from up the country, Mr Lawson, where you went.

Scratch.

(For the uninitiated, both poets wrote about “the bush”, but Patterson was the more authentic of the two, with Lawson tending to be Sydney-based)

[TheLoadedDog]

"AB “Banjo” Patterson was better than Lawson… "
That shoulda been a quote.

"I’d be pissed off if ol Banjo wasn’t such a noble opponent. They were both great, though o’ course I come down on the side of Lawson (who happened to be the one who spun a yarn about an explosive dawg). "

Bad dog. PREVIEW!