Men and women of virtue among the weak and opportunistic.

[johnny]

Lesser known Australian historical figures.


"They did not go to the British Isles to make war upon you; but ye came from the British Isles to make war upon them.
"They have all along shown themselves ready to be reconciled, desirous to live in peace and amity with you and even willing to be taught your manners, laws and polity ... Ye destroy the natural productions of the soil on which they live, ye devour their fish and their game, and ye drive them from the abodes of their ancestors." A warning that if the relationship was not resolved, "your own children, for whose sakes ye have invaded the country, will join with the disinherited offspring of those ye have slain to pour a flood of curses upon your memory." (Sorry).

Robert Lyon, 1830s.

"I view this attempt to inflict the worst and most degrading slavery on the colony only as a sequence of that oppressive tyranny which has confiscated the lands of the colony for the benefit of a class. As in America, oppression was the parent of independence, so it will be in this colony. And so, sure as the seed will grow into the plant, and the plant to the tree, in all times, and in all nations, so will injustice and tyranny ripen into rebellion, and rebellion into independence." (RL organised a 5000 person protest at circular quay to block the arrival of boat loads of convicts arriving from Britain that were to be used as slave labour on wealthy land owner's farms).

Robert Lowe, 1849.

"Here in New South Wales, every man may vote, let his character be bad, his judgement purchasable and his intellect of the weakest, but an honourable and thoughtful and good woman may be laughed at by such men ... In divorce, men are protected from infidelity: not women. Wives may still be forced to live in the same house with a husband whom they hate and fear."

Louisa Lawson, 1889.


Maybe not my first picks, but none the less worthy of respect.

Which historical figures from Australian history do you admire?

(anyone saying Ned Kelly had better have some pretty farking good evidence as to why he should be so revered.)

[nizai]

He may not be lesser known, but C.Y. O'Connor was truly a man who stood up to his detractors and proved them wrong by creating two of Western Australia's greatest engineering achievements, Fremantle Harbour and The Mundaring to Kalgoorlie pipeline. Its a shame he comitted suicide after particularly vicious Sunday Times articles about him, and he never got to witness the fruits of his labour.

Nice thread Johnny :)

N

[Lorday]

That's a no brainer mate! It would have to be a man of few words, no ideals and no pride. But of course I am joking. An Australian historical figure who stands out for me would have to be the infamous "Johnny" from farkin.net.

If not him I wouldn't know, apart from a few famous cricketers I admire and various other late 90's early 21st century sporting figures I don't believe anyone apart from Gough Whiltlam has made a noticable and lasting impact on Australian society. But I don't admire him.

History, the past, aren't we meant to learn from that? Thier mistakes, we should learn from them, but instead we study, we quote we admire some of them but all in all, do we learnt from these mistakes?

War after war after the words of peace have gone through one ear out the other, intellectuals who are meant to be running our country, the ones we have elected, fail us time and time again. Why can't someway say: "Jeez guys pull your act together"....

...oh wait they have, for black rights, women rights, indiginoues rights. Hey guys it happened before, it just happens time and time again.

I'm sorry if this ponit of view ain't valid, and I'm just talking e-shit, I've only been around since 1991 (17 years), but hey its internet, I can do want ;):D

[PINT of Stella, mate!]

Weary Dunlop. A remarkable, compassionate man who saved the lives of hundreds if not thousands of POWs on the infamous death railway. I was once fortunate enough to meet a old geezer from Perth who had served with Dunlop and acted as one of his assistants. He gave me a unique insight into a tale that's both harrowing and inspiring. It certainly put the trials and tribulations of the modern world in perspective!

[johnny]

Man, I was so drunk when I posted this thread that I'd pretty much forgotten I had done it.

So, Notable Aussies; Weary Dunlop is a good one, of course. I've stood in Hell Fire Pass, the end point of the Burma Railway. Knowing many of the stories from that terrible place, the hairs literally stood up on the back of my neck.

Simpson and his donkey is another man of great moral stature. I remember hearing about his story when I was young and wanting to go out and murder a few Turks when I found out he died at their hands. But that anger soon died away when I discovered drunken kebab-fests.

Dr. HV "Doc" Evans. When Labor came to power under John Curtin in 1941, Evatt became Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs (that is, Foreign Minister). He joined the diplomatic councils of the allies during the Second World War, and in 1945 he played a leading role in the founding of the United Nations. He was President of the UN General Assembly in 1948-1949 and was prominent in the negotiations which led to the creation of Israel. He became deputy leader of the Labor Party after the 1946 elections.

I like him because he didn't like Menzies and because he was punching for Australia well, well above his/our weight. I agree with a lot of his views, especially his work in the UN and he was a character.

Fred Hollows, pretty tireless humanitarian who could have just made shit tins of money running a practice in Mosman or Toorak, but preferred to help those less privileged.


I don't see sporting personalities as great people in this regard, unless they fund orphanages in India, etc. They are not being selfless to any degree whatsoever. Sporting hero is an oxymoron in my book.

[johnny]

Notable mention also goes to Percy Spendor who was smart enough to understand geopolitics and undermine Menzies' sycophantic lick-spittling to England by creating the Colombo Plan and the ANZUS Treaty and focusing Australian foreign relations to the Communist threat in Asia ad setting up relations in the region instead of Europe as Menzies wished.

Dishonourable mention goes to Menzies and to a lesser degree, his afterbirth, John Howard. This is for looking to London more so than our own country and damaging our international reputation.

[Customjimmy]

Tom Barker (http://libcom.org/history/barker-tom-1887-1970)

Not an Australian, but worth an honourable mention for telling Billy Hughes to shove conscription up his arse. Pretty interesting life too!

[johnny]

Yeah, they don't have to be Australian, they can just have affected Australian society for mention, like Victor Chang, for instance.

[Trevor_S]

they can just have affected Australian society for mention,.

Len Bedell ?

Mary Mckillop ?

Reverend John Flynn ?

not dead but

Ian Fraser ?

I don't see sporting personalities as great people in this regard, unless they fund orphanages in India, etc. They are not being selfless to any degree whatsoever. Sporting hero is an oxymoron in my book.

Amen to that.

While I don't dislike "sporting heroes" per se, (I am sure some are good people), I do however think less of people that do hold them up in admiration.

What you are is nothing, what you do to help humanity for the better is what defines you.

and while I have every admiration for the politicians that managed the mighty task of birthing the Australia Federation all those years ago, I despair of what it is the Politicans of my generation have let that Nation become but I guess the responsibility for that failure lies squarely on the shoulders of the populous at large.

[Lorday]

Simpson and his donkey[/U] is another man of great moral stature.

I don't see sporting personalities as great people in this regard, unless they fund orphanages in India, etc. They are not being selfless to any degree whatsoever. Sporting hero is an oxymoron in my book.
Just 2 quick cliche sporting hero's, Steve waugh and Glen McGrath.
But I hold Steve in high regards, read his book donated to his fund. Hes a Down right legend for me. Glen has down some great stuff, 75% of it doesn't make the media.

EDIT: I shall agree with 'ol man simpson + his asre cause they stood up in a time when they were needed, and no one at that time would or could possibly wish for someone as good as that.

[nicho]

quotes from "johnny" that have affected my english vocabulary and therefore propelled him to a man of virtue:

"this ain't the big smoke around here!"

nicho

[John U]

Bob Brown for continually raising the profile of environmental issues while the major parties have been arguing about their existence.

[Binaural]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4304290.stm


Barry Marshall and Robin Warren won the Nobel prize in medicine for discovering the primary cause of over 80% of stomach ulcers was bacteria (these ulcers are also implicated in many extremely painful and debilitating forms of stomach cancer). What is not covered in the linked story is how they were rubbished for years for their theory, before coming through with the evidence. Incidentally, as far as I know their work is one of the first research works to hint at the role infection may have in certain forms of cancer, which I see turning up more and more in the science and technology media.

Also - the Australian scientist Dr Barnes who stung himself and his child with the Irukandji jellyfish to determine if they were the likely cause of several deaths off the Queensland coast back in the 60s. Many hours of exruciating pain later, the link was made. http://www.tripatlas.com/Irukandji_jellyfish

[John U]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4304290.stm
Barry Marshall and Robin Warren won the Nobel prize in medicine for discovering the primary cause of over 80% of stomach ulcers was bacteria (these ulcers are also implicated in many extremely painful and debilitating forms of stomach cancer). What is not covered in the linked story is how they were rubbished for years for their theory, before coming through with the evidence. Incidentally, as far as I know their work is one of the first research works to hint at the role infection may have in certain forms of cancer, which I see turning up more and more in the science and technology media.


And Barry Marshall infected himself with what was previously something that could be treated but not cured, and then cured himself to prove their theory. Now that's putting it on the line. Great work.