FIRST – tomorrow is Australia Day, when all good Aussies demolish pies and mushy peas, drink schooners and reminisce about the long dead Phar Lap or other more recent equine giants such as Tulloch. Grossly exaggerated stories of laving the wave majestic at Bondi, shearing record numbers of sheep near Bourke or chasing a pack of sheilas down Hunter Street, Newcastle, will be commonplace. Take your pick.
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OF course, not all residents of the great southern continent fall into the Crocodile Dundee Waltzing Matilda category. Less public, perhaps, but just as integral a part of the Aussie story are the poets, the writers, the singers and actors, the dancers, the scientists and the sportsmen and women, who have very often dazzled the world.
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AND what depth and variety they continue to represent! Start with poets Les Murray, Kenneth Slessor, Geoffrey Lehman and Judith Wright; acknowledge the glorious voices of Dames Nellie Melba and Joan Sutherland and June Bronhill and the superb ballet performances of Sir Robert Helpmann.
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VIEW the art of Albert Namatjira, Sidney Nolan, Norman Lindsay and Brett Whitely; recall the sporting brilliance of Yvonne Goolagong, Ken Rosewall, Mal Meninga and Jimmy Carruthers; and remember all those smash hit movies with Coral Browne, Geoffrey Rush, Ruth Cracknell, Nicole Kidman, Mel Gibson, the brilliant Dame Judith Anderson, and film directors Bruce Beresford and Peter Weir.
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REVEL in the music of composer Peter Sculthorpe; wonder at the skill of the man who created penicillin out of Sir Alexander Fleming’s chance discovery, Baron Florey; admire the twin skills of outstanding cricketer and legendary commentator Richie Benaud … and pay tribute to Germaine Greer and her ground-breaking book, The Female Eunuch. And remember the thousands of others, all adding up to a great deal more than just another prawn on the barbie.
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IN PNG, there will be memories of administrators Sir Donald Cleland and Les Johnson and their charismatic wives; memories too of the many missionaries who have worked among us unsung and uncelebrated. We are an indelible part of Australia’s history, as Australians are of ours and we wish the people of Australia a memorable Australia Day tomorrow. Cheers!

- Dee Nesenolis