"It is not that I fear death; I fear it as little as to drink a cup of tea."
NED KELLY 1854-1880, bushranger. Photo: The Trial by Sidney Nolan
"We cannot own the land. We are but the custodians of the land."
OODGEROO OF THE TRIBE NOONUCCAL (Kath Walker) 1920-1993. Photo: Ormiston Gorge NT (Bruce Taylor)
"This is the land of dreamings, a land of wide horizons and secret places. The first people, our ancestors, created this country in the culture that binds us to it."
HETTI PERKINS 1962-, art curator, writer. Photo: Aboriginal rock art
"Take red. Much of the continent is red: red rocks, red soil, red dust, the Red Centre."
DON WATSON, The Bush. Photo: Kata Tjuta NT
"Every country has its own landscape which deposits itself in layers on the consciousness of its citizens… "
MURRAY BAIL, writer, Eucalyptus. Photo: Flinders Ranges and outback SA (South Australian Tourism Commission)
"Trees are, after all, our largest and oldest living things. They are Australia's natural, national treasures - the true Elders of our vast continent."
RICHARD ALLEN, Australia's Remarkable Trees. Photo: Arthur River TAS (Tourism Tasmania/Southern Cross Television)
"I have always had a singular passion for Australia. I do love the sunburnt country, its ancient landscapes, its exhilarating reaches of sand and sea. "
PETER GARRETT 1953-, Australian musician, environmentalist, politician. Photo: Twelve Apostles VIC (Lachlan Manley Photography)
"The outback is four-fifths of the continent. It's at the heart of our ethos... it is omnipresent."
JACK THOMPSON, actor. Photo: Wilpena Pound Flinders Ranges SA (South Australian Tourism Commission)
“Some see no beauty in our trees without shade, our flowers without perfume, our birds who cannot fly, and our beasts who have not yet learned to walk on all fours. But the dweller in the wilderness acknowledges the subtle charm of this fantastic land of monstrosities. He becomes familiar with the beauty of loneliness.”
MARCUS CLARKE 1846–1881, Australian writer, poet. Photo: Boab trees on the Kimberley WA.
"It is not in our cities or townships, it is not in our agricultural or mining areas, that the Australian attains full consciousness of his own nationality; it is in places like this, and as clearly here as at the centre of the continent. To me the monotonous variety of this interminable scrub has a charm of its own; so grave, subdued, self centred; so alien to the genial appeal of more winsome landscape, or the assertive grandeur of mountain and gorge."
JOSEPH FURPHY 1843-1912, Tom Collins from Such is Life. Photo: The Ghan, NT (AAP)
"I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains."
DOROTHEA MACKELLAR 1885-1968, My Country Photo: Paroo River flood, near Wilcannia NSW (AAP)
"There are times in life when we have to face the big questions, to look squarely into the face of death and then affirm the sheer gift of life."
REVEREND TIM COSTELLO, Australian of the Year 2006 Photo: Red-necked wallaby baby joey (Benjamin Twist, Wikipedia)
"With our splendid harbour, our beautifully situated city, our vast territories, all our varied and inexhaustible natural wealth, if we don't convert our colony into a great and prosperous nation, it will be a miracle of error for which we shall have to answer as for a gigantic sin."
SIR HENRY PARKES 1815-1896, statesman, Father of Federation. Photo: Sydney Harbour Bridge (Brett Foster)
"Getting ashore was not that hard. Hanging on, up on that ridge, for eight months - that was hard..."
LES CARLYON, Gallipoli Photo: Wounded soldiers at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915 (Australian War Memorial)
"Every country needs it heroes, and we must follow them."
SIR EDWARD (WEARY) DUNLOP 1907-1993, Army surgeon, WW2 war hero, Australian of the Year 1976 Photo: Wall of Honour, Australian War Memorial ACT (Brett Foster)
"We want our leaders to be fair dinkum, as much among us as above us."
SIR PETER COSGROVE 1947-, Governor-General. Photo: Canberra ACT (Brett Foster)
"Opera is like a day in parliament: love, lust, murder and betrayal, but all in song."
JULIAN MC GAURAN, politician. Photo: Looking from the Australian War Memorial to both parliament houses. (Brett Foster)
"Politics is just like being mixed up with a bad woman. You know it's not a good idea, but you just can't let it go."
NEIL BATT, politician. Photo: New Parliament House Canberra ACT (Brett Foster)
"After all, what are we singers but the silver-voiced messengers of the poet and musician?"
DAME NELLIE MELBA 1861-1931, opera singer. Photo: Sydney Opera House.
"Walking onstage at the Sydney Opera House feels like entering a sacred Australian space. A space where souls can be transported by the power of music..."
BENJAMIN NORTHEY, conductor Photo: Cathedral Gorge, Purnululu National Park WA
"The Australian continent is rich with indigenous flora whose power transcends any sense of jingoism."
GORDON FORD 1918-1999, landscape designer. Photo: Sturt Desert Pea (South Australian Tourism Commission)
"To the native-born Australian the Wattle stands for home, country, kindred, sunshine and love – every instinct that the heart most deeply enshrines…"
AGNES L. STORRIE 1864-1936, poet. Photo: Acacia melanoxylon, Blackwood wattle (Brett Foster)
"God bless America. God save the Queen. God defend New Zealand and thank Christ for Australia."
RUSSELL CROWE, actor, musician Photo: Mailbox on the road to Bourke (Catherine de Vrye)
"We're all members of the outback club. We don't back down and we don't give up. We're all living in a land we love."
LEE KERNAGHAN, singer, songwriter, Australian of the Year 2008. Photo: Campfire by the Darling River outback Bourke NSW (AAP)
"You have to go through a storm to get to a rainbow."
DAINERE ANTHONEY 1998-2013, founder Dainere’s Rainbow Brain Tumour Research Fund Photo: Wagin WA
"We feel our crosses hard at times, but our courage should rise with them. "
SAINT MARY MACKILLOP 1842-1909, nun, Australia's first saint. Photo: Cradle Mountain and Lake Dove TAS (Tourism Tasmania, Paul Sinclair)
"It’s dark already and I’m out here again, talking, telling the story to the quiet night."
TIM WINTON, writer Photo: Tarkine TAS (Catherine de Vrye)
"The flora, fauna and landscaping of a nation contributes to the identification of a national soul."
GORDON FORD 1918-1999, landscape designer. Photo: Koala and Joey (Dick Marks, Koala Foundation)
"The sea is the mother of all life, including our own."
VALERIE TAYLOR 1935-2012, shark and underwater expert. Photo: Green turtle (Tourism Queensland)
"When you look a great ocean predator in the eye you glimpse a perfection born from a time before men walked the earth. The animal is innocent of our failings, it is at one with the environment that supports it and you feel humbled at the privilege of that precious moment."
VALERIE TAYLOR 1963-2012, shark and underwater expert. Photo: Great white shark (Ron Taylor)
"Nature is the most beautiful thing we have. It’s better than art because it’s from the creator."
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN, singer, songwriter, actor Photo: Rainbow lorikeet on grafted gum (Brett Foster)
"I'm as dry as a dead dingo's donger."
AUSSIE SLANG Photo: Frill necked lizard (AAP)
"There is no better way of life in the world than that of the Australian. I firmly believe this. The grumbling, growling, cursing, profane, laughing, beer drinking, abusive, loyal-to-his-mates Australian is one of the few free men left on this earth. He fears no one, crawls to no one, bludges on no one, and acknowledges no master."
JOHN O'GRADY 1907-81, They’re a Weird Mob Photo: Alpine Dingo (AAP)
"I have no fear of losing my life - if I have to save a koala or a crocodile or a kangaroo or a snake, mate, I will save it."
STEVE IRWIN 1962-2006, The Crocodile Hunter at Australia Zoo (AAP)
"For me, sport is a window into a country’s soul."
BEN GROUNDWATER, journalist. Photo: Warren Luff and Craig Lowndes crash in 2014 Bathurst 1000 (AAP/Edge Photographics)
"There is a very special place in the Australian psyche for sport. It is one of the pillars of the Australian way of life. You don't really understand what makes the Australian nation tick unless you understand the great affection Australians have for sport."
JOHN HOWARD, Prime Minister 1996-2007. Photo: 2010 Ashes Tour, Sydney Cricket Ground NSW (AAP)
"Sent off, carried off, but never backed off."
DAVID DUNSWORTH, Rugby union player. Photo: Australia's Rugby Union team The Wallabies (David Anderson)
"A champion team will always beat a team of champions."
TONY SHAW, AFL player and coach. Photo: 2015 AFL Grand Final (AAP)
"The ocean humbles you. You can go and win a world title, but you're never going to beat the ocean."
STEPHANIE GILMORE, surfing champion Photo: Stephanie riding the barrel to win at the Billabong Pipeline Masters, 2010 (AAP)
"Great men and great teams do great things at great moments."
JOHN BERTRAND 1946-, Skipper Australia 11. Photo: Australia 11 beating Liberty in the America’s Cup 1983 (AAP)
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