By Darryl Mason
It just makes your heart swell with Australian pride to discover that 'The Most Influential Australian Of All Time' actually turns out to be an American.
The Bulletin Magazine has oh-so-pomously decided that some ex-Australian media mogul named Rupert Murdoch deserves to be called 'The Most Influential Australian', despite the fact that he didn't think being an Australian citizen was worth as much as owning a few American television stations.
That Murdoch is ranked above deeply patriotic, committed, passionate Australians like Fred Hollows, Manning Clark, Jack Lang, Henry Lawson, Damien Parar and Banjo Patterson makes this Australian icon branding of Murdoch all the more absurd.
Murdoch gave up his Australian citizenship for the benefit of no-one but himself. It wasn't an act of charity or generosity, and he didn't do it for love. He did it for money and power and his own prestige.
He was told he couldn't own TV stations in the US unless he became an American citizen, and so he very quickly dumped his right to be called an Australian like it was a smelly old coat he could now afford to replace.
People risk their lives to try and get to this country to become Australian citizens, and often have to spend a few years in a detention centre before they are extended this honour. They swear allegiance to Australia and expect nothing but the right to call themselves Australian in return.
But Rupert Murdoch thought his Australian citizenship was worth LESS than....Fox News.
"I think that we're on the cusp of a better world," Murdoch said during a speech in Sydney yesterday. "A world of certainly very fast change, change which we can't all foresee except we know it's going to be tremendous."
The Murdoch News media empire were the chief cheerleaders of the War On Iraq, and his television network, newspapers, book publishers and radio shows were the loudest promoters of the 'Saddam's Got Nukes' myth.
His media empire has profited to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars from the 'War On Iraq' and are now whipping up further distrust and hatred of Muslims in anticipation of more big dollars coming from a War On Iran. It should come as no suprise that Murdoch's media attack dogs are now claiming 'Iran's Got/Wants Nukes'.
According to the Australian Prime Minister and the Australian Treasurer, Rupert Murdoch is also "a great Australian', a claim they've both made numerous times, knowing full well that Murdoch sold out his nationality simply to make more money.
Murdoch is neither "A Great Australian" or 'The Most Influential Australian Of All Time'.
He is an ex-Australian, by choice, and there's nothing more insidiously un-Australian than that.
The Full List Of The 100 Most Influential Australians
The Sydney Morning Herald decided to run the list, as it should have been run in The Bulletin - in alphabetical order.
We'll come back to discuss some of the people on this list later. Rupert Murdoch is certainly not the most controversial choice on the list, particularly when it includes an Australian serial killer and a colonial-era armed robber and cop slayer.
Dennis Altman sexual theorist
John Anderson philosopher
Eric Ansell rubber manufacturer
J.F. Archibald journalist and editor
Faith Bandler political activist
Lewis Bandt ute designer
Geoffrey Bardon art teacher
C.E.W. Bean journalist and war historian
Geoffrey Blainey historian
Thomas Blamey military commander
J.J.C. Bradfield civil engineer
Donald Bradman cricketer
Martin Bryant mass murderer
Arthur Calwell federal politician
Manning Clark historian
H.C. "Nugget" Coombs public servant
Alfred Deakin prime minister
Owen Dixon High Court judge
Peter Dombrovskis wilderness photographer
Don Dunstan state premier
Michael Durack cattle pioneer
Sydney Einfeld advocate
Elizabeth Evatt jurist
William Farrer wheat breeder
Howard Florey pathologist
John Flynn missionary
Margaret Fulton cookery writer
Eugene Goossens conductor
Al Grassby federal politician
Germaine Greer feminist
Reg Grundy television producer
Michael Gudinski music entrepreneur
Pauline Hanson federal politician
Henry Higgins industrial relations judge
Fred Hollows eye surgeon
Donald Horne journalist and academic
John Howard prime minister
William Hudson dam builder
Robert Hughes art critic
A.V. Jennings home builder
Peter Jensen Anglican archbishop
Fletcher Jones clothing manufacturer
Susannah Kable First Fleet convict
Paul Keating prime minister
Ned Kelly bushranger
Allan Kendall children's TV producer
Graham Kennedy television personality
Michael Kirby High Court judge
Jack Lang state premier
Henry Lawson poet and writer
Essington Lewis industrialist
Ben Lexcen yacht designer
Norman Lindsay artist and writer
Frank Lowy business leader
John Macarthur wool pioneer
Jean MacNamara health campaigner
Daniel Mannix Catholic archbishop
William McBride medical researcher
Robert Menzies prime minister
Kylie Minogue entertainer
John Monash general
Allan Moss banker
Jack Mundey environmentalist and unionist
Glenn Murcutt architect
Rupert Murdoch business leader
Sidney Myer retailer and philanthropist
Albert Namatjira painter
Garth Nettheim legal theorist
Sidney Nolan painter
Gustav Nossal medical institute director
Kerry Packer business leader
Damien Parer war photographer
Ruth Park writer
Henry Parkes politician
Banjo Paterson poet
Noel Pearson Aboriginal activist and lawyer
Charles Perkins Aboriginal activist
George Robertson bookseller and publisher
W.S. Robinson industrialist and mining financier
Eric Rudd oil explorer
B.A. Santamaria Catholic activist
James Scullin prime minister
Peter Sculthorpe composer
Peter Singer philosopher
John Singleton advertising guru
Dick Smith businessman and adventurer
W.E.H. Stanner anthropologist
Jessie Street suffragette
Charles Todd meteorologist and electrical engineer
Bertram Wainer abortion campaigner
Edna Walling garden designer
Shane Warne cricketer
Peter Weir filmmaker
WIlliam Wentworth explorer and politician
Patrick White writer
Gough Whitlam prime minister
Alec Wickham swimmer
David Williamson playwright
Tom Wills football code creator
Tim Winton writer
