Thursday 21 November 2013

RIP David Scott Thomson

RIP David Scott Thomson.

For those that don't know him, he was a true Australian hero.

He lived a life of service to this nation.


He was a decorated Army soldier throughout the 1940s and 1950s, serving in World War II, Japan and the Korean War. During this time he was awarded a Military Cross, one of the highest military honours.

After his military career, he went into politics and became a Federal Queensland politician, as part of the National Country Party. He served under Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser as a Minister for Science, Minister for the Environment and Minister for Technology, at various times between 1979 and 1983.

During his career, he helped ensure the expansion of Cairns Airport, helping boost economic and tourist activity in North Queensland, both domestically and internationally. He helped ensure public telephones were available for people living on the Torres Strait Islands. He was especially notable for this and other outstanding work for Indigenous Australians, particularly in his area of North Queensland.

I love sport a lot, but it disturbs me quite a lot that our favourite footy and cricket players are regarded as "heroes", and are household names throughout the nation; whilst someone like Thomson is almost completely unknown. I know I'd never heard of him until he was mentioned in some recent politician speeches.

We need more people like David Scott Thomson, and we need to celebrate inspirational people such as him, as examples of true Australian heroes.

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