Someone Like Him

from Australian Business Review

They announced Geoffrey Rush as 

Australian of the Year

He is the person 

Who this year, most 

Epitomises what it means 

To be Australian

And it makes me feel good

Makes me feel proud

As an artist

As an Australian

To know that someone like him, is 

The Representation 

Of my national identity

The other Australians of note this year

Are also worthy of recognition.

Laurie Baymarrwangga,

An Aboriginal elder who has worked to 

Teach and share and maintain her culture

In spite of invasion

In spite of ignorance

And Marita Cheng

Who inspires other young women 

To go out into a world 

Dominated by men

And question, and investigate, and analyze 

And to become excited and passionate

About learning

And Lynne Sawyers

Who cared for hundreds of children

Not even her own

Took them in and said

This is your home too

We are artists and scientists and carers of the land

We are inventors and innovators 

We are from all over the world

We live, work, and travel internationally

We live, work, and play in our own backyard

This strange large island

At the bottom of the earth

We are more than kangaroos and wattle

We are more than yobbos on the beach drinking beer

We are more than the Anzac legend suggests

More than boyish mates coming together under fire

We are more than a flag coloured by British rule 

We are a complicated lot

Represented this year, by an actor

Who gets on with his work

And supports others to do the same 

Who shows it is possible to be

A brilliant artist of the world

And still be, Australian in name.