1 Ambulance officers: 1.15
2 Firefighters: 2.38
3 Nurses: 3.42
4 Pilots: 4.41
5 Doctors: 5.3414
Australians are also big on charitable giving with one in ten Australians having donated to the Salvation Army alone.
The reasons Australians give to strangers in need of charity are genuine, and further demonstrate our nation’s value of lending a hand in times of need. The main reason for giving to a charity is because people want to make a difference, with half of Australians strongly agreeing with this statement, according to our survey of 500 Australians, on charitable giving.15 Other strongly agreed with reasons which include that they give because it’s the right thing to do (48.6%) and that they care and feel responsibility to help others (46.5%). Australians don’t so much give to charities for tax benefits (7.2% strongly agree) or because they feel guilt (5.7%).
Australian wartime tales It is often said that war brings out both the worst and best in humanity. Despite the countless experiences of unbelievable horror that war inflicts, it is the tales of heroism and of sacrifice that live on and are shared decades later. Soldiers, of course, give the ultimate gift of kindness to strangers, laying down their very lives for the freedom of their countrymen and women. However, there is often much debate in the media about the role of Australian combat forces in foreign lands. In the minds of Australians their role in history has generally been a positive one though, with 69% of Australians believing that Australian soldiers (and members of the Australian Defence Forces) have done more good than harm. This is more evident with older Australians, but even most young Australians agree that the role of our diggers has generally been a positive one. Of those aged 46-85, 90.5% agree that Australian soldiers and members of the ADF have done more good than harm, compared with 54% of those aged 16-45.16
Amongst the best-known Australian wartime Samaritan stories is that of the “fuzzy-wuzzy angels”, the indigenous people of Papua New Guinea who, during the Second World War, carried wounded Australian soldiers to safety, risking their own lives to save those of foreign strangers. There have been a number of poems written by diggers about the noble Papua New Guinean bearers.
Many a lad will see his mother and husbands see their wives Just because the fuzzy wuzzy carried them to save their lives From mortar bombs and machine gun fire or chance surprise attacks To the safety and the care of doctors
at the bottom of the track
“Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels”, Bert Beros
Misplaced step means a fatal plunge,
to the rivers far below,
But clambering on through knee-deep mud,
on sure footed way they go.
Muscles bulge under ebony skin,
as they climb over rocks and logs
Sometimes sinking to heaving chests,
in the treacherous loathsome bogs.
“Native Stretcher Bearers”,
Corporal Peter Coverdale
While our history is replete with older examples of risk and sacrifice for others, there is a new generation of Australians with the same spirit of the iconic digger.
On 16 January 2009 Trooper Mark Donaldson became the first Australian in 40 years to be awarded Australia’s highest military decoration, the Victoria Cross. The official citation gives the circumstances of Trooper Donaldson’s actions which were “most conspicuous acts of gallantry in a circumstance of great peril”.
In 2008 while in Afghanistan, Trooper Donaldson and his SAS mates were caught up in a Taliban ambush which turned out to be the worst single attack on Australian soldiers since the Vietnam War, resulting in six Australian soldiers being injured. After taking two hours to fight their way out, he realised a badly wounded Afghan interpreter had been left behind.
Still recovering from wounds received in an earlier battle in Afghanistan, Trooper Donaldson turned around and dashed across open ground, under machine gun fire, to collect the man and bring him to safety.
The citation states: “With complete disregard for his own safety, on his initiative and alone, Trooper Donaldson ran back 80 metres across exposed ground to rescue the interpreter and carry him back to the vehicle. Trooper Donaldson then rejoined his patrol and continued to engage the enemy while remaining exposed to heavy enemy fire.”
His citation said he “displayed exceptional courage in circumstances of great peril” and saved the life of the interpreter.
“Trooper Donaldson’s courage and selflessness in the face of such unspeakable danger is not only a great tribute to him and his family - it epitomises the spirit of the Aussie Digger. The soldiers that he saved will be forever indebted to him. The nation will be forever indebted to him.”
In keeping with protocol, Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston then saluted Trooper Donaldson.
“As the highest ranking member of the defence force there has been no current serving member that I salute until now,” he said. “Tradition holds that even the most senior officer will salute a Victoria Cross recipient as a mark of the utmost respect for their act of valour.”
At the investiture of the award, the Governor-General Ms Quentin Bryce delivered one of the best speeches of recent times, which read in part:
We are here to dedicate your contribution.
Your unconditional surrender to duty and humanity.
Your abandonment of your own necessities so that others’ may be secured.
Your courage, generosity and compassion.
All of these things: while in thrall to peril’s brutal glare and might.
All of these things: without moment for reflection or concert.
All of these things: not for yourself, but for those whom peril crushed in your midst; for us, your fellow countrymen and women…
We award you a decoration whose words are reserved for the incomparable and unsurpassed. Words whose integrity is untouched by vernacular. Words, rare and revered.
Gallantry. Valour. Self-sacrifice. Devotion to duty.
These are the tenets of the Victoria Cross for Australia, and you have met their rigour.
While very few acts of helping others will measure up to that of this 29-year-old soldier, the same character lies at the heart of every altruistic act: compassion, generosity and a commitment to others.
Our Christian roots
While most of us (61%) don’t think religious people are more likely to do charitable works, of those who believe in God, 88% have gone out of their way to help a stranger in need, compared to 84% of non-believers. Religious people are also more positive about the state of kindness in our world today. Those who have neither a religious affiliation nor a belief in God are most sceptical when it comes to the state of kindness in our world. Thirty-two per cent compared to 37% of Australians who believe in God believe more acts of kindness than terror are performed. Thirty-seven per cent of Australians who believe in God, but don’t necessarily have a religious affiliation, believe there are more good deeds performed than evil. Thirty-two per cent believe there are more acts of terror.17
It is often the way that people who perform acts of kindness are motivated by their religious background. For the Christian,