Jessica & the TPS

There are days when I feel proud to be Australian and then others when I cringe at the culture of the tall poppy syndrome in full flight. Whether it’s due to our convict roots (and I have them too), or just part of our sceptical Anglo heritage, the TPS has been on full display in recent weeks.

Solo sailor Jessica Watson’s triumphant return last Saturday brought the tall poppy naysayers out of the hidden success closet. A young male I know in his mid-twenties proclaimed “I hate Jessica Watson”. I asked if he knew her (he does not) and for a list of his recent achievements as I was looking forward to reading the book of his inspiring life. Another much older man, an experienced weekend sailor, told me “she must have been very lucky”.

Luck, of course, is always a contributing factor in any endeavour, but maybe it was also good planning, skill and experience, good equipment, shore side professional support, calmness under pressure, tenacity and a love for what she was doing. But she is only a girl, and it’s so easy to make judgements from the cheap seats, isn’t it?

So here is Australia’s latest hero (although she had the gumption to tell the Prime Minister that she’s no hero, just a girl with a dream) and many in the media and the public were ready to cut her down to size. They might as well have said: “don’t get too big for your boots young lady,” as I remember being told.

Sitting next to me on the steps of the Opera House last Saturday patiently awaiting Jessica’s arrival was an Aboriginal woman from Mount Druitt. She had travelled to the city by bus with her five grandchildren, all dressed in pink, to welcome Jessica home. The woman, whose eyes revealed her life stories, was one of the stolen generation. Taken from her mother at age two, she was not possessed by bitterness but by hope for the future – for her grandchildren’s future. The kids, all lively and excited young teenagers said they thought what Jessica had done was incredible and they wanted to be part of her welcome. She told me all this from those free, cheap seats.

Sitting behind me were three Muslim women along with their children celebrating Jessica’s triumph as were thousands of others inspired by her achievement. The new face of Australia was all around me and there was not a knocker in sight.

In the late 1960s as a child living in London, I was inspired by Sir Francis Chichester’s solo circumnavigation. I kept a scrap book of newspaper cuttings of his voyage and made my father take me to see him knighted and then to Greenwich when Gypsy Moth IV was put into dry dock .

His remarkable voyage and courage have stayed with me and inspired me as have many solo sailors and adventurers since – and I’ve been fortunate to know and work with many of them.
I was a simply a spectator last weekend at the climax of a real ‘reality’ show which celebrated pure human endeavour and where a young woman received accolades for having achieved something – as opposed to looking good in a short skirt (move over Paris).

Good on you Jessica. You are an inspiration and you’ve reminded this mid-life woman to continue to strive for my goals and stand tall. We should all celebrate success and achievement and encourage greatness – Australia will be a better country for it.