National Living Treasure is a status created and occasionally updated by the National Trust of Australia's New South Wales branch, awarded to up to 100 living people. Recipients were selected by popular vote for having made outstanding contributions to Australian society in any field of human endeavour.
In 1997, the National Trust of Australia (NSW) called for nominations from the public for 100 Australian Living Treasures, and each nomination was counted as one vote. The nominees had to be living and had to have made a substantial and enduring contribution. The choice of those who were named as National Living Treasures was made by more than 10,000 Australians voting. Their votes determined who was chosen. The first list of 100 Living Treasures was published in 1997, which included 12 Indigenous Australians. [1] Phillip Adams, himself named as a National Treasure, gave his own opinion in an article on ANZAC Day in 2015 that when the list was first published in 1997, most were amused to find they were nominated; he suggested an alternative list to "celebrate those who make us happy". [2]
In 2004, the list was refreshed with 15 new names, following the deaths of some people on the list and the exclusion of former Justice Marcus Einfeld, who was imprisoned after his retirement for perjury and perverting the course of justice relative to a speeding ticket, following an identical process to that used in 1997 – a public nomination and vote. [3] [4]
On 23 January 2012, the National Trust of Australia (NSW) joined with Woman's Day magazine to launch a nationwide search for seven new National Living Treasures. They were announced, amid controversy, on 4 March 2012, when the National Trust refused to endorse the NSW branch's listing of the mining magnate Clive Palmer as one of the members. [5] [6] Graeme Blackman, the chairman of the Australian Council of National Trusts, said that the list was not auspiced nationally by the National Trust. [6] However, the next day it was reported that "trust president Ian Carroll said the titles recognised that the country's culture was more than just our buildings and natural heritage." [7] It was later revealed that the vote for Palmer had been manipulated, with several internal emails having been sent to his company's staff, their family and friends, urging that they vote for "Professor Clive Palmer". [8]
On 30 July 2014, the board of the National Trust of Australia (NSW) voted to remove Rolf Harris, who had been among the original 100 Australians selected for the honour in 1997, from the list, after his conviction on 12 charges of indecent assault between 1969 and 1986, and to also withdraw the award. [9]
The 68 still-living people on the 2014 list which originally contained 93 living people: [9]