Australia has a huge export industry, and Australian products can be found all over the world. Coal, meat and dairy may all be very profitable Australian exports but they aren’t the ones that get the most attention.
Here is a list of the Top Ten best and most famous Australian Exports which probably includes a few surprises for most us.
Famous Australian Exports
1. Vegemite
For such a rank tasting product it doesn’t half get a lot of attention. I even travelled through South America with a girl who brought a pot of it with her. Vegemite and Australia are like New Zealand and fish and chips. Now I don’t touch the stuff so I don’t think I can comment but apparently Vegemite is a distinct copy of the British version Marmite (which even has an advertising campaign based around the fact that people either love it or hate it, basically there’s no middle ground!).
2. Neighbours
Everybody needs good Neighbours. Neighbours is an Australian institution and especially if you’re British Neighbours is Australia. Personally I haven’t spoken to my Neighbours in England once in the last 15 years so Ramsey Street, where you never need to go anywhere else (not even in to Melbourne) is like a fantasy land.
3. Latex Gloves
Who’d have guessed that Australia was the first nation to produce latex gloves? Latex gloves are used the world over for both professional and personal use. The world could not function quite the same without them.
4. Ugg Boots
Possibly the most amazing shoes ever made. Evidenced by the mass production of cheap knock-offs throughout the entire world. Everyone should own a pair of uggs, even guys. That amount of luxurious comfort should not be missed by anyone, they make great slippers.
5. Kylie Minogue
You don’t have to like her music but honestly who doesn’t like Kylie? She’s beautiful, stylish and cool and is a lovely little symbol of Australia.
6. Fosters
Possibly the most random of all Australian exports because it’s branded as the ultimate Australian product but nowhere in Australia would you be seen dead drinking it, that is if you manage to find any. What I find hard to understand is that if you are ashamed of a product you export why attach your nation to it – pretend it’s from somewhere else.
7. Hugh Jackman
The most incredible body the world has ever seen. Thank you Australia.
8. The Combine Harvester
I thought this was British. Well Australia invented and sold to the world a machine that even today we can’t live without. The only slight criticism I have is that this machine inspired The Wurzels to attempt to sing “I’ve got a brand new combine harvester” in 1976. Amazingly, the song got to number one in the British charts.
9. Walkabout
For anyone who has ever been a student in the UK you know exactly what I am talking about. For those that haven’t Walkabout is an Australian branded bar that has laid roots in every city in the UK. The bars combine yellow and green decor and snakebite Sundays to give its customers that all round Australian experience. You haven’t lived if you can remember a night in a Walkabout bar.
10. TimTams
Becoming more and more popular and surfacing in more and more supermarkets, TimTams are officially tastier than their nearest British product – the penguin biscuit. So much chocolate goodness and you must ask an Australian what the Tim Tam Slam is. This Australian product is an export to keep an eye out for.
Make sure you check out this article about ‘Typical Australian food you should try‘ which includes details about the Tim Tam Slam and describes what Vegemite actually tastes like!
I hope this list is a fair compilation of some of Australia’s best exports. If there are any suggestions of any other best Australian exports please don’t hesitate to make them known.
Forget Vegemite (which is actually manufactured by the American company, Kraft), there are far more wonderful inventions initiated by brilliant Australian scientists, doctors and engineers that have changed the world as we know it. The level of innovation in Australia is absolutely amazing for a country with a population of only 25 million. Listed below are a small number of wonderful things invented in Australia which often leads the world in medical research:
1) WiFi TECHNOLOGY! Did you know that WiFi was invented in Australia? It was! In 1992, John O’Sullivan and the CSIRO developed Wi-Fi technology, used by more than a billion people around the world today. The core parts of the technology came out of research in the mid-1970s in the field of radio astronomy, when John and his colleagues at the CSIRO were originally looking for the faint echoes of black holes.
2) THE BLACK BOX FLIGHT RECORDER (which is actually red). The black box flight recorder has helped make commercial air travel the world’s safest form of travel. It was invented by Australian scientist Dr David Warren, who lost his own father to an aircraft tragedy in 1934 when the Miss Hobart crashed into the Bass Strait. This remarkable device is virtually indestructible and records the final moments of a crashed plane’s last flight. While it is a box, it’s not black – it’s bright orange colour is called ‘international orange’, making it easier to find in crash-site rubble.
3) In addition to the above, Australians invented the INFLATABLE ESCAPABLE FLIGHT RAFT. 1965 Jack Grant, an employee of Qantas, invented the inflatable aircraft escape slide, which is now mandatory safety equipment on all major airlines. The slides can also be used as a flotation device if the aircraft lands on water
4) SPRAY-ON SKIN. 1999, Perth-based plastic surgeon Professor Fiona Wood patented her spray-on skin technique. The innovation involves taking a small patch of the victim’s healthy skin and using it to grow new skin cells in a laboratory. The new skin cells are then sprayed on the victim’s damaged skin. This process significantly reduces recovery time and scarring.
5) THE ELECTRONIC PACEMAKER. Australian doctor Mark Lidwill and physicist Edgar Booth developed the first artificial pacemaker in the 1920s. Now, more than three million people worldwide rely on pacemakers to keep their hearts beating properly.
6) GOOGLE MAPS! Brothers Lars and Jens Rasmussen developed the platform for Google Maps in Sydney in the early 2000s. Along with Australians Neil Gordon and Stephen Ma, they founded a small start-up company called Where 2 Technologies in 2003.
7) MEDICAL APPLICATION OF PENICILLIN. In 1939, Australian scientist Howard Florey purified penicillin from a special strain of mould. The team demonstrated penicillin’s ability to fight bacterial infection in mice and, later, humans. The antibiotic was mass produced and used to aid victims of World War II.
8) POLYMER BANK NOTES. Plastic bank notes were developed in a combined effort by the Reserve Bank of Australia and CSIRO in the 1980s. The first plastic bank note to be put into circulation was the $10 note, released in 1988 to celebrate the bicentenary. In 1996, we became the first country to have a complete set of plastic currency.
9) COCHLEAR IMPLANTS (known as the Bionic ear). Professor Graeme Clark invented the first bionic ear Melbourne University in the 1970s – the first prototype was implanted in a person in 1978.
10) THE ELECTRIC DRILL. DIY-enthusiasts can thank an Aussie for this indispensible piece of equipment. In 1889, Australian electrical engineer Arthur James Arnot patented the world’s first electric drill with his colleague William Brain.
11) THE WINGED KEEL (sailing). Ben Lexcen, an Australian yachtsman and marine architect, invented the winged keel – a nearly horizontal foil, or wing, at the base of a sailing boat keel. They are typically found on high-performance sail boats. The winged keel made its debut in 1983 in America’s Cup on Australia II.
12) PERMACULTURE. In 1972, Bill Mollison had the epiphany which led to the development of permaculture, a concept that uses a natural approach to designing self-sufficient human settlements and agricultural systems.
13) ULTRASOUND SCANNER. In 1976 Ausonics commercialised the ultrasound scanner. Studying ultrasound from 1959 onwards, the Ultrasonics Research Section of the Commonwealth Acoustrics Laboratories Branch (later to become the Ultrasonic Institute) discovered a way to differentiate ultrasound echoes bouncing off soft tissue in the body and converting them to TV images. This discovery forever changed pre-natal care as it gave expecting parents a window to the foetus without x-ray exposure. Ultrasound technology is also used in the diagnoses of medical problems of the breast, abdomen, and reproductive organs.
14) PLASTIC SPECTACLE LENSES. In 1960 Sola Optical released the first scratch-resistant plastic lens for glasses. The technology was further developed to create the first plastic bifocal, trifocal, and progressive-focus lenses. Plastic lenses are used throughout the world due to their many benefits including safety, their light weight, and durability.
15) PERMANENT CREASE CLOTHING. In 1957, CSIRO developed a process called Si-Ro-Set. The technique uses chemicals to permanently alter the structure of wool fibres so they can be set with heat. This technology allowed for fashion innovations such as permanently pleated skirts.
16) GARDASIL AND CERVARIX CANCER VACCINES. In 2006, Brisbane-based medical researchers Professor Ian Frazer and Dr Jian Zhou developed the world’s first anti-cancer vaccine. Known by the commercial name, Gardasil, the vaccine protects women against four strains of a virus called human papillomavirus (HPV), known to cause three-quarters of all cervical cancers. As cervical cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in women, the vaccination has huge implications for the prevention of cancer. Since 2008, the vaccine has been approved for use in more than 120 countries.
17) FRAZIER LENS. In 1993, Australian inventor Jim Frazier invented the deep-focus lens. His innovative lens allowed for both the subject and background to be in focus at the same time. It also has the ability to rotate without the movement of the camera. The lens is now commonly used in movies and film throughout the world. Jim won an Academy Award in 1998 for his contribution. Sadly, like many Australian inventions which get scant money from our short-sighted government, this Australian invention ended up being patented in the United States, Grrrrr!
18) TRITON WORKCENTRE. In 1976, a 27-year-old television journalist named George Lewin appeared on ABC TV’s The Inventors program with his new invention, the Triton Workcentre. The day after the show, his multi-purpose workbench which stabilises and improves the accuracy of portable power tools had more than 1000 orders. It is estimated that 10 per cent of Australian households with a garage now have a Triton Workcentre.
19) RACECAM. In 1979, Channel 7 introduced live television broadcasting from racing cars, allowing viewers to watch the race from the driver’s perspective. Today the Racecam has been adapted around the world to fit other sporting events such as snow skiing, basketball and cricket.
20) TANK-BRED TUNA SYSTEM. In 2008, German-born but South Australian-based Hagen Stehr may have saved the southern blue fin tuna from extinction. The clean-seas system fools the tuna in a tank into thinking they are swimming out of the Australian Bight and into their breeding grounds.
21) The HILLS HOYST CLOTHES LINE … a rotary clothes line that is a fixture in backyards all over Australia!
22) THE BABY SAFETY CAR CAPSULE. While the use of car safety restraints for small children is common today, this was not the case before the enactment of Australian seatbelt legislation, which took effect across Australia in the 1960s and 70s. In response to the need for child safety restraints, Bob Botell and Bob Heath developed the ‘Safe-n-Sound’ Baby Safety Capsule in 1984. They crafted their design so that it would lock into a standard-sized car seat, allowing babies and small children to be strapped-in and secure.
….. and so many more!
Amazing and wonderfull people you are! I appreciate your contributions for the welfare of the humanity
This is truly Amazing! Just goes to show how GREAT Australia is! So proud of my country!!!
How dare you disrespect my vegemite there is no Australian that dislikes vegemite. I eat it every day and will continue to do so. You must put the correct amount on not an American overdose. Americans always bite off more than they can chew.
the cap on wine bottles- no more corks
Angela White.
Enough said.