At 08:12 PM 27/01/2009, you wrote: >Without wishing to minimise Gov Phillips' magnificent achievements in a >starving new colony, my money has always been on Lachlan Macquarie I'd like to put in a reminder about Gov Bourke (1832-37), without detracting from the superb and inspired work of Phillip (1788-92) and Macquarie (1810-21). Bourke was the bridging governor between the period of administering convicts and the type of freedoms which we still live with. Macquarie permitted individual convicts to flourish, but a lot of that was rolled back after Bigge's report, first by Brisbane (1822-25) followed by Darling (1826-31). It's during his period that many of the major regional town centres were established, with local councils and legislative representatives. Bourke allowed autonomous institutions and organisations of free association to form. By the middle of his time there were seven newspapers in Sydney, including the Sydney Herald. The freedom to form organisations and the press freedoms were the platforms which allowed the general public to force the end of convict transportation. Only one statue in the city is due to an initiative from the public, and was paid for exclusively by donations from the public - the statue of Gov Bourke in front of the Mitchel Library. He received recognition in his own time from all levels of society, but he has been a bit neglected in our time. Phillip, Macquarie & Bourke - thank you. Gary _________________________________ Gary Luke ~ gary@feraltek.com.au Sydney, Australia