Feature: Ten Great Aussie Women Of The Decade
By John Burfitt, Contributors Editor, Jamaica Blue Escape 
Selected by Frank Morris
These ten Australian women have boldly and bravely earned their places in the spotlight over the past decade.
Fiona Wood
She may have been born in Britain, but Australia is very happy to claim Fiona Wood as one of our own. The celebrated plastic surgeon has devoted her life to improving the options for burns victims. She moved to Perth in the late 1980s and worked on a variety of ways of improving established techniques, such as the revolutionary spray-on skin. After the horrific Bali bombing of 2002, Fiona led a team that was credited with saving the lives of 28 patients taken to Perth, some of whom had suffered burns to over 90 percent of their bodies. Fiona received the Order of Australia in 2003, and was named Australian of the Year in 2005.
Sass & Bide
Ten years ago, two Aussie girls from Brisbane decided to set up a fashion label. A decade later, Sass & Bide has taken Aussie fashion to the world. Sarah-Jane Clarke (Sass) and Heidi Middleton (Bide) launched their label in 1999, and within three years were showing at London’s Fashion week. Sass & Bide has shown at the prestigious New York Fashion Week eight consecutive times – a record for an Aussie house – and has stores throughout Australia, with plans to open in London in 2010. Amid all this success, however, Heidi was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, the day after she gave birth to her second child. She waged a brave battle against the disease, and both Heidi and Sarah-Jane have since acted as ambassadors for the Breast Cancer Foundation.
 Sarah Murdoch
She had already earned her place as a top international model and actress, and as the Noughties began, Sarah had just become the wife of media mogul Lachlan Murdoch.
Since then, the couple have had two sons, and Sarah created her own public role as one of the nation’s most powerful charity leaders, working as the patron of Australia’s National Breast Cancer Foundation, International Ambassador of the Australian Ballet Company, and ambassador of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. After a successful stint as fill-in presenter of the Today show, Sarah became hot TV property and took over as the host of Australia’s Next Top Model, as well as securing a TV deal to make documentaries.
Lorraine Peters
As a member of the Stolen Generation, having been forcibly removed from her family at the age of four, Lorraine worked for years to bring attention to this period in our history, and to help with the healing process. In 2000, she established a program called Winangali-Marumali to support survivors of the Stolen Generation, which works with Link Up a service that helps Indigenous people trace lost family members. Lorraine also played an important role in the National Apology given by the Prime Minister in 2008 to the Stolen Generations. She was awarded the 2009 NSW Senior Australian of the Year Award for her activism, and was a finalist for the 2009 Senior Australian of the Year.
 Layne Beachley
Simply, there has never been another Aussie woman like Layne. At age 20, she was number six female surfer in the world, but set her sights on the title of world champion. She eventually won that crown seven times, rewriting the history books this decade as the greatest number of consecutive world championship victories; male or female. She finally retired from the sport in 2008, but has since staged her own surfing championships, created a range of jewellery and established the Aim for the Stars foundation, to promote the ambitions of Aussie women. Layne is engaged to another Aussie legend, INXS musician Kirk Pengilly.
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1940-1950: The Golden Years of Boxing - 2 
There they were, the five brothers: Clem, Ritchie, George, Dave and Alfie. They were photographed because they hold a special place in boxing history as the only brothers in the world to have contested main event bouts at any one time. Clem held the NSW Welterweight Title; Dave laid claim to the Middleweight and Light-heavyweight Championship of Australia. Dave looking more like a film star than a fighter, left from Harringway, UK, in 1949. He demolished the colourful Dick Turpin in the first round to win the Middleweight Crown of the British Empire; George fought Rory McLaughlin for the Welterweight Title of Australia, 1941-42, twice in March and April 1945. It was both times a tough and durable battle and is thought by many judges to be the best two fights ever seen at Newcastle Stadium. When he fought Henry Hayes at Sydney Stadium in 1948, Clem knocked Hayes through the ropes but lost the bout on points; Ritchie was the first of the Sands’ brothers to rise to prominence in the Australian ring. Famous referee Joe Wallis once said that Ritchie had the potential to be another Les Darcy. [Words by Michael J. Clarke; Boxing, Vol l: The Golden Years 1940 – 1950.]
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