Australian Inventions
Starting off in 1838
An end to excuses for the cheque being late
When pre-paid postage has its introduction
Then in 43
John Bull and John Ridley
Put the grain stripper into production
Sometime in 50s in Geelong
James Harrison’s refrigerator comes on strong
And Robert and Clarence Bowyer Smith
Plough while jumping stumps in 76
One day
In 82
Hugh Victor McKay
With little else to do
Invents a harvester that also strips
And Henry Sutton
In 85
Pushes a button
To send a picture down a wire
Making sure to wait till after the pips
In 89, Arthur James Arnot
For the lack of a ‘t’
Forswears the biscuit
And focusses wholly
On the electric drill
In 97, David Shearer
Finds his ideas
Getting clearer
Resulting in gears
Of the type differential
Donald Murray
Is not in a hurry
And decides to wait
Until 98
To put his teleprinter
Before the Council ofAustralian Inventors
Charlie Potter and Guillaume Delprat
In 1903, after a chat
Decide froth flotation can make ore separate
And Anthony Mitchell in 05
Sick of the way he has to strive
Makes the tilt-pad thrust bearing take the weight
In 1906
With a hero born to hang
The Story of the Kelly Gang
Is the first of the feature flicks
Prof O U Vonwiller working late
In 07, draws upon his slate
The bones of Xerography, but has to wait
For Carson to flesh it out in 38
George Julius
Is extremely curious
About the betting extravaganza
And in 1913
His Totaliser Machine
Helps him come up with an answer
George Nicholas and Henry Woolf Smith
In 1915 present the ASPRO
Which becomes more needed in 24 with
Kelly Motors’ option of the car radio
And as if it isn’t enough
To hear one record of a pianola
In 25 Eric Waterworth
Patents the electric record changing salonola
Which isn’t some sort
Of popular swindle
But a device incorp-
orating a stepped centre spindle
In 27, without any squelch
Or ever once risking his neck
Alfred Traegar
Can travel afar
While using his pedal wireless
Which Dr Kenyon Welsh
And Arthur Affleck
Incorporate
In 1928
Into of the Flying Doctor Service
Lewis Brandt in ’34 says ‘You beaut We’ll cut the roof off the back and make a Ute’ While working at Ford Motors George Shepherd in 1946 Takes away the offcuts, and sticks Them on the top of his domed castors At the CSIRO in ’52 Sir Alan Walsh unveiled his new Atomic Absorption Spectronometer And in ’57 from the very same place Dr Arthur Farnworth kept up the pace Making permanent creases by the metre Travel by air Is enhanced in ’58 By Quantas providing Services world wide And just in case Of events unfortunate Dr David Warren’s ‘Black-box’ is recording inside Jack Grant and Qantas In ’65 add weight To their safety claims With the inflat- able escape slide Now it’s back to the Automotive shop And in ’67, Alan Burns Gives us tyres that we can’t puncture-o Then in 1970, Arthur Bishop Introduces steering that turns On rack and pinion, variable ratio Two years later Ralph Sarich wants to stop The use of pistons, and yearns For the orbital engine to become de facto Stepping back to 1970 A step forward for safety at sea When at Point Danger A new laser beam Lighthouse skips the light fantastic Let 8 years pass and then Bill Menzel Working with a paper and pencil Decides that stranger Than it may seem Pipes can be spirally wound from plastic
Lewis Brandt in ’34 says ‘You beaut We’ll cut the roof off the back and make a Ute’ While working at Ford Motors George Shepherd in 1946 Takes away the offcuts, and sticks Them on the top of his domed castors At the CSIRO in ’52 Sir Alan Walsh unveiled his new Atomic Absorption Spectronometer And in ’57 from the very same place Dr Arthur Farnworth kept up the pace Making permanent creases by the metre Travel by air Is enhanced in ’58 By Quantas providing Services world wide And just in case Of events unfortunate Dr David Warren’s ‘Black-box’ is recording inside Jack Grant and Qantas In ’65 add weight To their safety claims With the inflat- able escape slide Now it’s back to the Automotive shop And in ’67, Alan Burns Gives us tyres that we can’t puncture-o Then in 1970, Arthur Bishop Introduces steering that turns On rack and pinion, variable ratio Two years later Ralph Sarich wants to stop The use of pistons, and yearns For the orbital engine to become de facto Stepping back to 1970 A step forward for safety at sea When at Point Danger A new laser beam Lighthouse skips the light fantastic Let 8 years pass and then Bill Menzel Working with a paper and pencil Decides that stranger Than it may seem Pipes can be spirally wound from plastic