Who is John Flynn on the 20 dollar note?

Answer 1

John Flynn, on the Australian $20 note, is the one who brought medical facilities and hospitals to the outback, and started the Flying Doctor Service.

John Flynn was first posted as a Presbyterian minister at Beltana, a remote settlement hundreds of kilometres north of Adelaide, South Australia. He experienced great difficulties reaching such a widely scattered population, so he was appointed as the first Superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission, the 'bush department' of the Presbyterian Church, in 1912. Flynn served in the AIM during a time when just two doctors served an area of 300,000 sq kms in Western Australia and 1,500,000 sq kms in the Northern Territory. Flynn realised there needed to be better medical care for the people of the outback, so he established numerous bush hospitals and hostels.

By 1917, Flynn saw that new technology such as radio and the aeroplane could help provide a more effective medical service. His inquiries caused him to be contacted by an Australian pilot serving in World War I, Clifford Peel, who outlined the capabilities and costs of then-available planes. An excellent fundraiser, Flynn turned his talents to the task of establishing a flying medical service. On 15 May 1928, the Aerial Medical Service was established at Cloncurry, in western Queensland.

To help communication with such a service, Flynn worked with Alfred Traeger, who developed the pedal radio, a lighter, more compact radio for communication, more easily available to residents of the outback for its size and cost. The pedal radio meant there was no need for electricity, which was available in very few areas of the outback in the 1920s. In this way, Flynn joined the advantages of both radio and aeroplanes to provide what he called a "Mantle of Safety" for the outback.

Although supposed to be just a one-year experiment, Flynn's Royal Flying Doctor Service, or RFDS, has continued successfully through the years, providing a valuable medical service to people in remote areas.