Chief Minister's Reception Australian of the Year 1996
13 August 1996
The Australian of the Year was Dr John Yu AC. As part of the role, he travelled Australia accompanied by officers of the Australia Council. Dr Yu was a Paediatrician and Hospital Administrator. He was considered an inspirational choice as Australian of the Year. Born in China, John Yu was smuggled out of Nanking as a 2-year-old, shortly before the city fell to Japanese forces. With his mother and sister he immigrated to Australia as a refugee, joining relatives who had lived in Australia since the Victorian Gold Rush. Yu studied at the University of Sydney and embarked on a successful career in paediatrics, rising to the position of Head of Medicine at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children in Camperdown. In 1978, Yu was appointed Chief Executive Officer and was the driving force behind the hospital’s relocation to Westmead in 1995. An expert on the decorative arts of Southeast Asia, Yu’s vision was to create a best-practice pediatric hospital that integrated art, design, and high-quality medical care for the benefit of young people. Accepting his Australian of the Year award, Yu said, ‘I am proud of my Chinese heritage but even prouder to be an Australian.’ The Chief Minister, Shane Stone, held a Reception in honour of Dr Yu. Photographed Dr John Yu, AC and Mrs Carole Miller, Chairman of the Australia Council in the Northern Territory (subsequently conferred a Medal of the Order of Australia).
- Document type: Photo
- Time period: Legislative Assembly NT
- People: Carole MILLER, John YU
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