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Article: Who do you trust now, Australia?

Article: Who do you trust now, Australia?

The results are in on Australia’s 2007 Most Trusted stakes. Among 100 of Australia’s most prominent people, there are winners and losers, as in any race. And regardless, both get free entry to the dress circle.

Perceived honesty, consistency and familiarity are key qualities of our poll-toppers, typified by pioneering surgeon Dr Fiona Wood and royal mother Princess Mary. But it seems these characteristics are sadly lacking in Shane Warne, Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali and David Hicks...

Why do some people and professions – or even charities – win our trust over others?

The Reader’s Digest’s third national Most Trusted poll gauges who in Australian public life is more trusted.

We asked a representative sample of 750 Australian adults to rate from one to ten how much they trust a list of well-known people, professions, brands and – for the first time this year – charities, with one being not at all and ten being completely. Then we calculated an average score for each person and category and ranked them in order of perceived trustworthiness.

The one common thread present in each of the top five most-trusted Australians, as voted by you, is that they’re all doing something positive – either through medicine or some pro-social activity. For the third year running, former Australian of the Year and burns specialist Dr Fiona Wood topped the list, followed by cancer vaccine creator Professor Ian Frazer, then children’s band the Wiggles, businessman and Clean Up Australia founder Ian Kiernan, and TV vet Dr Harry Cooper. So despite Australians’ reputation for cutting down tall poppies, you actually like these do-gooders.

You admire most those who reach out to the community and who work for its good. According to social researcher Dr Rebecca Huntley, author of the Ipsos Mackay Report, a leading study of Australian social trends, this connection with community over and above the role they get paid for is what makes or breaks a public figure. “It’s a very Australian requirement of being a leader and a hero – this idea that they’re not just off in the ether doing their work, they’re actually connecting with people and the community.”

That’s why plastic surgeon Dr Fiona Wood is so well regarded. Her highly skilled work has continued, she has increased her public profile, and in March, Wood was among a team of doctors who flew to Indonesia to offer emergency treatment to victims of the Garuda plane crash. These things are all consistent with her role as a former Australian of the Year and specialist doctor. Wood is seen as the genuine article.

Who can fault a guy who has spent his professional life developing a vaccine against cervical cancer? Ian Frazer (2) is an all-round reliable and honourable man and we trust him – with our lives and those of our daughters.

Even though the Wiggles (3) made more than $19 million last year, they’re still seen as great guys who do things for children rather than for their own benefit. Explains human-behaviour expert Allan Pease, “They’ve always said that they’re in the Wiggles because they love what they do and the money is just a side prize.” When Greg Wiggle had to leave the band because of illness, he cried publicly about the decision. “But if Greg had come out and said, ‘I’ve made $20 million and I’m out of here,’ the group’s credibility would have gone through the floor,” adds Pease.

Sure, Ian Kiernan is a successful businessman who made his money as a builder, but he’s also able to show that life’s not just about becoming rich. Kiernan’s Clean Up Australia campaign started as Clean Up Sydney Harbour in 1989, and has grown to Clean Up the World, with around 120 countries behind his cause. “He’s thrown himself into this very practical way of preserving the environment and educating people about it,” says Huntley. We admire him for it.

In 1993, a vet named Harry first appeared on our screens in his show Talk to the Animals. Now he’s Australia’s very own James Herriot. The public’s fondness for his gentle common-sense approach to helping the nation’s creatures – both great and small – remains steadfast.

Consistency in words and actions is one of the keys to maintaining the trust of the public. Fiona Wood, Ian Frazer, the Wiggles, Ian Kiernan and Harry Cooper also conduct themselves with humility – another irrevocable trustworthy quality. Let’s face it, Australia, we don’t trust people who think they’re better than us. A fact highlighted by the woman on our cover, Princess Mary (11). “It’s her ‘everyday’ quality that fosters our trust,” says Huntley. She has poise but is also down-to-earth, and still genuinely committed to Australia. I think we’ll see her in the top 20 for some time.”

Essentially, if you’re in the public gaze but seen to “have tickets on yourself” as far as capturing people’s trust goes, you’ve got Buckley’s chance.

Read the latest Australia's Most Trusted 2008 poll from Reader's Digest

Article: Who do you trust now, Australia?

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