All kinds of Australian inventions throughout history have changed the world. This episode we talk about four of them — from inventions that saved lives to icons of Outback Australia.
On a hot day in January 1907, two boys got in trouble in the surf at Bondi. Luckily for them, a new invention, the rescue reel, had just been installed on the beach. Invented by Lyster Ormsby among others, it was a standard piece of equipment on beaches across Australia and continued to be used, almost completely unmodified, until 1993.
In 1932, a letter to Ford was about to change the country forever. When draughtsman Lewis Bandt saw the request for a vehicle that could take the family to church on Sunday and the pigs to market on Monday, he got to work, creating one of the most iconic vehicles the nation has ever seen: the ute.
It was James Harrison’s work as a newspaper man that gave him the idea to create an ice-making machine, when he noticed that the chemical he used to clean the news type left the metal cold. His work in refrigeration would help the Australian export trade more than anything else.
But during the Gallipoli campaign in World War One, William Beech’s invention was created really just to help save the Anzacs from being picked off by Turkish snipers. His periscope rifle helped them achieve the impossible at Quinn’s Post and saved lives in the process.

03.25 Lifesaving rescue reel
10.53 The ute
15.33 Refrigeration
25.00 Periscope rifle

Hosted by Marion Langford. Follow on Instagram or check out the website at ratbagsandroustabouts.com. Do you know a story that the history books forgot? Let us know about it!