What impact does Ned Kelly have on Australia today?

Answer 1

Ned Kelly was a bushranger who bucked authority. The fact that he would not be easily cowed into submission, from the very first time he was wrongfully accused of a crime, sits strongly with many Australians. As a people, Australians do not submit easily to authority unless the respect that should come with authority is earned through loyalty and mateship, values that DO sit strongly with Australians.

Many Australians regard Ned Kelly as a hero, the underdog who stood up for himself and his family. These values came with the First Fleet and have very much shaped the nation. Australians do not necessarily regard heroes as people who do "great" things; heroes, to Australians, are ordinary people whose sense of loyalty and mateship sends them out to volunteer to fight bushfires, to volunteer as Surf Lifesavers; to give to others in needs (Australians are apparently the most willing to give to charitable causes, especially on behalf of people who have lost everything through natural disasters). Ned Kelly was seen as one such person. He is said to have given his plunder to the poor, although there are no historical records to substantiate this.