Three early Australian explorers

Australia’s status and influence in the Antarctic Treaty System is founded on its early record in science and exploration. In the period before the Treaty, three Australian explorers were particularly notable – Douglas Mawson, John King Davis and George Hubert Wilkins. In December 1928, Davis praised Wilkins (who had just completed the first flight in Antarctica) by quoting the poet John Milton:
‘Whom shall we send in search of this new world, whom shall we find sufficient?’ Mawson, Davis and Wilkins each presented themselves as men ‘sufficient’ to search the new world of the Antarctic, and committed significant parts of their lives to doing so. Their physical and intellectual relationship with the Antarctic became the defining aspect of their lives.