Major Leslie James Hiddins , known as "The Bush Tucker Man" is a retired Australian Army soldier and war veteran. He is best known for his love and knowledge of the Australian bush, in particular "bush tucker", as featured in the TV series Bush Tucker Man (1988–1996). Hiddins is recognised by his distinctively modified Army Slouch hat. He has also written several books for children and adults, and in 2019 launched a website that includes a searchable digital database of bush tucker.
Early life and education
Leslie James Hiddins was born on the 13th Aug 1946 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Career
Military service
As a soldier with the Australian Army, Hiddins did two deployments in the Vietnam War between 1966 and 1968, the first as a forward scout in the infantry.
Upon return from the war in the late 1960s, feeling the need for a change, he transferred from infantry to army aviation, which led him to flying around northern Australia and Arnhem Land in a helicopter. In 1987, he was awarded a Defence Fellowship to research survival in northern Australia, and was the principal author of the Australian Army's military survival manual in that year.
Hiddins retired from the Australian Regular Army (ARA) in 1989 with the rank of Major, but continued to serve with the Army Reserve (ARES) until 2001, working with Indigenous Australian communities in northern Australia. This research turned into the TV series The Bush Tucker Man in 1993.
Kalpowar Station/Pandanus Park
In 2001, Hiddins led an effort to establish a wilderness retreat, exclusively for war veterans, on a 9 km<sup>2</sup> parcel of government land along the banks of the Normanby River at "Kalpowar Station", adjoining Rinyirru National Park in Cape York Peninsula. The remote and relatively inaccessible area, devoid of amenities of any kind, was named "Pandanus Park". After years of conflict with government over their illegal occupation, the group secured a 15-year lease when the entire Kalpowar Station was returned to Aboriginal title in 2005.
Recognition, awards and honours
In 1987, Hiddins was awarded a Defence Fellowship to research survival in northern Australia.
In the Queen's Birthday Honours in June 1987, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia, for service to the Australian army in the field of combat survival.
On 28 March 2008, Hiddins was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science by James Cook University's Faculty of Science, Engineering and Information Technology:
The National Museum of Australia in Canberra has a Bush Tucker Man display with some of his original bush gear – his original hat, camera and backpack.
TV programmes
Bush Tucker Man
Hiddins' research led to the TV series The Bush Tucker Man, made for ABC Television in 1993. The series was co-written, co-directed, and co-produced by Stephen Burstow, David Telfer, and Richard Walker. with his trademark hat, finding and describing native Australian bush food or "bush tucker". Hiddins appeared in two ABC TV series of Bush Tucker Man, as well as the series Bush Tucker Man – Stories of Survival.
- Bush Tucker Man, Series One (1988 – 8 episodes, released on DVD in 2004) – ABC
Episode 1: Arnhem Land (Aborigines of Ngukurr, NT)<br>
Episode 2: The Wet in Port Keats (Northwest Northern Territory in the Wet Season)<br>
Episode 3: Desert (Desert Country)<br>
Episode 4: Prince Regent Gorge (Heart of the Kimberley)<br>
Episode 5: Rain Forest (Rainforest at Iron Range)<br>
Episode 6: Coastal (Northern Queensland Coastline)<br>
Episode 7: Doomadgee (Gulf Country)<br>
Episode 8: Aurukun (West Coast of Cape York)
- Bush Tucker Man, Series Two (1990 – 7 episodes, re-released in 2019.
Other TV
Hiddins narrated and presented two TV documentaries for ABC, both created by Paul Hawker: Pandora – in the Wake of the Bounty (1993), and The Resurrection of the Batavia (1995).
Ray Mears made a BBC programme about and with him, shown on BBC Two in June 2009 as part of his Ray Mears Goes Walkabout series.
Hiddins featured in an episode of ABC TV's Landline program in 2019.