The Kid from Norfolk Island

This warm and lively biography provides insight not just into the life of Alf Pollard, but also into Australian life from the 1920s right through to the 1990s. Born almost 100 years ago in Melbourne, Alf Pollard spent most of his childhood on Norfolk Island where his family leased a banana plantation. Despite having virtually no education in his early years, Pollard’s tenacity and natural intelligence saw him top the state in the NSW Leaving Certificate and graduate from university with honours. He later gained a Masters degree and a PhD, and at age 23 became one of the youngest people ever to qualify as an actuary. A brilliant businessman, Pollard became Deputy General Manager of the MLC in 1954, aged just 37, but was later controversially embroiled in the scandalous H.G. Palmer affair that led to his forced resignation from the MLC in January 1966. He was later appointed as the Foundation Professor in Economic Statistics at Macquarie University, where he founded the first university actuarial program in the world. Pollard received many awards during his lifetime, including an Order of Australia, NSW Father of the Year and a prestigious Doctor of Science degree. He served on the boards of many companies, and helped save both the Sydney Eisteddfod and the Wesley Mission from bankruptcy.