Major Leslie James Hiddins AM, known as "The Bush Tucker Man" is a retired Australian Army soldier and war veteran.
[5] In 2001, Hiddins led an effort to establish a wilderness retreat, exclusively for war veterans, on a 9 km2 parcel of government land along the banks of the Normanby River at "Kalpowar Station", adjoining Rinyirru National Park in Cape York Peninsula.
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.
[1] 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.
[7] On 28 March 2008, Hiddins was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science by James Cook University's Faculty of Science, Engineering and Information Technology:[8] in recognition for his outstanding and distinguished contribution to Australia and the northern Queensland community through his work on the ABC TV series Bush Tucker Man, his time in the defence force (including two tours of duty) where he worked with indigenous communities and establishing a bush retreat in Cape York for Vietnam veterans to enjoy.
[14] Hiddins narrated and presented two TV documentaries for ABC, both created by Paul Hawker: Pandora – in the Wake of the Bounty (1993),[15] and The Resurrection of the Batavia (1995).
[2] Hiddins and wife Sandy set up an Instagram account, in which they post their archival and current photos, which has brought them a new and younger group of fans, as well as primary school teachers in remote Indigenous communities in Arnhem Land.