SYDNEY - The elevation of Ned Kelly from outlaw to national folk hero has been sealed by the Australian Government, who invoked rarely used powers to block the export of a piece of his fabled body armour.
Kelly, leader of a Robin Hood-style gang that robbed banks and redistributed money tothe poor in rural Victoria, was wearing the armour during his final shoot-out with police in 1880.
The left shoulder-plate, reputedly stained with his blood, was taken as a souvenir by an officer who wounded him in the arm.
Still in private hands, it is being auctioned by Christie's next month and has attracted interest from buyers in Ireland and the United States.
The Australian Government said that the plate, which is expected to fetch $A200,000 ($245,000), would not be granted an export permit.
The federal Arts Minister, Peter McGauran, said such powers were reserved for "objects that are so unique and so socially valuable that their export would significantly diminish Australia's cultural heritage".
Kelly, who was protected by sympathetic villagers, was Australia's most wanted man during his two years on the run. He was captured after the shoot-out at Glenrowan, north of Melbourne, and hanged at the Old Melbourne Jail later that year, aged 26.
The export ban raises the possibility of Kelly's suit of armour being reassembled for the first time for public display.
The government said it would help the State Library of Victoria to buy the left shoulder-plate; the library already has the helmet and breast-plate and has been promised the right shoulder-plate by the Melbourne Museum.
Mr McGauran said: "The image of Ned Kelly in armour is intrinsically linked to aspects of our Australian identity and our attitudes to democracy."
