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UPTOYEARS
YOUNGER
INJUSTWEEKS

Welcome!
will never forget visiting
I Kensington Palace in the week
after Princess Diana’s death. In
my early 20s and living away
from home for the first time, I
was more interested in the British
music scene than the monarchy.
However, it was impossible not to
be swept up in the country’s grief,
and I wanted to observe firsthand
this defining moment in history.
What I wasn’t prepared for was
how the scene would impact me.
The sheer volume of people and
flowers. The open weeping, the
heart-breaking notes. Complete
strangers hugged in shared sorrow.
The sense of loss was palpable.
I’m not ashamed to say I shed a
tear that day. If that was the effect
this outpouring of public pain had
on me, a cynical young Aussie
abroad, one can barely imagine how
William and Harry, just 15 and 12
years old at the time, must have
felt witnessing this tribute to their
adored mother. As one veteran royal
watcher told Editor-at-large Juliet
Rieden, young Harry appeared
visibly “tortured” as he stood with
his father reading the notes and
surveying that scene from the
Kensington Palace gates.
In many ways, Harry’s recent
bombshell decision to step back from
royal duties is rooted in that moment
NICOLE BYERS: PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW FINLAYSON.
in time and the legacy of his beloved
mother. While it may be convenient
to blame his new American wife for
his drift away from the monarchy,
the evidence of his struggle with life
behind palace gates has been apparent
for much of his life.
For an in-depth look at what led
ALANA LANDSBERRY.
to this dramatic turn of events,
and what it means for Harry’s
relationship with his brother, father
and beloved grandmother, see
Juliet’s report on page 30.
Email me at awweditor@bauer-media.com.au Follow me on Instagram @nicolebbyers
editor’s letter
Another story that resonated with me
this month, for totally different reasons,
is Health Editor Vicki Bramley’s feature
on misophonia, or selective sound
sensitivity syndrome (page 100). I
have long had an extreme aversion to
the sound of crunching, particularly
potato chips and apples. My poor
husband gets shushed, hushed, even
banished to the kitchen, should he
wish to enjoy such a snack in my
presence. Understandably, he finds my
reaction a little unreasonable, so I was
pleased to be able to tell him I’m
not just being difficult, I am actually
suffering from a known disorder.
As for foods that are worth enduring
some munching noises for, check out
our seasonal food special on page 146.
Enjoy the issue.
Nicole Byers
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
We stand with you
Rebuild Our Towns is a campaign
launched by Bauer Media, publisher of
The Weekly, to support Australian
towns affected by the bushfires. We
know many of you have donated
generously to support those doing it
tough in the wake of the
devastating fires, but we
also know the road
ahead will be long, as
those affected begin to
slowly rebuild their lives
and communities. That
is why this campaign
centres on the fact that
practical help doesn’t
have to cost a fortune.
Our thoughts go out to
every person caught up
in this crisis, but actions
speak louder than words, so we invite
you to join us to make a difference
and help our heartland heal.
As the campaign grows, it will focus on
more and more towns across the
country, and the unique and meaningful
ways each of us can assist in their
individual regeneration. From shopping
online at local stores, to visiting for
special events or contributing to
community projects. My extended
family and I have just booked a
mini-break on the south coast, and
rather than packing our car full of food
before we leave, we plan to spend
every cent of our holiday fund in the
local communities. Out of the
devastation, the spirit of Australia has
truly shone; let’s make sure we continue
to keep the light on for those who have
endured so much darkness. To find out
how you can help, and to read more
stories of hope and healing, head to
rebuildourtowns.com.au.
 READ YOUR
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38
On the cover
14 THE SPIRIT OF
AUSTRALIA: stories of
hope and healing
30 ‘I’M HONOURING
MY MOTHER’S LEGACY’:
how Diana inspired her
son to follow his heart
38 ESSIE DAVIS: taking
Miss Fisher to the big screen
44 TRUE CRIME: the Black
Widow murderess
66 KRISTIN SCOTT
THOMAS: ‘Turning 60
is rather fabulous’
135 SUMMER FOOD:
tasty salads, the best
barbecue dishes and
sweet treats
THE
February 2020
Contents
54
Up front
5 EDITOR’S LETTER: from
the desk of The Weekly’s
Nicole Byers
11 OPEN LINE: your letters
12 IN THE NEWS
28 FIREPROOFING OUR
FUTURE: experts weigh in
on how we can prepare for
the future
50 SURF SUPERHEROES:
the special needs Nippers
group changing lives
54 JENNIFER BYRNE:
a candid interview with
the Mastermind host
60 BRAVE CRUSADER:
Jill Emberson fought for
ovarian cancer sufferers until
the illness finally took her
VOICE OF AUSTRALIAN WOMEN SINCE 1933
106
78
50
72 THRONE OF CHAOS: Fashion & Beauty
the mayhem in the court
of Thailand’s King Maha 106 BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL:
make a statement with
78 WE ARE FAMILY:
bright colours and shapes
Mat Rogers and Chloe
Maxwell thrive and survive 114 WORKSHOP: fashion
84 ME AND JACKIE O: takes on sustainability
Carly Simon reflects 118 BEAUTY: the new
on her friendship with generation of sun protection
Jackie Onassis 121 PRETTY LIST: fabulous
90 HUMOUR: Amanda foundations
Blair forgoes hearts and 124 BEAUTY NEWS
flowers for true romance
92 BREAKING DOWN
BARRIERS: the Sydney
Health
100 NOISE WORKS: the
retirement village trying
inter-generational living effect of sound on your health
98 MY STORY: Teresa 126 BREATHE EASY: keep
your lungs in top condition
Leggett helped her husband
come out 129 ASK THE DOCTOR
104 PAT McDERMOTT 130 HEALTH NEWS
 Bonus
Your

2020
140
ultimate

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cruise &
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experiences and the best travel deals around
the globe — on land and on the high seas.

Test Kitchen
136 PICK YOUR PROTEIN:
delicious salad recipes that
pack a punch Home & Regulars
140 COOK, FREEZE, EAT: 164 HOMES: renovating a
meals you can prep and Federation beauty
freeze on the weekend to 169 HOME HINTS
make midweek dinners
170
a breeze
146 PICK OF THE
146 136 WHAT’S ON: a chat
with My Kitchen Rules judge
Manu Feildel, plus The Diary
SEASON: make the most
173 READING ROOM:
of sun-ripened tomatoes
our summer reading guide
with tasty, simple recipes
178 MONEY: making
150 FIRE UP THE
ethical super decisions
BARBECUE: mouth-watering
recipes for outdoor 181 PUZZLES: test your skills
entertaining 186 BAUER MEDIA’S
156 FOUR WAYS PRIVACY NOTICE
WITH FRITTATA 188 HOROSCOPES:
158 SWEET SENSATION: astrology with Lilith Rocha
dessert queen Charlotte 204 TRAVEL SPECIAL:
Rees shares recipes from 15-page flipbook on the best
her new cookbook
162 QUICK BITES
150 158 cruises and places to visit
in 2020

AC K N OWL E D G E M E N T of C O U N T RY
The Australian Women’s Weekly acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation as the traditional custodians of the
place we now call Sydney, where this magazine is published. The Weekly also pays respects to Elders past and present.
SO GLAMOROUS IT’S CRIMINAL

IN CINEMAS
FEBRUARY 27
Mature
themes and © 2019 Every Cloud Productions Pty Ltd and Screen Australia

violence EVERY
CLOUD
 team
Editor-in-Chief Nicole Byers
Editor-at-Large Juliet Rieden
Deputy Editor Tiffany Dunk
Editorial Co-ordinator Zachary Bryant (ZBryant@bauer-media.com.au)
JOURNALISTS
News and Features Editor Samantha Trenoweth
Senior Writers Sue Smethurst; Susan Chenery
Writer Genevieve Gannon
This month’s contributors Jenny Brown, Susan Chenery, Louise Gannon,
Susan Horsburgh, William Langley, John McDonald, Gary Nunn, Lizzie Wilson

DESIGN
Creative Director Joshua Beggs
Deputy Art Director Sarah Farago
Senior Designer Jennifer Mullins
Photo and Shoot Editor Samantha Nunney
This month’s photographers Harvie Allison, Luisa Brimble, Phillip Castleton, Maree Homer,
Will Horner, Alana Landsberry, James Moffatt, Kristina Soljo, John Paul Urizar

C O PY E D I T O R S
Senior Copy and Travel Editor Bernard O’Shea
Deputy Copy Editors Nicole Hickson, Bronwyn Phillips
LIFESTYLE
Acting Style Editor Jamela Duncan
Acting Style Director Maya Wyszynski
Beauty & Health Director Vicki Bramley
Fashion & Beauty Assistant Editor Stefani Zupanoska
Medical Practitioner Professor Kerryn Phelps
Columnists Amanda Blair, Pat McDermott

FOOD
Food Director Frances Abdallaoui
Food Contributors Maggie Beer, Michele Cranston

MARKETING
Marketing Director Louise Cankett
General Manager Subscriptions & E-Commerce, Marketing Sean McLintock
Senior Subscriptions Campaign Manager Ellie Xuereb

A DV E RT I S I N G
Head of Brand Anna Mistilis
Brand Implementation Executive Rachael Potter
NSW Sales Director Karen Holmes
Victoria Sales Director Jaclyn Clements
Queensland Head of Sales Judy Taylor

PRODUCTION
Production Planner Sally Jefferys
Production Advertising Co-ordinator Dominic Roy

B AU E R M E D I A G R O U P
Chief Executive Officer Brendon Hill
Chief Financial Officer Andrew Stedwell
Commercial Director Paul Gardiner
Executive General Manager
Digital Operations & Publishing Sarah-Belle Murphy
General Manager Media Solutions Jane Waterhouse
Business Analyst Georgina Bromfield

EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES The Australian Women’s

Weekly, GPO Box 4178, Sydney, NSW 2001, phone (02) 9282 8120,
visit aww.com.au. The Australian Women’s Weekly is published by
Bauer Media Group.
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Published by Bauer Media Limited (ACN 053 273 546), 54-58 Park
Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. © 2019. All rights reserved. Printed by PMP
Print, 31-35 Heathcote Road, Moorebank, NSW 2170. ISSN 0005-0458
 Your letters

Open line
Lake Tyers residents
Charmaine Sellings
(front) and Rhonda
Thorpe inspired readers
around the country.
WO ME
N

N
A

’S
E

ALI
H AV R

WEE
YO U

STR
S AY
LETTER of the MONTH

K
U
LY
• THE A

Thank you for your wonderful coverage of these

catastrophic fires (Courage Under Fire, AWW, January).
This disaster has possibly done more to bring Australians
together than anything previously, underlining the
kindness, care and compassion we all knew was
there. Those who are caring for the animals that have
survived are true gems. I am sure all of us send out
our love to all those affected, and to those who are
heroically still fighting these monstrous fires.
C. Jolliffe, Buderim, Qld.

ADMIRABLE HUMANS
PEARL
What an inspirational story about the OF
Indigenous women from the Lake Tyers WISDOM
Fire Service (“They’ll Bury Me In My
Yellows”, AWW, January). Wise,
intelligent and community-minded –
everything I admire in a fellow human. “Rock bottom will
Well done, girls. You are all amazing! teach you lessons that
A. Hannah, Rankin Park, NSW. mountain tops never will.”
–AUTHOR UNKNOWN
LEADING WITH COMPASSION Jade Blee, via email.
It was a privilege to read about
Jacinda Ardern (“You Don’t Have To Bushfire crisis
tell her they are amazing
Be Perfect To Be Prime Minister”, AWW,
people who are highly trained,
January). I am very impressed by her
not some odd-bods picking up
confidence, but most of all I’m moved
a garden hose! Congratulations
by her genuine feeling. Her statement
on such an intelligent magazine.
about having the opportunity to see COURAGEE
the good in people was an inspiring RE
UNDER FIR
In the midst of an unprecedented bushfire season, Susan Chenery pays
M. Stevens, Halls Head, WA.
reminder. I am committed to looking tribute to the women firefighters who risk their lives to keep us safe.
P H OTO G RA P H Y by ALANA LANDSBERRY

for the good in the world in 2020. T

he noise. That’s what you don’t get in the footage and photos The terrible,
terrible noise of a big bushfire. The malignant sound of the wind as the fire
sucks in the oxygen it needs to grow. The hissing and popp ng of eucalyptus
trees, the explosions as they release their gasses. Fires make the r own
weather, creating their own wind, lightening, black hail “The no se,” says
Liane Henderson, volunteer firefighter of 20 years standing, “is like jet planes.”
If we’re lucky we’ll never know what it’s like inside an uncontained fire. Liane
A NEW FAN
JESSICA SHAPIRO/BAUERSYNDICATION.COM.AU.

does, and so do her firefighting colleagues. It’s dark, like an eclipse. “It can get very

Here’s to a decade in which we will

scary because you can get disoriented. It’s another world when you are out there, it
really is.” An unpredictable fast-moving force of destruction, engulfing everything in
its path. “I look at it as this beast I’ve got to stop,” says Liane, Acting Inspector for ➝
I purchased the January issue
JANUARY 2020 | The Au tralian Women’s Weekly 17

see more women on the world stage, to read about the bushfires and
JAE FREW/BAUERSYNDICATION.COM.AU.

leading with compassion and integrity. was taken by so much interesting

P. Muller, Macleay Island, Qld.
NOT SOME ODD-BODS
The January edition of The Weekly is
outstanding. The article about the female
bushfire volunteers was exceptional.
When a friend in the UK was shocked
to hear they were volunteers, I had to
W R I T E to us information, from the feature articles
Letter of the Month wins $100. to the recipes and regular sections. I
The winner of our Pearl of Wisdom this had also forgotten about the excellent
month wins a 12-month subscription to Reading Room book reviews. As an
The Australian Women’s Weekly, valued
at $90. Your postal address must be
avid reader in a remote area, I find
included in all correspondence. Please these recommendations a wonderful
state clearly if your letter is not for help for ordering books.
publication. See Contents for the location
of Bauer Media Ltd’s Privacy Notice. P. Weir, Alice Springs, NT.

S E N D YO U R L E TT E RS to O P E N L I N E , T H E AU ST R A L I A N WO M E N ’S W E E K LY, G P O B OX 4 1 78 ,
SY D N E Y, N SW 2 0 01, or E M A I L O P E N L I N E @ BAU E R - M E D I A . CO M . AU.
 ATCH UP on the LAST 30 DAYS
WE CA D
NEWS
BITES
Dame Helen Mirren (left)
and Olivia Colman (right)
will both voice sea turtles
in an animation to raise
awareness of the crisis
facing the world’s oceans.
Awards
season
h
AWARDS SEASON was less abo
out
celebrating past achievements aand
more about looking to future acction.
Russell Crowe’s Golden Globee
acceptance speech highlighted the
Australian bushfires, and Sarah h
Snook backed his comments.
BAFTA double-nominee Marggot
Robbie urged viewers to donatte
anything they could to fire
services. Nicole Kidman, who
donated $500,000 to the causee,
also spoke of the fires on the red
carpet, while Cate Blanchett seent
a thank you to responders whiile
presenting a Golden Globe aw ward.
 Around
the world

OLYMPIAN DEFECTS
Iran’s only female
Olympic medallist,
Now we are nine
Kimia Alizadeh, has The Danish royal family has
defected from the released these beautiful
country, saying she no candid photos of Prince
longer wants to be a
Vincent and Princess
part of “hypocrisy, lies,
injustice and flattery.” Josephine to mark the twins’
ninth birthday. In a statement,
the royal family said it was a
pleasure to release the images.
Their mother, Crown Princess
Mary, took the photos herself.

IM-PRESS-IVE
Human rights lawyer The latest batch of Girl Scout biscuits does more tha
Amal Clooney has been raise money. They are stamped with feminist messages
GETTY IMAGES. HRH THE CROWN PRINCESS OF DENMARK. PAUL SUESSE/BAUERSYNDICATION.COM.AU.

honoured with a
Freedom of the Press to inspire young girls to take risks, lead, and be strong.
award for her work,
including defending
two journalists being
held in Myanmar. ICE ART
DELIGHTS
The 10,000 workers who
cut 220,000 cubic metres of
ice into towering sculptures
for the world’s biggest winter
festival have outdone
themselves. China’s Harbin
Festival grows bigger
every year.

STILL WINNING
Women’s Weekly
Women of the Future
winner Sarah Moran
continues to achieve
great things, launching
her Girl Geek Academy
in Samoa to teach
girls life-changing
coding skills.

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 13

 From heart

Home isn’t home anymore ...

Dave and Laena Stephenson
survey the remnants of their
house in Nymboida.
 BLACK
SUMMER
The AUSTRALIAN
BUSHFIRE

break to hope
CRISIS

T
Four months after fire tore through
the Clarence Valley in northern NSW,
Susan Chenery finds a community
offering each other hope and slowly
hey could hear the fire coming
an hour before it arrived,
“roaring like an aeroplane
taking off,” says Bob Gorringe.
“You can hear things exploding
at other properties – gas bottles, trees –
these loud bangs as it is coming up the
valley on the other side of the hill. It is
loud, it is hot, it is dark.” With an 80kph
wind behind it, 12km across the front
and 120 metres high, the fire roared
through the Clarence Valley in northern

healing and rebuilding together.
P H OTO G R A P H Y by ALANA LANDSBERRY
NSW, leapt across the Nymboida River
and came straight for Bob’s house.
“Hell, it was hot. The wind is rushing
in at about knee height to feed the fire.
It tips you over – your legs are going one
way and your body is going the other. It’s
almost impossible to stand up.”
Realising they wouldn’t be able to
defend the house Bob, 60, who is ex-Air
Force, and his wife, Narelle, had to get
out fast. But the cars were stalling.
“There was no air to run on. The fire
followed us all the way.”
The next day, when he came back,
Bob’s house had “vaporised”. All that
was left of his contented life in this
densely forested wilderness were brick
stumps and a pile of tin. Months later,
Narelle still wakes in the night unable
to breathe, thinking there is smoke. She
couldn’t return to look at the wreckage
of her home. “She didn’t feel safe.”
There are still crashes in the night as
dead, hollow trees fall.
Nymboida in the Clarence Valley, 44km
south-west of Grafton, was a beautiful
place – lush, fertile and green; the clear ➝

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 15

river, trees tangled in vines, gullies of
rainforest teeming with birds and
wildlife. It attracted people like Laena
Stephenson, a marriage celebrant, who
came to bring up her children in nature.
“When we came here, we were all
young,” she says of the group of
families who settled in the district
33 years ago. “We started our families
together, had babies together. We
helped each other build our houses.”
All that is left of Laena’s house are
the remnants of walls, the twist of
metal that was the television, broken
crockery and a melted Rayburn wood
stove in what was once the kitchen. It NYMBOIDA, NSW
was a pretty mudbrick house, covered POPULATION 298
in climbing vines. She and her former HOMES DESTORYED 85

husband had built it.

“I massaged every brick in that
house, I hammered in every bit of that
earth floor,” she remembers solemnly.
“I dug rocks out of the ground with a
crowbar. I couldn’t walk into that
house without loving it.”
She keeps remembering things that
are gone: “Oh, my grandfather’s banjo
mandolin, oh this, oh that.” One of
her four daughters, Kaya Jongen,
owned the house next door. That’s
gone too, and Kaya is now living in a
tent. “There were many beautiful
owner-built homes in Nymboida,”
Laena says sadly, “homes made of
mudbrick, rock and timber – really
beautiful bespoke houses.”
Now, for miles and miles, there are
just burned, black, skeletal trees,
sticks and scorched earth – an empty,
desolate landscape. Twisted metal
where 101 houses used to be. The fires
roared through 51 per cent of the
Clarence Valley, taking three million
hectares. It’s deathly quiet now. There
is no birdsong, no animals anywhere.
Laena can be philosophical about
her house. “It’s only a house. It was a
beautiful house but in the end, it is
material things.” But she weeps openly
for the defenceless animals that were
lost. “When I really break and feel it
intensely, it is always to do with
looking at nature, the wildlife, the flora
and fauna who had no part in creating
this situation and couldn’t get away
from it, everything just screaming. One
of the beautiful things about Nymboida
was that we had incredible variety – a
number of threatened species,
wallabies, wallaroos, brush-tailed
rock-wallabies. Now people talk about
seeing one animal – a possum or a pair
of Eastern Greys. Just seeing a firefly
can make a us happy. A team of
wildlife people went around to the
dams and watering holes taking food.
And if it was eaten, they were so
happy. But most of the time it wasn’t.
I had leaf-tailed geckos in my house
before the fire. Now I don’t know if
I will ever see one again.”
Laena was lucky. Her current
husband, Dave, had insured their house.
He also built the shed that they now
live in with donated furniture. And he
helped defend the community-owned
Camping and Canoeing Centre, which
became the hub for recovery operations
when the district’s shell-shocked people
were left largely with just what they
were standing up in. After the fire,
they had no phone or internet for five
weeks and no power for 10 days.
A month before the Nymboida fire,
further north along the valley, the
community of Ewingar had sheltered
in the local hall from a “monster” of a
fire that had surrounded the building
leaving them unable to escape. The
fires came three times to Ewingar.
Each time they had to evacuate.
“There were times when we thought
the fire was contained but then a
month later, something would flare
up. Without rain, it just doesn’t go
out,” says Nadine Myers, 42.
“Everyone has been touched by the
fires,” she says. “An elderly couple
died [Gwenda Hyde, 68 and Robert
Lindsey, 77]. A lot of people around
here knew Gwenda. That was horrible.
We were surprised more people weren’t
killed with the intensity of the fire.”
Yet, in the midst of it all, Ewingar
rallied. “We had periods where the
fires were going crazy and we were
feeding people, at the hall, who
had lost their homes or had been
evacuated,” says Nadine. “We fed the
RFS volunteers too. All these people
came forward with big pots of food
and bread and everything we needed.
The Red Cross donated food and

16 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020


water. Our Two Hands, a local charity
that works with people who are
homeless, helped out. So did the Casino
Golf Club. Shed of Hope has been
building little sheds for people who have
lost everything. People were amazing.”
Then, one evening, after a long day
volunteering with the RFS, Nadine
and her partner, Boris Sweeney,
hatched a plan to hold a benefit
concert. They made some
inquiries and before they
knew it, 20 bands had
volunteered. Rock singer
Tex Perkins was the
linchpin, says Nadine.
Six weeks later, a
weekend-long music
festival was held at one
of the few buildings still
standing, the hall.
“It was just beautiful,”
says Nadine, and it not
only raised funds, it was
healing. “A lot of our
good friends and
neighbours had been
depressed for a long time.
They’d been depressed
about the drought
already, and then the fire
came and they lost a lot.
But everyone’s cares were
wiped away for that
weekend. There were
smiles just everywhere.”
Likewise, the Nymboida community
has galvanised. “Officials started
coming out, donations started coming
in, my husband got a generator going
for power,” Laena says. “We fed
people at the canoe centre twice a day
for a month and had emergency
accommodation there. Mary, a
registered nurse, came in every day.
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
BLACK
SUMMER
The AUSTRALIAN
BUSHFIRE
CRISIS
Savanah and Heath Walker (above) are
among the volunteers (far left) helping
out. Laena (left) and Bob Gorringe (below)
now have to look forward and rebuild.
Other people who have experience
with trauma came in to help.” Chef
Scott Gonzales cooked 700 meals in
four weeks. People who didn’t have
insurance were taken in by people
who still had houses. “But what
people need more than anything is to
tell their stories,” says Laena.
When John Lillico from BlazeAid
arrived, the valley was “just black
everywhere. There was nothing here,
absolutely nothing. It was like a
moonscape, and the people were
pretty downcast.”
BlazeAid’s mission is to rebuild
farms and fences, but volunteers often
spend almost as much time listening
to locals’ stories. “There is so much
emotion in these people,” says
volunteer Danny Handcock. “We
would sit down for a smoko up in
Tenterfield and get up three hours
later. All we did was listen.”
“You can tell when they’re stressed
because they have no idea what to
do,” says John. “That’s when we say,
‘Let’s have a cup of tea and by the
way, why don’t we lock up that
boundary over there?’ Once they see
something happening, they’re into it.” ➝
17
 BLACK
SUMMER
The AUSTRALIAN
BUSHFIRE
CRISIS
Laena says Australia must learn
from this and help nature heal.
Khalsa Aid, a Sikh charity,
also arrived in the district with
a truckload of fodder for farm
animals, and that lifted spirits.
For Bob, like so many, helping
others has been healing. “Initially
you go into shock. Then you
realise the entire community is
completely screwed. And what
you can do is try to help the people
around you. Even those who have
survived the fire and have still got
houses have no communications,
electricity or running water. We put out
a call to anybody with a chainsaw,
generator or a water pump. We took
them out to people so they could get
on with their lives.” When The Weekly
arrives, Bob is fixing old tools for the
new tool library. “When you start
building a house, the first thing you
have to do is drop $10,000 at Bunnings.
This will save people thousands of
dollars that they haven’t got.”
After a car accident and a heart
attack, Bob had been unable to work,
so couldn’t insure his home, but he is
18 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
Rebuild
our towns
• The people of Nymboida
welcome volunteer architects,
builders and engineers, and
Laena’s grandson
donations of building supplies. Ochre Thomas
Please email: rebuildnymboida sits on blackened
@outlook.com. tree stumps.
• Nymboida Camping & Left: Tommy
Canoeing, with its riverside Welham, with
camp ground and cabins, daughter Maisy,
sustained damage and has not is helping to drive
yet reopened, but when it does, the rebuilding
process.
the community would
welcome visitors:
nymboidacanoecentre.com.
• To donate to the Nymboida determined
Community Bushfire Fund, visit: to rebuild.
ie.gofundme.com/f/nymboida- “I’m an old
community-bush-fire-fund. man, but I’m
• Ewingar’s music festival going to give
raised just a fraction of the it a go.” For
funds that will be needed to now, he is
rebuild the community. To living at the
make a donation, visit: chuffed. canoeing
org/project/ewingar-rising centre in a
• BlazeAid has camps of donated
volunteers at work in Victoria.
caravan.
NSW and South Australia. For
Narelle is
more, visit: blazeaid.com.au
staying with
friends.
Tommy Welham has been working
on the recovery efforts and says the
focus has shifted now “from first aid,
food, water and emergency shelter to
looking at how we can help people
rebuild. We are working on a support
program where architects, builders,
engineers can come in and help design
houses, and get them through council.
It’s a low socio-economic area where
a lot of people don’t have savings.
So we are looking into low-cost,
fire-rated designs using green materials.”
The fires, says Laena, have
strengthened in her a “deep-seated
knowledge of what is important, and
it isn’t a house. As we accounted for
everybody, it took days. ‘Has anyone
seen the hermit who lived up here?
Oh yes, I have.’ Every time we
accounted for another person, I
thought, nobody has died and we
won’t have to go to that next level
of grief. I love this community.”
Laena believes that recovery comes
“by working together, trying to
be nice to each other … and
communicating about what we can
do, as a community, to remain living
in this beautiful place.
“We need to make sure we’re ready
next time and don’t lose lives –
building into hills and cliffs, conserving
water, stopping run-off, dealing with
drought. I will plant trees, I will
plant food. I will try to look after
the environment with good land
management techniques and more
sustainable, environmentally friendly
dams, so we can protect our houses.
“I see the recovery as being hyper-
vigilant about how we deal with this
very fragile landscape and how we
help nature to heal. I don’t think
Australia will ever be the same again.
But we have to try to help it recover.”
And hope lies in the fuzz of green
on the ground, and frills of leaves on
the trunks of burned trees. The valley
is slowly greening but it will be years
before it flourishes. AWW
 A message to Westpac customers
affected by the bushfires.
Our Bushfire Recovery Support Package is here to help our customers and
communities recover and rebuild from the bushfire crisis. These measures
supplement our existing Disaster Relief Package.

Personal Banking customers

• Mortgage repayments paid for one year for customers who have lost their principal place
of residence due to the bushfires (up to $1,200 per month).
• Interest-free home loans for customers to cover the gap between insurance payouts
and rebuilding costs, subject to our credit criteria ($250 million allocation).
• Up to $2,000 in emergency cash grants for customers whose properties have been
destroyed or damaged by the bushfires.

Business customers
• A grant of up to $15,000 to assist small businesses with the cost of refurbishing premises
that have been destroyed during the bushfires.
• 2.83% p.a. three-year variable rate, low-interest rebuilding loans for business customers,
up to $1 million individual loans ($1 billion allocation).
• Up to $2,000 in emergency cash grants for customers whose business premises have
been destroyed or damaged by the bushfires.
• No foreclosures for three years on any farming businesses in the affected areas.
• Fast track credit approvals to provide short-term assistance.

Community
• $3 million to provide emergency cash grants to customers in affected towns and regions.
• $500,000 donation to Financial Counselling Australia to provide financial counselling services
to people in affected towns and regions to help them through the recovery and rebuild.
• Volunteer fire fighters nationally can access the Disaster Relief Package.
• Appointing new role CEO, Bushfire Recovery to lead response. This includes mobile customer
support teams deployed to affected towns and regions for localised decision-making.
• This is in addition to more than $1 million already contributed to community groups such as
The Salvation Army Emergency & Disaster Appeal, state-based volunteer services, and state
bushfire appeals.

To find out if you are eligible for the Bushfire Recovery Support
Package call 1800 067 497 or visit any Westpac Branch.

Things you should know: Eligibility conditions apply. Westpac customers who wish to utilise these special relief measures or need assistance should contact Westpac Assist on 1800 067 497
or speak with their Relationship Manager. Mobile Westpac Support teams will also be available in bushfire affected towns and regions. © Westpac Banking Corporation ABN 33 007 457 141
AFSL and Australian credit licence 233714.
Thank
you,
fireys
This summer brought fires
like Australia has never
seen before, and also revealed
the formidable spirit of
strong and selfless people.

“Come home safe”

Tiny Spencer Haines was born nine days overdue on
Christmas Eve. Perhaps he’d been waiting for his brave dad, For months we
Beau Haines, to get home from battling the catastrophic fires have watched
in NSW. “He must have known that Dad wasn’t home,” says the selfless
his mother, Cassie Randal. dedication and
bravery of our
The first-time mother was nearing her due date when Beau
firefighters.
was asked to leave their home in Kiewa, Victoria, to fight To them, the
fires on the NSW coast. children of
“I had two hours’ notice. They only had two people who Australia
could go,” Beau says. He told Cassie he’d stay if she wanted say thanks.
him to, but Cassie understood this was his duty.

GETTY IMAGES. FAIRFAX. ERIN LEHMAN.

“It was a hard decision but the brigade’s like a
whole other family to us,” Cassie says. “I admit HICKLING PHOTOGRAPHY. AAP.

I had a little crying fit when he told me he had to

leave, but being with a firefighter, these things pop
up. We were both scared he was going to miss the
birth but Spencer decided to hold on for nine more
days before he made his entrance.”
And while he was on the frontline of the blaze,
Beau’s young family was never far from his mind.
After Beau returned safely, local photographers
Kurt and Charlyne Hickling, who have both
been volunteer firefighters for 17 years, did a
photo shoot at the CFA shed and images of the
firey father went viral (above).
“I’m very proud of what Beau does,” says Cassie.
“Come home safe is all I ask.”

20 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

 BLACK
SUMMER
The AUSTRALIAN
BUSHFIRE
CRISIS
Messages
of hope
The children of Australia have
said thank you to the volunteers
protecting their homes and
communities. RFS Commissioner
Shane Fitzsimmons says the cards,
notes, drawings and poems filled
with “such heartfelt, innocent
and beautiful messages truly lift
spirits and keep the team going
in these difficult times.”

Fallen
heroes
As he addressed the daughter
of one of the volunteer
firefighters who lost their lives,
RFS Commissioner Shane
Fitzsimmons’ voice cracked:
“Baby Charlotte, you need to
know that your dad was a
selfless man, he was a special
man and he only left us because he is a hero.”
Fitzsimmons was speaking at the funeral of
Andrew O’Dwyer, 36 (third from top). He
and fellow firefighter, Geoffrey Keaton, 32,
(bottom) lost their lives before Christmas
when a falling tree hit their RFS truck on the
Green Wattle Creek fireground near Buxton,
south-west of Sydney. Both men were
posthumously presented with the highest
accolade, the Commissioner’s Commendation
for Extraordinary Service and Bravery.
Volunteer firefighter Samuel McPaul
died on duty on December 30 at the
Green Valley fireground near Albury, leaving
behind a pregnant partner. And as we go
to press, Victoria mourns veteran firefighter
Bill Slade, who died on January 11 while
working to contain a blaze near Omeo in
the Victorian alps.

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 21

The long
road to
recovery
As the fires subside, the real work
begins. Genevieve Gannon looks at
the efforts to help our land recover.

Flora lost
in fires
Some of Australia’s richest
wilderness has been ravaged
by bushfires so fierce
conservationists now fear
it may never fully recover.
Western Australia’s Stirling
Range is home to more than STIRLING RANGE, WA
1500 species of plants, at least 87
of which are not found anywhere
else in the world, but out-of-
control bushfires that burned
more than 40,000 hectares
in December could alter the
delicate ecosystem. Nearly half
the park was burned before
200 fire crews brought the
flames under control, but now
conservationists fear the blaze
may have caused irreparable
damage. The Department of
Biodiversity, Conservation and
Attractions is conducting an
aerial survey of the area to
assess the damage, but they
say they’ll have to wait until
the regrowth begins in spring
to know how well the bushland
will recover. The haven is one of
only 34 sites in the world that is
exceptionally rich in species.

22 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020


PORT MACQUARIE, NSW
Our canine
conservationist
NEWSPIX. RYAN POLLOCK/@RYNO_THECAPTAIN. NSW GOVERNMENT.
BEN STAMATOVICH/THE DRONT WAY. FORESTRY CORPORATION NSW.
As fire closed in on his home and his
wife Jen rushed between their son
and their premature twins in Port
Macquarie hospital, Ryan Tate and
his faithful detection dog Taylor went
to work rescuing wildlife. Fire had
devastated the local koala habitat
and Ryan (with Jen’s full support) felt
compelled to help. “We both genuinely
felt a moral responsibility to get out
there,” he says.
Ryan and his specially trained
Springer Spaniel Taylor (above, left)
worked for up to 12 hours a day in
heavy gear and harsh conditions,
spotting koalas that had been injured,
BLACK
SUMMER
The AUSTRALIAN
BUSHFIRE
CRISIS
Wildlife
wipe-out
Dr Chris Brown has urged us
not to forget “the other quiet
Australians” devastated in the
fires, who are “too small,
too hidden or simply not
pretty enough to have a PR
presence”. Posting photos of
the Brush-tailed rock-wallaby,
Long-footed potoroo, and
Kangaroo Island dunnart, he
sought to “shine a light on
displaced or left without adequate them before we lose them
food as a result of the bushfires. “A dog forever”. With over a billion
can cover in an hour what would take animals estimated to be lost
10 people half a day,” Ryan says. nationwide, he said it was
Taylor is trained to sniff out koalas
or, in bushfire conditions where it’s
the right time to put faces to
these horrific numbers and
smoky and windy, their scats. “She’s
probably one of the most broadly
truly understand what we
are about to lose forever.
trained conservation detection dogs
in the country.”
The Tates’ twins, Evie and Wren
(above, right), had been born seven
weeks premature, and at times fire
cut both Ryan and Jen off from their
newborn girls. “There are three ways
to the hospital but many times all three
of them were on fire,” Ryan says.
The area where Ryan and Jen live
came under threat from an ember
attack but fortunately the flames
never reached their house. Ryan says
the kindness of people has made
what would otherwise have been
a tortuous time more tolerable.
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 23
 BLACK
SUMMER
The AUSTRALIAN
BUSHFIRE
CRISIS
Escape from
Mallacoota
Angela Rintoul’s stomach was “jumping”
as she held her 17-month-old son (above)
and waited for the deadly firefront to
approach Mallacoota. The sky was
blood red. The air was filled with the
noise of exploding gas bottles and
high-pressure water hitting the outside
of the building as firefighters prepared
for the advancing inferno. Volunteers
moved through the evacuation centre,
removing hazards and covering windows.
“It’s a feeling of terror in your stomach,”
Angela recalls, safe now in Melbourne
after being evacuated by the Navy.
Authorities warned people in East
Gippsland to evacuate on the afternoon
of December 29, when an area half the
size of Belgium came under threat from
out of control bushfires. Angela was in
her parents’ shack with her partner and
baby, deciding whether to take a gamble
on the road to Canberra. A decision to
flee would have meant driving through
thick forest, which “felt a bit risky
because there were also fires in Bega”.
But before they had a chance to make
a decision, a blaze flared up at nearby
Wingham River. Within minutes it
24 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
MALLACOOTA, VIC
became too
dangerous
to leave.
It was
frightening,
Angela says. The
family had been
coming to Mallacoota for 18 years and
had never seen it this dry. “You could
hear dry leaves being blown along the
street, making this eerie sound, before
the fire was anywhere near us.”
The next day the air became smokier,
and at 4.45pm a text message instructed
them to seek shelter. They grabbed their
bags and headed for the lake, which
was already crowded with people.
A towering pyrocumulonimbus
cloud loomed over the scene. The fire
was behaving erratically, creating its
own weather and “it was throwing out
fire in all directions,” Angela says.
As families huddled by the water’s
edge, police encouraged those with
children to go to the community
centre. Throughout the night the
building filled up, while outside
the air was alight with embers.
FAIRFAX. AAP. HUMAN APPEAL INTERNATIONAL. ANN GORDON. NEWSPIX. KIM MCSWEENEY.
The fire hit early on Tuesday
morning. Sirens wailed as Mallacoota
began to burn. The community centre
was spared but much of the town
was razed. What wasn’t destroyed
was the residents’ spirit. The local
SUNNATARAM FOREST MONASTERY. EMILIA TERZON © 2020 ABC.
baker stayed up cooking for travellers
and locals who had been trapped
in the centre or at the water’s
edge, while a cafe owner delivered
coffee to shell-shocked and sleep-
deprived survivors.
Angela’s family’s house was spared,
but they lost their shed. Finally, on
Friday they were evacuated on the
HMAS Choules. “It was a horrific
experience,” says Angela. As the ship
steamed away, she felt “an immense
sadness for the people who are still
there trying to start the process of
recovery and rebuilding.”
JOHNSONVILLE, VIC

Women from the Australian

Islamic Centre brought five
truckloads of supplies to
country Victoria and cooked
breakfast for 150 firefighters.

LAKE CONJOLA, NSW

There were daring rescues

and boat convoys. Two
locals in a tinny rescued a
QUEENS PARK, NSW
family of 14 and two dogs
Crafters young and old have from 50-foot high flames.
helped injured wildlife. Here,
Monty Armstrong runs up
a bat wrap for the Rescue
Craft Collective.
Helping
hand
It’s an aphorism often repeated: when
disaster strikes, look to the helpers.
Watching in shock as swathes of our
farmland, towns and forests were
incinerated, we’ve taken comfort
from all that ordinary
Australians do to help.

OMEO, VIC
BUNDANOON, NSW
An ‘army of angels’ convoy
As thanks for defending
of 150 trucks delivered
the Sunnataram Forest
donated supplies in Victoria.
Monastery, the faithful
Damien Britt (left) delivers
offered massages, blessings
hay to farmer Russell Foster.
and Thai food to firefighters.

week more than 6500 people registered to provide shelter to

Shelter from the firestorm
When Erin Riley took to Twitter to offer a paddock to people
whose properties had been ravaged by fire, she had no idea
she would spark a major rehousing project. Soon she was
inundated with people offering and seeking emergency
accommodation and findabed.info was born. In just one
people evacuating from the path of the fires. The first person
placed was a 76-year-old man who had been sleeping in his
car. “A couple not far from there put him up. They made him
dinner; he even borrowed the guy’s clothes,” Erin says. Since
then, people have offered everything from spare bedrooms
to whole houses to families and individuals in need.

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 25

 BLACK
SUMMER
The AUSTRALIAN
PENROSE, NSW
BUSHFIRE
CRISIS
Love conquers
When Stephanie and Chris Forde (below, right) became
engaged, there was no question where they would hold the
wedding – at Stephanie’s parents’ property in Tambo Upper, in
East Gippsland, Victoria. And as the couple live in the UK and
Chris’ family had never been to Australia, what better time
than summer? The date was set for January 4, 2020.
Then everything changed. Travelling to Tambo Upper to
celebrate New Year’s Eve, Stephanie and Chris were stopped
by blockades. Stephanie’s parents had already evacuated their
animals and were preparing to leave themselves.
“Then on New Year’s Day we saw the dire weather
warning for our wedding day,” recalls Stephanie. “It was 40
degrees and high winds. There was no way it would be safe
for our guests, and if we all got stuck, it would be catastrophic.”
That’s when the kindness of the community took over. First,
Jonathan and Judy Wood offered up their waterfront property
in nearby Paynesville. When the flower farm they were using
26 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
Pat’s pregnant alpacas
When the RFS built a firebreak behind Patricia Bova’s
Penrose alpaca farm she knew she had to evacuate,
and there was no way she was going without her
“girls”. But it wasn’t as simple as that, what with her
girls being a flock of alpacas, 12 of which were
pregnant. “It’s very hard to find a spot for 60-odd
animals,” Patricia (left) says. Luckily, plenty of people
were keen to help. The Moss Vale Showgrounds
ADAM MCLEAN/AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA. REBECCA FARLEY PHOTOGRAPHY.
opened and friends helped her move the flock in a
horse float. As smoke blanketed the road, police
provided an escort. And once the girls were ensconced
at the showground, locals arrived with supplies.
The alpacas settled in happily, with one giving birth
a week later. The baby doesn’t have a name yet but
Patricia says she’ll likely choose “something fiery”.
burnt down, House of Blooms at Dahlsens in Bairnsdale offered
a free bouquet and buttonhole. The day before the nuptials their
wedding planner, Adele Charlwood, and partner Lucas built a
bar from scratch after the one they’d ordered couldn’t get
through roadblocks. And that was despite Adele’s own property
being on an ember warning. Their caterer called in a panic.
“She said, ‘I have to stay and defend my property. I’ve made
all your food but you’re going to have to get it and warm it up
yourselves,’” says Stephanie. Locals and friends stepped in to
help. Finally, the local Rotary Club set up a marquee and tables.
“And the wedding was the
best day of our lives,” Stephanie
says. “It wasn’t just our 20 guests
at that wedding; it felt like the
whole community was involved.
And Chris’ family have been
blown away by the Australian
spirit – how people who may
not know each other just band
together to overcome
a terrible situation.”
TAMBO UPPER, VIC
 GET ON BOARD

rebuild
ourtowns
• AU S S I E S L E ND I N G A H A N D•

The practical things you

can do to help rebuild
Australia, one town at a time
There’s not a single Australian who hasn’t had
their hearts broken by the horrific bushfires
that have swept through our country. The
road to rebuild will be long but as a nation
we will: brick by brick, fence by fence. Bauer
Media launched this campaign to help our
neighbours in their time of need.
Each week we will shine a spotlight on a town
telling our generous readers how they can
help, from the best fundraisers to donate to
that specifically benefit the locals, to products
they can buy from that town or region that
support small businesses there. We’ll highlight
the farmers who need fencing supplies, the
schools which are short of books and pencils,
the yoga school that needs mats or how to
plan a getaway to the region when the time
is right to bolster their local tourism industry.
The Rebuild Our Towns campaign is centred
on the fact that practical help doesn’t have
to cost a fortune. Our love and thoughts
go out to every person, but actions speak
louder than words, so join us to make a
difference and help our heartland heal.

Go to rebuildourtowns.com.au and watch as we move from one town to another over the coming months
Fireproofing
If this year’s fire season is a harbinger of things
to come, there needs to be some urgent planning.
Samantha Trenoweth meets fire experts devising
smart solutions to our catastrophic problem.
P
rofessor David Bowman is a
pyrogeographer, one of the
world’s leading fire experts.
He has studied wildfire for
more than 40 years but this
fire season in Australia has made the
hair on the back of his neck bristle.
It has frightened him.
“This is a nation-defining, historical
event,” he says, with some urgency,
from his post at The University of
Tasmania. “I said that in November.
I knew it, even then, because the sorts
of things that were happening in
northern NSW were so extraordinary,
so extreme. Extrapolating that, it was
easy to see it moving down as a wave
– it was inevitable.
“There has been terrible loss of
wildlife, biodiversity, farmland and
homes, but we have also been lucky.
Both good fortune and the skill of the
firefighters have ensured the loss of
[human] life hasn’t been greater.”
However, David stresses that we can’t
count on our luck holding unless
we, as a nation, do some serious fire
prevention and preparation. “Something
bigger than Black Saturday is in the
cards,” he believes. “Maybe we will
28 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
avoid it this year but I know the risk
is sitting there.”
Dr Joelle Gergis, an award-winning
climate scientist and author, believes
this fire season has been not only
nation-defining, but a signpost to
our global future.
“As the planet continues to warm,”
she says, “people all over the world
are looking at Australia and looking
at the summer that is unfolding, and
we are now the poster child for
climate change. We’re illustrating what
it looks like when the planet warms.”
Australia is the most vulnerable
nation in the developed world to
climate change. Average Australian
temperatures had risen by roughly
1.4°C above pre-industrial levels in
the lead-up to this fire season (with
the continent warming more rapidly
than the global average of 1.1°C). The
best scientific modelling suggests that,
beyond a rise of 2°C, the impacts on
our climate and ecosystems could be
irreversible. Yet Joelle believes it may
still be possible to put the brakes on
climate change.
“When we have more greenhouse
gas in the atmosphere, there is an
increase in global temperatures,” she
explains. “That’s why climate scientists,
not just here but all over the world,
are calling for a reduction in emissions.
The first thing we need to do is
emissions reduction, and the second
thing is adaptation.”
Naomi Brown is the former CEO of
the Australasian Fire & Emergency
Service Authorities Council, a board
member of the National Aerial
Firefighting Centre and one of the
emergency leaders who last year
requested a meeting with the Prime
Minister to warn of the risk of a
catastrophic fire season. She too
believes we must be better prepared.
“All the fire chiefs could see this
was ready to happen,” she tells
The Weekly from her home in Perth.
“Even so, we were shocked. The
word unprecedented gets bandied
about a lot but these fires really were
unprecedented. Their size and ferocity
and intensity were staggering. Now
there needs to be some very hard
thinking done about the future.
“In the short to medium term, we
need to invest in more research into
how we can best deal with these fires.
We need to look at the sustainability
of volunteerism – can we expect
volunteers to risk their lives day after
day all spring and summer long? We
need to invest in more aerial equipment.
We need to investigate the way hazard
reduction burns are done and look
into other methods of fire mitigation.”
 our future
David believes we need a greater
diversity of weapons in our arsenal
to prepare for future fire seasons.
“What frustrates me is just framing
this as a debate about prescribed
burning,” he says. “It’s a little bit
simplistic and we’re dealing with a
really complicated problem. Fuel-
reduction burning doesn’t stop fires,
it changes their behaviour. It can
reduce their intensity, which gives
firefighters increased options.”
But prescribed or hazard-reduction
burning is only possible in certain
landscapes and in very particular
weather conditions. It is labour and
equipment-intensive, so it’s expensive.
And, David says, it has “a sliding scale
of benefit”. So it’s been found to be a
huge help in cooler weather and less
intense fires but “when the weather’s
crazy and catastrophic, there’s no
benefit at all.”
David’s fire prevention arsenal would
include prescribed burning but it would
also include better town planning
and building design, “and retrofitting
existing houses to withstand ember
storms. We could also look at using
water more wisely,” he says. “Towns
have so much wastewater. We could
recycle that to create green fire breaks
and buffer zones with less flammable
plants on the edges of cities and towns.
We could plough out some areas before
the fire season. In parks and bushland,
it is important to thin the understorey.
We could use brush cutters or animals
GETTY IMAGES.
like goats to eat down weeds and
brambles. There are so many very
practical things we could do.”
David is also a proponent of
Indigenous cultural burning. Two houses
in the Hunter Valley were reported
saved from the fierce Gospers Mountain
fire this season by areas that had been
culturally burned around them. In the
devastating Tathra fire nearly two years
earlier, the flames sidestepped the local
Indigenous community, where cultural
burning was as regular practice.
Lauren Tynan is a Trawlwulwuy woman
from Tebrakunna country in northeast
Tasmania but she has lived most of
her life in NSW. She has a PhD in the
works that investigates cultural burning
and she is a founding member of Koori
Country Firesticks, the organisation
responsible for the burning around
those Hunter Valley homes.
Cultural burning, she says, is cooler
and slower than hazard-reduction
burning. “The flames are lower and
seem to trickle through the landscape
like water. It starts from a single ignition
point and moves out in a circle, giving
animals and insects plenty of time to
escape. We start small and we always
burn at the right time, in the winter,
when the conditions are right.
“This has been done for many
thousands of years and the Australian
continent has adapted through a
relationship with cultural burning. When
we stop doing that burning, places
are left with leaf litter, branches,
dead trees. These have built up over
hundreds of years and become like
ticking time bombs. Any amount of
fire near them and they just go up.
“I think of it like, today, we’re all
used to sweeping our floors and
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
BLACK
SUMMER
The AUSTRALIAN
BUSHFIRE
CRISIS
cleaning our house and it’s not a big
deal. That’s exactly the same way our
ancestors used fire. I hope cultural
burning can be used more widely now
as a regular practice, to keep county
clean and healthy and growing.”
David concedes that this fire season
has been terrifying but he maintains
that he is an optimist, and he has
some big-picture ideas that he would
like to propose to government. He
would like to see Australia’s peak
holiday season moved away from
the height of summer to protect lives
and the tourism economy. And he
would like to see the creation of a
Landcare-like community group
with responsibility for grassroots
action on fire protection.
“It should be front and centre
and really well resourced. It should
be a network of local community
groups. It should be fun, family-friendly
and have Indigenous involvement. It
should be concerned with protecting
communities from fire but also with
sustainability and the environment
and biodiversity.
“We need to work through this, not
in haste, but we should be preparing
to make our communities safe. I’m
optimistic that we can solve our
problems. This is what humans are
good at. But it’s just like dealing
with a group of children. First, stop
quarrelling. Then focus on the task
in hand. Then make some really
practical decisions. There’s a really
big challenge here to provide optimism
and a pathway out of this mess, and
I believe we can do that.” AWW
29
30 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
leap of faith
After months of talks, neither Prince Harry nor Her Majesty got what they
wanted. Inspired by his mother, Harry followed his heart, but where does this
leave the monarchy? Juliet Rieden unpicks cks an unprecedented royal split.
hen Harry
W met Meghan
everything
changed. He was
floating on cloud
nine, falling hard and fast for this
passionate, nurturing, exciting
Californian with her brilliant TV
career and thriving lifestyle blog.
Prince Harry was a young man aching
to find love, to start his own family, to
stand by his brother with his own
wife by his side and find a partner
for his very unique line of work.
In those halcyon months before
the world knew about their secret
romance, Harry and Meghan forged
a powerful union and a tender love.
Together they planned to take on the
world, to inspire and empower, and
have a go at fixing many of the
problems that troubled their
generation. Those closest to Prince
Harry saw the change immediately.
At a recent dinner for his most
personal passion project, Sentebale,
the Lesotho charity he set up with his
friend and fellow royal Prince Seeiso
to help children affected by AIDS and
HIV, Harry said: “I have grown up
feeling support from so many of you,
and watched as you welcomed Meghan
with open arms as you saw me find the
love and happiness I had hoped for all
my life. Finally, the second son of
Diana got hitched, hurray!”
No sooner had they wed (in front of
GETTY IMAGES.
an estimated 1.9 billion global
audience), than they got straight to
work. “We were excited, we were
Cover story
split
hopeful, and we were here
to serve,” he said.
Harry and Meghan
brought their special brand
of can-do positivity to the
royal arena and for the
House of Windsor this wass
gold dust. The couple
d
became catnip for a new
international audience
hungry for young leaders
they could look up to.
For a honeymoon period
the couple became the
people’s royals. There was
a Diana frisson to their
warmth, charisma and their
ability to connect with
everyone they met.
Then a tall poppy
resentment kicked in with
a jaw-dropping ferocity.
Not everyone bought into
their progressive ideas. Theey
were branded hypocrites for or jumping media is a powerful force
force, and my
on private jets while espousing hope is one day our collective support
environmentalism and portrayed for each other can be more powerful
as “pushy” and “demanding” by because this is so much bigger than
a media that seemed determined to just us,” Harry said.
pull them down. Having watched paparazzi hound
In response the Sussex family opted his mother, this new attack on his wife
to connect with their followers was a chilling reminder of desperately
directly through their own social sad times. Diana had counselled her
media channels, garnering millions of sons: “If you find someone you love in
followers. But ironically it was in the life, you must hang onto it and look
social media space that Meghan after it …protect it.” And here her
especially faced the most alarming youngest, who a few years earlier had
commentary, fuelled by an ugly racist admitted “all I’ve ever wanted to do is
agenda. Controlling the media is still a make my mother proud”, opted to
work in progress for the couple. “The follow his mother’s advice. ➝
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 31
Cover story

For Meghan, the endless barrage of

criticism she and Harry faced was
neither “fair” nor accurate. “My wife
upholds the same values as I do,”
Harry has pleaded. Meghan was at a
loss to understand the backlash she
was facing.
And then Harry dropped a
bombshell.
Just two years into the job, with
baby Archie not yet a year old,
the Sussex family announced
they would quit their roles as
“senior royals”. They hoped
to broker a deal to work
part-time for Her Majesty The
Queen, dividing their time
between North America and
Britain. They would become
“financially independent”,
earning their own crust while
also supporting the monarchy.
In the wake of this
momentous announcement,
hurt, confusion and anger
reigned. “I don’t believe Meghan came From above: The couple has faced a
barrage of criticism from Britain’s
into the marriage with a pre-formed
tabloids; the Queen and the Sussexes at
idea of changing everything, turning the centenary for the Royal Air Force;
over the apple-cart, but the culture- Harry at his mother’s funeral; Prince
shock of joining an ancient and Harry, with Prince Charles and Prince
venerable institution and having to William, will lose his military positions.
follow its rules turned out not to be to
her taste, and she started to plan an
escape-route,” royal biographer time the monarchy modernised. “It’s
Christopher Wilson tells me. true the House of Windsor has been
For traditionalists, Harry and slow to recognise the need to find an
Meghan’s demands seemed outlandish exit-route for those family members
and presumptive: from their privileged who are not royal-central, and the
ivory tower the Duke and Duchess of problem can only get worse until the
Sussex were refusing to fulfil their system changes,” comments Wilson.
duties to the Crown, it seemed. The role of the ‘spare to the heir’
“The situation’s unprecedented has always been problematic. Prince
because Harry has decided to leave Andrew and Princess Margaret both
the country and will only return felt overlooked. Harry is now sixth
occasionally. There is a great deal of in line to the throne with his son, southern Africa – Harry & Meghan:
anger, especially among the military Archie, seventh and he has struggled An African Journey – Harry unpacked
who were his greatest supporters (and with his royal role since he was a boy. his trauma saying he still had work to
he theirs), that he has just dumped From his wild party days to the do on his mental health. “Everything
them. The idea that he will be going moment his army career was cut short that she went through and what
out making money off a red carpet when New Idea magazine revealed the happened to her is incredibly raw
when he should be turning up on royal was on active service in every single day … Every single time
parade hasn’t gone down well,” Afghanistan, Harry has always I see a camera, every single time I hear
Wilson explains. loathed the spotlight. a click, every single time I see a flash,
But many others, including those He was just 12 when his mother it takes me straight back.”
GETTY IMAGES.

new young fans, felt Harry and died and blames the paparazzi for Veteran royal photographer Arthur
Meghan deserved to be free, to choose taking her from him. In the recent Edwards watched the devastated
how they live and work, that it was documentary filmed on their tour of Harry crumble. “People talk about ➝

32 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

Cover story
“What I want to make
clear is we’re not
walking away.”
Harry walking behind his mother’s
coffin and that was an ordeal. But
when he was brought down with his
father from Balmoral and they went
to look at the flowers and messages on
the gates of Kensington Palace I saw
his face crease up – he was so tortured
and I just couldn’t take the picture.”
You’d have to be made of stone not
to appreciate Harry and Meghan’s
situation, trapped in a gilded cage
with strict rules that they feel prevent
them from doing their best work. As a
powerful woman used to running her
own life, Meghan has found the
transition to royal at best challenging
and behind the scenes appears to have
been trying to change what is a very
well-oiled, if archaic, institution.
“I would say that Diana showed
many of the same qualities – and in
some ways I think both women were
admirable,” notes royal biographer
Penny Junor. “On the other hand, you
could say that what Meghan is doing
is the equivalent of being a new recruit
in a company you’ve agreed to work
for and immediately trying to
restructure it! But if it needs to be
done, maybe that’s a good thing.”
But would Diana support her son’s
move to quit his royal role? “It is
tempting to say his mother might have
applauded his move – but actually
I think she may have been conflicted.
She spent her time preparing William
for his future role, and Harry’s
decision could cause havoc and
ultimately be very damaging to his
brother,” says Junor.
Christopher Wilson agrees. “I think
Diana would be heartbroken to see
him in conflict with the royal family
like this. She had her difficulties with
them, but those largely stemmed from
the failed relationship with her
husband – if that had been okay, she
could have hacked the rest. She
believed in the royal family. Without
Meghan, Harry would have continued
34 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
doing the job he was born to
do. But it’s clear that he loves
her more than he loves the
job and therefore must
follow her wherever she
leads. What’s happened is
sad, but it would become a
tragedy if, like Diana, Harry’s
marriage failed.”
For Prince Harry at this
crossroads, the most
important three women in his
life came into sharp focus.
There’s Meghan, who he’s
determined to protect from
the media snarl that crucified
his childhood; Diana, whose
motherly life lessons and
legacy are echoing around his
head, and his beloved
grandmother The Queen,
who always stands by him
– but in her statement on
January 13 said that while
supportive of Harry and Meghan “we we’re all singing from the same page.
would have preferred them to remain I want everyone to play on the team.”
full-time working members of the Photographer Arthur Edwards has
royal family”. known Harry from the day he was
For months there have been reports born and like many who love him had
of a rift between Harry and brother been crossing his fingers for a
William. Unsubstantiated gossip resolution. “I thought the Queen
painted a rather unlikely brotherly might talk him out of it,” he sighs.
spat, but now Harry’s plans are out in But in their statement the Sussex
the open, the crux of the divide seems duo was firm and resolute. They had
more transparent. Prince William a plan. Their future was in the balance
would be rightly concerned not to and they needed to take charge. Harry
have his brother and family to call on and Meghan’s public statement had
to support the ‘royal firm’ he will one blindsided Palace advisors, Her Majesty,
day be leading. And in the meantime Prince Charles and Prince William.
there is likely to be more work for the Talks about the couple’s future had
Cambridges to shoulder. been going on behind doors for
In the UK’s Sunday Times months but there was still a lot to
newspaper royal correspondent Roya thrash out. For reasons that haven’t
Nikkhah reported that William had been confirmed, the Sussex duo took
told a friend, “I’ve put my arm around the initiative to force the issue.
my brother all our lives and I can’t do Could Harry and Meghan be
that anymore; we’re separate entities. granted their wish? Could they have
I’m sad about that. All we can do, and their cake and eat it too? For 10 heart-
all I can do, is try and support them in-mouth days it almost looked as if
and hope that the time comes when they might prevail.

The Queen’s first media statement
sounded promising. “We understand
their desire to take a different
approach, but these are complicated
issues that will take time to work
through,” said Her Majesty.
Meghan returned to the luxurious
mansion on Canada’s Vancouver
Island where the couple had been
holed up since late November to
rejoin baby Archie while Harry
was called to a family summit at
AUSTRALSCOPE. GETTY IMAGES. INSTAGRAM.
Sandringham. News following the
meeting was positive. The Queen said
“we respect and understand their wish
to live a more independent life as a
family while remaining a valued part
of my family” and a “period of
transition was discussed”.
But on Saturday January 18, Harry
and Meghan’s half-in half-out solution
was quashed. They were out, and
Forging a
new path
From left: In Morocco
in 2019; Diana and the
press; the Vancouver
Island mansion; happy
in Canada; the Queen
hoped for a resolution.
resolution
“required
i d tto step
t b back
k ffrom
Royal duties, including official
military appointments. The
Sussexes will not use their
HRH titles as they are no
longer working members of
the Royal Family … they will continue
to maintain their private patronages.”
Harry greeted Her Majesty’s edict
“with great sadness that it has come
to this”.
He said that his and Meghan’s
choice to challenge the status quo was
“not one I made lightly … I know
I haven’t always got it right, but as far
as this goes, there really was no other
option”. He added, “What I want to
make clear is we’re not walking away
… Our hope was to continue serving
the Queen, the Commonwealth, and
my military associations, but without
public funding. Unfortunately, that
wasn’t possible.”
This is a watershed moment for the
House of Windsor. The “stiff upper
lip” Meghan had admitted she
struggled with showed its mettle.
While the couple retains the Duke and
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
DDuchess of Sussex
titles, the royal in
their trademarked
‘SussexRoyal’
bbranding, the
ccornerstone of
their new empire,
mmay now need to
bbe amended.
In a poignant
ppersonal
statement The
nd
Archie will always be much loved
members of my family … I want
to thank them for their dedicated
work across this country, the
Commonwealth and beyond, and
am particularly proud of how Meghan
has so quickly become one of the
family”. And in support and
acknowledgement of their battles with
the limelight added: “I recognise the
challenges they have experienced as a
result of intense scrutiny over the last
two years and support their wish for a
more independent life.”
“It’s a very sad day for me because
I thought Harry was the greatest kid
of all to work with,” says Arthur
Edwards. “He was always fun,
unpredictable; you couldn’t take your
eyes off him. He seemed to enjoy the
role of Duke of Sussex. But then the
last couple of years he’s just become
completely withdrawn, moody and
sad. He’s lost the spark that made him
the popular member of the royal
family, certainly as far as our readers
are concerned.” ➝
35
Cover story
Money matters
m s
Personall weallth
P l
Before she joined thhe
royal family, the Duchess
of Sussex reportedly
earned US$50,000 an a
episode as an actresss in
TV drama Suits pluss
income from film roles
and her lifestyle blog.
According to The
Independent, Meghan’ss net
worth before she marrried
was around £3.8 million.
There are many questions about
b – but I think that marketing using
Harry and Meghan’s future life which
it is now thought will be mostly in
Canada and the US. Will the couple
still have a security retinue and if so
who will pay for it? Buckingham
Palace won’t comment on the details
of security arrangements and while
Canadians are happy to host the
couple they don’t want to pay for
them from public money.
“When past royal tours have taken
place here in Canada, there are always
complaints after we get the bill,” says
Jamie Samhan, royal commentator
and online editor for Entertainment
Tonight Canada. “Since they say
that they want to be financially
independent, most Canadians expect
them to stick to that.”
I am advised that Harry will
still head up the Invictus Games,
but losing his military positions will
cut deep. And then there is concern
over the sort of commercial deals that
the duo will be brokering. “I think
that the earning potential of the
Sussexes is huge – especially in the US
36 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
Past funding
P f di Funding
di now
• According to the website, • The couple will
SussexRoyal, 5 per cent of no longer receive
thee Sussex family funding money from The
cam me from The Sovereign Sovereign Grant.
Grant, money from the UK • They are refunding the
public purse to fund royal duties. renovation costs of
• The £2.4 million renovation of Frogmore Cottage and
the Susssex family’s Windsor keeping the property
home, Frrogmore Cottage, was as their UK home.
paid from
m Sovereign Grant funds. • They are free to
• The remmaining 95 per cent of pursue their own
Sussex fuunding, which finances business interests.
their office and staffing, was • They may still receive
paid by Th he Prince of Wales from additional private
income accrued
a from his estate, financial support from
the DDuchy of Cornwall. Prince Charles.
their children seems inevitable –
their titles is problematic, to say although there is to be a review in
the least. a year’s time.
“The Queen’s ‘brand’ is that of I ask Penny Junor whether this split
a tireless, self-sacrificing public has damaged Harry’s very special
servant who embodies the state. relationship with his grandmother.
And this is in direct conflict with any “I would think not,” she says. “He
commercial enterprise, in my view,” has caused a rumpus of one sort or
says Lynne Bell, Canadian Royal another so many times during his
correspondent for Majesty magazine life and she has always taken it in
While they are now free to work her stride. She is a wise old owl and
where they choose, the Sussexes have I imagine she is sad to be losing him
pledged “to uphold the values of Her but sympathetic to his situation
Majesty” and with a TV show with and possibly worried about his
Oprah in the works and a trademark wellbeing.”
that has listed everything from socks Harry said: “I will always have the
to magazines, it remains to be seen utmost respect for my grandmother,
what Harry and Meghan have in mind. my commander-in-chief, and I am
As for the Queen, there is no incredibly grateful to her and the rest
question the monarch is protecting of my family, for the support they
the reputation and future of the have shown Meghan and I.
Crown in refusing the couple a “I will continue to be the same
part-time royal role, but it would no man who holds his country dear
doubt have been a tough call to make, and dedicates his life to supporting
and the future of a slimmed down the causes, charities and military
GETTY IMAGES.
monarchy concentrating on Prince communities that are so important
Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall, the to me.” In his new life he explained:
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and “We are taking a leap of faith”. AWW
 BASED ON THE BELOVED CLASSIC BY JANE AUSTEN

A N YA TAY L O R - J O Y
IS

LOVE

KNOWS

B E S T.

DIRECTED BY AUTUMN de WILDE

IN CINEMAS FEBRUARY 13
Exclusive

WO
AN M
LI
EN
STRA

MELBOUR ’S WE
NE
VIC
AU

EK
LY • T H E

Essie
DAVI S

BARED FOOTWEAR SHOES. OPPOSITE PAGE: ESSIE WEARS CAMILLA AND MARC DRESS FROM DAVID JONES.
Shooting HAIR AND MAKE-UP BY JULIA GREEN. ESSIE WEARS DRESS AND OPERA COAT BY CARLA ZAMPATTI.

for the stars As she takes super sleuth Phryne Fisher to the big
screen, Essie Davis talks to Susan Horsburgh about
childhood bullying, the magic of Tasmania, and the
fraught choice between career and family.

38 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

P H OTO G R A P H Y by ALANA LANDSBERRY
ST Y L I N G by JAMELA DUNCAN
 PICTURE CREDITS TO GO HERE PLEASE

40 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020


S
he is James Bond in T-bar
heels, a saucy feminist
superhero a century ahead of
her time. Sporting her
glamorous drop-waist getups,
she can dance a tango, fly a Tiger Moth,
or surf a speeding train carriage – all
without upsetting a strand of her
signature black bob. Not only that, the
whip-smart lady detective leaves a trail
of smitten lovers in her wake. Who
wouldn’t want to be Phryne Fisher?
Essie Davis has won fans all over the
world playing the 1920s Melbourne
super-sleuth in the ABC TV series Miss
Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. Based on
Kerry Greenwood’s bestselling books,
the show premiered in 2012 and had
more than 1 million Australians tuning
in each week, before it spread to 180
countries and garnered a cult following
in the US and UK.
Now, four years after the final TV
episode, Essie has donned the cloche
hats again for the big-screen follow-up,
Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears,
filmed partly in Morocco.
“The last time we saw her she was
getting in an airplane to fly her dad
home [to England] and I think it needed
an international story,” says Essie. “You
can’t have a really good murder mystery
without it taking longer to solve and
having a few more potential culprits.”
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALANA LANDSBERRY. GETTY IMAGES. ESSIE WEARS CARLA ZAMPATTI TRENCH.
The pistol-packing Phryne
(pronounced fry-knee) is still scaling
buildings and uncovering injustices, but
this time it’s in jazz-age London and
British Palestine. Fans were so keen to
see Miss Fisher’s derring-do go global,
in fact, that they raised nearly $1 million
of the film’s budget in Australia’s most
successful crowdfunding campaign ever.
As far-flung as Brazil and Scandinavia,
Miss Fisher fanatics routinely write to
Essie to credit the unflappable detective
with hauling them out of depression.
“I’ve had so many fans say that Phryne
saved their life,” says Essie. “She made
them think, I don’t have to be a victim
– life is worth living. Women are
inspired by her naughtiness and
outrageousness to just be themselves
– not necessarily to break into buildings,
but to speak out.”
At today’s photo shoot, the
Tasmanian actor seems to be
channelling some of Miss Fisher’s
insouciance. Essie pulls on a metallic
trench coat and suddenly oozes
espionage cool. “Outfits are like
characters, really, aren’t they?” she says.
On location at an art-deco cinema in
Melbourne, the stylist shows her outfit
options and Essie culls them in record
speed: one jumpsuit is too ABBA, a
black-and-white ensemble too David
Jones, and it’s a flat-out no to a salmon
pantsuit: “It’ll look terrible on me.”
Once the camera starts clicking and a
leaf blower-cum-wind machine is aimed
at her face, Essie seems caught in a
tug-of-war between her natural
theatricality and the self-consciousness
that comes with posing in front of a
crowd. Wearing a black strapless tulle
confection, she spontaneously showers
herself with popcorn and tiptoes across
the cinema seats, before letting rip one
of her trademark machine-gun laughs:
“I don’t know what I’m doing!” she
cries. “This is so stupid!”
By outfit number two, she’s calling for
a calming glass of champagne – “I’m
trying to get out of my own head.”
Swathed in gold satin, she looks rather
prophetically like an Oscar statuette. In
her 40s – a time when decent female
roles supposedly dry up – Essie has
nailed a string of disparate screen parts:
as thespian Lady Crane in pop-culture
phenomenon Game of Thrones,
Catholic nun Iphigenia in the Foxtel
drama Lambs of God (for which she
recently received an AACTA nod) and
crime matriarch Ellen Kelly in the film
True History of the Kelly Gang
(directed by her husband, Justin Kurzel).
Her big-screen breakthrough, though,
came in 2014, when she played the
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
Exclusive
Essie as
Phryne in
the movie,
which was
partly shot
in Morocco.
Below: With
husband
Justin.
unhinged mother in cult horror hit
The Babadook. Amid the Oscar buzz,
The New York Times called Essie’s
performance “a tour de force of
maternal anguish” and Time magazine
put her in its top-10 list of movie
actors that year, while Babadook fans
dressed up as her character, Amelia,
for Halloween.
“She’ll have a go at anything and do
it brilliantly,” says Essie’s friend and
Miss Fisher co-creator Deb Cox. “She’s
coming into her own at a time when the
world’s changing its attitude and
realising that mature women have a lot
more to offer.”
Miss Fisher may be 28 in the book
series, but Essie inspired producers to
up the character’s age for the TV show.
“When we auditioned 28-year-olds, they
were girls,” explains Deb. “They just
couldn’t pull off a worldly woman, and
Essie could. She had the sophistication,
the life experience, the polish the others
couldn’t come close to.”
Still, Essie is loath to talk about
her age. She says publication of it has
lost her roles in the past so it’s not
something she likes to focus on. With
13-year-old twin daughters at home,
and her husband in India shooting the ➝
41
 “So many fans
say that
Phryne saved
their life.”

42 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020


Apple TV+ drama series Shantaram,
Essie is holding the fort in Hobart and
having to knock back acting offers,
which obviously rankles. “I’m saying no
to heaps of work because I’m a mother,”
she says, “[but] I also want to still have
work in spite of saying no to it.”
In recent years, the family has
followed the work, living in London,
Melbourne and New Zealand. For the
past few months, though, Hobart has
been home, and the girls, Ruby and
Stella, want to make it permanent.
“They’re not huge fans of moving –
they would like to stay still and have as
many animals as possible,” says Essie,
who goes bushwalking with the girls.
“What’s not to love about Tassie?
Freedom, childhood, space, nature.”
Her daughters, she says, are similar to
her – “incredibly creative and
outrageous and outspoken” – but have
not expressed any desire to follow her
into acting. “They want to be horse-
riding designers who rock climb and do
flamenco dancing while they are marine
biologists and diving with great white
sharks,” she says. “They’re very much
loving their childhood and I’m loving
their childhood with them. We do
everything together – we’re scarily best
friends … They’re the two most
important sculptors of my life.”
And her biggest fans. The girls have
been known to shout at top volume,
“It’s Phryne Fisher over here!” while
shopping at the supermarket with their
mortified mum. “They’re so hilariously
super-proud,” says Essie.
Like many a mother, Essie often finds
herself feeling wistful, wishing her girls
weren’t growing up so quickly. “I think
I was crying about that from the day
they were born, but I am terribly
sentimental and was always like that
with my parents as well – crying about
losing them my entire life,” she says.
“Luckily I’ve still got my dad [her mum
died in 2016] but I’m a deeply loyal,
loving, family person.”
ESSIE WEARS VELANI GOWN.
The youngest of seven, Essie (born
Esther) grew up in the Hobart suburbs
on a two-acre block with fruit trees
and a vegetable garden, keeping
ducks, chooks and rabbits and
fostering a menagerie of injured
animals, including a penguin at one
point. With her mum at home full-
time and her dad an artist, money was
tight, but they managed by growing
most of what they ate. “They were just
really hardworking poor people,” says
Essie. “I was on my own a lot because
my siblings were so much older than
me. I was always up a tree or in the
garden or the bush making up stories.”
With a loving, close-knit family, life at
home was idyllic, but school was
torture. “I was very bullied, very
bottom-of-the-food-chain,” she recalls,
“because I had red hair, plaits down to
my knees that had never been cut, and
my parents were older than everyone
else’s – and we were greenies.”
It was the 1980s and Premier Robin
Gray had won office on a policy of
“state development”, pushing for a
hydroelectric dam on the Franklin River.
Essie’s parents and sister were all
arrested for protesting against it. It was
a volatile political climate, with
environmentalists and “rednecks” living
shoulder-to-shoulder: “Going to school
in that environment was pretty brutal –
I was definitely some weird kid who
didn’t fit in and I wanted to fit in so
badly,” she says. “Being picked on and
threatened I was going to be murdered
on school camp was really traumatising.”
Her teachers, however, nurtured her
acting dreams, which she’s had for as
long as she can remember. Essie went on
to win a place at NIDA, living with
classmate Cate Blanchett, and nabbed
the role of Juliet in Bell Shakespeare’s
1993 production of Romeo and Juliet
straight out of drama school.
So began a dazzling stage career. In
2003 she played Stella in A Streetcar
Named Desire at London’s National
Theatre, and took out an Olivier Award.
“The opening night I had my next three
years’ work,” she recalls. “Because
everyone came to see Glenn [Close] and
she was extraordinary – but so was I.”
The following year her turn in Tom
Stoppard’s Jumpers on Broadway was
nominated for a Tony.
These days, screen is the main game
for Essie, although she pines to tread the
boards again. “I’d love to do theatre,”
she says, “but it’s tricky with school-age
children because it’s every night and all
weekend. There’ve been some tempting
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
Exclusive
offers, but that would just be a purely
selfish delight. I love hanging out with
my kids, so while they want to do that
with me, I want to be available.”
With both Essie and her husband
juggling international careers, True
History of the Kelly Gang gave them a
rare chance to work together – an
experience Essie calls her career
highlight. “He constantly throws you in
the deep end and goes, ‘Swim!’” she
says, with that raucous, rapid-fire laugh.
“I broke a rib early on and proceeded to
be dropped and punched and thrown
against walls. The making of it was
brutal but incredibly special.”
Essie and Justin met in 1996 when
Justin was the production designer on
Belvoir Street Theatre’s A View from the
Bridge. They married six years later and,
in 2011, he wowed audiences with his
directorial debut, Snowtown. Essie puts
the success of their relationship down to
mutual respect.“His brain just blows my
mind and I think I do that for him too,”
she says. “In spite of both of us wishing
the other would be a stay-at-home
parent, we love each other’s pursuit of
excellence. Neither of us wants the other
to not achieve, but we also want to be
the only people parenting our children,
so it’s complicated.”
Essie recently finished filming in New
Zealand, where she mastered the local
accent to play the title role in The
Justice of Bunny King, due out this year.
“Bunny King is a squidgy bandit – she
washes windows at intersections,” says
Essie, “and she’s living on her sister’s
couch trying to get her kids back out
of foster care.”
It was the latest in a series of meaty
roles over the past 18 months, but you
get the sense she’s a long way from
sated. “There’s a lifetime of work to
do,” says Essie, who wants to work with
director Lars von Trier and actors Meryl
Streep and Judi Dench. And an Academy
Award? “Yeah!” she says,“I’ve always
wanted an Oscar.”Asked where to next,
Essie says it’s “always the same goal” –
and shoots her finger skyward like a
rocket headed for the stars. Miss Fisher
would expect nothing less. AWW
Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears is in
cinemas from 27 February.
43
 THE

MAKING

OF A
C UR CRED
RE

44 a ian Wo
W F U 0

Six months after being
jailed for murdering her
ex-boyfriend, Robyn
Lindholm was charged
with murder again.
Genevieve Gannon asks:
is this killer the deadliest
woman in Australia?
he Supreme Court of Victoria
T is not a place for romance, but
as she sat in handcuffs before
a judge, Robyn Lindholm
sent meaningful looks towards
her lover. Hunched and rough-faced,
Torsten Trabert, also in chains, sat just
a few feet away, on the other side of an
armed guard. The love-struck brute flirted
back, seemingly oblivious to the sombre
proceedings going on around him.
It was the closest the couple had been
since they were arrested two years
earlier, after homicide police chased
them through Brunswick West. The
dog squad finally tracked them to a
drain where they were hiding in water
up to their necks. Lindholm, a blonde
former stripper, eventually admitted
to ordering the murder of her ex, and
Trabert, a slow-witted truck driver, was
found guilty of inflicting the fatal blow,
as The Weekly first reported in 2017.
But much has happened since then.
As they awaited their jail sentences,
they knew it was the last time they
would see each other for years, possibly
forever. Trabert, or “Toots” as he called
himself in the soppy letters he wrote
from jail, seemed happy just to be near
Lindholm. Given what we now know
about Lindholm’s record of slaying her
lovers, he was perhaps safer locked away.
The trial heard how Lindholm had
asked a succession of boyfriends to
kill her ex, Wayne Amey. She made
the request of Kyle Elliot, then Aaron
Ardley and finally Trabert. Aaron had
agreed to do it, telling the trial that
Lindholm had him under a “spell”. But
he was injured and it was Trabert
AAP.
who finally carried out the deed in
Robyn Lindholm (above) and Torsten
Trabert (right) are arrested after
being found hiding in a drain.
Lindholm would later admit to
murdering her ex, Wayne Amey,
implicating current partner Trabert.
December 2013. Lindholm’s lawyer,
John Kelly, asked for leniency because
she was remorseful. But Justice Lex
Lasry didn’t buy it. “I am sure that
you are ashamed and embarrassed,”
the judge said. “But the real question
is whether you genuinely regret what
you have done. I frankly do not see
any sign of that.”
Lindholm was “angry and vengeful”,
Justice Lasry said. Killing Wayne was
futile and unnecessary, and dumping
his body on a lonely mountain top
was “callous”, he said.
He jailed Lindholm for 25 years and
Trabert for 28. A third accomplice,
John Anthony Ryan, was sentenced to
31 years. Lindholm got a discount for
pleading guilty. Trabert did too because
he led police to the body, wedged
between boulders at Victoria’s Mt
Korong. The trial heard the trio went
out drinking after hiding the corpse.
After the sentences were handed down
the lovers were parted, Lindholm to
her cell, Trabert to his. But nearly six
months later, on May 31, 2016, detectives
visited Lindholm in prison. She was
charged with murder, again the victim
a man she’d once loved. Police believed
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
True crime
they had cracked the mystery of her
missing former fiancé, George Teazis,
who vanished in 2005.
When he sentenced her for George’s
murder, Justice Christopher Beale noted
Lindholm had had an idyllic upbringing.
She had been close to her father, and her
mother visited her twice a week in jail. In
fact, her mother moved to Melton so she
could be closer to the maximum security
prison where her daughter was being
held. “You did not want for affection
from your parents and they would go
without to ensure your material needs
were met,” Justice Beale said, raising the
question: what had turned Lindholm
from a loved and happy, high-achieving
girl to a cruel, vengeful killer now serving
back-to-back sentences for murdering
two men she once adored?
The newspapers called her a Black
Widow and Femme Fatale. The
r
headlines are cliched, but accurate.
In each case, Lindholm seduced a new
lover and enlisted him to murder the
old. Now that suppression orders
have been lifted in her second secret
trial, we know the person who helped
kill George Teazis was Lindholm’s
second victim, Wayne Amey. →
45
 Torsten Trabert received
a discount in sentencing for
leading police to Wayne Amey’s
body, wedged between boulders
Her first victim at Victoria’s Mt Korong.
Born in 1973 in the affluent Melbourne
suburb of Glen Waverley, Robyn Jane
Lindholm was an animal lover with
honey-coloured hair who wanted for
nothing. Her father, Raymond, was a
welder, her mother, Dorothy, a nurse.
“She received considerable affection
from both parents,” her lawyer John
Kelly told her plea hearing. “Despite
the fact that financial constraints
were significant, she describes her
parents on occasions going without
in order to provide for her.”
Her early school years were
spent at Kilvington Grammar
School. Later she attended
Malvern Girls High, in an affluent
part of town. At the age of 13 she
won the Victorian Ice Skating
Championships. An injury cut her
sporting career short but she
applied herself in school and was
accepted to study science at
prestigious Monash University.
She hoped to transfer into
veterinary science. Lindholm
studied hard for about 18 months
but when she didn’t get the marks
Above: Alphonse Gangitano – known
she needed to be a vet she shifted
as The Black Prince of Lygon Street
into a TAFE course in animal husbandry. – was a key figure in Melbourne’s
At 19, however, she dropped out and gangland wars. Right: Lindholm
got a job at a car dealership, and later with George Teazis. The pair were
started working at Crown Casino. engaged to be married before
The leggy blonde was popular in the Lindholm ordered the hit.
high-roller Mahogany Room and
attracted the attention of underworld “George and Nick worked together Lindholm and George had been
figure Alphonse Gangitano, a key figure as an exceptionally close team – together for seven years and she was
in Melbourne’s gangland wars, known brothers working hard to create a familiar with the tradition. At work
as The Black Prince of Lygon Street. better life,” George’s sister-in-law, that day, George was in a good mood,
“She became enamoured of the Deborah Teazis, said in court. and clearly looking forward to his
lifestyle in terms of its luxuries,” They were a close-knit family and night of brandy and reflection, telling
her lawyer John Kelly said. they accepted Lindholm into their his brother Nick he was, “planning on
Seduced by a world of wealth, lives. George loved seafood and steak, putting a big chunk in it”.
Lindholm began working as a stripper, often “with a hearty Greek salad That night, Lindholm made George
which helped pay for the large mortgage and a cold beer on a hot day.” dinner. Her friend Kate* was also at
she took out at the age of 20 to buy a Deborah remembers Christmases the house, and George’s son Ross was
30-hectare rural property at spent watching George take control playing Xbox in the bungalow out the
Glenhope, north of Melbourne. of opening the oysters, “but eating back, where he lived. By the time he
Her life changed in 1998, when more before they actually made it finished his meal, George was well
Alphonse was executed in his home. to the table”. and truly drunk, according to Ross.
Lindholm moved on with George Teazis On May 2, 2005, George performed After they ate, Lindholm and Kate
(also known as George Templeton), who his ritual of drinking Metaxa brandy smoked some weed with George, and
had done a brief stint in prison in 2003 to commemorate the anniversary of then the women went to Kate’s house.
but, other than that, was a hardworking his father’s death. This was something “George was drunk, possibly stoned
businessman who ran a carpet laying he did every year, and he asked and certainly vulnerable,” Justice
company with his brother, Nick. Lindholm to buy the brandy for him. Beale said.

46 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020


Under
her spell
A ruthless seductress,
former stripper Robyn
Lindholm would use sex
to lure her lovers to
perform her dirty work,
and they would become
putty in her hands. Soon a
wicked web of betray
and murder was spu
with Lindholm leavin
victims in her wake.
The earliest she is due GUILTY OF ORDERING THE
for release from
MURDERS OF EX-LOVERS
prison is 2049.
TO 31 YEARS.
When Lindholm returned later
that night, George had vanished.
There was no sign of a break-in.
His ute was missing too. At 2.43am,
she received a text from George that
read: “Got problems, need a lift, will
call soon.” He was never seen again.
Investigators found blood on the
couch of George and Lindholm’s
lounge room, but George’s body
NEWSPIX. FAIRFAX. AAP.
was never recovered.
Soon after George disappeared,
Lindholm severed ties with his family
and started living with her new love
interest, Wayne Amey. She moved into
True crime
Craig Henderson, said that
Wayne was being
threatened, and that
Lindholm and Wayne’s
relationship had ended
because Lindholm had
an affair. Her new lover,
a man named Kyle Elliot,
admitted to threatening
Wayne. He confessed
Lindholm had asked him
to kill Wayne quite a
few times, and they’d often
argued about it.
“It became clear
Mr Amey was anxious
GUILTY OF about his own safety,” said
MURDERING WAYNE Justice Lasry.
WAYNE AMEY AND AMEY AND SENTENCED In March 2012,
TO 28 YEARS.
GEORGE TEAZIS. Kyle was jailed for other
crimes and by August
that year, Lindholm had
started dating a man named
Aaron Michael Ardley. He
was obsessed with her, and
when she asked him to kill
for her, he readily agreed.
“After what me and Robyn
talked about, I was under a
spell,” Aaron said.
Aaron began following
Wayne and conducting
his own surveillance work.
He lurked around Wayne’s
favourite restaurant and
began lifting weights. When
Crown Prosecutor Gavin
. Silbert asked him what
KILL HER FIRST. HIS BODY HAS NEVER he was in training for,
BEEN RECOVERED. Aaron replied: “To be a
killer.”
Lindholm gave Aaron a
his penthouse in Hathorn and enjoyed security pass that would let him into
the “high life”. the basement car park of the building
she had once lived in with Wayne.
A torrid tale Aaron went there three times armed
As far as anyone could tell, Lindholm with knives. But in January 2013,
was in love with Wayne. Her nickname Aaron suffered a brain injury, so
for him was Batman and she planned couldn’t carry out the murder.
to settle down with him and start a Lindholm had to find someone else.
family. She began working at his gym, By this point, she was heavily using ice.
and together they bought a farm at She moved to a flat in Preston, in
Bittern. But several years on, cracks Melbourne’s north, and it was then
began to show in their relationship, that she met Torsten Trabert. He
and in 2010 they split. moved in with her and – although he
Things turned nasty when they tried was married – the pair began a torrid,
to divide their assets. Wayne’s lawyer, sexually charged relationship. →
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 47
True crime
Born in Germany, Trabert had moved
to Australia with his parents in 1970.
He’d always had a low IQ but years
of drug abuse had caused mild brain
damage. The handwriting in the love
letters he sent to Lindholm is that of
a child. In 2013 he was out of work,
addicted to ice and madly in love.
When Lindholm asked him to kill for
her, Trabert agreed.
On December 10, 2013, Trabert and
John Anthony Ryan drove to Wayne’s
apartment building in Hawthorn. Using
a swipe card Lindholm had given them,
they entered the underground car
park and waited for Wayne to return.
When he did, they beat him and forced
him into the boot of their car. Trabert
drove the car to the Preston flat he
shared with Lindholm. A neighbour
heard movement and mumbling from
inside the boot. It was Wayne, begging
for his life.
“You don’t have to go this far, I’ll
do anything,” Wayne pleaded.
Trabert asked the neighbour to help
“finish it” but he refused.
Two days later, Trabert, Lindholm
and Ryan drove to Mt Korong and
hid Wayne’s body. Then they spent
several hours drinking at a hotel in
Inglewood. When the police eventually
tracked them down, they denied having
anything to do with Wayne’s death. But
once the court process began, Lindholm
turned on her accomplices, and her
lover. She pleaded guilty and implicated
all three in Wayne’s murder.
Trabert and Ryan refused to admit
they killed Wayne, but a jury found them
guilty. One of the widely circulated
photos of Trabert, taken outside the
bluestone court, captures him blowing
a kiss at the photographer. He’s
remorseless and smug as he prepares
to be sentenced for murder. After Justice
Lasry handed down his judgment, the
criminals were led away, and Wayne’s
family and friends were left to process
their grief.
That would have been the end of
it. But Lindholm’s guilty plea had not
gone unnoticed by police. Homicide
detectives, who had been unable to
crack the case of her former fiancé’s
disappearance, started re-examining
the evidence.
48 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
Second strike
When police interviewed Lindholm’s
friends and acquaintances, they
discovered she had bragged to severa
people that she’d had a hand in
George’s disappearance. Lindholm
was tried for murder. The modus
operandi, the police claimed, was
similar to the killing of Wayne Amey
– Lindholm had been the one to order
the hit, but she’d asked someone
else to do her dirty work. This time,
however, Lindholm refused to admit
guilt. She had an alibi, she insisted.
Her friend Kate was with her when
George vanished.
Kate was put on the witness stand
and swore she was with Lindholm the
whole time. Under relentless questioning
from the prosecutor, she stood her
ground. But that night, she cracked.
She called the police and told them
she wanted to change her statement.
Kate revealed that Lindholm and
Wayne Amey had begun their affair
while Lindholm was still living with
George. She claimed Lindholm had
confided to her that Wayne had
“paid somebody to help him get rid of
George”. She also told Kate to “stick
to the story”, court documents show.
George’s blood was found in his
lounge room. Witnesses claimed
Lindholm had talked about dumping
his body in Port Phillip Bay, but this
was never proved. Despite pleas from
George’s family, Lindholm has never
revealed what happened to him. Even
after 14 years was added to her jail
term, she insisted she had nothing to
do with his death.
Left: Robyn Lindholm and
Wayne Amey in an undated
photo. Below: Torsten Trabert
blows a kiss to photographers
outside court.
al
y
George’s sister-in-law voiced the
grief the family has endured and
the anger they feel towards Lindholm:
“We accepted you into our family, as
George’s partner,” Deborah told the
unrepentant killer. “We respected
you as a human being.”
She begged Lindholm to “do
something right” and tell the family
where George’s body is. “If you ever
loved or cared about George, even in
the smallest way, then give him peace
in death and give us some closure.”
Deborah and husband John took in
George’s children, who suffered greatly
after their father’s disappearance.
Deborah made a final plea to
Lindholm: “It is never too late to tell
the truth. It is never too late to show
you have compassion.”
The killer has, however, remained
unmoved. She said nothing before
being taken back to prison. When she
is freed she will be an old woman. Her
earliest possible release date is 2043.
If she is granted parole, she will leave
prison when she is 71. Until then, Robyn
Lindholm maintains her silence. AWW
NEWSPIX.
*Name has been changed to protect
the witness’s identity.
 Holden

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Community

50 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

 Be ch
AN WO
LI
GO

M
AU ST RA
C O AL D

EN
ST

’S W
QLD

E
E
EK
LY • T H

buddies The Albatross Nippers are flying

high. Lizzie Wilson meets a team
of junior surf lifesavers with special
needs who are as fearless and
resilient as their namesake.

A
t just past 8am on a Saturday morning at Nobbys
Beach Surf Club on Queensland’s Gold Coast,
something very special is about to happen.
Dozens of mums and dads loaded up like
packhorses trudge across blistering hot sand
to get as close to the water’s edge as possible. They are
the proud parents of the pint-sized heroes we know as
nippers who, every weekend between September and
March, eagerly take to our beaches to learn about surf safety.
To the northern end of the flags, one gutsy group of
Thanks to the
youngsters has gathered. Smeared in sunscreen and decked
Albatross Nippers
program, the joy out in brilliant orange rashies, the flock of 30 young warriors
of the ocean is takes off in full formation. This is the magnificent Albatross
accessible to kids Nippers, a select group of youngsters who participate in
of all abilities. a unique program that gives children with special needs an
opportunity to be included in mainstream surf lifesaving.
In the pack there’s one young man who can’t help but
stand out. He’s 13-year-old Marcus Hay and he has Down
syndrome, but that’s not up for discussion. The pint-sized
teen with a smile that would knock the socks off the most
hardened of souls has his eyes firmly fixed on the ocean
where he knows he can find his happy place.
“See out there where there’s a break – that’s where I feel
like Superman! I’m more confident than some of the other →

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 51

Community
kids so I like to help them get better
every week so they keep coming back
for more,” Marcus tells The Weekly
crew spending the morning with this
special group of youngsters.
“I’ve been an Albatross for nearly
five years and when I grow up I want
to become one of the volunteers.
“My dad [Warwick] and mum
[Carla] and my little sister Liana tell
me how proud they are of me. I love
to win, but I also want my mates to do
well – that way we can all be
winners,” he says, before taking off
down the beach to help a couple
of buddies who’ve taken a fall.
Watching on, it’s hard not to feel
buoyed by the spirit of the Albatross
Nippers and their boundless passion
and sheer determination. They have
a range of disabilities including cerebral
palsy, autism, Asperger’s syndrome and
muscular dystrophy, but ask any one
of them if they feel ‘different’ from the
mainstream kids down the beach, and
the response would be a resounding no.
Founder and creator of the Albatross
movement is local Gold Coast
physiotherapist and veteran surf coach
Nick Marshall who has been involved
in surf lifesaving since he was a nipper
back in the 1980s. The father of two
little girls, Ella, seven, and Imogen, four,
could see a gaping hole in the system
and decided to do something about it.
“I’d been coaching dozens of kids
over the years who often turned up
with a sister or brother with a disability.
I’d tell the parents to bring them along
and I’ll make it work,” he says. “You
could see how much they felt left out,
and how quickly they responded when
included – that’s when I knew I was
onto something,” Nick, 42, explains.
“I came home one day and said to my
wife, Jessica, ‘I reckon I can make
a difference to these kids’ lives.’
“We’ve worked tirelessly to get it
100 per cent right. From the get-go
it’s always been about inclusion and
equal opportunity for all – and most
importantly, fun!”
Kicking off in 2014 with just 22
enrolments, this year saw numbers
climb to more than 100 Albatross
Nippers, with three other Gold Coast
clubs (Southport, Tallebudgera and
52 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
The program
started by Nick
(left) has given
kids such as
Marcus (below)
a new sense of
purpose. Right:
Marcus with
his parents
Carla and
Warwick, and
sister Liana.
Coolangatta) now
following the same model.
Nick’s pioneering work has
earned him a number of
awards, and this year he’s
been recognised as
Queensland’s Local Hero in
the Australian of the Year
Awards.
“I’m humbled, but I’m
not the hero. Those little
foot soldiers – they’re the
real heroes. Week in and
out, regardless of whether
there’s wind, rain, stingers
or even cyclones, they turn
up and they turn it on. The
country is in mighty good
hands if they reflect today’s
youth,” Nick says.
Nick credits his local
community for getting this
off the ground, from small
businesses to colleagues
and complete strangers
who rallied from the
beginning to make
Albatross Nippers happen.
“It’s the volunteers who
have made this work, and
every year I pay tribute to
these fine folk. Without
them, this would never have taken team of special needs children
flight,” he says proudly. compete in Queensland, if not the
“Each Albatross has their own country, in surf lifesaving,” Nick says.
trained water-safety officer – men and “The tide has shifted – the wave of
women who donate their weekends to hope has finally rolled in.”
the kids, teaching invaluable water Proudly holding the flag that day was
and land skills with a heavy emphasis 14-year-old Lily-Anne Stephenson, who
on surf awareness.” also lives with Down syndrome. Today,
Last year, the Albatross Nippers she’s made her way down the beach
took part in the 50th anniversary to meet with The Weekly following
Youth Surf Lifesaving Championships a recent double-knee reconstruction.
on Burleigh Heads beach. “It was “I’m not going to miss my chance to
unprecedented. There’s never been a be in a magazine!” she says cheekily.

Right: Lily-Anne leading the Albatross squad
at the Youth Surf Lifesaving Championships
in 2019, and (below) with mum Antonia.
“I love being on the board and riding
the waves in, but I don’t like the beach
flags. I have learned you can’t be good
at everything, and you can only do
your best. All week I look forward to
seeing my nipper buddies. We have so
much fun and by the time I get home,
I’m exhausted,” she says, smiling.
PHOTOGRAPHY: HARVIE ALLISON. RICHARD GOSLING.
“Being an Albatross, it teaches you to
be kind and to always think about your
teammates – we’re a very tight group.”
Lily’s mum Antonia and older sister
Annabelle have driven Lily down from
the family home in Brisbane, the 160km
round trip well worth every second.
“She’s a different child since she signed
up three years ago. My parents, her
grandma Erin and grandpa David, live
here at the coast and they come along
every weekend. It’s a terrific way for
families like us to exhale for a few hours.
“Lily attends school at Seton College
in Brisbane where there’s a wonderful
program specifically tailored to her
needs. She’s thriving and we were so
proud last year when she received the
Year 9 Personal Best award. Nippers
has helped her in every aspect of her
day to day – it’s been life changing.”
Nick hopes the five years he’s spent
fine-tuning the program will make it
easier for surf lifesaving clubs across the
globe to adopt the Albatross model. To
raise awareness, Nick teamed up with
acclaimed filmmaker, Shannon Johnston
of Risen Film. The result, a 35-minute
documentary called Included, is
currently featured on all Virgin
Australia flights as part of the airline’s
partnership with Surf Lifesaving.
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
Back at the beach, Marcus has just
caught the perfect wave, gliding into
the shallow waters. He’s ducking and
weaving with the help of his water
safety officer, who happens to be his
dad Warwick.
“Meet my dad – he’s so cool! He
couldn’t swim or run in the surf until
I joined Nippers and now he’s almost as
fast as me,” Marcus says, dragging his
dad back out to catch another wave.
Warwick’s story is much like many
of the parents and helpers who’ve
made their way to the beach on this
Saturday morning. Never much of
a surfer, after enrolling Marcus in the
Albatross program, Warwick
challenged himself to become
more surf smart, and last year
successfully completed his
Bronze Medallion.
“I was inspired by Marcus,
who never gives up. I thought,
‘wow, if he can do this, so
can I,’” says the 52-year-old.
“I was hopeless in the ocean,
and now I’m one of the regular
volunteers on patrol at our
local beach. One of the joys
for our family is being able to
give back to the community
– it’s the least we can do.
“Interacting with the other
kids has helped Marcus
enormously to know how
to socialise and how to build
friendships. He’s got more
mates than us! He loves a challenge,
and once he’s achieved it, he’s already
looking for the next one. We completed
the Brisbane to Gold Coast 100km
charity bike ride last September, and
when we got to the finish line, he asked
if we could turn around and do it all
again – that’s our boy!”
With that, Marcus – who is one
of the real success stories of the
Albatross Nippers – is off again into
the waves, but not before one last hug
for The Weekly team.
“I love the beach so much, I love my
Albatross buddies, and I really love
my family,” he says. “Actually, come to
think of it, I just love life.” AWW
To learn more, visit facebook.com/
albatrossnippers.
53
Exclusive

N WOM
IA

EN
STRAL
SYDNEY

’S W E E
NSW
AU
K
LY
• THE

Jennifer
BY R N E

PHOTOGRAPHY by ALANA LANDSBERRY • STYLING by JAMELA DUNCAN

54 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

 I finally feel
that ’ f
In a candid interview, Master
about the society scandal th
ancestors and the sunshin
J
ennifer Byrne is full of beans.
Just days ago she arrived back
in Sydney from a mammoth
adventure on which she and
her husband, TV host Andrew
Denton, travelled from Bergen to the
very tip of Norway and back again.
“It’s a bucket list thing of course, to
see the Northern Lights, which means
travelling into the cold and dark of
the northern winter. Though the real
lure for me was we’d be joined by the
‘world’s greatest explorer’ Sir Ranulph
Fiennes,” says Jennifer. “His feats are
too many to enumerate but include
[being] the first man to circumnavigate
the earth via the two poles. He cut off
his own fingers to counter frostbite
and scaled Mount Everest at 64.
He’s my older-man crush,” she
adds mischievously.
“I saw him at the Opera House. This
HAIR AND MAKE-UP BY NICOLA JOHNSON.
trip was my chance to get closer. We went
from six hours of light a day to just
JENNIFER WEARS MAX MARA PANTS.
20 unearthly minutes, sailing past tiny
ports illuminated only by twinkling
Christmas lights. And the joy! Ran –
as he introduces himself, offering his
fingerless hand to shake – was every
bit the charming gentleman I’d hoped
for. A baronet who joined the SAS,
now 75 and still adventuring.”
s
e
w s pa
As she talks, Jennifer’s eyes sparkle:
adventure travel is her passion, combine
it with maestro ‘Ran’ and you have the
trip of a lifetime and one that also feels
totally in keeping with the host of
brainiac TV quiz show Mastermind.
In a few days Jennifer will start filming
Celebrity Mastermind, followed by a
second season of the SBS quiz show.
“I grew up watching it and I’ve played
games since I was a kid, so it’s perfect
for me,” she quips.
“In fact, probably one of the noblest
moments of my life was when I was
crowned celebrity Sale of the Century
(SOTC) champion on the Nine Network.
For me, that was the acme. I was
working at 60 Minutes and though Dad
was always proud of me, it wasn’t until
then that he paid any attention to my
television work. He was a games nut too,
and this was his golden moment; his
child was going to compete! This is when
it was still a class act, right, so I was
playing against people like Gough
Whitlam, who was miffed I beat him.
“Some years before the SOTC show
Dad and I were playing Scrabble as we
always did, and I won for the first time.
I would have been in my late 20s. He
said, ‘Well done, darling’ and we never
played again. We played other games,
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
alk
he
but Scrabble was handed on. The baton
passed – which I think is lovely.”
This tale gives some idea of the
brilliant and colourful family Jennifer
was born into. And while she’s always
been at pains to underplay her upper
crust pedigree, after the shock discovery
that she genuinely is descended from
medieval British royalty in the SBS TV
ancestry series Who Do You Think
You Are – which we’ll get to – she is
finally ready to lift the curtain on her
extraordinary childhood, much of
which was spent scampering around
the hallowed corridors of Melbourne’s
Government House.
Fairytale and scandal
“My parents met when my mother
was the Governor’s daughter. The family
came from England when she was about
20, and my father was the man in the
white uniform with the braid who was
the ADC, the aide-de-camp. Traditionally
the Governor chooses his ADC, and
because my grandfather had been
the commander of the Royal Marines,
he had one from the Royal Navy. He
picked my father. It was never explained
to me why. My father was playful and
fun and bright and quick, but not the
most obedient.” →
55
Exclusive
Jennifer’s grandfather was Sir Reginald
Alexander Dallas Brooks, Victoria’s
longest-serving Governor (from 1949
to 1963), while her grandmother was
Lady Violet Brooks and dressed almost
regally emanating from wealthy British
stock. Jennifer says “Lady Vi” always
claimed, “I am the class in the family”.
Jennifer’s father, Robin Byrne, came
out from England with Grandpa Dallas
and then fell in love with his boss’s
daughter, Jeanette Brooks. They married
in 1952 when Jean was 22 and Robin
25, and from that moment on every
cough and sniff of their lives filled the
society columns of the newspapers.
After they married, Jennifer’s
parents moved to a house 10 minutes’
walk from Government House but
Jennifer and her two siblings – older
brother Christopher and younger
sister Belinda – still spent much of
their time at the vice-regal dwelling.
“It was a different world and a different
time and a different land. The house is a
giant wedding cake of a place with endless
staff, whom my grandmother called
‘servants’ because that was the word of
the time. It was incredibly antique, remote
from an Australian world, with these
endless lawns on which there would be
garden parties.The Queen and other royals
would come and stay because that was
their house when they were in Victoria.”
Jennifer has a distant recollection of
meeting the Queen Mother as a cheeky
three-year-old. She was made to spend
weeks practising to curtsey before Her
Majesty arrived. “There’s a picture
of me doing an incredibly giraffe-like
curtsey, where one of my back legs
is sticking out,” she chuckles.
“We had our own bedrooms and
spent Christmas and the like there, but
we didn’t stay overnight when the
royals were there. I remember thinking
the Queen Mother was a bit grumpy.
“It was a fairytale. We wore fairytale
clothes and we lived a fairytale, strange
existence. When you look at The Crown,
I think that GH, as it used to be called
in the family, was absolutely designed
on the great houses of England. Those
scenes are completely familiar to me,
that big central stairwell, the way it
curls around, that is exactly what
Government House is like.”
56 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
Mostly she remembers the fun
she had there. “There was this huge
ballroom with thrones on either side
with crowns on the top. They were
not for Granny and Grandpa, they
didn’t sit there, they were for royalty.
“My brother Chris and I would take
our pillows in and slide the length of
this magnificent, beautiful polished
wooden floor from one end to the
other. And yes, we played on the thrones
even though we were always told not to.
Then we’d go down to the kitchens and
pinch meringues. It sounds like some
hideous cross between Billy Bunter and
Enid Blyton, and it was quite odd.”
Away from the big house, as time
went on, she says, “it became something
that I really tried to conceal. I just
wanted to fit in with everyone else.”
Then one day everything came
crashing down. Jennifer’s eyes fill with
tears as she talks about probably the
most damaging and formative period of
her life, when her mother left her father
for another woman, Zita West.
“It was all very mysterious. I didn’t
really understand and no one told me
what was happening,” says Jennifer.
“I know there were reports in the
newspapers. The Truth [a scandal sheet
of the day] was very strong. I remember
my granny used to have a special
drawer she kept all the papers in, and
I’d sometimes go and look because
I knew they were tucked away. I wanted
to find out what was happening.
I would read – this is reflecting the times
– and they didn’t ever say ‘lesbian’ or
‘gay’. It was ‘an unmarried friend’.”
While vitriolic, reports were deliberately
oblique which made it even more
confusing. For example, The Mirror
reported that Jeanette “dresses sensibly
for the farm in slacks and shirt”.
Jennifer had just finished primary
school, which looking back she thinks
may have been a deliberate moment
chosen by her parents to enact the
transition. “My sister had finished
pre-school, my brother was at
secondary school, but nothing was
explained. It’s really hard to imagine
how people can not tell you, but this
was a different era and in the world I
came from it was a question I couldn’t
bring myself to ask, because I knew there
was disgrace. The things people said to
me were pretty awful.”
The only warning that something was
awry came to 10-year-old Jennifer when
she overheard her parents arguing.
“They never argued and I remember
saying to my brother, ‘our parents may
not stay together’. I don’t remember
what he said, but I know that about a
week and a half later we were removed,
taken up to the country to a place called
Harkaway Farm. Not so long after
I remember the phone ringing in
the middle of the night because my
grandfather had died. He’d had a bad
heart.” By that time Dallas was retired
and living in Frankston. “It was
suggested publicly that it was Mum’s
fault, she’d killed him by running off.”
Jennifer was especially concerned
about her father. “He had all the
humiliation and he had been publicly –
in the old days you’d have called it
‘cuckolded’. It was all over the papers.
Even though I didn’t understand what it
meant, I understood he was incredibly
vulnerable. It’s a very great privilege as a
child or young person to see your father
vulnerable because most of us never do
until they get old or sick, but he was a
man in the prime of his life and I didn’t
understand all the complexities. I just
knew something Mummy had done
JENNIFER WEARS GINGER & SMART DRESS AND DINOSAUR DESIGNS BANGLE. CHAIR FROM MATT BLATT.
was scandalous and terrible and my
grandfather had died. But my father
never said one bad word about my
mother. Not once.”
Jennifer’s mother stayed with Zita
for 19 years and though Jennifer didn’t
like her mother’s partner, looking back
she has come to understand what her
mum may have been feeling.
“Slowly as time went on Mum would
tell me things. She was bright. She’d
been encouraged by one of her school
teachers to sit the Oxford entry exams.
But when she told her father he said,
that’s not going to happen. No man is
going to marry a bluestocking, and she
was sent to a Swiss boarding school. She
always joked when making the bed that
she could do a perfect hospital corner!
“Grandpa was the maximum male
that you could have – it didn’t worry me;
I loved it. He was my grandad. But if he
was your father-in-law or your father
it was different. Maybe Zita was the →
 “We lived
a fairytale,
strange
existence.”
escape. It was her chance to break away
from an incredibly restrictive life.”
It has taken decades for Jennifer to
overcome her “intense dislike for this
woman who blew up my life” and
appreciate her mother’s situation, and
I sense a lot of the pain is still very raw.
After a couple of years Jennifer was
sent away to boarding school for four
years, which she loathed.“It was nothing
like Malory Towers,” she jokes. Her
golden days were the summer holidays
with her father. “I think a girl who has
the unreserved, unquestioned love of
her father is blessed indeed. I did.”
Robin later remarried and retired “at
59 and a quarter years of age,” Jennifer
says. “He lived another 28 years. He
couldn’t wait to be with his games, jigsaws,
garden and tennis. He was the happiest
retiree I’ve ever known. Andrew used to
say he’s a bit like Winnie the Pooh. To be
around him made you happy because he
was undemanding, endlessly interested
and didn’t try to turn you into something
better. He was a really gentle soul in a
pretty tough world.”

Flying high
Jennifer was a smart student and sat her
HSC – or Matric as it was then – early.
She ended up two years ahead of her 1986 she replaced George Negus on when we did decide to get married our
peers and won a place in university. 60 Minutes and the rest is history. “It neighbour, who has remained really
Her mother thought she was too young was fun to take over from George. I was good friends and is much handier than I

to go at 16, so as a fill-in she applied for
a journalism cadetship at The Age
newspaper. “I don’t know why [editor]
Graham Perkin took on a 16-year-old
cadet, but I think it was partly because it
was the beginning of ’70s feminism, he
wanted women in the newsroom.” She
conspicuously different in everything
from hair quantity to experience. It was
big. But by that time I’d had a really
good stint at Sunday, so I was ready.”
Jennifer has never been one to stay
still and her impressive career has seen
her move from TV to book publishing
WITCHERY TOP, MAX MARA PANTS AND DINOSAUR DESIGNS BANGLES. CHAIR FROM MATT BLATT.
am, made us the red velvet cushion. I’ve
got fabulous photographs of the ring on
the red velvet cushion being held by our
son with a smile like sunshine. He knew
he’d made the whole thing happen.”
Time healed her parents’ rift and they
ended up living a stone’s throw from

COURTESY OF THE NINE NETWORK. GETTY IMAGES. JENNIFER WEARS

was paid $40 a week – as were men
– and loved it. Jennifer’s print journalism
career took her to Melbourne, San
Francisco and London’s Fleet Street.
She gave up her university place and
embraced work. With the benefit of
hindsight she sees she was “running
away from the fractures and running
towards the perceived solutions and the
determination to grow up incredibly
fast”, but admits The Age “saved” her
at a time when she was lost.
Ten years on when the Nine Network
called to offer a position on the new
Sunday show, Jennifer took the leap
into TV and moved to Sydney. Then in
and back to TV. On the way she married
and broke up with her first husband,
journalist David Margan, and in 1990
just two weeks after that split, met her
soulmate Andrew Denton. “It was not
sought, not expected, but that is an
almost unbelievable 30 years ago.”
Their son, Connor, born in 1994, was
the catalyst for the couple to tie the knot
nine years later. “He really wanted it.
He had this romantic idea, and a very
particular vision, in which he would
be the one who carried the ring on a
red velvet cushion as his parents got
married. He mentioned it several times
over the years and he never nagged, and
each other in Melbourne with their new
spouses – when Zita left, following years
on her own, Jean married Jennifer’s
godfather, who had also been the best
man at Jean’s first wedding. The two
couples became the best of friends, in
and out of each other’s houses. Jennifer
too realised “the amazingness” of her
mum, who went to university to study
anthropology in her later years.
Then when Jean turned 79, she
was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
“It was beyond terrible. It didn’t
happen quickly and my sister did
absolutely the lion’s share because
she was in Melbourne.”

58 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020


After a long illness, Jennifer’s father
died in January 2016 and Jean died
in November the same year. She is
philosophical about the circle of life,
but it was undeniably hard to bear and
is still something she’s struggling with.
But one of the positive outcomes was
that Jennifer agreed to go on the Who
Do You Think You Are TV series to
investigate her family history. She had
no idea of where she came from beyond
her parents move from England and her
father’s childhood in China, and admits
it was definitely a way to reconnect
with her parents, but says it was also
something she would never have felt
free to do when they were alive.
Clockwise from above: Lady
Violet Brooks; Jennifer with
her dad Robin and son Connor;
on assignment; Connor on
Jennifer and Andrew’s wedding
day; Jennifer and Andrew;
Jennifer hugging mum Jean.
The result of her journey with the
show was cataclysmic. In short, Jennifer
discovered she’s the descendant of
three royal dynasties and of Sir Edward
Neville, one of King Henry VIII’s
courtiers who was beheaded as a traitor;
his head put on a spike. Amid the
powerful men were equally impressive
women, who seized control of their
lives in difficult circumstances.
My formidable family
In 2017, niggling indigestion resulted
in a diagnosis of advanced heart disease
for Andrew. It came out of the blue and
the subsequent operation was a big one
– quadruple heart bypass surgery which
ended up being quintuple.
In the lead-up, Andrew and Connor
were resolutely positive but Jennifer was
terrified. After the operation she rushed
in to check on her husband. “I made a
mistake and went in too early. They say
you should wait till they come out of
the deep – they basically kill you; they
turn off all your vital organs so everything
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
Exclusive
is done by machine. When I went in he
was this horrible colour. He was in the
Underworld ... So I sang. Songs we sing
together. Songs we’d sung to Connor.
And he came back. It was the miracle
of medicine, but I sang him to life.”
Since Andrew’s brush with death,
I note the couple has embraced
travelling and tried to scale back
work. Is this Jennifer’s way of
grabbing on to life while she can?
“No, I truly don’t think that way,” she
replies. “I feel incredibly grateful about
having – though it was painful – this
long track which began when I was in
my single figures of what looked like a
jewelled life and of course wasn’t. That’s
the race and what happened when my
parents went is that I don’t feel driven
anymore. I just feel free. I think anyone
who’s lost a parent would know the
deep grief and the sense of the layer
above you in the universe, gone; but
would also recognise there’s freedom.”
Jennifer is about to own that freedom
with her next project, what she’s calling
“a bit of a memoir”. It’s going to
investigate her newly discovered
relatives, Katherine Swynford and her
daughter, Lady Joan Beaufort, with
whom she now feels an affinity through
their shared experiences of scandal, love
of literature and a belief women can
shape their own destiny. “It was the
publisher’s idea; someone from
outside saw it and said, ‘you’ve always
had that singing family, you always
were bookish people, you always were
women who ran rather than sat.’
“It’s still sinking in. I’ve been alone a
long time. There was something thrilling
about finding I come from a coherent
line, people you can respect and want to
emulate. One gave birth to two royal
dynasties and her mother, who
survived scandal and sneering,
prevailed. I’ve got to live up to them.
It’s easy to be the one in the 21st
century who has the voice and the
pen. I’m so proud that I’ve got to be
as formidable as they were.” AWW
Celebrity Mastermind airs
Saturdays on SBS from February
15 to March 21. Mastermind
returns weeknights on SBS from
February 24.
59
 Jill E M B E RS O N

When pink
meets teal
Jill Emberson was a courageous campaigner for those, like her,
whose lives are cut short by ovarian cancer. Shortly before her death
she spoke with Genevieve Gannon of love and life, and the hope
that her work will lead to better outcomes for women with cancer.
first met Jill Emerson late last year in a room awareness and research funding that could

I behind an old heritage-listed art gallery in the

NSW port town of Newcastle. Dozens of women
were gathered around a long table, chattering
brightly as they sewed silk and cotton flowers.
Only two colours were used in their creations: the
pink of the breast cancer awareness campaign and
the teal of the ovarian cancer movement.
Their conversations stopped, but their work
didn’t, as the woman they were sewing for entered.
significantly improve outcomes. Which is why Jill
– a broadcaster, wife mother and committed activist
– resolved to bring together the pink and the teal,
the breast cancer and the ovarian cancer awareness
movements.
“By working together we can make a difference,”
she said determinedly. She knew she had little time
but she had resolved to use all she had left to
improve the odds for other women confronting
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALEX JACK.

At 60, Jill was dignified, warm, vibrant, and hiding
the pain in her body, as she addressed the group
about saving the lives of women with ovarian
cancer. “It takes numbers – more women asking for
change, demanding change,” Jill insisted. But there
the problem lies, because ovarian cancer is so lethal
that not enough women survive to raise the
ovarian cancer.
Jill had a passionate nature and an engaging
manner. As we spoke in a sun-drenched courtyard
that afternoon, there were few outward signs she had
terminal cancer. But within months of our interview,
Jill died, tragically fulfilling the prophecy she was
fighting to change. ➝

60 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

 Legacy

Joyous moment ...

Jill and Ken Lambert
on their wedding
day in Newcastle.

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 61

An accidental advocate
Jill’s quest began in February 2016
when she went to the doctor about a
persistent “dragging” sensation in her
vagina that had escalated into a sort
of “electric twinge”. She was busy at
work and not particularly worried.
Nevertheless, she made an appointment
with her GP. She was experiencing a
pleasant phase of calm in her life. She
was a morning presenter at ABC local
radio in Newcastle and, after being a
single mother for many years, she had
been dating a kind man named Ken
Lambert who had changed her life.
“I’d been on my own for a very long
time,” she said. She was in love.
After explaining her symptoms to her
doctor, Jill was sent for a transvaginal
ultrasound. Her blood test results
suggested she may have ovarian cancer,
but in order to be certain, she had to
have surgery. A gynaecological
oncologist opened her up, confirming
the worst. Jill had advanced stage three
ovarian cancer.
“I was just devastated,” she said.
One of the reasons ovarian cancer is
so deadly is that it’s so hard to detect.
It spreads like grains of sand, washing
through the body. Its nickname is the
disease that whispers.
“It runs everywhere,” Jill explained.
“It will get out of your ovaries and it
will scatter. Then it will attach itself to
another organ. Mine was already
metastasised. That’s what seals your fate
Bella McGavin and
the D Majors at the
fundraiser. event.
62 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
Left to right: Jill
with Lauren
O'Brien; the rally
in Newcastle;
creating rosettes
for the gala.
really. If it’s already on another organ
the chances of being able to contain it
are really small.”
The surgery required to diagnose
ovarian cancer is colloquially known as
peek and shriek. “Because they’d open
you up, have a look and then they’d
scream because it was so far gone,” Jill
said. Even her partner, Ken, a GP, was
surprised by the diagnosis. “The early
symptoms are so vague,” she added.
Before Jill’s diagnosis had been
confirmed, she had to sign a waiver that
gave her surgeon permission to cut her
up to her chest, in case the cancer had
spread. When the surgeon investigated,
he found Jill’s body was riddled with
cancerous cells. A pathologist confirmed
the diagnosis, and then the surgeon
began the process known as “de-
bulking”, which means excising the
organs that have been infiltrated. Jill
went into the operating theatre
wondering if her fears of cancer would
be confirmed. She came out without her
uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes. “It
was horrific,” she says. Despite this
drastic removal of so many body parts,
her surgeon could still only give Jill a
50/50 change of survival.
When she was well enough, Jill
went in search of answers. She zig-
zagged all over the country, attending
conferences and visiting clinicians,
acting on her journalist’s instinct to
gather as much information as she
could. Her sister, Judy-Ann Emberson,
said what Jill discovered were “terrible,
ordinary facts”.
“The more I learnt, the madder I got,”
Jill explained on her podcast Still Jill.
Ovarian cancer is classified as a “rare”
cancer. Rare cancers cause about half of
all cancer deaths but receive only 12 per
cent of research funding.
That can’t be right, Jill thought. Years
of reading about progress in the fight
against cancer has lulled us all into the
belief that the ‘big C’ is no longer a
death sentence. Cervical cancer will be
wiped out by 2020. Breast cancer’s
five-year survival rate is 91 per cent.
But advancements are not unilateral.
‘What’s being done for women with
ovarian cancer?’ she wanted to know.
The answer: very little.
Jill began chemotherapy. She lost her
hair, but she wasn’t “too debilitated”.
She felt determined and defiant. As she
left the hospital after the final day of
chemo, relief coursed through her veins.
“I thought I was going to be in that
group that sails through this,” she said.
But ovarian cancer’s relapse rate is
high. About three-quarters of women
diagnosed with advanced stage ovarian

cancer have a recurrence within
12 to 24 months of completing
their initial treatment. Nine
months after her last round of
chemo, Jill got the call she had
been dreading. The cancer was
back, and it was incurable. On
hearing the news, Jill fell on the
floor. Ken got down onto the
ground with her. After living her
life as a virtuoso for so long,
Ken’s act of love was “a very
different texture” from the type of love
she had experienced for most of her
adult life. She let him hold her.
“I’d tipped out of the world of
surviving into the world of being taken
by this disease,” she explained.
Yet, in time she rallied.
The power of love
In a bid to understand how ovarian
cancer research had been overlooked,
Jill delved into the history of cancer
advocacy.
“Back in the ’60s the standard
treatment for breast cancer was cutting
both breasts off, taking the lymph
nodes, the works,” Jill said. A turning
PERMISSION. OPPOSITE PAGE: SHANE WILLIAMS.
point came when a US journalist named
PHOTOGRAPHS SU0PPLIED AND USED WITH
Rose Kushner spoke out about the
treatment. She refused to have her
breasts cut off and began questioning
the status quo. “Conventional practice
started to change,” Jill said.
When former American First Lady
Betty Ford spoke publicly about her
breast cancer diagnosis, it resulted in a
spike of tests, which came to be known
as The Betty Ford Blip.
“It takes
numbers
- more
women
asking for
change.”
“As the wife of a President, she was
able to really get a big audience,” Jill
said. “When I read that sort of stuff,
I thought, ‘These are just individual
women. I can do something like that.
It hasn’t taken rocket science. It has
taken women to say what they think.’”
The problem for ovarian cancer
sufferers, Jill learned, is a cruel
Catch-22. “We literally don’t live long
enough to form the army of advocates,”
she said. This was something she was
told by researchers at the Peter
MacCallum Cancer Centre in
Melbourne when she went there seeking
answers. “The researchers literally said
to me: ‘You need an army of advocates
like breast cancer and you just don’t
stay alive long enough’. I heard it from
clinicians’ mouths.”
A further complicating factor, Jill
believed, was the sense of shame attached
to women’s reproductive cancers.
“There’s clear evidence women can go
to their doctor three or four times before
they get a satisfactory diagnosis,” Jill
says. “Doctors say that is also because
women are embarrassed to talk about
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
Legacy
their own reproductive organs. I think
that’s reflected in the public arena.”
In September 2017, Jill woke with a
splitting headache. When she tried to get
out of bed, she fell to the floor. Ken
called an ambulance, which rushed Jill
to hospital, where doctors performed
emergency surgery. The cancer had
spread to her brain. Ken spent an
anxious night by her side, wondering
if she’d ever wake again.
Jill did, and she’d had a revelation.
She realised Ken had saved her life, and
was much more than a boyfriend.
As she lay in the hospital bed,
recovering from brain surgery,
she asked him if he would marry
her. She laughed as she spoke
about it, but the answer was not
the one for which she’d hoped.
As a doctor, Ken felt he couldn’t
say yes to a proposal made in the
aftermath of brain surgery.
“It was an amazing mix of
feelings,” Ken confessed when Jill
interviewed him on Still Jill. He
was proud Jill wanted to marry
him, but “another part of me
kicked in, the medical part, and
that part of me said: this beautiful
partner of mine, that I’m so blown away
by, what she’s just said, she’s within 12
hours of major surgery.”
So, even though it “sort of broke my
heart”, he turned her down with the
proviso that, if she still felt the same
way in a few weeks, he’d reconsider.
Jill’s wishes didn’t change. She told
him she meant every word, and they
began to plan their wedding. A local
dressmaker created a gown for Jill,
embellishing it with hundreds of beaded
flowers. When the day came, her
daughter Malia Emberson-Lafoa’i
walked Jill down the aisle in a
celebration of life and love.
“It was a show,” Jill said, smiling.
“One friend said the wedding was so
good she would have bought a ticket.”
Then came another coup. Jill was
invited to address the National Press
Club in Canberra. Preparing for the
speech, she knew she had to come up
with some practical ideas.
“You can do those speeches and
people say: but what do I do? And
I thought: wouldn’t it be great if the ➝
63
Legacy
breast cancer organisations
and the teal organisations
could get together and do
something together.” Her
idea got a round of
applause. It hit a nerve. “I
followed that up by saying:
all you breast cancer
organisations, you’ll be
hearing from me.”
Jill founded Pink Meets
Teal, which calls for
funding fairness across all
women’s cancers,
particularly ovarian.
Ovarian cancer kills one
Australian woman every
eight hours, yet its five-year
survival rate of only 46 per
cent has barely improved
in 20 years. It’s not as
common as breast cancer,
but is far more deadly.
What breast cancer
sufferers have is an army of
survivors – a powerful force Jill
wanted to harness.
The pink in the sewing room where
we first met signified the sisterhood Jill
fostered between breast cancer survivors
and ovarian cancer sufferers. For a long
time, she felt like it was a cause she was
championing on her own. But in her
home city of Newcastle, a cancer
survivor choir called the D-Majors
threw their might behind her mission.
The choir’s founder, Lauren O’Brien,
heard what Jill was doing and asked the
“girls’ army”, as she calls the D Majors,
to help. “They just stepped right up and
asked what can we do?” Lauren says.
Jill was at home when she heard an
unfamiliar sound and went to her
balcony to investigate. “The next thing
I hear, coming down my drive ...” Jill
hummed a little of their tune. The D
Majors were pouring into her yard and
raising their voices in a show of strength
and love. The song they’d chosen was
Lean on Me.“It was incredible,” Jill said,
a tear in her eye.“It’s a small initiative in
a small town but that can grow.”
A former Greenpeace activist, and
ABC journalist, Jill had raised her
daughter as a single mother and had
never been one to back away from a
fight. She made tremendous strides. Her
64 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
direct advocacy in Canberra helped
secure $35 million for ovarian and
other gynaecological cancer funding
from the federal government. “I’m just
kicking myself that I’ll be going before
we have time [to make a real
difference],” she said quietly. But there’s
still no test and no cure, so she was
determined to keep up the fight.
With her ‘think globally, act locally’
philosophy, Jill called the seamstress who
had made her wedding dress and she
immediately went to work sewing 30
specially designed dresses. The top was
pink, the bottom, teal. On May 8 last
year, for World Ovarian Cancer Day, Jill
and her phalanx of supporters gathered
on the main street of Newcastle in a
colourful call for better funding. They
launched a petition that has attracted
45,000 signatures and is growing. Even
now, her campaign is gathering traction.
Women are flocking to Pink Meets
Teal’s social media pages. One breast
cancer survivor who now has ovarian
cancer wrote a testimonial to the
importance of what Jill is doing: “When
I went through treatment with breast
cancer, I had so much support from
breast cancer nurses, I was never really
frightened. I’m stage 4 OC [Ovarian
Cancer]. The support I’ve received I’ve
Jill and her daughter, Malia,
at her wedding to Ken, to
whom she proposed after
having brain surgery.
had to find, there never
seems to be everyday support
unless I seek it out. I think we
need not only more funding
for research, but funding for
OC nurses as well.”
One of the cruellest things
about ovarian cancer is that
it can leave sufferers feeling
isolated and lonely. Pink
Meets Teal works to change
that. “Ovarian cancer women
say, ‘I feel so touched and
uplifted by this’,” Jill told me.
A vital legacy
After her second round of
chemo failed, Jill was offered
a place in an immune-
therapy trial but “it stopped
working” just before we met.
“At first I was like: I’m going to beat
this disease. Now, I’m living proof of
what I’ve said all along: We die quickly,”
she said. “We can’t keep taking small
steps forward, but I now see why we
only make small steps. I’m one of the
1500 diagnosed in Australia each year.
Okay, I’ve managed to make a difference
but I wish there were five of me. I didn’t
want to be this person, to grow up to be
an ovarian cancer campaigner.”
It’s a story without a happy ending.
For all her spirit and guts, Jill couldn’t
stop the disease from advancing. She
was too ill to attend a Pink Meets Teal
gala last November. In her absence, the
organisation she started raised $30,000
for ovarian cancer research. Two weeks
later she died peacefully with Malia
holding one hand, Ken holding the other.
It was as she had predicted: another
loud voice shouting about the disease
that whispers had been silenced.
Yet her legacy lives on. Jill inspired
supporters across Australia. She leaves
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALEX JACK.
behind an army. Thanks to her tireless
devotion and strength, other women may
one day be spared her cruel fate. AWW
To support Pink Meets Teal, follow
Facebook@pinkmeetsteal and sign the
petition at change.org
•
•
•
•
Exclusive

Dame Kristin

Tur 0
S COTT T H O M AS

i
Dame Kristin Scott Thomas is known for playing frosty, posh Brits but
behind the aristocratic cheekbones, Louise Gannon meets the real KST
who learned her craft in France, loves babies and laughing, and refuses
to reveal the name of the lady who keeps her skin so radiant.

K
ristin Scott Thomas has
a reputation for being an ice
queen of the movie industry.
married congresswoman who falls says. “I think we should be aware that
for a tough police detective (Harrison social media can be as dangerous as it
Ford) in Random Hearts. But it was is useful.”) And she has never really
RICHARD PHIBBS / TRUNK ARCHIVE/ SNAPPER IMAGES..

As an actress she has
immortalised those particular
roles which require a certain aloofness
and hauteur. Her breakthrough came
in 1994 in Four Weddings and a
Funeral when she played the acerbic
Fiona, who is madly in love with the
hapless Charles (Hugh Grant) but too
proud to let him know how she feels.
She went on to star opposite Robert
Redford as the powerful, successful-
but-broken Annie MacLean in The
Horse Whisperer, and then as a frosty,
as the brilliant, complicated, Katharine
in The English Patient in 1996 – where
her steamy affair with Ralph Fiennes
won her multiple award nominations,
including an Oscar – that she really
put her mark on Hollywood.
Now 59, Kristin has never played the
Hollywood game. She cannot bear Los
Angeles (“Who would want to actually
live there?”) and has spent much of her
life in France. She is not a fan of social
media (“I do have an official Twitter
account but it is for work purposes,” she
cared what people think of her.
Hugh Grant famously remarked she
had to be “warmed up” every morning
on set, and in interviews she is
infamous for refusing to suffer foolish
or intrusive questions, and happier to
sit in chilly silence. She has been known
to launch withering attacks on
“vulgar” girls with fake tans and short
skirts. She is a woman who knows her
own mind. I have been warned.
In her latest movie role in Military
Wives, true to form, Kristin plays →

66 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

Exclusive

a stiff, posh, emotionally frozen will be 60, but still the sensual-woman an awful lot of attention to making
colonel’s wife in a film based on the parts keep coming – most recently as me look as good as possible. Off-
true-life story of the partners of British actress Phoebe Waller Bridge’s ultimate screen, away from everyone, I can
soldiers who formed a choir to help girl-crush in the black comedy, Fleabag. melt away and be invisible. And there
them deal with the pain of separation Fashionistas regularly vote her the are plenty of moments when I look in
from their loved ones. Their success most stylish woman in the world. the mirror and think, ‘Ugh’. And then
– appearing on television and having You wonder how it must feel to I quickly look away. Things aren’t
a chart-topping album – inspired be universally feted. She gives me always as they appear.”
similar choirs on bases all over the a sideways look then laughs. “Oh, I’ve Right now, Kristin – or KST as she’s
world, including 12 Military Wives just got one of those faces which works known to her friends – is not quite
Choirs in Australia from Sydney to in front of a camera. From any angle living up to her reputation. True, she
Perth and Wagga Wagga. and any distance, you will always see won’t “go personal”. There is no hint
Military Wives is a feel-good, tear- my eyes and my nose. I’ve grown into of whether or not she is in a relationship
jerker of a movie from the makers of my face. I was never considered (since her divorce 11 years ago from
The Full Monty and, as usual, Kristin’s anything special as a child or as François Olivennes, the Parisian-based
performance is flawless and cleverly a teenager, but somehow I was given obstetrician and gynaecologist, Kristin
nuanced. As Kate, whose teenage son this gift of having a certain beauty has been linked to Game Of Thrones
died in conflict, she takes it upon herself which appeals to people on a screen. actor Tobias Menzies and the multi-
to help the other military wives forget “It doesn’t make me think: ‘Gosh, millionaire financier Arpad Busson).
about their worries when their men are aren’t I wonderful?’ I understand it’s But she laughs a lot, and coos over tales
deployed to Afghanistan, and she does because I work in an industry where of her two-year-old granddaughter by
so by leading them in a choir. Except no there are a lot of people happy to pay her daughter, Hannah, 30, the eldest of
one really likes her, including her three children (along with Joseph,
the wine-chugging, popular staff 27, and 19-year-old George).
sergeant’s wife, played by Sharon “Oh God, I love babies,” she says,
Horgan, who wants to sing The
Beatles rather than Beethoven,
and pop songs instead of hymns.
It is as much the story of their
unexpected friendship, and the
journey of these unsung heroines
of combat, which makes the film
such a must-see, heart-warming
movie. But as ever, it is the story of
Kristin playing a singular woman
who is not part of the crowd.
We meet in the suite of an
upmarket London hotel. Kristin is
wearing a long, heavy, black-and-
The English Patient (above, with Ralph Fiennes)
white tweed coat that is fully
is considered one of her best performances.
buttoned-up over elegant black
dress trousers, black leather high
heels and a crisp, classic white
shirt. Her highlighted-chestnut
hair, cut in the same voguish bob
she has worn it in for the past
four decades, is salon perfect.
She is pencil-slim but it’s her
face that stops you in your tracks
– the transparent skin, those high,
aristocratic cheekbones, the
hooded grey-green eyes under arched Military Wives (right) is the
lastest film to round out
eyebrows and the wide, symmetrical
Kristin’s glittering career,
mouth which is, right now, shaped into which includes roles in
a surprisingly welcoming smile. Many, Random Hearts (above)
many words have been used to describe and Four Weddings and
Kristin’s enduring beauty. This year she a Funeral (top).

68 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020


“I was never
considered anything
special as a child.”
dramatically. “I just love them. I have
her to stay with me and we have the
most tremendous fun. I can spoil her,
I can be strict. But as a grandmother
RICHARD PHIBBS / TRUNKARCHIVE.CO. ALAMY.
you don’t have that constant fear of
‘am I doing this right?’ that you do as
a mother. And she behaves so well for
me. She sleeps, she eats, she listens. My
daughter can’t believe it, and I never
imagined having a grandchild would
change my life so completely.”
It is appropriate we are talking
about family because in so many
ways, Military Wives is all about family
to her. To understand Kristin Scott
Thomas is to understand her past. She,
like Kate, came from a military family
going back two generations. And like
Kate, Kristin grew up on a military
base; hers was in Dorset, England.
It is not an easy past and it is only
now, she admits, that she is ready to
start going back to memories both
poignant and painful. “I think this is
something that we almost unconsciously
do when we get older. I have friends –
Jane Birkin, Charlotte Rampling – who
also did the same. Something almost
outside of you drives you back there.”
Military Wives and a documentary
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
series called My Grandparents’
War were what drove her back
there. She discovered that her
quiet, reserved grandfather,
Thomas, was a military hero
whose brave command of a
destroyer ship, HMS Impulsive,
saved the lives of thousands of
troops from Dunkirk. He was also
awarded a Distinguished Service
Cross for laying mines across an
enemy minefield. “And he never
said anything to us about any of
it when he was alive,” she says.
“We didn’t talk about it. We
didn’t talk about any of it.”
Grief and tragedy were forever
wrapped in silence. She was five
and at the military base when her
pregnant mother, Deborah, told
her that her father, Simon, had
been killed in his fighter plane
during a Cold War training
mission. Six years later – after her
mother had remarried and had
a fifth child – her second
husband, who was also a Royal
Navy pilot, was killed in another
flying accident. Again, there was
no weeping or wailing.
Within a year, a decision
was made for Kristin to go to
boarding school, and there she
felt lonely and abandoned.
She has talked about a desperate
feeling of sadness as a child, but
it was something she kept hidden.
I ask her why, and she answers
simply: “It was just the way
things were. I was a child of
the ‘70s. It was different times
then because you just didn’t go
around screaming and shouting.
“And before I was even an adult
I had lost two key people in my
life. I had one left: my mother. I didn’t
want to scream and rage at my mother
because I could not risk losing her
from my life. So you close down and
keep it all contained. It was what
I was used to. I understood the need
for silence, the need to just keep on.”
It was this aspect of Kate she
completely understood. “I don’t think
I’m like her in any way,” she says. “She
lost a child, which is something I just
cannot comprehend, and something →
69
Exclusive
– thank God – that has never happened
to me. But I do totally see the way she
coped was by keeping busy, by pushing
all those emotions down. It’s not a very
fashionable way to deal with life, but
it’s the way many of us deal with things
that happen to us. You just carry on.”
In her teens and early twenties,
Kristin was a lost soul. Miserable
at school, she trained to be a drama
teacher and then realised that what
she really wanted to do was act, but
was “kicked off my course for being
useless”, she says. “I wasn’t going in to
lessons. I was unhappy. Useless.” At 19,
she began working in Paris as an au
pair for a couple who worked in the
opera world. “One day, the mum asked
me what I wanted to do. I mumbled
that I wanted to be an actress but
I knew it was a laughable ambition
because it was never going to happen.
“She just stopped me and told me
never to think like that, and if that
was what I wanted then that was what
I must do.” She pauses, looks at her
hand for a moment and then says, “It
was probably the first time in my life
I felt that there was someone who
actually believed things were possible,
and that not everything was going to
end in disaster. It sounds silly but it
was a real follow-your-dreams,
believe-in-yourself moment. And it
changed everything. I studied acting
in France and started working.”
I ask her why she, a girl who spent her
whole life keeping all her emotions so
bottled up, wanted to become an actress,
and she pauses for a moment to think.
“It’s simple really,” she says.
“I wanted to be other people.”
Then she corrects herself. “Actually,
I wanted to know what it was like to
be other people, to escape from being
me, to try on someone else’s shoes.”
She pauses again. “And to walk out on
stage was – still is – terrifying. But
each time you do it, you feel you have
done something quite brave. Not
brave like my grandfather. Brave for
the person you really are underneath.”
She has said, in the past, she has been
too typecast in these uptight, ice-queen
roles, but today Kristin seems far
more relaxed about life. We talk about
depression, something she suffered from
70 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
“I had to do a
lot of work on
myself to get to
where I am.”
until 15 years ago. “It’s not a state of
mind, it’s an illness,” she says. “It’s a
crippling thing to go through. Nothing
people say to you can change the way
you see yourself and the world. People
can say you are beautiful, they can say
you are wonderful. It means nothing.
I suffered from it on and off for years.”
Did she have therapy, I ask. She nods.
“I had to do a lot of work on myself to
get to where I am now. You have to do
it. Hard work. And then you start to get
through it and come out the other side.”
On paper she has ticked all the boxes:
marriage, a career, a family and financial
success. Her marriage to François lasted
18 years and they have three children
– and their granddaughter – together.
She has, in the past few years, moved
back from France to Britain. Does
she consider herself more French than
English? She laughs. “When I’m in
England, I miss France. In France,
I miss England. I think I dress like
a French woman, and I’ve learnt a lot
from French women. I have an amazing
lady who looks after my face. I have
been going to her for years and she
keeps it looking far better than it should
with these facial massages which are
incredibly painful but have unbelievable
Joseph (above) and
Hannah (left) are
Kristin’s children with
ex François (below).
effects. And like all French women,
I keep her name secret otherwise I’ll no
longer be able to get an appointment.”
Family, she says more softly, is the
thing that keeps her anchored in life. In
Military Wives, the power of family –
however dysfunctional – is one of the
core tenets which rings true with Kristin.
“I am very, very close to my family,”
she says. “My mother is still alive,
which is wonderful, and of everything
I ever did, being a mother myself has
been pretty remarkable. I don’t think
I ever thought I was doing a good
job. I worked a lot but my children
were always on my mind. They are all
lovely and I’m so very proud of them.”
The idea that she will turn 60 in
May, is “rather fabulous”. “Life for
me has been a process of getting
better, getting more relaxed and
becoming happier,” she says. “I love
getting older. It’s a gift. In an ideal
world I would spend my days with
my family in a French orchard, eating
good French food, laughing and
talking and holding my grand-daughter
on my knee. What could be better?”
GETTY IMAGES.
A happy-ever-after ending. AWW
Military Wives opens on March 12.
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MAHA
the KING
OF CHAOS
He was once a petulant playboy prince, now he’s one of the world’s richest
and most unpredictable rulers. William Langley investigates the eccentric
world of Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
A
s he swayed through the
streets of Bangkok aboard
a gilded litter, Thailand’s
newly-crowned King
Maha Vajiralongkorn
looked down on scenes of deference
and rejoicing. Last May’s spectacular
coronation had been months in the
planning, and the 67-year-old king,
despite a reputation for quirkiness,
seemed settled on a smooth transition.
Almost nothing since has followed
in the discreet ways of the 800-year-
old monarchy. Insiders speak of a
court in chaos, feuds, betrayals and
conspiracies, as four-times married
Maha purges the royal ranks, promotes
his favourites and seeks to establish
GETTY IMAGES.
himself as a near-absolute monarch.
Prominent among the casualties is
the king’s ‘official concubine’, Sineenat
Wongvajirapakdi, a glamorous 34-year-
old former bodyguard, whom he
dismissed after publicly accusing her
of “disloyalty and ingratitude”. Known
around the palace as Koi, the willowy
martial arts instructress was appointed
to the post three months after Maha’s
coronation, and showered with honours
including the Most Exalted Order of
the White Elephant (special class).
Koi’s dismissal sent shockwaves
through a nation which had barely
absorbed the idea of the king keeping
a formal mistress alongside his wife,
41-year-old Queen Suthida. Within
hours of Koi’s fall, all references to her
disappeared from the palace website,
and her photograph was removed
from state buildings. “Noble Royal
Consort Sineenat is ungrateful and
behaves in ways unbecoming of her
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
Royal drama
title,” said a palace statement. “She is
not content with the honour bestowed
upon her and does everything to rise to
the level of the Queen.”
To many royal observers, the
wording clearly hinted at a power
struggle between the two women in
Maha’s life, in which Koi had come
off worse. The concubine’s whereabouts
and current status are now unknown,
with a royal spokesman saying: “This
lady is no longer our concern”.
The post of concubine was assumed
to have become defunct in Thailand
during the Fifth Reign, which lasted
from around 1850-1910 and saw the
country’s emergence as a modern state
under the revered King Rama V. “It’s
pretty archaic, and most people today
would find it ridiculous,” says
Tannawat Suttirat, publisher of a ➝
73
London-based Thai
newsletter. “The feeling is
that the queen went
bananas and forced Koi out,
but these days it’s hard to
know anything for sure.”
What can be said is that
the British and Australian-
educated Maha is one of the
more eccentric monarchs of
modern times. His
coronation procession
through Bangkok, wearing
the multi-tiered Great
Crown of Victory and
accompanied by a troupe of
elephants, marked the first
time most Thais had set
eyes on him. Sustained by a
large hereditary fortune,
Maha has spent most of his Out of
adult years enjoying a favour
leisurely life in Europe and
the United States, returning home only Royal consort Sineenat
for visits and state occasions. was showered with
Such word as Thailand had of him honours, rising through
was not encouraging. In 2007 he the military to rank of
appointed his miniature poodle, Foo Major General. Three
Foo, an air chief marshal in the Royal months after Maha’s
Thai Air Force. A leaked diplomatic coronation she was
cable from Ralph Boyce, US dismissed, accused of
ambassador to Bangkok, recounts Foo undermining the queen.
Foo attending a gala dinner “in formal Her whereabouts and
attire, complete with white paw mitts”. status are unknown.
At one point, recalled the ambassador,
the pooch jumped onto the table and
began drinking from guests’ glasses. Yet, according to Andrew school. Music critic Rupert
When Foo-Foo died, he was accorded MacGregor Marshall, author of A Christiansen, a fellow pupil,
full military and Buddhist honours and Kingdom in Crisis, Bhumibol had remembers him as an overweight,
days of state mourning. serious doubts about allowing his son clumsy outsider, who took comfort
As long as Maha’s father, popular to succeed: “The Crown Prince was a from “guzzling compulsively on Thai
King Bhumibol, remained on the disappointment to the king,” says specialities stored in a seemingly
throne, Thais felt able to overlook Marshall, “and he tried to make him bottomless trunk kept under his bed.”
such antics. The scholarly, saxophone- shape up. He restricted his money to Maha went on to spend a term at
playing Bhumibol was seen as a stop him partying. He even suggested The King’s School, Sydney, followed
unifying power in a frequently that if the prince didn’t improve, he’d by enrolment at the Royal Military
fractious country. But when the king give the throne to his daughter, College, Duntroon, near Canberra. It
died in 2016 after 70 years on the Princess Sirindhorn. He thought his was after his return to Thailand that
throne, the prospect of Maha, his only son would be a poor king, but he was the story of his life grew murkier.
son, taking his place became worryingly a conservative man, and he thought a To impress his father, he took
real. There were reports of crisis man should succeed him.” various roles in the Thai armed forces,
meetings across the political sphere, Maha, the second of Bhumibol’s amassing an impressive array of ranks,
and influential magazine Asia Sentinel four children, was born in the including Field Marshal, Admiral of
denounced Maha as “an erratic and sprawling Dusit Palace and had a the Fleet and Marshal of the Royal
out-of-control womaniser, wholly conventional royal childhood before Air Force, but seemed increasingly
incapable of ruling” – only to be being sent to board at Millfield, distracted by romantic liaisons and a
banned on royal orders. Britain’s most expensive private preference for living outside Thailand.

74 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

 Royal drama

Court of
contrasts
King Bhumibol (below,
with Maha and Queen
Sirikit), was popular
and seen as a unifying
force. In contrast,
Maha has behaved
bizarrely, making his
poodle Foo Foo an air
chief marshall in the
air-force, and
demanding his wife
show subservience
during their wedding.

Before his accession to the throne,

his main base had been Tutzing, a
sleepy village in southern Germany
where he and Suthida, a one-time
airline stewardess, took over a
magnificent 1920s lakeside villa.
“They seemed to live a quiet life, and
we have had no problems,” says the
village’s deputy mayor Elisabeth
Dörrenberg, “although we had to ask
them to remove some security cameras.”
Locals say Maha would fly in to
Munich airport aboard a private
Boeing 737 and arrive in the village in
a $200,000 Porsche 911, followed by
a large entourage. With a fondness for
AAP. GETTY IMAGES.
Little is known of Suthida’s life and
the palace provides only scant details.
It seems she was born in Pattani, a
poor, ethnically divided province,
where she went to a local school,
before taking a course in
communications in Bangkok. After
graduating, she found a job as a
stewardess with Thai Airways, where
it’s thought she met Maha on one of his
regular flights in and out of the country.
In 2010 she joined the Thai army,
and within two years had risen to the
she wears a scarlet guard’s tunic,
matching lipstick and a bearskin hat.
In spite of their cosy living
arrangements, Sudhita was not, at
that time, married to the prince. As
far as the outside world knew, they
weren’t even in a relationship. Maha’s
first wife, Princess Soamsawali, was
also his first cousin and mother of his
daughter, Princess Bajrakitiyabha.
They divorced in 1993. Maha and his
second wife, Princess Sujarinee
Mahidol, divorced acrimoniously in

tank tops and tight jeans, he spent
much time on Lake Starnberg, aboard
a powerboat, in which he and Suthida
used to visit the region’s quaint
waterside restaurants.
rank of Lieut. Colonel. Among the
accolades she received was a medal
for “services and sacrifices” to the
Crown Prince. In one of a number of
pictures taken of Suthida at the time,
’96 and she and her sons fled to the
USA, where they were granted asylum.
By the time Sudhita met Maha, he
was married to his third wife, Princess
Srirasmi, a former waitress who first ➝

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 75

Royal drama
entered the royal
household as a lady-in-
waiting. Rumours of the
couple’s unconventional
lifestyle were fuelled by
the emergence of a video
showing Srirasmi wearing
nothing but a Panama hat
and a black G-string,
hosting a birthday party for
Foo-Foo. In one scene she
appears to eat cake out of
the dog’s bowl, followed
by the royal couple singing
Happy Birthday.
These bizarre frolics came
to an end in 2014, when
Maha stripped Siriasmi of
her titles and banished her
from court. Several
members of her family were
arrested and jailed. Almost
nothing has been heard of
her since, and some reports
say she has left the country.
On May 1, three days before his
coronation, Maha married Suthida, in
a lavish ceremony which involved her
crawling to his feet to be patted on
the head with a lotus flower. Experts
on royal protocol were divided as to
how much of this show of subservience
was necessary, but for now the country
may have bigger things to worry about.
Few doubt Maha is set on establishing
something closer to absolute rule. A
purge in October saw the sacking of
more than a dozen senior courtiers
– some for what the palace described
as “extremely evil conduct”, others
for “moral laxity” and “disobedience”.
At the same time, Maha has taken
command of two crack army units,
neutered the Privy Council (a once-
influential advisory body) and sent
hundreds of civil servants on special
courses to improve their “loyalty” to
the crown. Observers noted when Prime
Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha
took his oath of office earlier this year,
the traditional pledge of obedience to
the king remained intact, while the
promise to uphold the constitution
had mysteriously vanished.
“The system has delivered us an
apparently half-mad king who knows
no boundaries,” an unnamed politician
76 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
Right: The King’s
unconventional lifestyle
included arriving at
Munich airport with
Foo Foo and Suthida
wearing fake tattoos
and a skimpy tank top.
told Asia Sentinel. Joshua Kurlantzick,
a South-East Asia specialist at
America’s Council of Foreign Relations
says: “Since taking the throne, Maha
has manoeuvred himself to the centre
of Thai politics, decreasing the power
of the army and politicians along the
way. He seems intent on pushing the
country closer to absolute monarchy.”
Although Thailand is nominally a
parliamentary democracy, the real power
lies between the military and the throne.
As neither institution feels strong enough
to rule without the other, an uneasy
accord has existed for decades, which
Maha now seems set on smashing.
To millions of Thais, the king is an
infallible deity, the very core of the
nation’s soul. Pictures of the monarch
are everywhere, with all public buildings,
hotels, restaurants and most homes
having one on display. In public squares
the royal anthem is played most
mornings and evenings, and passers-
by are expected to stop and sing.
King Maha’s lavish coronation
in May 2019. Below: Posters on
the streets of Bangkok. It is an
offence to do or say anything
deemed insulting to the royals.
All this devotion is buttressed by
laws of lèse-majeste, making it a
serious offence to do or say anything
deemed insulting to the royal family.
Every year, hundreds are jailed for
offences as trivial as spitting in the
vicinity of a royal palace or failing to
stand for the anthem. In recent years,
the law has been tightened to include
deceased royals and penalties have
increased, with one defendant being
given a 60-year sentence for a
Facebook post. Nothing suggests
Maha is in the mood to ease off.
With a fortune of more than $30
billion, the Thai royal family is the
world’s wealthiest. It has also proved
itself to be the wiliest and most resilient.
Yet it has never had a ruler like Maha,
the stroppy schoolboy grown into the
man nobody wants to say no to.
“People are worried,” Tannawat
GETTY IMAGES.
says. “We’ve had all sorts of kings
before – good ones, bad ones – but
never one like Maha.” AWW
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 M AT RO G E RS & C H LO E M AX W E L L

Mat and Chloe

believe in showing
Max and Phoenix
their respect for
each other, and the
value of hard work.
 Interview

WO
AN M
LI
GOLD

EN
STRA
Footballer Mat Rogers has C OA S T

’S WE
AU
QLD
triumphed over loss and LY • T H E
EK

heartbreak. When he returns

to TV for Australian Survivor,
he tells Tiffany Dunk, he’ll be
doing it for the most important
people in his life: his family.
ack in 2000 there was

B a favoured tradition in the

Rogers family home. Once
a week, Mat would visit his
parents’ house in Sydney’s
Cronulla where his mum, Carol,
would have made a roast and his
rugby legend dad, Steve, was already
sitting in front of the TV waiting for
the latest episode of Survivor to start.
The US series had just launched, and
like many families around the globe,
OPPOSITE PAGE: CHLOE WEARS COUNTRY ROAD DRESS. MAT WEARS ZARA SHIRTS AND SHORTS. MAX WEARS TARGET SHIRT
HAIR AND MAKE-UP BY STEPHANIE CARLSSON. CHLOE WEARS MEGAN PARK DRESS. MAT WEARS ZARA SHIRT AND SHORTS.

the entire Rogers clan was avidly

tuning in for the action. “It was the
AND SHORTS. PHOENIX WEARS TARGET DRESS. WITH THANKS TO QT GOLD COAST QTHOTELS.COM/GOLD-COAST.

original reality show that transfixed

the world really, and we had Survivor
night every week,” Mat – who is
about to hit screens for the second
time in an Australian All Stars season
of the program – tells The Weekly.
“It was a fun thing to share with
Mum and Dad because they loved it.
I remember being blown away by how
hopeless some of the Americans were
in the outdoors. I was like, ‘Man, these
guys are hopeless – let me at it!’ And
then the opportunity came around.”
That first opportunity came in 2018
when Mat’s agent asked if he’d be keen
to take part in the Australian show’s
third season on Ten: Champions vs.
Contenders. It was a firm yes.
Having played both rugby league
and union at the highest level, Mat’s
athletic prowess served him well
during the gruelling game. It also won
him a new legion of fans too young to
have watched the glorious career he’d
carved out on the sporting field.
“I met so many kids and they were
like, ‘You’re from Survivor,” Mat, 43
P H OTO G R A P H Y by WILL HORNER • ST Y L I N G by JAMELA DUNCAN
chuckles. “They’d be with their dad
and he’d be like, ‘You know he played
for Australia.’ They were like, ‘What?
I don’t care about that – he was on
Survivor!’”Once again, the TV event
bonded the Rogers family. But sadly
two of its most important members
were missing – Carol and Steve. Back
when US Survivor debuted, Carol had
been battling cancer. After some time
in remission, in 2001 the cancer returned
with a vengeance. It was, says Mat, “like
Armageddon – she never had a chance”.
Her death, just weeks after that
diagnosis, “was horrific. There’s no
other way to put it really,” he recalls.
“Mum was the anchor of the ship, she
held everything together and Dad
went off the rails. Plus my brother
(Don) and Dad had a pretty
tumultuous relationship over the
years. Without Mum being there,
a wedge was driven between the two
of them and my brother lost his mind
there for a while. It was pretty tough.
Dad just never recovered and went
into a depression and unfortunately he
succumbed to that five years later,
which was pretty tough to deal with.”
Steve was just 51 when he died after
his long mental health battle, leaving
notes for his three children – Mat, Don
and Melanie. Mat was the one who
formally identified his father’s body.
He didn’t cope well in the
aftermath, he has admitted. “But
I think we all learned from it, or
I hope we did,” he says now.
“The hardest things you go through
can be the best lessons. It can make
you aware or make you vulnerable.
I don’t want to be a victim and neither
does my wife. We’ve both been
through some stuff in life where you ➝

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 79


could go, ‘Woe is me’. I don’t want to
be a stat that people look at and go,
‘that’s the guy you don’t want to be
like’. Or, ‘that’s what you don’t want
to do’. I want to set a good example.
“One of the things I tell my kids all
the time is that, if you’re not prepared
to hurt, you’re never going to learn.”
Only two of those kids – his eldest
Jack, 23, and Skyla, 20, from his first
marriage to Michelle Rogers – met
their paternal grandparents.
“Jack still remembers Mum a little
bit,” Mat says. “They used to bake
bread together – he remembers the
smell of the bread and that she’d sit
him on the tabletop.”
Mat’s marriage to Michelle broke
down not long after his mother’s death.
But fate – and a mutual friend, actor
Daniel MacPherson – led him to his
80 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
current wife and the mother of his two
youngest children, Chloe Maxwell, 43.
The pair had begun dating before
Mat’s father passed away. Chloe was
by his side then and remains so now.
They had a rocky start. Mat was
still processing the end of his marriage
while Chloe had also recently come
out of a long-term relationship. They
were living in separate cities and both
were driven in their careers – Mat
with rugby union and former model
Chloe as a TV presenter, co-hosting
The X Factor on Network Ten. Both
say they had no clue who the other
was the day they met, and Mat shares
that Chloe stood him up on their first
proposed dates. But “we had a laugh”,
Chloe says, “He was funny. And then
I met his kids and saw how he was
with them and I fell in love with the
OPPOSITE PAGE: NEWSPIX. FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS SUPPLIED AND USED WITH PERMISSION.
way he was as a father – and I fell in
love with his kids as well.”
That first meeting between Chloe
and her future stepchildren just three
months after they began dating is one
that elicits laughter in the retelling.
Mat had been injured at training and
urgently needed someone to mind Jack
SURVIVOR PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF NETWORK TEN.
and Skyla while he went for a scan.
“Chloe watched the kids and one
of them said, ‘My dad must be paying
you a fortune to babysit us because
you’re on X Factor – you’re on TV!”
“I went in all guns blazing and
they loved me from that moment
on,” she smiles.
The pair would weather a short
break in those early days before
Chloe’s mum, Di, convinced her
daughter to ring Mat and invite him
to her birthday party.

“Mum loved him,” Chloe
admits. “My grandmother loved
him as well. So we got back “I fell in love with
together and talked about
having kids. I said that I’d
always wanted to be a mum and
the way he was as a
he needed to be on board with
that. My mum loved him even
father, and I fell in
more when he was ready to go
back and have kids again.”
love with his kids.”
Within a year she was pregnant with
Max, now 13. Phoenix would arrive
16 months later. But while they should
have been enjoying their new family,
something wasn’t right. Max wasn’t
hitting the same milestones as other
kids his age. He wasn’t talking, wasn’t
responding to his name, wasn’t
engaging with people around him.
Then, when Max was two, they
spent the Christmas holidays with
Chloe’s dad, Mike Maxwell, who said
what Mat had been thinking but was
too afraid to say out loud: “I think
Max is autistic.”
“I wanted to kill him,” Chloe reflects.
“‘There’s nothing wrong with my son
– how dare you!’ But it started a process
of investigation for me to actually
realise he was, and
I needed to do Clockwise from
something about it.” left: The couple
The decision to step out in
take action is one Sydney in 2005;
that they both thank Mat with Jack,
Skyla, Phoenix
Mike for. “You leave
and Max;
it too long and it’s Mat and David
Genat in the
All Stars season
of Survivor; the
Rogers family
in Sydney, 1981.
too late,” says Chloe. “Between the
ages of two and six is when they need
early intervention so they can have
some semblance of a normal life.”
Today, Max is a happy, candid
teenager. He’s into gardening, YouTube,
coding and robotics. He loves school
– loves it so much he refused to take
extra time off to spend more time at
the beach on our shoot.
He’s funny, constantly mugging for the
camera and making his parents and our
crew laugh. He’s a dancer who’ll start
busting moves no matter where he is,
oblivious to onlookers. A master of
mimicry, he’s memorised the comedic
lines from a plethora of movies. He’s
also painfully honest – Mat warns us
not to take anything Max says to heart.
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
Interview
He’s close to his sister
Phoenix, 12, who is intent on
becoming a Matilda one day,
recently making the Gold Coast
United Football Club’s Women’s
Under 13s premier side.
“They’re touring Dallas next
year,” boasts Mat proudly. “She’s
really committed, which is cool.”
Max is a recently converted
Survivor fan but not because his father
is on the show. In fact, during Mat’s
season, Max became horribly upset
after watching one early episode.
“I asked him what was wrong,” Mat
chuckles. “He said, ‘You didn’t get
voted out and now that means we’ve
got to watch it again next week!’”
Instead, he loved the following
season, thanks to contestant Luke
Toki, the fan favourite who also has
a son on the autism spectrum.
“We watched every episode last
series,” Mat chuckles. “I actually did
a fishing trip with Luke and we
FaceTimed Max and he was beside
himself that it was Luke he was talking
to. That was really cool.”
Mat and Chloe stress that Max will
always need extra care, but
without that early intervention
they don’t want to think of
what could have been. “He
still can’t read and write at the
same level as his peers,” Chloe
says of what still lies ahead
for Max. “Mentally, he’s still
developmentally three or four
years behind. He still needs
help with his social skills.
Speech therapy as well – he
still has speech issues to be ➝
81
Interview

addressed. We’re trying to help him get

more independent as time goes on. But
a lot of his early intervention made it
possible for him to kick so many goals.”
“We went from having this little
zombie cruising around to three
months later [after starting treatment]
having our son back,” adds Mat.
The ease with which they managed
to get Max into treatment shocked
them. “We jumped a huge queue of
people waiting to get into the school
he got into,” says Mat bluntly. “Not
because of who we were or that Max’s
condition was worse than anyone else.
It was for one reason: it was because
we could afford it and the people
before us couldn’t.”
It was this heartbreaking realisation
that led them to start a new venture
together in 2010, the charity
4 ASD Kids. Their aim is to sponsor
kids affected by autism
spectrum disorders and get
them into programs, taking
away the financial burden “It made us
from parents already
struggling to cope. Parents so excited, it
of children with special
needs have a higher rate of brought us
relationship breakdowns
than those without, and the
pair can understand why.
closer
“The fact there wasn’t
a financial pressure that
together.”
came along with that helped us,”
explains Mat. “Most people don’t their relationship. “We’re on the his bucket list: that of winner. It would
have marriage problems, they have same page,” Chloe sums up simply. be a fitting tribute to the parents who
money problems. Not having a money “Definitely with parenting, very much instilled both his ferocious work ethic
problem helped us focus on Max and so, and having respect for each other. and his love of the game. They’d have
the health problem, which was the real Showing the kids we have respect for hugely enjoyed watching him play his
problem. We had money to pay for each other is important.” heart out on TV, he says.
Max’s therapy and once we started to And while money made from “My mum was such a character. She’d
see results, it made us so excited that successful careers meant they could be just piling crap on me for things I’ve
it brought us closer together.” gain swift access to Max’s therapy, done in the game,” Mat laughs. “She’d
“It’s not about curing autism,” Chloe their children are all being taught to be giving me a hard time but loving it
hastens to add of the charity’s cause work hard for what they have. as well. My dad [who for many years
and her own personal goal. “I don’t “Never deny your children the was Mat’s coach and boss] would be
want to ‘cure’ my son – there’s privilege of struggle,” Chloe warns probably trying to tell me what to do
nothing wrong with him. He needed with a smile. and how to do it. He’d probably say
some extra help so he can continue to “The greatest lesson I look back on exactly the right things and I’d not listen
be who he is, but in a world that’s a over my years as a parent – all 23 of and get voted off straight away!” AWW
little bit different to him, that’s all.” them – is if things are given, not earned,
The pair is clearly still in love, as the satisfaction isn’t there,” adds Mat. Australian Survivor: All Stars debuts
much with each other as with their As a new season of Australian February 3 on Network Ten.
blissful family life, which saw them Survivor goes to air, Mat is hoping he If you or someone you know needs help,
relocate to the Gold Coast early in can add one more hard-earned title to contact Lifeline: 13 1114, lifeline.org.au.

82 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

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Exclusive extract

My
friend
Jackie,
On paper, they’d seem
unlikely friends. But when
former First Lady
Jacqueline Kennedy
Onassis met free-spirited
singer-songwriter Carly t was the summer of 1983 when Carly Simon, by then famous

Simon, a rare and

wonderful friendship was
born. In a new book,
I for such hits as Nobody Does It Better, You’re So Vain and
You Belong To Me, attended a dinner at the Ocean Club in
Massachusetts’ affluent summer playground, Martha’s Vineyard.
Also there that evening was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. She
was accompanying her son, John Kennedy Jr; himself a sometime
Martha’s Vineyard resident and acquaintance of Carly’s; and he
Touched by the Sun, Carly introduced the two women briefly. Conversation haltingly began and
soon they were bumping into each other more frequently – and an
reveals the intimate time invitation to Carly’s home on the island was issued not long after.
This would prove the birth of an incredible friendship which would
she spent with Jackie in see them share long lunches, dinner dates, trips to the movies and
theatre as well as insights on love, life and the most intimate of
the decade before her secrets. Now, more than 35 years since that first chance meeting,
death in 1994 and the deep Carly has shared her memories of the woman she came to love
and cherish in a new book, Touched by the Sun. Following is an
kinship they formed. edited extract Carly has granted exclusively to The Weekly.

84 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020


by Carly
Simon
JACKIE AND I USUALLY met up at the movies in the same
way. When she arrived before me, I would find her inside
the movie theatre by going to the ladies’ room, where she
would be waiting in one of the stalls. That afternoon, at
the 4pm showing of Bugsy, was no different. Her Gucci
loafers were poking out from beneath a stall. I hummed a
ALAMY. EVERETT/SHUTTERSTOCK. GETTY IMAGES.
bar of a familiar song, in this case How High the Moon,
which was the signal for all clear.
Jackie emerged. “I almost thought the woman who came
in a minute ago was you, and I ... it wouldn’t have been the
worst thing, but ... well, shall we go in? Oh, Carly, I see
you got popcorn ... what fun!”
We took an elevator and arrived at theatre number
two, finding nothing to fly in the face of a happy
Thursday afternoon spent seeing Bugsy with your
girlfriend. The theatre was mostly empty, with maybe
20 other people distributed like arbitrary commas
From left: Jackie the political wife with John Kennedy;
Jackie in 1973; Carly at the height of her pop fame;
Carly with James Taylor; jet-setting style icon.
in the semi-darkness. We took off our coats and put them
on the seat next to us.
There hung between us a palpable silence, and for some
reason I couldn’t allow it. Maybe it was only three seconds,
or not even two, but the silence whipped at me like some
sudden freak storm. I turned to her, this friend, this woman
whose burden it was to be poised, and whose responsibility
it was to set an example for the rest of us.
“So,” I said, “have you seen JFK? I mean the movie.
I mean the Oliver Stone movie. I mean the one that’s just
out now?”
“Oh no, Carly, no. No, no.” Jackie reacted as if she
had been attacked. “It’s so awful. No.”
I continued my crash into the reef of self-destruction.
“I didn’t even mean to say that,” I said. “I just …” “No,
Carly, NO.” She slumped backward into her seat. That was
the end of the conversation about anything and everything ➝
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 85
Exclusive extract
JFK. I was dead. I couldn’t live
past this moment. Rewind! Oh,
please, rewind! I started to cry,
and I was fortunate to be able
to hide it behind the opening
music of Bugsy, which had just
started up. I sat there
motionless, shocked silly. “I’m
so sorry, Jackie,” I whispered.
From my diary on that
day: What sort of brain
derangement sent such a signal
to my wayward tongue?
I could hardly concentrate
on Bugsy. All the while I was
thinking: I have to be so careful
… She is so much more fragile
than we all think. Every time a
shot sounded on the screen –
and the film was plenty violent
– she reacted physically,
dramatically, her body
mimicking the victim. All
I wanted to do was protect her,
put my arms around her.
Once the movie ended, Jackie
gave me a lift home in her
Communicar. Again and again
I thought to apologise once
more, but I also knew it
couldn’t be done. I knew only
that I would never bring that
subject up again. So many
subjects to be avoided. It was the
reason why it was so hard to be as
close to her as I wanted to be.
I’ve thought many times about
that night at the movie theatre where
I watched as my foot landed in my
mouth. I knew it was – it must have
been – important for Jackie to keep
the lustre of Camelot alive, at least the
version of it she later reported to
Arthur Schlesinger. For her own sake.
For her children’s sake. For the sake of
her religion. If it was true that she had
convinced Joseph Kennedy, the family
patriarch, to persuade his son that she,
Jackie, would make the perfect
presidential wife, then Jackie had
allowed her life and her heritage to be
stamped in eternity with that light.
JFK, as well as all the other crass
pop culture productions intent on
dissecting and distorting her life, must
have been terribly disorienting. After
Bobby Kennedy was killed, almost
86 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
“She knew
he loved her
more than
any dalliance.”
nothing could be kept in its
respectable place anymore.
Once Jackie told me, “It will take
many generations to arrive at the kind
of equality – if it ever comes – that
undoes the idea that women are the
smaller, weaker of the sexes, and that
women have to rule with a craftiness
their mates must know nothing about.
The woman is clever and circuitous,
isn’t she? A man is straightforward
and stupid. The hairy ape.”
I couldn’t help but think of Ari
[Aristotle Onassis] and wonder if she
was in some sly way referring to him.
From my second- and third-hand
knowledge, Ari always seemed like
a sybaritic and slothful rogue – yet
Left: Jackie at the Metropolitan
Opera in New York. Right: Carly
and Jackie at a bookshop at
Martha’s Vineyard in 1989. Inset:
President Kennedy and the First
Lady arrive in South America.
Jackie had also described him
as a devastatingly attractive
man, who used to sing
Argentinian songs to her.
I knew about his secret oil
fields, his smashing of plates
around other wives and lovers,
knew about the unsubstantiated
rumors that he’d had Bobby
Kennedy killed. It was all too
rich for me and, I suspect,
infinitely so for Jackie. She had
to protect herself by putting on
a new set of blinders.
I also remember Jackie telling
me that Ari was fierce, filled
with illusions of supremacy. But
when Ari’s son, Alexander, died
at the age of 24 from injuries
suffered in a plane crash, he
became convinced he was being
punished for his hubris. His
guilt closed in on him. It was
like the fall of the House of
Atreus in Aeschylus’s Oresteia.
Glimpsing his own mortality,
he realised he needed to become
even richer, even more powerful, to
combat the prospect of death.
Thankfully, Jackie didn’t live to
know that her son [JFK Jr] would
die in the same way as Ari’s.
“One is overwhelmed by the
necessity to cover up the sentiments
that are needed in order to go forward
with one’s life. I had to make such a
grand left turn so as not to be
reminded of my former life,” Jackie
explained.
“The life would have to be so
completely different,” I offered,
“like landing on the surface of a
different planet.”
Jackie continued, “I wondered if
I went to the trouble of removing
signs, newspapers, photographs,
mementos … never mind. He wouldn’t
have seen it clearly, but the reminders
GETTY IMAGES.
were walking every day with me in the
bodies of my children. Their walks,
their mannerisms, the memories of

their births. First words, skating,
riding, greetings, nightmares,
Christmases, birthdays … worries that
A.O. [this was how Jackie sometimes
referred to Ari] could never erase.”
Even if Ari might have been
sensitive about spending time with
Jackie’s children, taking them for
walks around his island, Skorpios,
or ushering them up to the helm of
the yacht and letting them press a
button now and then, I could only
imagine Jackie holding back tears.
Had her original gratitude toward
him for saving her turned to a sour,
fierce resentment?
It has been written that his son’s
death was the breaking point in Ari’s
feelings for Jackie. He was no longer
in love with her, and her manners and
grace were rendered paltry, even
ridiculous. In the face of the rude
comments he directed at her,
sometimes even in front of guests,
Jackie, as a result, spent less time
with Ari in Greece. His feeling of
abandonment led him to retribution:
more public meanness, more allusions
to her overspending, and then there
were the undisguised, bull-like
flirtations with other women –
anything to get back at her. No one
could hide such strong feelings. They
come out. They just do.
Jackie would toss off his behavior
with cool aplomb. Still, when Ari
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
initiated divorce proceedings, he
continued to want to protect her. In
effect he told his lawyer, “I love her
and I want you to be very fair”.
“In the beginning,” I remember
Jackie telling me once, “Ari had a way
of ‘casting’ one. As if you were in his
own private Greek mythology. He saw
himself as Odysseus, and I was no one
to argue. I was so in need of the kind
of protection he was offering.
I wanted it for Caroline and John.
That’s what a woman innately knows
– she has to protect her children in
any and every way, no matter how far
away from your innate self you have
to go. I fell for that wide net he cast.”
Jackie seemed untouched by Ari’s
crude indiscretions – his blatant and
tasteless womanising – and she was
similarly unbothered by Jack’s. She
had brought up the subject of Jack’s
mistresses from time to time with no
apparent discomfort or distress.
Almost a year earlier, in 1991,
she talked about it. In a cheerful
but resigned way, she told me
that of course she knew about
them – she just didn’t mind their
presence as much as she might
have because she knew he loved
her more, much more, than any
of his dalliances.
Wait, I remember thinking,
hearing about all the mistresses,
you had to pretend to be blasé?
To pretend one was simply used
to this in men, because, in
Jackie’s case, of one’s famously
handsome and lecherous father?
It was “Black Jack” Bouvier, a
poached and distressed drunk,
who seemed to have given her
the overall license to accept this
particular masculine trait. Her father
was almost proud of the many women
he left in his charming but deadly
wake. At least in front of me, Jackie
never gave up that half measure of
rationalising the worst, the thing that
her thoroughbred horse friend – me
– wouldn’t have been able to contain.
“I did so terribly much want Jack to
be happy,” she said once, “and then
I couldn’t divide myself into the two
women I had to be, or had to act as
if I were.” ➝
87

Whatever her reasons for marrying
Ari, I do know this much: When Ari
died in Paris, Jackie’s speech before
the French press was formal, and
without a lot of feeling. She went for
scripted, memorised words. “He
meant a lot to me. He brought me into
a world where one could find both
happiness and love. We lived through
many beautiful experiences together,
which cannot be forgotten and for
which I will be eternally grateful.”
It seemed to me that Jackie was
always looking to give her life over to
the care of a stronger man. Maurice
Tempelsman appeared after Ari,
taking charge of her financial life.
After all, he was well versed in the
language of diamonds – of mines and
caves and undercover dealings. Jackie
compared him to the other pirates she
had known and loved. Maurice was
safe and loving. They were good
together. At the same time, it was
difficult to square that Jackie – the
woman from the books, the woman so
central to American history and, later,
global intrigue – with the Jackie in her
kitchen on the Vineyard, on the
receiving end of an affectionate hug
from Maurice after he got back from
a long walk or bike ride around the
Aquinnah hills. Or the Jackie I once
88 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
Below: Five years
after the death
of John Kennedy,
Jackie married
Greek shipping
magnate
Aristotle Onassis.
Left: Jackie and
Ari leave an
Athens nightclub
at 7am after
celebrating
Jackie’s 40th
birthday.
saw diving off the side of Maurice’s
yacht in her white bathing cap, not at
all embarrassed or self-conscious
about her exposed flesh. Or the Jackie
who did yoga every day on the beach
in the summer, and who could,
according to our mutual friend Joe
Armstrong, who once came upon her
during a morning stroll, place both
her legs behind her neck. Or the Jackie
who, in between yoga stretches, was a
girlishly effusive bummer of cigarettes.
Or the Jackie I remember from the
night I shot a music video for one
of my songs, Better Not Tell Her, from
my album Have You Seen Me Lately?,
on the beach in front of her Aquinnah
house. (It was Jackie’s idea, she who
was always suggesting I bring
whatever proceedings I had up my
sleeve – lunches, get-togethers, musical
events – over to her house.) I’d hired
Latin dancers to perform alongside
the song’s Spanish guitar solo. The
night was cool and misty; the only
sound, the light crashing of the nearby
waves. At one point, Jackie and
Maurice drifted down from the house,
draped in blankets. Jackie had brought
along a thermos of hot chocolate, and
I remember how badly she felt that she
hadn’t made enough for all the dancers.
My enduring image is of Jackie dancing
the tango at my “Moon Party”– as
I called it – which at the time I
considered one of the high points of
my life, at least socially. It was a party
I hosted in my barn in the summer of
1992 during a full moon, even though
it was pouring lopsided rain over the
enormous white tent I’d had installed
over the swimming pool, which, that
night at least, had a fountain in it
serving to blend in with the torrent.
That night, Jackie wore a sleeveless
white top over a long full white skirt.
Her hair was up in a tight bun and she
looked amazingly like photos I’d seen
of her father, in all of his Moroccan
handsomeness, deep brown tan,
wide-set eyes, and gorgeous facial
features. Midway through the Moon
Party, around the time a few guests
began tossing themselves fully clothed
into the swimming pool, I spotted
Jackie on the dance floor with my
close friend, Teese Gohl, an amazing
Swiss musician and my musical
director for 20 years. Teese was
teaching Jackie his version of a tango,
though Teese told me later he was
completely winging it. The two of
them, Jackie and Teese, seemed
enthralled by the music and by each
other. Jackie’s motions were as abrupt
and delicate as a castanet. Maurice
watched adoringly as her entire
broad-shouldered body enfolded
within the Spanish music, a lone flag
gusting and snapping, eternally
beautiful in the rhythms of the night.
Known by all and by no one. AWW
COPYRIGHT ©
CARLY SIMON,
2019, EXTRACTED
FROM TOUCHED
BY THE SUN,
GETTY IMAGES.
PUBLISHED BY
HACHETTE
AUSTRALIA,
RRP $32.99.
 HEPBURN MARLENE DIETRICH
AUDREY
JEAN HARLOW KATHARINE HEPBURN and more

164 S
PREATRGO PEHEOATDOSS,
OF NTAGE R IA
VI OSTALG
&N
Humour
The look of love
After 20 years of marriage the best Valentine’s
Day gifts aren’t always the most romantic ones.
F
ebruary. You know
what this month
brings don’t you?
Romance. Or at least
the reminder that
somewhere out there
somebody is getting it on
or trying to get it on with
somebody else by presenting bunches
of roses and having diner pour deux.
Meanwhile, back at our ranch and
perhaps yours too, romance has long
been dead. That’s not to say there
isn’t love, but love and romance are
completely different.
According to the online dictionary,
romance is “a feeling of excitement
and mystery”.
This ended in our relationship the
day my then-boyfriend walked into
the bathroom when I was showering,
ABOUT THE WRITER Amanda Blair lives in Adelaide with her four children and a husband she quite likes when she sees him.
90 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
WITH sat himself down
A M A N DA on the toilet and
BLAIR casually dropped
a number two
whilst having a chat about our
weekend plans. Whilst part of
me thought it wonderful that
we’d reached this stage of
familiarity and comfort, another part
of me died realising that our modesty
had just been flushed away.
It wasn’t just his doing. From time
to time I’ve had an ingrown bikini-line
hair that required attention and once
a person has seen you push another
person out of your nether regions
I’d imagine it would be hard to
conjure up “a feeling of excitement
and mystery”.
In fact, my sister-in-law told me of a
friend who said that watching his wife
give birth to their son was like
watching a bomb go off in his
favourite pub.
So, keeping the romance going in a
long-term relationship is no easy feat.
There aren’t appropriate guidebooks,
people are reluctant to talk of such
things in mixed company and social
media is no assistance whatsoever
as post after post portrays lives
filled with endless excitement,
matching outfits and domestic
bliss (#soblessed, #justlove,
#perfectdays, #weknowyou’relying).
But I’ve developed certain strategies
to keep the fire in my loins and I’m
happy to share these with you today
as they may help with your own
long-termer. Of course, I’m only
speaking for myself. I have no idea
what tricks my husband uses to keep
himself aroused, but after 23 years and
another summer of endless cricket,
I’m absolutely convinced Steve Smith
in a baggy green has a starring role.
For me it’s all about geographic
location and I’m most excited in the
laundry. It’s the heat from the dryer,
the smell of the powders, the vibration
of the washing machine and the sight
of my husband, red faced and puffing,
down on all fours. Usually he’s
searching for the stain removal kit
after an argument we’ve had where
I’ve told him it’s not my job to get the
Bolognese sauce slop off his work shirt.
I’d argue that there isn’t a woman
alive who isn’t turned on about their
partner doing simple domestic chores.
My excitement reaches its peak if he
springs it on me, that is, chooses to
ILLUSTRATION BY BRENT WILSON @THEILLUSTRATIONROOM.COM.AU.
complete a task without actually
being asked to do it. A drained dish
sink delights, changing the sheets
charges my batteries and he’s come
to know that a folded basket of
washing is guaranteed to lift my
spirits and my skirt.
So you can forget your chocolates,
your flowers and your poetry. This
Valentine’s Day look for the beau
on bended knee … wiping down the
front of the kitchen cupboards. He’s
the keeper, the one who’ll keep the
love alive. AWW
Inspiration
P H OTO G R A P H Y by WILL HORNER
A bold experiment in inter-generational living
is underway at a retirement village in suburban
Sydney. And Jenny Brown finds it’s enriching
the lives of young and old alike.
P
at Brown’s eyes are alight
with enthusiasm. “Oh, they’re
fantastic, they’re our angels,”
she says of her new best
friends, the four University
of Sydney students who are swapping
companionship for free rent at the
aged-care facility she calls home.
Aged 79, Pat is chatting animatedly
about computers, handicrafts, family
history and the university course on
dementia prevention she has just
completed. This bright-eyed, funny
grandmother gets around in a
wheelchair but still has “all her
marbles”, as she wryly puts it. And
she loves sharing life experiences with
her 30-year-old neighbour Gabrielle.
Nothing too unusual about that,
perhaps – except for the fact that,
in a bold new initiative, they both
live at a care facility in Sydney’s
south, Scalabrini Bexley. That’s where
Gabrielle and three other allied health
students receive free rent in return for
30 hours of volunteered friendship
92 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
and conversation each month.
“I tell them my door is always open
any time, day or night, and they come
to visit,” smiles Pat, who moved to the
village three years ago when a painfully
ulcerated foot finally made it impossible
to stay at home. “I think there should
be more dialogue between younger and
older generations. If we listen, they
can teach us a lot – especially about
computers and phones – and we
can teach them quite a bit too.”
Softly-spoken Gabrielle, a recent
occupational-therapy graduate, laughs
out loud. “To be fair, Pat, I think you
know a lot more about phones than
I do. You’re on Snapchat and I’m not!”
As they sit talking at Scalabrini’s Cafe
Siena, cheerfully decorated with bunting
in the Italian colours, their close bond
is unmistakable. Pat, a mother of two,
was widowed 15 years ago. Gabrielle
lost her grandparents before she was
19, but has found a willing substitute
in this feisty former hairdresser,
pharmacy assistant and taxi driver.
AN WO
LI
M
AU T RA
BEXL
EN
EY
’S W
S
NSW
E
E
EK
LY • T H
“Pat tried to teach me to sew.
I’m not a very crafty person and I just
didn’t have it,” confides the newly
minted healthcare professional, who
misses her family in Lismore, northern
NSW. “But she gives us the best
relationship advice. I know we all
have guy problems at times, so it’s nice
for all of us to have someone we can
go to for that little bit of guidance.
“She’s a special lady. There’s always
something new that Pat is looking
into or starting to try. She reminds
me there’s so much out there to be
experienced. I’m inclined to be a bit
of a homebody but she makes me
more curious about the world.”
Proudly showing off the exquisite,
crocheted dream-catcher she just
completed, Pat chuckles. “It was the
same when I had my hair salon, the staff
and customers used to come to me with
boy or girlfriend problems. I used to tell
them, ‘I’m your (agony aunt) Dorothy
Dix,’ but of course they didn’t know
who she was or what that meant.” →
 Pat Brown &
Gabrielle
Student Gabrielle says peers
are often baffled by her living
arrangements. “I hope this
program breaks down a few
barriers,” she says. “Being here
is like finding a new family.”

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 93

Inspiration
So what advice does Pat
dispense? “Oh, I don’t know,”
she muses. “Probably to have
trust and patience. Never to
say ‘can’t’ because that’s not
a word in my language. And
the most important thing: If
you don’t put in any effort, you
can’t expect to get anything
back from relationships, marriage
or life. It’s all the same.”
With her ninth decade looming, Pat
revels in the company that Scalabrini
Bexley offers – especially the chance
to mix with students participating
in its groundbreaking Gold Soul
Companionship Program (GSCP).
“If I was living at home I’d be
on my own, whereas here I’ve got
a community all around me. I still
do all the things I would do at home,
except housework!” She grins
cheekily. “What more could I want?”
As the Royal Commission into
Aged Care Quality and Safety exposes
horrific cases of premature death,
abuse, neglect and negligence, this is
Gabrielle (left)
says moving
away from
friends like Pat
(right) will be
challenging.
94 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
“I mix with young
people to stay
young, and I still
can catch a chick.”
a good news story from an embattled
sector that has, in recent years, been
laid bare in both a shocking three-part
report in The Weekly and an incisive
ABC Four Corners investigation.
“When I watched that documentary
I had tears streaming down my face
– to think anyone would treat the aged
like that,” says Tracey Gill, 58, who
became wellbeing coordinator at
Scalabrini Bexley after a “mid-life crisis”
saw her swap sales for a more caring
profession. “It affected me 100 per cent,
but I also got annoyed because it
represented just a small snippet of the
industry. That’s not what happens here.”
Gill says adjusting to life in an
aged-care home can be challenging.
“Quite often when people
come here it’s not by choice.
They might have had a few
falls. They’ve had to give up
their licence, give up their pets
… All of a sudden they can’t
cook for themselves and
they’re told what their dinner
is going to be. Their world as
they have known it changes. So we
have to try to ensure they continue
to have a say, while keeping them safe
and making them feel safe.
“It’s kind of easy if you use common
sense and think from the heart. Our
residents may be old but they are still
valued individuals and it is our job to
make them feel that way. We find out
what they have done in the past and
how they want their lives to be. Then
we try to hook them up so they make
friends in here.”
The Gold Soul Companionship
Program, inspired by similar
pioneering schemes in Europe and the
US, is a logical extension of those
efforts to combat the isolation and
PICTURE CREDITS TO GO HERE PLEASE

depression too often experienced by
the elderly. And intergenerational
living obviously works.
Walk up to Scalabrini Bexley’s front
door and the first thing you notice is
music – 1950s classics alternating
with Italian ballads – wafting with the
smell of coffee from its ground-floor
cafe. Inside there’s a hubbub of happy
conversation from family visitors, with
a couple of babies crawling at their feet.
Seventy-six-year-old Heinz Brzoson
is bopping with a care assistant,
although it’s only 11am. “I don’t like
hanging out with the old farts like me!
I like dancing,” beams Heinz, who is
living with Alzheimer’s. “I mix with
young people to stay young, and I still
can catch a chick. You only live once,
so you’ve got to make the best of it.”
At 91, former managing director
Neville Tucker can no longer quickstep
but definitely gets a kick from the
company of recent Masters of
Physiotherapy graduate Hannah, who
moved into the village in July 2018.
“When the girls came along they
started to help me, and I help them
and we do very well, I think,” says
the sprightly patriarch, a widower
whose clan includes two sons,
Heinz
Brzoson &
Tracey Gill
“Compared to where I worked
before, this is gold,” smiles
wellbeing coordinator Tracey.
“There’s a lot of character here,
and a lot of characters.”
four grandchildren and nine great-
grandchildren. “Hannah is just
down-to-earth and she’s a great
organiser who really knows how
to look after old people like me.”
To encourage spontaneity, the
students aren’t given any particular
brief on how they should interact with
their elderly neighbours. Activities can
include movie-watching, listening to
music together, or simply chatting
and going for coffee and cake.
“One of the things that makes the
program so sensational is that, as
volunteers, the students have the ability
to act on the spur of the moment after
hours and at weekends when there are
usually not so many staff around,” says
Sydney University’s senior occupational
therapy lecturer Dr Sanetta Du Toit, 49.
“Staff don’t have that same freedom
because they have chores to complete.”
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
Gabrielle learned how to make
“the best” pasta sauce in Scalabrini’s
“Nonnas’ Kitchen” where
grandmothers share cooking skills
honed over many loving decades.
Hannah has honed her golfing skills,
enjoying a few rounds of putt putt
golf with Neville, who played 18 holes
every other day until his legs gave
up the struggle. They also “hang out,
watch TV together, talk a lot of
rubbish,” says the vivacious 25-year-
old, describing her stay at Scalabrini
as “an overwhelming experience”.
Hannah admits her peers were
puzzled to discover she was moving
in with 115 senior citizens aged from
their early 60s to 103, but she has
found it endlessly rewarding.
“After researching programs like this
one overseas, I knew it was something
I would get a lot out of,” she explains.
“I knew I would be able to make
a difference. I knew it would be very
practical and help with my clinical
placements in hospitals. But it’s given
me so much more than that. When
a resident opens up to you about →
95
Inspiration

their life, hearing their

story, that’s something
you will always have. Reach out
Next day they might
not be able to remember Research by National
what they’ve told you, Seniors Australia shows
but you can. It’s all that as senior Australians
those memories …” grow older, they are more
Moreover, it’s a likely to be lonely, and
chance to break down women more than men.
stereotypes about ageing. Mixing younger and older
“Before I came to live generations is an
at Scalabrini I was innovative way to deal
probably a bit afraid of with this but it isn’t
growing old,” Gabrielle possible in many aged-
confesses. “In general, care facilities. So here are
ageing isn’t something some tips from Professor
John McCallum, CEO of
we’re very comfortable
National Seniors, on how
with. It’s all that
to avoid isolation and
unconscious stuff you
loneliness in aged care.
carry with you, those
human things you are • Plan for your desired old
anxious about. Through age and encourage older
being here, I’ve learned relatives to get planning. If
that life can always have Neville Tucker you plan for your care, you
purpose. It has meaning & Hannah will have a better chance
of entering a facility of
and value at any age.
Getting old is difficult your choosing.
Neville loves teasing his student
but it’s definitely not friend Hannah. “They all talk about • Look for aged-care
the end of everything. you in the dining room, but I won’t The same goes for homes that encourage
I feel I understand that go into what they say,” he tells her, residents, according to socialisation with facilities
much better now. straight-faced. “No, Hannah is Dr Du Toit, who believes such as: a common
“The program has lovely, she’s been very good.” the lessons learned at activities area and a
been a reciprocal thing. Scalabrini Bexley could lounge area with spaces
We have given our time enrich the lives of to sit and chat; a dining
and companionship, but we have also young and old right around Australia. room with residents’
received from that connection. When “When they talk about the students, names at the table; music
you walk into a room here, some people [the residents] talk about the friendships engagement, happy hour
just light up. And learning to sew from they have made. I have observed so many (where appropriate) and
Pat – that’s pretty cool too!” moments of shared joy, of belonging, and regular visits from therapy
pets. Research shows a
Inevitably, however, the lessons have that’s a huge thing because the elderly
pleasant garden can be
also included coming to terms with the can be severely isolated. It’s difficult to
particularly beneficial for
death of cherished new friends. Gathering measure the outcomes of a program like
residents with dementia.
for “cake time” to celebrate much-loved this but wow, there have been really big
lives is one effective coping strategy the changes in the residents’ quality of life • Check the home has staff
students have devised. and wellbeing. It would be wonderful to who engage with residents
“We lost five or six residents within expand this to other places in future.” and their families, and who
the space of a month,” says Hannah, Dr Du Toit believes the project illustrates enable the maintenance of
uncharacteristically sombre. “It really hit that residential care facilities are an existing social networks.
home because all of us had worked closely important part of the wider community. Ensure, if possible, the
with at least one of them. But it’s part of “We need that collective understanding location is close to visiting
family and friends. And
what we do and we have had to find ways that you can’t raise a child without a village.
finally, look for an
to deal with it. There’s plenty of support I think we’ve lost that. These students have
aged-care home that has
from the university and from Scalabrini had the benefit of the intergenerational
an openness about it, both
staff. And the four of us here have become connection – that wonderful experience of
physically and culturally.
so close through these shared experiences, being in contact with people with incredibly
it’s more than just a regular friendship.” rich and interesting life experience.” AWW

96 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

My story
I helped
my husband
come out
Teresa Leggett realised her husband was gay before he did, and that
knowledge changed both their lives. Now this 45-year-old mother of two
is a Mardi Gras organiser, and was just recently “best woman” at her ex’s
wedding. This is her story, as told to Gary Nunn.
I was in a Brisbane pub with my first love and husband
of nine years, Michael. I’d been working interstate for
three months and he was taking me out to meet some of
his new friends. But as the night progressed and drinks were
consumed, something uncomfortable happened. One
of Michael’s new male friends became angry and emotional.
I looked at him, then looked at Michael. It was the behaviour
of someone who felt emotionally betrayed. Suddenly I had
this sinking feeling. I dashed to the bathroom and rang a friend
in tears. “I think Michael’s gay,” I said. She told me I needed to
ask Michael. When I broached it with him at home later that
night, he earnestly denied it. It was a conversation we would
have again and again.
In Michael’s eyes, if he was gay, he would lose everything: his
wife, family, marriage, the love of his parents, his friends, his
position in the police force. Michael was very similar to his dad,
who had served in the army. Michael’s mum once showed me
his “When I grow up …” childhood book. In it, he’d written:
“I want to be a soldier and a police officer.” And that’s exactly
what he’d become. Duty, responsibility and purpose were all
important to him – in his career and in our marriage.
True love
I’d met Michael 12 years earlier on an army reserves course.
I was 19 and he was 24. I was a dreadful soldier – I’ve never
been good at following orders. In our first real conversation,
98 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
Michael pulled me aside and gave me a lecture. He said
I was a pathetic excuse for a soldier, that I was drinking
too much, that I was an embarrassment to the uniform.
And then we began dating.
I still smile when I remember the day he proposed.
Everything went wrong. It was Valentine’s Day. He’d planned
dinner at my favourite restaurant on top of Mount Coot-tha
in Brisbane, but the restaurant wasn’t taking bookings, and it
poured so hard we were absolutely drenched and had to
book an extortionate hotel. Flustered, down on one knee, he
produced a ring his grandparents had made. I nodded, crying
like a baby. He cried too.
Looking back, I was convinced I knew it all. There wasn’t
a doubt in my mind about Michael. I’d met the love of my life.
The big fairytale wedding was on the hottest day on record
in a huge cathedral in Ipswich. The priest was my uncle and
my lace dress was made by my grandmother. Ave Maria was
played, then a police bagpiper performed to our 150 guests.
A decade of married life followed, eight years of which
were very happy. There were times we realised we weren’t
passionately in love with each other, but I consoled myself
that relationships naturally grow less passionate over time.
Michael had this checklist of a successful life: soldier, police
officer, married. By now he was in the police force. When
you’re with someone who is that confident, you go along with
it. It feels right. When a rumour went around that someone
 Relationships

Michael worked with was gay, he was so angry. “That slur
could destroy someone’s career,” he said.
After my long work trip to Canberra, when the truth
dawned on me, I felt shock, then sadness. Our futures had
been so intertwined. The second time we really discussed the
issue, anger took over. I pleaded: “Just tell me you’re gay and
we can move on.” He was stoic and silent. But that uneasy
feeling kept returning, along with a very real concern that
Michael might take his own life rather than ever come out.
I later learned just how justified my fear was.
A rainbow welcome
Then the day finally came. Michael had been out late and
he walked into our bedroom in tears. When he could get the
words out, he told me he was gay. It was such a relief. We fell
asleep that night, sobbing and hugging. He later admitted that
he’d been sitting in his car for hours deliberating about
whether it would be an easier route to take his own life.
Michael was determined to keep his vows to me, saying
that even though he was gay, he didn’t need to act on it. I
didn’t want that for him. Months passed and our relationship
moved fairly easily from lovers to housemates, but something
was niggling. I was moving on, making new friends, but
Michael wasn’t. He wasn’t comfortable in his own skin. He
hadn’t yet told his family. He felt by
coming out he was letting everyone Right: Teresa
down. That’s when I came up with with Michael
the idea of going to the Sydney (right) and
Adrian (left)
Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
at their first
I’d adored Mardi Gras since I was Mardi Gras in
a child – the colour, the movement, 2004. Below:
the music, the freedom, all the At Mardi Gras
possibilities – and I still love it. One with Michael’s
magical night a year, the roads are h sband
closed and the community c es Nicholas
ght
together, filling the streets, to
celebrate. All the repression, fear,
discomfort, negativity and a
are shaken off, and the com unity
roars: “I am here, this is me.” I was
hell-bent on taking Michael.
It was just me, Michael a d a
dear friend of mine, Adrian. made
us cute fluffy bunny costumes, but
it rained so hard, in the en we
PICTURES SUPPLIED AND USED WITH PERMISSION.
… they’re waiting for you.” The closer our start time came, the
more excited I became but Michael was overwhelmed. At the
last moment, he decided to watch instead, and waved us off.
As soon as we stepped on to Oxford Street, I heard the
crowds cheering and applauding, and I saw the magic of
Mardi Gras. I watched as the people in our group grew taller,
grew stronger, grew in confidence. They’d fought for so long,
so hard for this moment to shine. We met Michael at the end
of the parade and all three of us moved on to the after-party.
That night, three fluffy bunnies danced till the early morning,
not wanting the excitement, the acceptance, the love to end.
We are family
Michael has come so far. He’s now one of the biggest
campaigners for LGBTQI rights within Queensland’s police
force, and founder of the Queensland Police Service’s LGBTI
Support Network, which was recognised at the 2018 Premier’s
Awards. Now he’s older, wiser and realises how much he
missed out on by not living his truth – and every day he makes
it easier for the next person to live theirs. That’s one of the many
amazing things about the LGBTQI community – every single
person understands the struggle it takes to live their truth.
After seeing the power Mardi Gras has, I couldn’t stay away.
The following year I gathered Michael and the friends I’d met
in the community and
created a group called Free,
Gay and Happy. Today, it
has 900 members across
Australia and we’re
preparing for our 17th
year in the parade.
Thirteen years ago, I met
my long-term partner John
– at a gay dance party! We
have two children, Mitchell,
seven, and Ethan, five.
And I was honoured
when Michael asked me to
be “best woman” at
his recent wedding. His
partner, Nicholas, said the
most eautiful thing to me: “I love how
u st l call him your husband, and now,
’s o husband.”
I’ll ep doing Mardi Gras as long as

looked more like drowned there re LGBTQI people still taking their
bunnies than sexy ones! own li s, believing there’s no place for
When we arrived in S ney, em i this world. Michael doesn’t need
Adrian had a surprise: h the rdi Gras parade anymore – he’s
arranged for us to be in t und is place in the community. But I do,
parade. We couldn’t beli e still ed it, and I think I always will. AWW
it. The marshalling area as
a whirlwind of noise, co To con act The Women Partners of Gay and
and smiles. I remember saying Bisexu l Men Service, call 1800 787 887 or
to Michael: “You feel so email fo@womenpartners.org.au. If you or
isolated but look, this is your some ne you know needs help, contact
community in their tho ands Lifeli : 13 1114, lifeline.org.au.

RY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 99

Health

R
ight now, what do you hear? The radio chatting away? The soft rumble of traffic?
Birds flitting between trees? We live our lives to a low chorus, which we largely
filter out. Though for some of us, innocent everyday sounds can cause distress,
anger and can even put a strain on relationships.
“Let’s just say I can clear the room with a rice cake,” says Sarah-Jane. “My
husband hates the sound of crunching, but for me it’s the best stress release at the end of the
day. I come home and start munching on crackers or chips the minute I walk through the door
an annoy
hi gh about
.”
i hers. One
i ’t cope
l a deep →

For some, silence is golden. Vicki Bramley investigates

why we hear things differently and how sound can shape
your mood, mental health and wellbeing.
GETTY IMAGES.
20-40%
of us have a noise sensitivity
fear of squeaky sounds like foam.
In this tiny, snowed-in space, no
yoghurt, cereal, soup, crackers,
styrofoam or apples (mostly the
apples) were welcome. To keep the
peace we agreed tooth brushing
would only happen with the
bathroom door firmly shut.
You may have a friend or family
member with a similar aversion. The
nervous grandmother who can’t
stomach the sound of children
playing loudly – “It’s like knives in
my ears and I feel like something
terrible is about to happen,” says
Marianne. The quiet brother who
escapes parties before it’s even polite.
“It’s too much noise and I need some
peace and quiet or I feel crook,” says
Stuart. The otherwise amicable boss
who bans a kitchen with anything
more than a kettle – “All the clatter
drives me crazy!”says Helen.
It’s estimated 20 to 40 per cent
of us have a noise sensitivity and,
just like touch, hearing is tied to our
emotions. You can think of sound

“We don’t know

as sensory information that’s
paired with emotional information (a

why people can be

memory of joy or fear) and stored
together in the auditory cortex.
We also know hearing affects mental
health. Those with noise sensitivity
are more likely to report symptoms
of depression, anxiety, anger and
nervousness than noise-resistant
individuals. Hearing loss and tinnitus
(ringing/hissing/whistling/clicking in the
ears) increases your risk of depression
and anxiety, and in later life hearing
loss hastens cognitive decline.
While sound affects our mental and
emotional wellbeing, the reverse is
true too. In other words, how we feel
can impact how we perceive sound,
especially in women. A large 2013 study
of reactions to sound showed women
who felt emotionally exhausted before
performing high-pressure tasks felt that
sounds were louder and more painful
afterwards. Surprisingly, the men in the
study did not report this effect. On
a bad day, our tolerance for sound
can be diminished, and even normal
averse to a
particular sound.”
– Catherine Hart, Principal Audiologist, Hearing Australia.
emotional minefield all day. Misophonia,
also known as 4S or Selective Sound
Sensitivity Syndrome, is characterised
by extreme reactions to common sounds.
Sufferers describe overwhelming
irritability, anger, outrage and disgust
upon hearing certain trigger sounds
that are innocuous to others. The
tapping of a keyboard, the shuffling
of feet, even the self-grooming of a
cat can set some people off.
The most common ‘miso’ triggers
revolve around human sounds,
particularly eating (think crunching,
in confined spaces such as buses and
aeroplanes.
To cope, sufferers have come up
with their own strategies, including
wearing ear plugs around the family
home to block accidental triggers and
eating separate dinners, or at least
playing music during their meals.
They also report humming, internal
screaming (“No! No! No!”), excusing
oneself to ‘use the bathroom’, turning
a fan on and cancelling out the
offending crunching/slurping with
their own crunching/slurping. Sufferers
GETTY IMAGES.

conversation can be perceived as painful. slurping, lip smacking) and breathing report that stress management and
For some, having hearing sensitivities (sniffing, snuffling, nose whistling, etc). taking sufficient ‘time out’ also seems
can feel like stepping through an It can be especially tricky to manage to boost tolerance.

102 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

 Health

apples. Those who experience ASMR

Feel the vibrations report euphoric, calming ‘tingles’

from listening.
One “ASMRtist”, called ASMR
For those with hyperacusis and tinnitus, listening to pleasant, Darling, who created one of the most
low-level sound ensures your brain is not starved for sound famous soporific videos (“ASMR
20 Triggers To Help You Sleep”)
and is better at handling louder noises. Here’s how to do it. has 2.43m subscribers. As the craze
has spread, so have the ASMR sounds:
Remove the ear plugs, as they create an artificial hearing loss. the most popular video of 2018 is
Listen to music with no lyrics or percussion, as they go to the speech part called “Crushing Crunchy
of the brain rather than the limbic relaxation centre. Think classical. Around & Soft Things by Car!” by HelloMaphie
50-80bpm is good. and has been watched almost
one billion times.
Explore environmental music with For some unlucky misophones,
water (if you find it relaxing), which
works well because it has low and
the situation may be compounded
high pitch. by a biological trait called Sensory
Processing Sensitivity. According to
Keep headphones/earbuds psychologist Dr Elaine Aron, 15 to
at 70 per cent max (which 20 per cent of us are highly sensitive
gives you four hours safe people. As well as loud noises and
listening time). At 80-90 per chaotic environments, we may be
cent you can only listen for overwhelmed by strong smells and
15-20 minutes. others’ stress, and need plenty of
Experiment with apps quiet time to rebalance.
such as ReSound Tinnitus Relief, For those with hyperacusis,
which has soundscapes, and or decreased sound tolerance,
Sound Oasis, which offers white chatting and even their own voice
noise and nature sounds. can become unbearable. In this
disorder, normal levels of sound are
rendered uncomfortable, distorted
While there’s little research on the response with increased heart rate or painful. It can happen suddenly
condition, and it’s not yet recognised and sweating. or gradually, and the most common
by the World Health Organization, we Why crunching for one misophone cause is damage to the inner ear due
do know that it’s not just a personality and slurping for another, though? to aging or exposure to loud noise.
quirk. Hearing isn’t a factor either, “We don’t know why people can You know you have it if you feel
since trigger sounds can occur at any be averse to a particular sound,” says compelled to retreat to somewhere
volume, loud or soft, and sufferers Catherine Hart, Principal Audiologist quiet or wear ear plugs even when
frequently score high on audiology at Hearing Australia. “That person it’s not especially noisy.
assessments. Nor is it an anger issue, may have had an episode or anxiety “These strategies can backfire
despite sufferers occasionally storming incident with that sound at some though, because you begin starving
off or verbally lashing out. point in their life. Often, they may the brain for sound,” says Catherine
Scientists are starting to map have other anxieties too. The thing Hart. “It’s like when you go to bed,
misophonic brains and have discovered to remember is it’s not an ear issue. turn off the lights and then suddenly
that trigger sounds send them into For some reason the brain is reacting your ears prick up and you’re awake
overdrive. A 2017 study from Newcastle and filtering that particular sound again. What’s happening is that your
University in Current Biology found and it makes an irrational fight or brain has effectively turned up the
the “first evidence of clear changes in flight response. Sometimes cognitive radar to search for those signals.”
the structure of the brain’s frontal lobe behavioural therapy (CBT) can help our The treatment, she says, is having
in sufferers of misophonia”. Brain brains fix the neurological pathways.” your hearing tolerance mapped by
imaging revealed that misophonic At the same time, some people turn an audiologist, then flooding the brain
reactions are accompanied by highly to these very trigger sounds to help with low-level pleasant sound through
exaggerated responses in regions that them relax. ASMR, or autonomous sound enrichment therapy (see “Feel
are critical in emotional processing, sensory meridian response, has the Vibrations”, above).
and in regulating emotional responses. exploded on YouTube with videos For misophonia, CBT may be the
The researchers also found that trigger of people hair brushing, tapping, only hope. “That,” says Sarah-Jane,
sounds evoked a physiological whispering and yes, crunching or “learning to crunch quietly”. AWW

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 103

Family matters
The art of a good brew
Because let’s face it, there’s nothing in life that
a nice cup of tea can’t fix.
very morning the
E
MOTH (The Man
of the House) makes
the tea.
He warms the pot,
drops in a generous amount of
loose tea and pours on freshly
boiled water. Then we wait for
the tea to ‘steep’.
It doesn’t matter if the plane has
landed, the meeting has started, the
crisis has escalated or the show is
about to go on.
Then we wait.
The MOTH makes tea the way his
dad taught him – tea that grows hairs
on your chest, tea that won two World
Wars. Tea so strong it wakes you up,
shrivels your tongue and makes you
proud to be Australian all at the
same time.
The MOTH believed it was his job
to pass on his tea-making skills to the
TO CONNECT WITH PAT ON FACEBOOK visit FACEBOOK.COM/PATMCDERMOTTAU
104 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
next generation of
WITH
Aussies. On winter
PAT
McDERMOTT weekends when
our children were
young he’d build
a wee fire on stones at the
bottom of the garden and
‘boil a billy’.
“What would you do if you
were cold and alone in the bush and
wanted a hot cup of tea?” he asked.
“Find a McDonalds,” said one.
“Call the police and ask them to
bring pizza,” said another.
“Ring Mum on my mobile and
tell her I’m in big trouble and to
come and get me right away!”
That would be Ruff Red.
“I’d have a compass and a mobile
phone and warm clothes and insect
repellent,” added Flynn. “And
a dog to keep me warm and a lot
of food,” chirped Courtenay.
Reagan, who was the eldest, said
the whole idea was ridiculous. She’d
never be stuck in the woods because
she didn’t go anywhere that didn’t
have flushing toilets.
“Fine!” said the MOTH. “But while
you waited for help you could make
billy tea! All you need is a billy, tea
leaves and matches.”
“We’re not allowed to play with
matches,” sniffed Courtenay.
“We’re not going to play. We are
going to be very careful. We’re going
to find a space away from trees or
bush or piles of leaves. We’ll get some
twigs and a few dry leaves and make
a small pile. Then we put the stones
around them and fill the billy with
water from a nearby creek.”
“We don’t have a creek,” piped up
Ruff Red.
“We’ll use the garden hose,” said
the MOTH undeterred. “Once the fire
is burning quietly we’ll put the billy
on top.”
Soon the children were shrieking
and dancing around the tiny fire like
wild things. A head poked out of a
bedroom window in the house next
door. “Everybody wave,” said the
MOTH, raising his beer in a salute.
“What now Dad, what now?”
shrieked Ruff Red with excitement.
“Now we add the tea leaves and
give it a good stir. In 10 minutes
we’ll have the most delicious tea
you’ve ever tasted. Then we’ll lie on
the grass, look at the stars and think
about how lucky we are.”
ILLUSTRATION BY MARISA MOREA @THEILLUSTRATIONROOM.COM.AU.
And we did. Until the mozzies
arrived that is.
Our children are grown up now.
They have beards and babies and busy
lives. They sip ristrettos, macchiatos
and decaf soy lattes on the run. But
when they come home they lie on the
grass and the MOTH boils the billy.
“It’s just an old tin,” sniffs
a grandchild.
“Yep. But it makes great tea,” says
the MOTH.
“Do you want me to show you how
to use the microwave, Pop?” AWW
Amy lives in poverty, and dreads going back to school.
Her shoes are falling apart, and she can’t afford a backpack.
Her uniform is tattered, but it’s the only one she has.
She often hides at recess, because she doesn’t fit in.
Her parents can rarely make ends meet,
so she misses out on the excursion, again.
She struggles to keep up in class,
and her confidence is dropping.
She tries really hard, but the challenges
she faces are overwhelming.

Amy has
almost nothing
left to give.
Do you?

SPONSOR AN AUSTRALIAN CHILD TODAY.

As another school year starts, children like Amy need your help. Your sponsorship will provide
the essentials like a proper school uniform and the extra learning programs they need to fit in,
catch up at school, and build the skills to change their lives.

The Smith Family 1800 497 071

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 Fashion

P H OTO G RA P H Y by ALANA LANDSBERRY • ST Y L I N G by JAMELA DUNCAN

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 Fashion

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 109

Fashion

110 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

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FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 115

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Veja V-10 sneakers, $195. The Bondi Shoe Club shoes, $89. com.au.

116 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

 Help enhance firm and radiant
skin with Beauty Rosehip.
Beautiful skin starts from within. Nature’s Way Beauty Rosehip tablets
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Beauty

Taking
cover
Meet the new ‘protective
make-up’. Just like your
best sunscreen, it’s broad
spectrum and high
protection. Apply it
liberally and evenly
– but remember, you still
need water-resistant
sunscreen if swimming
or sweating (and Cancer
Council Australia also
recommends layering
the two for long days in
the sun). Don’t forget to
touch up frequently!

HIGH COVERAGE
Maybelline Dream Urban
Cover SPF40, $25.95, is
broad-spectrum with
clarifying niacinamide and
nourishing vitamin E.

BUILDABLE COVERAGE
Avene Tinted Compact
Cream SPF50, $17.99, is
perfect for touch ups on
the run with broad-
spectrum mineral filters
and vitamin E.

Sun
LIGHT COVERAGE
Revision Intellishade
TruPhysical SPF45, $75, is
a lovely, broad-spectrum
moisturising mineral tint
with a host of antioxidants.
w

We all know the sun for the

sake of our sk ing is confusing
and dark spo what your skin
ne c ley.
118 The Auustralian
alian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

Sunscreen
speak
Let’s decipher some new
w
phrases you might encounte
while sunscreen shop ing.
REEF SAFE Free of c icall
filters linked to coral
bleaching. Hawaii has banned
some, however dermatologist
Dr Natasha Cook says “the
science is not clear”.
OCEAN SAFE Highly water-
resistant formulas that are
less likely to wash off in the
waves and possibly affect
marine life.
ORGANIC Sometimes used to
describe mineral sunscreens
or other ingredients inside,
e.g. organic rosehip oil.
BROAD SPECTRUM/UVA
Contains UVA shields (since
only UVB rays come under the
SPF rating). Remember, there’s
no UVA measure so we never
know exactly how much UVA
protection we’re getting. Best
move: choose excellent UVA
shields like Mexoryl and zinc,
plus added antioxidants to
fight sun damage.
BLUE LIGHT is next on the
spectrum after UVA/UVB. It’s
emitted from the sun and your
smartphone/tablet/computer.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALANA LANDSBERRY. STILL-LIFE
REBECCA RAC. HAIR AND MAKE-UP BY KELLY TAPP.
It’s linked to pigmentation and
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KRISTINA SOLJO. STYLING BY
collagen breakdown.
WITH SUNSCREENS
The product may have an
SPF rating overseas but hasn’t
been tested in Australia.
Elizabeth Arden Great
8 Eight Hour Daily Defense
Moisturizer with
Sunscreens, $50.
Saving face
Sunsc
S creen safety is in the spotlight, and there’s no doubt we need
it to reduce our risk of brown spots, wrinkles and crepey skin.
The best type? The one you’re happy to wear religiously.
Physical
sunscreens
aka mineral sunscreens, scatter
UV using
i zinc or titanium dioxide.
Here’s what you need to know:
THEY’RE GENTLE and don’t
cause allergic reactions, with
strong, long-lasting protection.
THEY’RE DIFFERENT Titanium
dioxide (TD) is better at diverting
UVB rays which make us burn; zinc
is better at reflecting the UVA rays
that drive dark spots and wrinkles.
Blends offer the best of both.
THEY’RE SHEER thanks to nano
particles. The Environmental
Working Group says these don’t
penetrate skin. In one study less
than .01 per cent of nano zinc
entered the bloodstream.
LIGHT
Try: Clinique City Block Sheer Oil-Free
Daily Face Protector SPF25, $42, blends
zinc and TD into a make-up primer.
SILKY
Try: Paula’s Choice Super-Light Daily
Wrinkle Defense SPF30, $29.95, a
wearable zinc tint for fairer skins.
NON-
NANO
Try: Medik8 Physical Sunscreen
SPF30, $78, is packed with peptides,
amino acids and antioxidants.
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
Chemical
sunscreens
Absorb UV light into the skin,
convert it to heat and deactivate it.
Here’s what you need to know:
THEY’RE LIGHT with a
“cosmetically elegant” feel and
invisible finish for all skin tones.
THEY’RE SAFE according to
current research. Common filters
have been shown to enter the
bloodstream, “but no direct
correlation to any negative effect
has been shown,” says Dr Cook.
THEY’RE BEST when blended with
other chemical or mineral filters (as
some types break down quickly in
the sun) and antioxidants to boost
protection against free radicals.
TOTAL
Try: Ultra Violette SPF50+ Queen Screen,
$47, feels like a serum and offers extra
peptide protection against sun damage.
BEST
Try: La Roche Posay Anthelios XL
Ultra-Light Fluid SPF50, $29.95, contains
the ultimate UVA filter, Mexoryl.
HANDY
Try: Nivea Sun Sensitive Protect SPF50
4 hour Water Resistant, $11.99, gives
affordable cover for your whole body.
119
Beauty

Hot Out, damned

spots spot!
We all know how To fade blotches, “add in a prescription
pesky pigmentation hydroquinone or kojic acid cream from
can be and research your dermatologist,” says Dr Cook. But
shows it’s more first, try the ultimate clarifying trio:
ageing than
wrinkles. So, if we’re PEELS
EL with alpha hydroxy acids or beta
still getting uneven hydroxy acid
h acids can gently exfoliate
tone despite excess pigment out
ut of tthe skin.
donning hats and
high SPF, what are
we doing wrong?
Getting hot,
apparently. Experts
know UV exposure : Ole Henriksen Glow2OH
causes blotches D
Dark Spot Toner, $39.
(including melasma)
and now they blame
heat, too. VITAMIN C brightens the skin,
Heat causes our
Pictured below are the areas builds collagen and protects from
melanocytes to we often forget (or neglect) further damage.
produce pigment, to apply sunscreen to, according
lowers antioxidants to a 2019 study.
in the skin and Solution: Mesoestetic Sun Stick
increases proteins Mesoprotech SPF50+, $49.80,
that break down
contains nourishing rosehip oil in Try: Murad Rapid Age Spot Correcting
collagen. One study
a sensitive, ultra-high protection, Serum, $115.
found just 30
minutes of heat broad-spectrum formula.
three times per NIACINAMIDE (vitamin B3) blocks
week can change pigment and strengthens skin health.
your skin after six
weeks. Dr Cook’s
suggestions? “Keep
cool and wear
mineral sunscreens
that physically block Try: Dr Natasha Cook Concentrated
infrared (heat)”. Illuminator, $99 .

Patch test: what spot removal really feels like

Matching your blotches to a treatment depends on your skin and your pigmentation. Is it a freckle, an age spot, a sun spot, or
melasma (which can be worsened by laser, according to Dr Cook)? Then there’s the treatment types. Pico, Q Switch, Erbium,
CO2 peel ... ask your dermatologist which one suits, how many visits it takes and the results, since not all patches completely
disappear. So, what happens when they are zapped? My spots are small and not too dark; they almost disappear with a
dab of concealer and a nice overcast day. I use the right skincare but they won’t budge, so dermatologist Dr Eleni Yiasemides
at SouthDerm suggested BBL Sciton. It’s a broadband light device and after a few hot flashes, it was done. My spots darkened
for the next week (and were trickier to cover) before fading again. Did they disappear? No. Was it worth it? Yes, they’ll need
upkeep next year but, months later, they’re still far softer. With a trio of visits they may even disappear.

120 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

 Beauty

THE
W E E K LY

Edit
Ace your base P H OTO G R A P H Y by KRISTINA SOJLO • ST Y L I N G by STEFANI ZUPANOSKA

45.
, $1
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The latest foundations marry powerful doses of pigment with good-for-skin

ingredients. Choose a formula and build your base with glow-bestowing textures.
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 121
Beauty

A clean slate
If you’re planning a clear-out, start the year with a simple set
of skincare superheroes, says Vicki Bramley.
REMOVER
Refreshers like (7) Mecca
Clean Slate Micellar Water,
$30, feel lovely, and now
11
there’s the brilliant (2) You can
Face Halo Original, $30 1 apply face
for three. These little creams and
washable microfibres 10 serums up to
make a fantastic, the orbital
eco-friendly alternative bone. Inside,
to wipes. Simply wet one 3 2 stick with
and swipe it over your eye creams
9
face to remove make-up. to minimise
Or, for a polished feel, use irritation and
after your usual cleanser. maximise on
your specific
6
concerns,
whether
CLEANSER
fine lines,
Your best cleanser leaves
dehydration,
you feeling fresh and
puffiness or
light, not tight. And 7
dark circles.
cleansing oils and balms
are great at grabbing Avene Derm
Absolu Youth
grime, since like attracts 4
Eye Cream,
like. They also have a
$70, boasts a

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KRISTINA SOLJO. STYLING BY VICKI BRAMLEY. ALSO SHOWN IN PHOTOGRAPH

lot of slip for a mini
natural retinol
face massage at night, 8
alternative

TOP LEFT: (3) KORA ORGANICS COTTON HEADBAND, $29. ALL PRICES ARE APPROXIMATE.
especially if they have
called
fragrant oils that calm bakuchiol.
the mind. Try (6) Sunday If you want NIGHT SERUM, CREAM Ole Henriksen
Riley Moon Tranquillity This is the ideal time to apply vitamin A, the
Cleansing Balm, $76.
visibly ultimate ingredient that “rewinds” your skin by
Banana
Bright Eye
refreshed skin, boosting collagen, elastin and cell turnover. Start Cream, $56, is

DAY SERUM, CREAM

include the with a retinol form like (8) Dr Dennis Gross Ferulic
+ Retinol Anti-Aging Moisturiser, $115, and work up
a tinted whip
packed with
Antioxidants, especially most to Medik8 Retinol 3TR+ Intense Advanced 0.3% brightening
vitamin C and niacinamide, impressive Vitamin A Serum, $75. vitamin C.
are the multi-taskers we
need to protect and repair
multi-taskers:
daily damage. Try a potent vitamin C, THAT’S IT!
hero like SkinCeuticals CE vitamin A If you can’t tolerate vitamin A, try peptides,
Ferulic, $170, or the plant which are proteins designed to soften lines,
based (9) Clarins Double and in (11) The Ordinary Multi-Technology Peptide
Serum, $78. Skipping straight niacinamide. Serum, $24.90, and of course wear sunscreen
to moisturiser? They can daily. And if there’s one thing you buy for your
carry antioxidants, too. We love (10) Liberty Belle hair make it (1) Olaplex No.7 Bonding Oil, $49.95,
Rx Superhero Antioxidant Moisturiser with because it softens, strengthens, glosses and
Anti-Pollution & Blue Light Defence, $138. protects up to 230 degrees.

124 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

 visit optislim.com.au

is it time
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 Love
your
lungs
ME
WO N
N

T
’S

LT H
RALIA

From asthma to
A
WEEKL

his summer HE lung condition, to take

E RT
started with E XP precautions to protect
ST

bronchitis, almost one

Y
• T H E AU
catastrophic our lungs. It’s easy to
bushfires in take good lung health
in three Australians many parts of for granted, until you have
lives with a lung Australia. I know in my
general practice, we were
a problem with your breathing.
So how do we take care of
disease. So how can seeing an unusually high
number of people
our lungs?

you protect your lungs, suffering from irritated Bushfires

especially in bushfire
eyes, blocked noses, Even for those with healthy
coughing and trouble lungs, bushfire smoke can be
and storm season? breathing due to weeks of choking smoke.
This was reflected in hospital admissions
a challenge. If you can, stay inside with
air conditioning switched onto recycle.
What can you do to too, with NSW Heath reporting increases
in hospital presentations for asthma and
Avoid exercising outdoors and see
your GP if you’re coughing consistently
make them stronger breathing problems during the bushfire or have trouble breathing. If you

and healthier? emergency, and almost double the usual

number in the worst-affected areas.
This prompted a reminder for all of
us, especially those with a pre-existing
have asthma, you will hopefully be
familiar with your Asthma Action
Plan. If you are on a preventer, make
sure you are taking it regularly, and

126 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

 Health

carry your relieving medication with way to improve their health by helping
you at all times. If you have asthma them to quit smoking cigarettes has
but you don’t have a plan – or it needs emerged as a serious health concern.
to be updated because of current There has been an outbreak of lung
Looking environmental conditions or because you
are experiencing more symptoms – then
injuries or deaths associated with vaping
in the USA. As of December 2019,
after your visit your GP for a review. You don’t need the Centers for Disease Control and
lungs a prescription to buy reliever puffers like
Ventolin, but you do need instructions
Prevention (CDC) confirmed 55 deaths.
Details are emerging but at this stage it
on when and how to use it. appears that cases are related to people
WHAT WE CAN ALL DO using vaping with cannabis or using
to strengthen, protect Thunderstorm asthma products from informal sources, but the
and care for our lungs in In recent years we have heard about a causes are not fully known. My advice
these special events and number of formerly rare events called at this stage is to exercise caution about
for the long term? “thunderstorm asthma”. According to the vaping and ask your GP for advice on
• Don’t smoke. Ever
National Asthma Foundation, proven strategies to quit smoking.
“thunderstorm asthma can happen
• Exercise every day to the suddenly to people in spring or summer Indoor air pollution
point of puffing for at when there is a lot of pollen in the air and When we think about air pollution, we
least 20–30 minutes
the weather is hot, dry, windy and usually think about the outdoors. But
• Regular yoga practice stormy.” It can happen to anyone indoor air quality also has an impact
can be beneficial living in the city or the country, on your lung health. Sources of indoor
for breathing even if they’ve never had pollution include fuel-burning heaters,
problems asthma. Those who have exposure to smoking, some building
• Spend regular hayfever, for instance, are at materials and furnishings, mould,
time in nature, a higher risk for thunderstorm household products that emit fumes,
among trees or asthma. Seek shelter indoors and other household chemicals. The
by the ocean in the wind gusts before and situation is made worse if your home
• Avoid exercising
during thunderstorms. If there’s or office has poor ventilation. Effects
outdoors on poor air conditioning, switch it to of exposure can include nose and throat
air quality days recycle. For more advice, visit irritation, headaches, dizziness and
nationalasthma.org.au breathing problems. One popular way
• Wear a mask for
to assist with purification of indoor air
protection against
infection and pollution
Vaping update right now is with pot plants.
A relatively new challenge for lung health, It’s important to also identify sources
at times of high risk
“vaping” is the inhaling of nicotine vapour of indoor air pollution (with advice
• Avoid crowds during from a device such as an e-cigarette. What at yourhome.gov.au) and keep your
PROFESSOR PHELPS: PHOTOGRAPHY BY YIANNI ASPRADASKIS. GETTY IMAGES. ISTOCK.

the flu season many people hoped would provide a new home well ventilated. AWW
• Have an annual flu
vaccine and ask your
doctor about a Should we wear face masks?
pneumococcal vaccine
WEARING MASKS outside of a surgical theatre wasn’t something we used to see
• Avoid exposure to in Australia, only in Asian countries where there is a high degree of awareness of air
indoor pollutants pollution and the contagion of respiratory infection. I am often asked if they work.
• If someone at home WE ARE ACCUSTOMED to wearing masks in general practice, for the protection
has a respiratory illness, of patients and for ourselves. We make sure there is a constant supply of masks
take precautions to in our clinic reception area, and we insist that anyone with a cough or fever who
avoid exposure may be contagious puts one on while they wait.
• When air quality is low, SO YES, there is a reduction in spread of respiratory infections if you wear a mask
close the windows and and this is particularly important for people with respiratory problems. But what
switch on air conditioning. about masks as protection against airborne particles? The answer is that it depends
Or visit an air-conditioned on the type of airborne particles causing the poor air quality and the type of mask.
venue such as an indoor
ORDINARY PAPER dust masks, handkerchiefs or bandanas do not filter out fine
shopping mall
particles from bushfire smoke and are generally not very useful in protecting your
or public library.
lungs. Special face masks called ‘P2’ masks (around $8 for three at hardware stores)
filter bushfire smoke, providing greater protection against inhaling fine particles.

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 127

 G E T
I M E TO
H E T

C
S T

N
I

A
OW

N
N

FI
We believe financial
literacy will help shape
a more equal future for
Australian women.
Head to financiallyfitfemales.com.au
for great stories as well as handy resources
for savings, investments, superannuation
and more. Every step you take now can
help change your future.

It’s never too early or too late to get

financially fit.

Creating a nation of wealthy,

woke and wise Australian women.
 Medical Q&A

Ask the
doctor
DID YOU
KNOW?

Heatwaves are likely to

worsen in the future
wit h PROFESSOR KERRYN PHELPS due to climate change.

Q
Check weather reports
I’ve heard that
and plan visits to
ibuprofen can cause
air-conditioned venues
meningitis. Is this true
and what’s the risk? J.P., NSW. during the hottest parts
Ibuprofen is one of the most commonly used of the day. Drink plenty
analgesics and anti-inflammatory medications. of water (a sign you
Aseptic meningitis (inflammation of the lining of are drinking enough is
the brain) is a rare but increasingly recognised side that your urine is a pale
effect, mainly among people with an underlying straw colour), avoid
autoimmune connective tissue disorder. alcohol and hot drinks,
find a cool place out of

Q
I have black floating spots in my the sun. In the long
eyesight, but only in front of my left term, encourage tree
eye. They’ve been coming and going planting in your area.
for a couple of months and seem to
H AV E a
be more frequent now. Is this something I should
QUESTION?
see my GP or an optometrist for? D.A., Tas.
The most likely cause for the floater is a If you have a question
posterior vitreous detachment. Any recent for Professor Kerryn
change in your vision should be assessed, either Phelps, write to:
by an optometrist or your doctor, who will Ask The Doctor,
determine whether you need to see an GPO Box 4178, Sydney,
ophthalmologist (medical eye specialist). NSW 2001 or email
openline@bauer-media.

Q
com.au. Letters cannot EASY TO USE
I’ve had a cyst on the back of my be answered personally.
neck for four years; sometimes it is See the Contents page
barely noticeable, at times it swells in this issue for the
almost to ping-pong ball size. I’m in location of Bauer Media
my late 40s. Should I have it removed? Anon. Limited’s Privacy Notice.
This is most likely a sebaceous cyst. Because of

Q
its history of intermittent inflammation, I would
advise you to have it removed by a plastic Occasionally
surgeon before it increases in size again. I get a pinprick
PROFESSOR PHELPS PHOTOGRAPHY BY YIANNI ASPRADAKIS.

Q
pain behind the
My husband is in his mid-50s and inner corner of
sometimes – perhaps in times of heat my right eyebrow. It usually
or stress – comes out in a rash on his lasts a few hours. Is this a
chest, which the doctor says is Grover’s headache or something
disease. It usually subsides with a cortisone else? B.M., Qld.
cream. Is there anything you’d recommend There are several possibilities
in terms of diet, soaps and creams? Anon. for your symptoms including
Grover’s disease, also called transient acantholytic trigeminal neuralgia or a
dermatosis (TAD), most often occurs in men over cluster headache. Your GP
50. The itch can be worsened by heat, humidity, will take a comprehensive
sweating and the sun. Use a soap substitute and a history and arrange
chemical-free moisturiser regularly. Antihistamines appropriate investigations
and mild cortisone creams can settle outbreaks. or referral.
Health
news
EDITED by VICKY BRAMLEY

80%
of those with

Walk fast
coeliac disease
remain undiagnosed and
long-term exposure can
increase the risk of
infertility and cancer,
says Coeliac Australia, so
it’s important to see your to s l o w a g e
GP if you’re having any
unexplained symptoms. Pounding the cognitive function than
Recent findings in the pavement could be a those with the highest gait
journal Gut show that in sign of successful ageing. (5.7 feet per second).
those with a genetic In a study of more than Training to walk faster
predisposition, frequent 1000 45-year-olds, those may not reverse changes
gastro infections are with the slowest gait (3.9 but will contribute to
associated with a higher feet per second) had poor overall health. In a
risk of developing physical foundation at separate study in
coeliac disease midlife. They also had Scienmag, it was
autoimmunity, and high accelerated ageing with discovered that butyrate,
gluten intake further
facial changes, organ a short-chain fatty acid
increased risk. Coeliac
deterioration, brain produced in the gut, can
Awareness Week is
changes and worse alter ageing. Butyrate is
13-20 March.

Bingeing is a brain disease

Women are more susceptible to emotional eating, but it’s
not due to hormones, say researchers at The Florey
In
nstitute of Neuroscience and Mental Health in
Melbourne. They put sugary food just out of
reach of mice, and then let them eat for 15
minutes. Only females binged. Dr Robyn
Brown believes the behaviour is tied to the
female brain and is testing a neural circuit
to see if it’s involved. These findings, she
said, “help reduce the stigma that people
who overeat can’t control themselves. It
says that person has a brain disease”.
 Lose the
Shake
it off
bruise with
®

produced by fermentation
of dietary fibres in the
gut, which in turn
stimulates production of
a pro-longevity hormone
that regulates energy and
metabolism. In the study,
increased butyrate lead
to the production of
neurons in the brain.
The results may lead
to food-based treatments
to slow ageing.
DID
you
KNOW
Hirudoid.
Ultrasound can improve
tremor for three years
without serious side
effects, according to a
study in Neurology, the
journal of the American
Academy of Neurology.
Essential tremor is a
neurological condition
that affects 800,000
Australians. It involves
uncontrollable shaking in
hands, arms, legs and
voice, which interferes
with everyday tasks like
drinking, dressing and
writing. Currently, deep
brain stimulation is used
for severe tremor. By
comparison, focused
ultrasound thalamotomy
benefits are immediate
and three years after the
study, participants had
still improved in hand
tremors, disability and
quality of life.

“Effervescent vitamins can erode tooth Available in leading pharmacies.

enamel, kombucha’s low pH can be as
damaging as soft drink and even
bottled waters are acidic,” says dentist Always read the label. Use only as directed. If symptoms persist
Dr Angie Lang. Her picks for preserving see your healthcare professional.

tooth enamel? Tap water and tea.

GETTY IMAGES.

*Reference: In one study of 10 healthy volunteers, the time it took for 50% of the bruise to be absorbed
was 2.1 days for Hirudoid and 4 days for the inactive cream. Research conducted by B. Larsson,
(When you tire of those, try her sugar- S. Fianu, A. Jonasson & B. Forsskahl. Financial sponsor of research unknown.
free, non-acidic, vitamin and prebiotic-
filled drink Swirlit, $29.70 for six.
ASMI 29576-1118
 Clockwise from top:
Loretta restaurant;
Ortega Fish Shack;
Egmont St. Eatery; Rita
restaurant; Customs by
Coffee Supreme.

Ultimate
ESCAPE
With the steep hills behind dotted with charming
weatherboard cottages and a beautiful working harbour,
Wellington offers the ultimate city long weekend away.
Pack your walking shoes – and an appetite.
EXPLORE
There’s something incredibly charming
about Wellington, an enviably green
city that’s grown organically around its
harbour location. Despite the hills, it’s
easy to enjoy and discover on foot.
For a good overview, catch the
Wellington Cable Car from Lambton
Quay to Kelburn and then take your
time walking back down to the city
through the stunning botanic gardens.
Work up an appetite along the way
and stop in at Tinakori Road in the
picturesque village of Thorndon for
coffee or lunch, followed by some
unhurried browsing of the suburb’s
local antiques and collectables stores.
For a taste of culture, make your way
back to the city centre where Te Papa
Tongarewa (Museum of New Zealand)
offers hours of insight into Māori,
colonial and natural history alongside
an ever-changing collection of
contemporary permanent and
travelling collections and exhibitions.
EAT
There is absolutely no shortage of
great places to eat in Wellington –
the biggest challenge will be finding

enough meals to fit it all in. Stop by
Loretta for a beautiful interior and
a huge menu that takes diners from
breakfast through to late-night dinners,
or make your way to Egmont St. Eatery,
tucked away in a vibrant laneway. This
stylish and inviting eatery has made its
mark in Wellington with its fresh and
seasonal food (you’d hardly know it
was once an industrial carpark).
For authentic Peranakan dishes
inspired by the streets and kitchens of
Penang, visit the beautiful Little Penang
on The Terrace, run by the hospitable
husband and wife team, Tee Phie and
Keith Cheah. Their delicious Malaysian
food has earned them local Wellington
devotees for many years.
At Rita, the food is amazing, the chef
and crew are like family and the style
of the cottage is Wellington to a T. Book
ahead because this tiny 26-seat eatery
is popular with locals and fills up fast.
Finally, don’t leave Wellington without
PRODUCED BY STORY
a taste of their delicious seafood; book
a table at Ortega Fish Shack and enjoy
dinner cooked by one of the city’s most
respected chefs in the restaurant’s
gorgeous homely and eclectic
marine-inspired interior.
Promotion
Clockwise from top: Wellington Chocolate Factory;
Customs by Coffee Supreme; Little Penang; Havana
Coffee Works headquarters and cafe.
RECHARGE
Power up your morning or afternoon
with some of the best coffee in the
city at the small but popular Customs
by Coffee Supreme, seek out Pour and
Twist for their manual brew coffee or
head to Havana Coffee Works in the
iconic avocado-green art deco building
for a complete coffee experience.
A Wellington stalwart in the city’s
robust coffee industry, the cafe sits
alongside the roasting and packing
room and the company’s headquarters,
complete with interiors inspired by the
streets of Cuba with rustic wooden
furnishings and eclectic collectables
at every turn. Each bean roasted,
hand packed or ground by the team
is sourced from producers who farm
sustainably and in turn contribute to
their communities through economic
and social return.
SHOP
Pick up plenty of gourmet goodies
along the way with a few special
places worth seeking out. Pop into
Moore Wilson’s fresh food
emporium for fresh baked
goods, one of their
renowned fresh orange
juices or a selection of
mouthwatering cheeses
and dips from their deli
cabinets. There are also
plenty of local products
on the shelves including
Six Barrel Soda Co’s unique
specialty soda syrups,
Mayan Man’s Cacao Husk
tea and Earthend honey.
Stop at Wellington
Chocolate Factory for a
chocolate tour or one of
their mind-blowing hot or
iced chocolates, then pick
up a block of their fairtrade
chocolate to take home
(if you can resist tucking
into it yourself).
Weta
Workshop
Take a behind-the-scenes
tour of Wellington’s
five-time Academy
Award-winning design
studio and practical
effects facility for a
fascinating insight into the
craft behind film-making.
wetaworkshop.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND
TO PLAN YOUR WILD WEEKEND,
VISIT WELLINGTONNZ.COM
 E D I T E D by F RA N A B DA L L AO U I

Seasonal
bounty
Mid-week Hearty Amazing
meals salads desserts
PAGE 140 PAGE 136 PAGE 158
womensweeklyfood.com.au
 Pick your
protein
salads Being a ‘flexitarian’ means adding new,
beneficial foods to your diet. Include a
variety of vegetables and discover delicious
things to eat and boost your health, too.

P H OTO G R A P H Y by JAMES MOFFATT • ST Y L I N G by OLIVIA BLACKMORE

 Test Kitchen

Add fish
R E C I P E PAG E 1 3 8

Mega grain and green bowl

Add lentils
R E C I P E PAG E 1 3 8

Mega grain and green bowl

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 137


Broccoli and barley salad
SERVES 4 PREP AND COOK TIME 45 MINUTES
1 cup (200g) pearl barley
350g broccoli, cut into small florets
1 bunch broccolini (175g), halved
lengthways
500g vine-ripened cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
100g baby salad leaves
OREGANO SALSA
1 cup firmly packed fresh flat-leaf
parsley leaves, chopped finely
½ cup firmly packed fresh oregano
leaves, chopped finely
2 green onions, sliced thinly
2 tablespoons baby capers
1 long red chilli, seeded, chopped finely
½ cup (125ml) extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup (60ml) sherry vinegar
PICK-YOUR-PROTEIN
600g beef rump steak OR
4 x 220g salmon fillets OR
400g piece fetta, plus 1 tablespoon
extra virgin olive oil
1 Cook barley in large saucepan of
boiling salted water for 35 minutes or
until tender. Drain; transfer to bowl.
2 OREGANO SALSA Combine
ingredients in a bowl; season.
Top with extra oregano, if you like.
3 Preheat a large oiled grill plate
(or pan or barbecue) over medium
heat until smoking. Place broccoli,
138 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
Add beef
Broccoli and
barley salad
broccolini, tomatoes and oil in a
bowl; stir to coat. Grill broccoli and
broccolini for 3 minutes until light
char marks appear. Add to bowl with
barley. Grill tomatoes, turning, for
until blistered; add to bowl.
4 Cook protein on hot grill plate:
BEEF Grill beef for 4 minutes on
one side, turn, cook for a further
3 minutes on other side for medium-
rare or until cooked to your liking.
Transfer to a plate and rest, covered
loosely with foil, for 10 minutes. Slice
thickly across the grain.
SALMON Cook salmon for 2 minutes
on each side for medium or until
cooked to your liking. Flake into bite-
sized pieces.
FETTA Cut 30cm squares of foil and
baking paper. Place foil on bench
and top with paper. Pat fetta dry
with paper towel. Place fetta in
centre of paper and drizzle with the
1 tablespoon oil. Bring sides of foil
and baking paper together and fold
down to seal; twist ends. Cook parcel
on grill plate for 5 minutes on each
side until fetta is hot. Remove from
foil. Cut into bite-sized pieces.
5 Add protein mixture to barley
mixture; toss to mix well. Transfer
barley mixture to a platter or divide
among plates. Drizzle with the
salsa. Serve with salad leaves and
remaining salsa.
Mega grain and green bowl
SERVES 4 PREP AND COOK TIME 20 MINUTES
⅓ cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil, plus
1 tablespoon extra
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 x 250g packets microwave brown rice
and quinoa mix
600g brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved
300g cavolo nero (Tuscan kale), trimmed
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 medium avocados (500g), sliced
⅓ cup (65g) pepitas, toasted
TZATZIKI DRESSING
2 Lebanese cucumbers (340g), seeded, grated
coarsely, plus extra thinly sliced
½ teaspoon sea salt flakes
1 cup (280g) Greek yoghurt
1 small clove garlic, crushed
3 teaspoons lemon juice
1½ tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
PICK-YOUR-PROTEIN
12 red mullet fillets (960g), skin on OR
400g can lentils, drained, rinsed
1 TZATZIKI DRESSING combine cucumber
and salt in a bowl; refrigerate for 20 minutes
or until cucumber releases liquid. Drain
in a colander; squeeze out excess liquid.
Transfer cucumber to a bowl; add remaining
ingredients. Stir to combine; season to taste.
Top with extra cucumber and dill if desired.
2 Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large
frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook
garlic for 30 seconds. Add rice and quinoa
mix; cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until
starting to crisp. Transfer rice mixture to
a bowl; season.
3 Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in same pan;
cook brussels sprouts, turning occasionally,
for 5 minutes or until charred and tender.
Transfer to a plate.
4 Heat another 2 teaspoons of the oil in
same pan; cook cavolo nero, turning, for 2
minutes or until just starting to wilt. Transfer
to a plate. Wipe pan clean.
5 Combine paprika, extra oil and your choice
of protein in a bowl; season. Heat remaining
oil in pan over high heat.
6 Cook chosen protein:
FISH Cook fish for 2 minutes on each side or
until just cooked through.
LENTILS Cook lentils until warmed through.
Add to rice mixture; stir gently.
7 Divide rice mixture among bowls; top with
fish, if using, brussels sprouts, cavolo nero,
avocado and pepitas. Drizzle with dressing.
 Test Kitchen

Add fetta
Broccoli and
barley salad

Add salmon
Broccoli and
barley salad

R
RECIPES EXTRACTED
FROM FLEXIBLE
F
PLANT-BASED, $39.99,
P
AVAILABLE WHERE
A
ALL GOOD BOOKS
A
ARE SOLD AND AT
A
AWWCOOKBOOKS.
A
COM.AU.
C
 COOK,

FREEZE,

EAT!
Pork and green olive
meatloaves with
sweet potato mash

R E C I P E PAG E

144

By setting aside time on the weekend for meal

prep, you’ll save time and stress getting dinner on
the table during your busy week. Try these recipes
from The Weekly’s new cookbook, Meal Prep.
 Everyday food

FRIDGE
AND
FREEZER
GUIDE

This chart will help you

determine how long to
store meals in the fridge
and freezer. The fridge
temperature should be
at 5°C or below, the
freezer at -15°C. Always
store raw and cooked
food separately in
clean, airtight
containers. Refrigerate
meat, poultry, fish and
even rice as soon as
possible after cooking,
especially casserole-
type dishes; stand no
longer than 1 hour to cool
before transferring to
fridge or freezer. Decant
large quantities to
smaller containers for
rapid cooling.

CURED MEATS/
SALAMI/BACON
FRIDGE 1 WEEK
FREEZER 2 MONTHS
COOKED CHICKEN
DISHES
FRIDGE 3–4 DAYS
FREEZER 2–3 MONTHS
COOKED MEAT DISHES
FRIDGE 3–4 DAYS
FREEZER 2–3 MONTHS
Moroccan COOKED FISH DISHES
pulled beef FRIDGE 2–3 DAYS
FREEZER 2 MONTHS
R E C I P E PAG E
SOUPS & STEWS
143 FRIDGE 3–4 DAYS
FREEZER 4 MONTHS
RICE
FRIDGE 3 DAYS
FREEZER 4 MONTHS
COOKED VEGIES
FRIDGE 3–4 DAYS
FREEZER 2 MONTHS
Everyday food
Roast chicken with green
pumpkin and broccolini
curry
MAKES 4 PORTIONS PREP AND COOK TIME
50 MINUTES (+ STANDING TIME)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1.2kg chicken, patted dry, butterflied
GREEN PUMPKIN AND BROCCOLINI CURRY
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 red shallots, sliced thinly
¼ cup (75g) green curry paste
500g butternut pumpkin, peeled, cut into
3cm pieces
400ml can coconut cream
2 bunches broccolini (350g), trimmed,
halved crossways
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
SESAME CAULIFLOWER RICE heavy-based saucepan over medium
1 medium cauliflower (1.5kg), cut into florets heat. Cook shallots, stirring, for 2 minutes.
1 tablespoon sesame oil Stir in curry paste; cook 1 minute. Add
3 green onions, sliced thinly pumpkin; stir to coat. Add coconut cream
ASSEMBLY INGREDIENT and 1 cup water; bring to boil. Simmer for
Thai basil leaves, to serve 6 minutes. Add broccolini; cook 3 minutes
or until tender but still crisp. Remove
1 Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan- broccolini. Stir in sugar and lime juice.
forced). Line an oven tray with baking 3 SESAME CAULIFLOWER RICE
paper. Rub oil over chicken; season well. Meanwhile, process cauliflower until
Place chicken on lined tray; roast for 50 very finely chopped. Heat sesame oil in
minutes or until juices run clear. Cover a large deep frying pan over medium-
loosely with foil. Rest for 15 minutes high heat. Cook processed cauliflower,
before carving. stirring, for 12 minutes. Add green onions;
2 GREEN PUMPKIN AND BROCCOLINI cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until
CURRY Meanwhile, heat oil in a large, cauliflower is cooked.
ASSEMBLY Cut chicken TO FREEZE Cut chicken microwave-safe containers.
into quarters and serve into quarters. Divide Label and freeze.
with pumpkin and chicken, pumpkin and TO REHEAT Thaw in fridge
broccolini curry and broccolini curry and or microwave on DEFROST
sesame cauliflower rice. sesame cauliflower rice for 10 minutes. Heat on
Top with Thai basil leaves into 4 individual portions HIGH for 3 minutes or until
to serve. and store in freezer-proof, chicken is warmed through.
 Moroccan pulled beef
MAKES 8 PORTIONS PREP AND COOK TIME
3 HOURS 20 MINUTES

1 bunch coriander
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1.5kg piece beef bolar blade roast
2 tablespoons Moroccan seasoning
1 onion (150g), chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon harissa paste
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 litre (4 cups) beef stock
400g can cherry tomatoes
TAHINI DRIZZLE
⅓ cup (90g) tahini
⅓ cup (60ml) lemon juice
½ teaspoon ground cumin
ASSEMBLY INGREDIENTS
couscous or quinoa, to serve

1 Preheat oven to 160°C (140°C fan-

forced). Separate coriander leaves from
stems and roots (reserve leaves for
serving). Wash stems and roots well;
chop finely. Heat oil in a large cast iron
or other flameproof casserole dish.
2 Coat beef in Moroccan seasoning.
Cook for 3 minutes each side until
browned; transfer beef to a plate.
Reduce heat to low. Add onion; cook, Harissa beef, tomato 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
stirring, for 5 minutes until softened. Add and lentil stew Transfer to a plate or bowl.
garlic, harissa, cumin and chopped MAKES 6 PORTIONS PREP AND COOK TIME 2 Add another 1 tablespoon oil to
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES MOFFATT. STYLING BY KATE BROWN. FOOD PREPARATION BY REBECCA LYALL.

coriander stems and roots; cook, stirring,
for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add stock,
tomatoes and beef; season. Cover; bake
in oven for 3 hours until beef is very tender.
3 TAHINI DRIZZLE Meanwhile, whisk
tahini, lemon juice, cumin and ¼ cup
water in a small bowl until smooth.
ASSEMBLY
Shred beef using two forks. Serve pulled
beef, tahini drizzle and couscous or
quinoa. Top with reserved coriander
leaves, if you like.
TO FREEZE
Divide pulled beef into 8 portions and
store in freezer-proof, microwave-safe
containers. Label and freeze. Freeze
individual portions of tahini drizzle.
TO REHEAT
Thaw pulled beef and tahini drizzle in
fridge. Microwave beef on HIGH for 3
minutes until warmed through. Serve
with thawed tahini drizzle.
2 HOURS 10 MINUTES
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
800g beef chuck steak, cut into 3cm
pieces
1 large onion (200g), chopped coarsely
2 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1½ tablespoons harissa paste
1 fresh bay leaf
1 litre (4 cups) salt-reduced beef stock
2 x 400g cans cherry tomatoes
2 x 400g cans chickpeas, drained,
rinsed
400g can brown lentils, drained, rinsed
ASSEMBLY INGREDIENTS
600g green beans, trimmed, boiled,
steamed or microwaved
Greek yoghurt, to serve
mint leaves, to serve
1 Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large cast
iron casserole dish over medium-high
heat. Brown beef in batches for
pan. Cook onion and garlic, stirring,
for 3 minutes. Return beef to pan.
Add pastes and bay leaf; cook, stirring,
for 1 minute. Add stock and tomatoes;
bring to the boil. Season. Reduce heat
to low; cook, covered, for 1½ hours.
Stir in chickpeas and lentils. Cook,
uncovered, over medium heat for
a further 20 minutes until beef is
tender and sauce thickens slightly.
ASSEMBLY
Serve stew with beans and yoghurt.
Top with mint leaves.
TO FREEZE
Divide stew into 6 individual portions
and store in freezer-proof, microwave-
safe containers. Label and freeze.
TO REHEAT
Thaw in fridge or microwave on
DEFROST for 10–15 minutes. Heat on
HIGH for 3 minutes or until stew is
warmed through.

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 143

 Pork and green olive
meatloaves with sweet
potato mash
MAKES 4 PORTIONS PREP AND COOK TIME
40 MINUTES

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion (200g), chopped finely
3 slices sourdough bread (150g), chopped
coarsely
¼ cup (60ml) almond milk
500g lean minced pork
1 egg, beaten lightly
1 cup (180g) pitted green Sicilian olives,
chopped finely
½ cup firmly packed oregano leaves,
chopped finely
¼ cup (20g) flaked almonds
250g cherry truss tomatoes
SWEET POTATO MASH AND BEANS
2 medium orange sweet potatoes (800g), diced
¼ cup (60ml) almond milk
200g trimmed green beans, boiled, steamed
or microwaved

1 Preheat oven to 220°C (200°C fan-forced).

Heat 1 tablespoons oil in a large non-stick
frying pan over medium heat. Cook onion,
stirring, for 6 minutes or until softened; season
Vietnamese caramel 1 Place sugar and ¼ cup water in a large well. Transfer to a large bowl; cool slightly.
chilli pork non-stick frying pan over medium heat. 2 Meanwhile, process sourdough until
MAKES 4 PORTIONS PREP AND COOK TIME Cook, without stirring, for 2 minutes until chopped coarsely. Add 1 cup breadcrumbs
20 MINUTES sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high; and almond milk to onion; combine well. Add
cook for 3 minutes, swirling pan pork, egg, olives and ¼ cup oregano; mix well.
1 cup (150g) coconut sugar occasionally, until a bubbling caramel Divide into quarters. Lightly grease four holes
4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly forms. Carefully add ⅓ cup water, garlic, of a Texas muffin pan and place on an oven
2 fresh long red chillies, sliced thinly chilli, soy sauce and fish sauce; bring to tray; press pork mixture into greased holes.
¼ cup (60ml) soy sauce a simmer. Cook for 6 minutes or until 3 Combine remaining breadcrumbs, ¼ cup
2 tablespoons fish sauce thickened and sticky. Add pork; cook, oregano, 1 tablespoons oil and almonds;
800g pork tenderloin, trimmed, turning, for 3 minutes until just cooked season well. Press breadcrumb mixture gently
sliced thinly through and sauce is sticky. onto meatloaves. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove
BROCCOLINI AND NOODLES 2 BROCCOLINI AND NOODLES meatloaves carefully from muffin pan using a
2 bunches broccolini (350g), trimmed, Meanwhile, cook broccolini in a pallete knife; place directly on oven tray. Add
halved crossways saucepan of salted boiling water for tomatoes to tray; bake for a further 5 minutes.
200g thin egg noodles 3 minutes. Drain; refresh in cold water, 4 SWEET POTATO MASH AND BEANS
ASSEMBLY INGREDIENTS then drain again. Cook egg noodles Meanwhile, boil, steam or microwave sweet
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped roasted following packet directions; drain. potato until tender; drain. Mash potato and
unsalted peanuts almond milk; season. Boil, steam or microwave
1 fresh red chilli, sliced beans until tender but still crisp; drain.
⅓ cup coriander leaves
ASSEMBLY Serve meatloaves with roast
ASSEMBLY and noodles into 4 TO REHEAT tomatoes, sweet potato mash and beans.
Serve pork, broccolini individual portions and Thaw in fridge or TO FREEZE Wrap each meatloaf and a
and noodles, topped store in freezer-proof, microwave on DEFROST quarter of the tomatoes in a 30cm square
with peanuts, chilli microwave-safe for 8 minutes. Heat on foil piece. Divide sweet potato mash and
and coriander leaves. containers; spoon over HIGH for 4 minutes or until beans into 4 individual portions and store
TO FREEZE caramel sauce. Label pork is warmed through. in freezer-proof, microwave-safe containers.
Divide pork, broccolini and freeze. Label and freeze.

144 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020


Mushroom and kale
lasagne
MAKES 6 PORTIONS PREP AND COOK TIME
1 HOUR 20 MINUTES
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
800g Swiss brown mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion (150g), chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
250g fresh lasagne sheets
225g bocconcini, sliced thinly
½ cup (40g) grated parmesan
KALE BÉCHAMEL SAUCE
60g butter
⅓ cup (50g) plain flour
1 litre (4 cups) milk, warmed
½ bunch kale (250g), stems removed,
leaves shredded
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup (80g) grated parmesan
ASSEMBLY INGREDIENT
60g salad leaves
1 KALE BÉCHAMEL SAUCE Heat butter in
a heavy-based saucepan over medium
heat until melted and starting to bubble.
Add flour; cook, stirring continuously, for
4 minutes until a pale straw colour.
Remove pan from heat. Add half the
milk, whisking until smooth. Add
remaining milk, whisking until smooth.
Return to heat, stirring, for 5 minutes until
thickened. Stir through kale and nutmeg
until kale wilts. Stir in parmesan to
combine; season.
2 Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-
forced). Heat oil in a large heavy-based
frying pan over medium heat. Cook
mushrooms, onion and garlic, stirring, for
15 minutes until browned and liquid is
almost evaporated. Add thyme; season.
Everyday food
Lightly grease base and sides of 2.5-litre
(10-cup) ovenproof dish. Spoon a quarter
of the Kale Béchamel Sauce over the
base. Cover with 2–3 lasagne sheets.
Spread half the mushroom mixture over
lasagne sheets. Spread another quarter
of the Kale Béchamel Sauce over
mushroom mixture. Top with another
layer of lasagne sheets. Repeat layering
until you finish with a sauce layer. Lay
bocconcini evenly on top, then sprinkle
with parmesan. Cover with greased foil;
bake for 15 minutes. Uncover; bake for a
further 20 minutes until lasagne sheets
are cooked and top is golden brown.
ASSEMBLY
Serve lasagne with salad leaves.
TO FREEZE
Divide lasagne into 6 individual portions
and store in freezer-proof, microwave-
safe containers. Label and freeze.
TO REHEAT
Thaw in fridge or microwave on
DEFROST for 10–12 minutes. Heat
on HIGH for 3 minutes or until
lasagne is warmed through.
RECIPES EXTRACTED
FROM THE
AUSTRALIAN
WOMEN’S WEEKLY
MEAL PREP, $34.99.
AVAILABLE WHERE
ALL GOOD BOOKS
ARE SOLD AND AT
AWWCOOKBOOKS.
COM.AU.
 In season
tomatoes

Warm summer days delight us with sun-ripened tomatoes,

and these four recipes showcase their flavour perfectly.
P H OTO G R A P H Y by JAMES MOFFATT • ST Y L I N G by OLIVIA BLACKMORE

146 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

 Fresh produce

“For a final flourish, T E S T K I TC H E N

drizzle over extra TIP

The base is made from
virgin olive oil and quinoa which is gluten
free and suitable for
fresh basil leaves.” those with a mild
sensitivity to gluten.

Summer lovin’
tomato tart

R E C I P E PAG E

148

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 147

Fresh produce
Tempeh chips and
mashed toms
SERVES 4 PREP AND COOK TIME 30 MINUTES
300g block tempeh
2 tablespoons white (shiro) miso
⅓ cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
250g cherry truss tomatoes
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-
forced). Line a large and small oven tray
with baking paper.
2 Split block tempeh in half through
the middle; cut crossways into 1cm wide
chips. Stir miso, half the olive oil, honey
and paprika in a large bowl; add tempeh
chips, turn to coat.
3 Place chips on large lined tray. Place
tomatoes on small tray, drizzle with red
wine vinegar and remaining olive oil.
Bake both trays for 20 minutes, turning
chips halfway through cooking time, or
until golden. Mash tomatoes lightly with
a fork. Serve chips with tomatoes.
Not suitable to freeze or microwave.
148 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
Fabulous fattoush
SERVES 4 PREP AND COOK TIME 20 MINUTES
1 large (100g) Lebanese bread round
¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons za’atar
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 baby cos lettuce
1 Lebanese cucumber, sliced thinly
6 (300g) radishes, sliced thinly
3 green onions, sliced thinly
250g heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved
⅓ cup fresh mint leaves
1 Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-
forced). Line a large oven tray with
baking paper.
2 Split bread round into halves; place
crust-side down, on tray. Brush with 1
tablespoon of the olive oil; sprinkle with
za’atar. Bake for 5 minutes or until crisp.
3 Meanwhile, whisk pomegranate
molasses, remaining olive oil and lemon
juice together in a large bowl. Add lettuce,
cucumber, radishes, green onions and
tomatoes. Sprinkle with mint, toss gently.
Serve topped with crumbled bread.
Summer lovin’
tomato tart
SERVES 4 PREP AND COOK TIME 40 MINUTES
½ cup (100g) quinoa
¼ cup (40g) quinoa flour
½ cup grated vegetarian cheddar
1 egg
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
75g soft goat’s cheese
½ cup (125ml) cream
400g heirloom tomatoes, sliced
¼ cup small basil leaves
1 Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-
forced).
2 Bring quinoa and 1 cup of water to the
boil in a small pan. Reduce heat to low;
cook, covered, for 10 minutes or until
liquid is absorbed. Cool.
3 Combine quinoa, quinoa flour,
vegetarian cheddar, egg and sunflower
seeds. Press mixture into a 22cm
loose-based tart tin. Bake 20 minutes
or until golden. Cool.
4 Process the goat’s cheese and cream
until smooth; spread into tart shell. Top
with tomatoes and basil leaves. Season.
Fifty tomatoes and
seed pasta
SERVES 4 PREP AND COOK TIME 20 MINUTES

500g cherry tomatoes, halved

2 shallots, chopped finely
¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin olive
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
300g thin wholegrain spaghetti
50g pine nuts, toasted
50g pepitas (pumpkin seed kernels)
50g sunflower seeds
1 cup baby rocket leaves

1 Process half each of the tomatoes

and shallots with the extra virgin
olive oil and white balsamic vinegar
until smooth. Season to taste.
2 Cook the wholegrain spaghetti in
a saucepan of salted boiling water
until almost tender; drain.
3 Transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the
pureed tomato mixture, remaining
tomato halves, remaining shallot,
toasted pine nuts, pepitas and
sunflower seeds to combine. Stir
in the baby rocket leaves.
4 Serve the pasta topped with
grated vegetarian parmesan-style
cheese or crumbled soft goat’s
cheese, if you like.
Not suitable to freeze or microwave.

RECIPES EXTRACTED
FROM THE SEASONAL
VEGETARIAN, $49.99,
AVAILABLE WHERE
ALL GOOD BOOKS
ARE SOLD AND
AWWCOOKBOOKS.
COM.AU

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 149

 Sizzling
barbecue P H OTO G R A P H Y by JOHN PAUL URIZAR • ST Y L I N G by M I C H E L E C RA N STO N

If you’re entertaining with a barbecue in the

garden this summer, try our meaty centrepieces
and serve with some tasty sides.

Texas-style
beef burger

R E C I P E PAG E

153

FOOD PREPARATION ANGELA DEVLIN.

 Outdoor cooking

Garlicky yoghurt
chicken
SERVES 6 PREP AND COOK TIME 40 MINUTES
(+ MARINATING TIME)

200g Greek yoghurt

2 green onions (green shallots), chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled Garlicky yoghurt
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind chicken
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
1.6kg chicken pieces (breasts and thigh
cutlets) on the bone, skin on
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil,
approximately
2 lemons, halved
Greens and
fetta salad
1 To make marinade, add yoghurt,
onion, garlic, rind, spices and salt to a
small food processor and pulse until
combined; transfer to a large bowl. Add
chicken pieces and coat evenly. Cover
and refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.
2 Preheat the barbecue to medium.
Drain any excess marinade from
chicken pieces. Grease barbecue
plate with olive oil. Place chicken skin-
side down on barbecue plate. Cook
with hood closed until browned on
both sides, turning halfway for about
25 minutes or until cooked through.
Add lemon halves to barbecue 5
minutes before end of cooking time.
3 Serve with lemon wedges and
Greens and Fetta Salad.
Not suitable to freeze or microwave.

Greens and fetta salad

SERVES 6 PREP AND COOK TIME 10 MINUTES

150g sugar snap peas, trimmed, halved

lengthways
150g baby beans, trimmed, halved
lengthways
1 cup (120g) baby frozen peas, thawed
1 baby cos lettuce, coarsely chopped
2 green onions (green shallots),
chopped finely
100g Greek-style fetta, crumbled
DRESSING
⅓ cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
T E S T K I TC H E N
½ garlic clove, finely grated
TIP
1 DRESSING Place all ingredients in a The yoghurt marinade
screw top jar, shake well. Season to taste. adds loads of delicious
2 Arrange vegetables in a serving bowl; flavour but also acts as
crumble over fetta and drizzle with a tenderiser, giving
Dressing. succulent results.
Not suitable to freeze or microwave.

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 151

Miso carrots

Oregano potatoes

Fennel and
chilli
 Outdoor cooking

Texas-style beef burger

This recipe is from Melbourne chef Adrian Richardson who stars in
the online cooking series The Chef’s Secret. To watch Adrian and
learn his insider tips for gas barbecuing go to bright-r.com.au

SERVES 6 PREP AND COOK TIME 1 Combine beef, cumin,

30 MINUTES
1.5kg minced beef (not too
lean)
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
1½ teaspoons smoked paprika
1½ tablespoons jalapeno
chilles, finely chopped
1 long red chilli, seeded, finely
chopped
1½ tablespoons red onion,
finely chopped
1 egg yolk
¼ cup (20g) panko
breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon chopped flat leaf
parsley
1 tablespoon chopped coriander
1 tablespoon kecap manis
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 slices cheese
6 burger buns, halved
lettuce, tomato slices, pickles,
finely sliced red onion, ketchup
to serve
paprika, jalapenos, chillies,
onion, egg, breadcrumbs
herbs and kecap manis in a
large bowl. Season with salt
and mix well. Divide mixture
into 6 even patties.
2 Preheat the barbecue to
medium-hot. Brush patties
with oil and place on
barbecue plate. Cook patties
for about 5 minutes on one
side, turn patties, reduce heat
to medium-low. Top patties T E S T K I TC H E N
with cheese and cook further
4 minutes with hood closed TIP
until cooked to your liking and For perfect beef patties use
cheese is starting to melt. a ratio of 400g lean beef to
3 Meanwhile, toast the buns 100g fat to keep burgers
and top with lettuce, tomato, moist and juicy. To make
patties, pickles, red onion and a fragrant herb brush,
ketchup. tie a few sprigs of thyme,
Uncooked patties suitable to rosemary and bay leaves
freeze. Not suitable with string. Dip in oil
to microwave. and brush patties.

Fennel and chilli
SERVES 6 PREP AND COOK 40 MINUTES
6 baby (780g) fennel, quartered
lengthways
2 yellow banana chilli, sliced thickly
6 cloves garlic, bruised
6 sprigs rosemary
¼ cup (60ml) verjuice
¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
Place 2 large pieces of foil on the bench
then lay a piece of baking paper on top.
Divide ingredients between each piece
of foil/paper and season with salt and
freshly ground black. Fold into a parcel
to completely enclose vegetables. Place
on an oven tray. Preheat the barbecue
to medium-high. Place the parcels on
the barbecue and cook with the hood
closed for about 25 minutes or until
vegetables are just tender.
Not suitable to freeze or microwave.
Vegetable parcels
Oregano potatoes
SERVES 6 PREP AND
COOK TIME 40 MINUTES
1kg kipfler potatoes, scrubbed
6 cloves garlic, bruised
6 sprigs fresh oregano
60g butter, chopped
1 medium (140g) lemon,
cut into wedges
Cut potatoes into 1cm slices. Place 2
large pieces of foil on the bench then
lay a piece of baking paper on top.
Divide ingredients between each piece
of foil/paper, season with salt and
freshly ground black. Fold into a parcel
to completely enclose vegetables. Place
on an oven tray. Preheat barbecue to
medium-high. Place parcels on barbecue
and cook with the hood closed for about
30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Not suitable to freeze or microwave.
Miso carrots
SERVES 6 PREP AND COOK TIME 40 MINUTES
1½ tablespoons white miso paste
1½ tablespoons water
1.2kg baby carrots, washed
and tops trimmed
8cm piece (40g) fresh ginger, sliced
¼ cup (60ml) peanut oil
½ cup loosely packed fresh
coriander leaves
Combine miso and water in a small bowl. Place
2 large pieces of foil on bench; lay a piece of
baking paper on top. Divide carrots, ginger, oil
and miso mixture between each piece of foil/
paper, season with salt and freshly ground
black. Fold into a parcel to completely enclose
vegetables. Place on an oven tray. Preheat
barbecue to medium-high. Place parcels on
barbecue, cook with hood closed for 20 minutes
or until carrots are tender. Serve sprinkled with
coriander. Not suitable to freeze or microwave.

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 153

Outdoor cooking

Chilli, lime and lemongrass

snapper with herb salad
SERVES 4 PREP AND COOK TIME 40 MINUTES

1 long red chilli, coarsely chopped

20g ginger, coarsely chopped
2 double kaffir lime leaves, vein removed
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 green onion (green shallot), chopped
1 lemongrass stalk (white part), sliced
3 coriander roots, washed, chopped
1½ tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
1.4kg whole snapper
extra chillies, optional
lime wedges to serve
HERB SALAD
1 small red chilli, seeds removed
½ clove garlic
1 tablespoon grated palm sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
200g packet frozen shelled baby
soybeans (Edamame), thawed
200g baby cucumbers (qukes), chopped
1 cup each loosely packed coriander, of fish. Spread paste thickly over both Stir in lime juice, fish sauce and oil.
mint and Thai basil leaves sides of fish. Place fish on a medium oven Check seasoning and adjust balance
1 red shallot, thinly sliced tray lined with foil then baking paper. of hot, sour, sweet and salty to taste.
steamed rice to serve Add a couple of extra chillies to baking Just before serving combine edamame,
tray if desired. cucumber, herbs and shallot in a bowl,
1 Process chilli, ginger, lime leaves, garlic, 3 Preheat barbecue to medium-high. drizzle over one tablespoon of the
onion, lemongrass, coriander roots, oil Cook the fish, with the hood closed, dressing and toss to combine.
and sea salt in a small food processor over indirect heat, for approximately 5 To serve, carefully transfer fish to a
until a paste forms. 15-20 minutes or until flesh flakes easily. serving platter and scatter with herb
2 Pat fish dry with paper towel. To ensure 4 HERB SALAD Chop chilli, garlic and salad. Serve with remaining dressing
fish cooks evenly and flavour penetrates palm sugar together on a board until and steamed rice if desired.
the flesh make 3 deep cuts in each side finely chopped; transfer to a small bowl. Not suitable to freeze or microwave.

Barbecue tips and tricks

NATURAL GAS DIRECT HEAT when lower modern barbecues
Cooking on a natural This method is when temperatures and have thermometers
gas barbecue is clean, the food is cooked longer cooking times built into the lid – so it
economical and directly over the are required. It’s best doubles as an oven
convenient. It provides burners with hood for large cuts or joints when hood is closed.
instant heat with a open. It’s used for of meat and poultry
turn of a dial which searing and best for on the bone. The RESTING
distributes evenly food that requires interior heat circulates After the heat of the
across the barbecue short cooking times around food, cooking barbecue, resting
plates. A gas such as steaks, it without burning. meat and poultry
barbecue gives sausages or burgers. The burners directly helps redistribute the
control and accuracy under the food are juices inside the flesh.
allowing the cook to INDIRECT HEAT switched off, while Factor in at least 10-30
create delicious meals This is used with burners around the minutes depending on
easily outdoors. hooded barbecues food are left on. Most what you are cooking.

154 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

Pop’s famous
bbq skewers
Perfectly seared with natural gas.

Natural gas -
Naturally part
of every day.
bright-r.com.au

Brighter is an initiative of the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association.

Authorised by S Browne, Melbourne.
 P H OTO G R A P H Y by JAMES MOFFATT
STYLING by OLIVIA BLACKMORE and KATE BROWN

4 ways with
frittata
No-one likes a boring lunch and these frittatas
are perfect for the school or office lunchbox.
Basic frittata Preheat oven to 220°C (200°C
MAKES 6 PREP AND COOK TIME 40 MINUTES fan-forced). Lightly grease a 6-hole
(¾ -cup/180ml) Texas muffin pan.
1½ tablespoons semolina Sprinkle greased holes with semolina.
2 small (180g) zucchini Using a vegetable peeler, cut 1 zucchini
1 small (120g) potato, scrubbed, into ribbons. Line pan holes with
unpeeled zucchini, overlapping at different
6 eggs angles. Coarsely grate remaining
1 cup (240g) ricotta zucchini and potato; squeeze out
1 clove garlic excess liquid. Whisk eggs, ricotta,
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf garlic, parsley, salt flakes and grated
parsley vegetables in a medium bowl. Spoon
½ teaspoon sea salt flakes mixture into pan holes. Bake for
25 minutes or until set.

156 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020


1 2
3 4
FOOD PREPARATION BY REBECCA LYALL AND ELIZABETH FIDUCIA. RECIPES FROM
Flavour twists
THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S WEEKLY VEGETARIAN BASICS COOKBOOK.
1 Pumpkin and rosemary
Make Basic Frittata, adding ½ cup (85g) packed coarsely
grated pumpkin, squeezed dry, and 1 tablespoon fresh
chopped rosemary leaves to the egg mixture. Top frittatas
with 2 tablespoons pepitas (pumpkin seed kernels) before
baking. Continue as directed in the recipe.
3 Kale and lemon
Rub 1 cup (25g) shredded kale leaves with 2 teaspoons olive oil,
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind and a pinch of salt. Make Basic
Frittata, using 1 zucchini to line pan holes. Replace second zucchini
with half kale mixture. Top frittatas with remaining kale mixture
and 50g crumbled fetta before baking. Continue as directed.
Lunch box
2 Tomato and pine nuts
Remove six pieces of semi-dried tomatoes from ½ cup (75g)
drained semi-dried tomatoes and reserve. Finely chop
remaining. Make Basic Frittata, adding the chopped tomato.
Place a reserved tomato on top of each frittata, then sprinkle
with ¼ cup (40g) pine nuts before baking. Continue as directed.
4 Smoky corn and chilli
Make Basic Frittata, using 1 cup (160g) thawed, drained
frozen corn kernels instead of the potato. To the egg mixture,
add 1 fresh thinly sliced small red chilli, ½ cup (40g) grated
vegetarian parmesan-style cheese and ½ teaspoon
smoked paprika. Continue as directed in the recipe.
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 157
 Discover the art of baking
with Charlotte Ree and her
magical recipes to satisfy
your sweet tooth.

C H A R LOT T E ’S

TIP
For perfectly even
layers, weigh your
batter-filled cake
tins before baking.

Just
Lemon cake with
raspberry buttercream

desserts
STYLING BY LEE BLAYLOCK.

P H OTO G R A P H Y by LUISA BRIMBLE • ILLUSTRATIONS by ALICE OEHR

158 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

 Sweet sensation

Lemon cake with

raspberry buttercream
SERVES 12

250g unsalted butter, at room

temperature
360g caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
4 large eggs, at room temperature
250ml buttermilk
finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
750g self-raising flour
50g freeze-dried raspberries
RASPBERRY BUTTERCREAM
250g fresh raspberries
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons caster sugar
350g unsalted butter, at room
temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
500g icing sugar, sifted
FILLING
400g full-fat ricotta, at room
temperature
400g mascarpone, at room
temperature
1.2 litres thickened cream, plu
us
3 tablespoons extra
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
250g fresh raspberries

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Vanilla cake with

Grease and line two 22cm
springform tins with baking paper.
2 Place the butter, caster sugar andd
vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted
with the whisk attachment and beat
until light and creamy. Add the eggs
and beat well. Add the milk, lemon zest
and juice and flour and mix to combine.
Divide the batter between the prepared
tins and smooth with a spatula.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer
inserted in the centre comes out clean,
swapping the cakes halfway through
to ensure even baking. Set the tins on
baking trays and leave to cool.
3 RASPBERRY BUTTERCREAM Puree the
raspberries, lemon juice and caster sugar
in the bowl of a food processor until
smooth. Pass the mixture through a fine
sieve into a bowl, pressing on the solids
to extract as much liquid as possible.
4 In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with
the whisk attachment, beat the butter
and vanilla on high speed until pale and
fluffy. Reduce the speed to medium and
add the icing sugar in three batches,
beating well after each addition and
scraping down the side of the bowl as
needed. Add the berry puree and beat
until combined. Set aside.
5 FILLING Process the ricotta and
mascarpone in a food processor until
smooth. Whip the thickened cream and
vanilla in the bowl of the stand mixer
fitted with the whisk attachment. Add the
ricotta mixture and the extra thickened
cream and beat until combined.
6 To construct the cake, cut each cooled
cake in half horizontally, trimming the top
of each cake to create four flat, even
layers. Place the base of one cake on a
ricotta icing and
roasted peaches
R E C I P E PAG E
161
serving platter over your lazy Susan. Top
the base with one-third of the filling and
a sprinkling of fresh raspberries. Repeat
with two more layers and the remaining
whipped cream and raspberries, then
place the final cake half on top.
7 To ice the cake, dollop a large spoonful
of buttercream onto the cake and smooth
it with a palette knife. Spread the icing
around the side of the cake and smooth
with the palette knife. Decorate with the
freeze-dried raspberries. You can add a
splash of colour by placing fresh flowers
on top as we have done here – but note
that these are not edible. Store leftovers
covered in the fridge for up to 2 days.

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 159

Shortbread caramel slice
SERVES 18
3 TOPPING Place the butter, sugar,
golden syrup, condensed milk and salt For extra
225g plain flour, sifted
115g rice flour, sifted
in a wide, heavy-based saucepan and
heat gently, stirring to melt the butter.
Bring to a simmer and continue to
indulgence,
120g caster sugar
pinch of sea salt
simmer for about 10-15 minutes, stirring
constantly to stop the mixture sticking
add some
200g salted butter, at room temperature
TOPPING
to the bottom of the pan and burning.
When the caramel is thick and fudgy,
caramel
150g salted butter
150g caster sugar
pour it over the shortbread and smooth
out with a palette knife. Leave
popcorn
80ml golden syrup
400g can sweetened condensed milk
to set for 30 minutes.
4 Melt the chocolate in a double boiler,
to the top
½ teaspoon sea salt, or more if you are
a salt fiend like me
or in a heatproof bowl set over a
saucepan of simmering water (ensuring
of the
200g dark cooking chocolate (70% cocoa),
roughly chopped
the bowl doesn’t touch the water).
When melted, spread it evenly over Shortbread
1 Preheat the oven to 150°C. Grease and
the set caramel. Leave for 2 hours to
set, then turn out and cut into 18 pieces. Caramel
line a 30cm x 20cm x 3.5cm baking tray
with baking paper.
Store in an airtight container in the
fridge for up to a week. Slice, if
2 Combine the flours, sugar and salt in a
bowl. Rub the butter in with your fingers
until a crumble begins to form. Place in
you like.
the tray and flatten out evenly with the
back of a wooden spoon. Bake in the
oven for 40 minutes, or until golden.
Remove from the oven and prick the
shortbread with a fork. Allow to cool
completely in the tin.

160 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

 Sweet sensation

Vanilla cake with ricotta 1 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
icing and roasted peaches 20cm springform tin and line the base Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of water, the
SERVES 8 with baking paper. honey and scraped vanilla seeds and
2 Place the flour, sugar, butter, eggs, milk add the vanilla pod to the baking tray.
185g self-raising flour and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer Bake for 30 minutes, or until soft.
170g caster sugar fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat Remove from the oven and leave
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature on low speed until combined (about to cool completely.
2 large eggs, at room temperature 30 seconds). Increase the speed to 5 Once the cake and peaches have
80ml full-cream milk high and beat for 2–3 minutes, or until cooled, prepare the icing.
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract thick and pale. Spoon the batter into 6 ICING Beat the ricotta, cream and
edible flowers, optional, for decorating the prepared tin. icing sugar until thickened and
ROASTED PEACHES 3 Bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer combined. Spread the icing over the
3 peaches, halved inserted in the centre comes out clean. top of the cake.
1 tablespoon honey Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes 7 Just before serving, arrange the
1 vanilla pod, split before turning out onto a wire rack to roasted peaches over the icing and
ICING cool completely. drizzle any additional syrup over the
250g full-fat ricotta, at room 4 ROASTED PEACHES Arrange the top. Finish with some edible flowers,
temperature peaches cut-side up on a baking tray if you like.
250ml thickened cream, at room
temperature
100g icing sugar, sifted RECIPES
EXTRACTED
FROM JUST
DESERTS BY
CHARLOTTE REE.
$29.99, PLUM,
AVAILABLE
WHERE ALL
GOOD BOOKS
ARE SOLD.

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 161

Test Kitchen
We’re
LOVING

SMART
FRIDGE 2.0
The Samsung 825L Family
Hub French Door Fridge in
black steel finish isn’t just
smarter than your average
fridge, it could be the
smartest device in the
house. It can stream your
playlists, order takeaway
and show what’s in the
fridge by remote with
interior cameras. It’s
next-level refrigeration!
For more information, visit
harveynorman.com.au.

Quick bites Lun c h b ox

treats E D I T E D by FRAN ABDALLAOUI

SWEETNESS FOR ALL

Kez’s Kitchen’s range of
sweet treats are gluten free,
and some are FODMAP
friendly and refined-sugar
free. Available from
supermarkets; visit kezs.
com.au for information.
Seal in the goodness
Smoothies are a great breakfast on the run,
Happy medium
Did you know about 40 per
cent of Australians prefer steak
cooked medium? We asked
celebrity chef and meat
maestro Adrian Richardson for
his top tips. “For me, cooking on
gas is the best way. It gives me
the control and accuracy I need
to make sure every steak is
perfect.” His new online cooking
Get the kids’ lunchboxes
organised by baking our
easy quick-mix banana
and apricot loaf. In a large
bowl, combine 1 cup
mashed banana, 180ml
buttermilk, 300g White
Wings premium self-
raising flour, 2 teaspoons
ground cinnamon, 200g
chopped dried apricots,
50g toasted muesli,
2 beaten eggs and 80g
melted butter. Stir until
well combined and spread
into a greased and baking
paper lined 14cm x 24cm
loaf pan. Sprinkle the top
with another 50g toasted
muesli and bake in
a 180˚C oven (160˚C
fan-forced) for about 45
minutes or until a skewer
inserted into the centre
CLAUDIO NAPOLITANO.

especially in summer. The Sunbeam NutriSeal
Vacuum Blender has vacuum seal technology
to remove oxygen, so your green smoothies
prepared ahead of time stay fresher and
greener for longer. $399, visit sunbeam.com.au.
series The Chef’s Secret offers
up loads of tips and recipes to
help you be a better cook. To
view go to bright-r.com.au and
download the free e-cookbook.
comes out clean. Cool
in the pan. Freeze slices
wrapped in foil or plastic
for stress-free morning
or afternoon tea snacks.

162 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

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 All the right
A family who
relocated from
London to Sydney
found a special home
in this Federation
beauty, writes John
McDonald. That
moves
said, it wasn’t so
beautiful at first…

P H OTO G RA P H Y by MAREE HOMER

ST Y L I N G by KAYLA GEX
 Homes

M
oving a household from
one side of the Earth to
the other is challenging,
but perseverance and a
little good luck will see
things through. Such was the case for
Andrea Stark and her family, who had
been living in London for 15 years until
a move to Sydney cropped up in 2013.
They had packed up all their furniture,
sent it to storage in their new home city
and moved into a serviced apartment
while they searched for a place to buy.
Four months elapsed before
Andrea and her husband,
both originally from New
Zealand – plus their two HOME DESIGN
children Olivia, now 15,
and Luke, 13 – found this TIP
380m Federation property
2
“We invested in good
a stone’s throw from a soundproofing with
harbour beach in Sydney’s aluminum-framed
eastern suburbs. “From the acoustic-glass doors
moment we set foot inside, in the living room and
we knew we wanted to kitchen, and we added
make it home,” says Andrea. double glazing to the
The interior of the bedroom windows,”
circa-1910 house was very says Andrea. “No
dated, with a palette that → matter what’s going
on outside, this house
is tranquil, cosy and
calm on the inside.”

The original
ornate ceiling
was retained in
the dining room,
while the table
was handmade
by a woodworker
in Kent, England.

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 165

 The kitchen
was designed
in a classic
“plain English”
style that Andrea
favoured from
her time living
in London. “The
central island is a
great gathering
spot,” she says.

166 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

 Homes

“I wanted
a peaceful
bedroom with
warm greys,
whites and
snuggly soft
linens,” the
owner tells us.

included creamy yellow walls, blue floor

tiles and lots of chintz and clashing patterns.
But, says Andrea, “it had all the features we
were looking for: high and detailed original
ceilings, tall French doors, beautiful cornices
and generously-sized rooms. If felt really
unique, different to anything we’d viewed.”
However, it was in need of a renovation.
Andrea approached Tania Handelsmann and
Gillian Khaw of Sydney architecture and
interiors firm Handelsmann + Khaw. “I’d read
about Tania and the beautiful work she’d done
in New York on a style blog, and was thrilled
that she’d recently returned to Sydney and was
launching a new business here. We loved all the
concepts Tania and Gillian presented to us.”
In conjunction with Alvaro Bros builders,
stage one of the project took just under a year,
including the design component. “The main
architectural gesture was to create one large
double-height entry foyer out of two small
existing rooms, with a new staircase and
custom Jacobean-style panels to convey a sense
of grandeur,” says Tania. “Bathrooms were
renovated in a classic style, with grey tonal
materials and more wall panelling in place of
tiles to give the spaces warmth and character.
MAREE HOMER/BAUERSYNDICATION.COM.AU

“Initially we weren’t going to do that,

as bespoke bathrooms are costly, but [we]
decided it was worth the expense,” she adds.
“We converted one of the external verandahs
into an ensuite for Olivia, too.”
The family moved in before the kitchen, dining
area and laundry were renovated. “The original
kitchen was tiny and tucked into one end of
the space that forms the bigger kitchen today,”
says Andrea. They waited two years to →

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 167

Homes

HOME DESIGN

TIP
“Do your research
when it comes to
things like hardware
and joinery,” advises
Andrea. “There can be
massive differences
in pricing.”

“Bathrooms were renovated in a classic style, with grey tonal materials and
more wall panelling to give the spaces warmth and character,” says Andrea.
remodel the kitchen – much longer than planned – but this
had its advantages. “Living with the existing kitchen meant
we had a much better idea of where best to position new
windows, new doors, joinery and utilities,” says Andrea.
The second stage of the project was completed in 2017,
and the end result is splendid. Enter and you find yourself
in the airy and inviting foyer. Walk around a table filled
with treasures gathered during the family’s travels and you
head straight into the kitchen and dining area, with floor-
to-ceiling sliding doors that lead out to the patio and pool.
The kitchen is painted in a bespoke grey that Andrea
concocted after numerous visits to her paint supplier.
To the left of the foyer is a library, powder room and the
laundry; to the right is a formal lounge. And behind the
dining room lies the family room. Up the new staircase
are four bedrooms; the main bedroom has an ensuite and
also a walk-in wardrobe. There is also an office where
Andrea, a graphic designer, can work.
The terrace’s solid double-brick construction helps
regulate the temperature year-round, says Andrea. There is
an air-conditioning/heating system and fans in the bedrooms,
which keep things cool in summer. It’s a beachy and breezy
home, quite different from their house in London, but holding
the same precious memories and memorabilia. AWW

168 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020


Health
H l hhhack
k Using a citrus-based goo
Your sandwich press is
a quick and clean way to
grill summer vegetables,
such as eggplant, zucchini,
capsicum and asparagus.
Get crafty
Kids bored? Let
them paint smooth,
rounded or flat
pebbles in shades of
GETTY IMAGES. ALAMY.
green, then dot with
white ‘spikes’ and
patterns, and stand
them in a pot to create
an instant cactus garden.
Stain
shifter
For grass stains on
vinegar, cloudy am
in a spray bottle
o
sports clothes, mix up
equal parts water, white
mmonia
and liquid laundry soap
e, spritz
liberally on the
e stains,
leave for 10 mminutes,
then wash asa usual.
Smart swap
S W E E K LY
G up plastic cling wrap
Give
th
his year – substitute stretchy
silicone covers, beeswax food
wraps,
w reusable plastic/glass
co
ontainers or waxed paper
sa
andwich wrap.
Clean load
C (phalaenopsis).
To
o prevent lint from clinging
to
o your clothes in the wash,
put a couple of pairs of old
pantyhose in with the load.
La
abel free
remover or nail polish remover,
clean the printing from PET
containers used to sell salad
leaves, wash and dry, and
repurpose for food gifts.
Home
hints
Ask
THE
I ve an
vasion of
mealybugs on
my moth orchid
What can I do to
get rid of them
without damaging
the plant?
B. Chung,
Mooloolaba, Qld
A: Mix ¼ cup
methylated spirits with
1 cup of water and either
dab it directly on the
bugs with a cotton bud
or spray it on.
S H A R E your
DOMESTIC
SECRETS
Send your handy hints or
questions to: Home Hints,
The Australian Women’s
Weekly, GPO Box 4178,
Sydney, NSW 2001, or
email openline@bauer-
media.com.au. We pay
$75 for the reader’s
prize hint each month.
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
D-I-Y Tips
E D I T E D by GEORGINA BITCON
READER’S
PRIZE HINT
To prevent thread
from tangling when
hand-sewing with
double thread, knot
each end of the
cotton separately.
C. Bebb, Kenwick,
WA.
Avoid a trip
If you’re camping this summer,
slit pool noodles along their
length and wrap them around
the guy or awning ropes of the
tent to make them more obvious
and prevent tripping.
Sweet sensation
Don’t throw away overripe
bananas – chop roughly and
freeze until solid, then whizz
them in a food processor until
smooth and creamy, and either
eat immediately or freeze again
to use as a healthy and delicious
alternative to ice cream.
Boredom buster
On a long journey, if your child is
sitting near the window in a car,
plane or train, a set of reusable
gel stickers will provide instant
entertainment and can be easily
removed from the glass.
Get extra pop
Soak popcorn kernels
in water for about
1 efore popping
– this results in far fewer
unpopped kernels.
169
 What’s
on N
WO ME N

RALIA

’S
FEB

WEEK
0
202
E D I T E D by NICOLE HICKSON

ST
U

L
Y
• THE A

5 minutes with...
anu Feildel
We chat to the My Kitchen Rules judge
about the show’s fiercest competition yet.
What will fans like most about
season 11, MKR: The Rivals?
What we really enjoyed, especially
Colin [Fassnidge] and I, was mentoring
the teams. Being more involved, and
not just talking about food or judging
but getting into the kitchen and
sharing our knowledge, I think that is
what fans will enjoy the most.
You’ve mentored the returning ‘Fave’
teams – what can we expect?
I’m very competitive. The fact I’m working
with teams that have already been
in the competition is in some way an
advantage, but also not so much when
they think they know better and don’t
listen – it’s an interesting challenge.
I’m there to win, so we worked hard.
In the past contestants have been
accused of bullying and bad
behaviour. Being more hands-on, did
you see more respectful behaviour?
Yes, the better way to win the fight is to
cook the best. You don’t have to score
low, you don’t have to cheat or get angry
– just get even, and get even with food.
Is Pete Evans an impartial judge?
What did you do to impress him?
Yes – he’s right down the middle. When I
was mentoring I was making sure I knew
what Pete and Colin liked … I was always
saying you should add a little bit of this
for Pete, or don’t put that on the plate for
Colin. I’m not sure Colin worked that way.
How heated did the competition get
between yourself and Colin?
It got heated at times. We’re friends –
we have known each other for a long
time so our friendship is definitely there
still. But when it’s a competition you put
your friendship aside for a bit.
Which of you is the most competitive?
I believe some of Colin’s scores were a
little low compared to the public for
example – I thought he was playing on
the scores a little, he was a bit harsher
with his critiques, but that’s alright. AWW
MKR: The Rivals premieres February on
the Seven Network.

Was there anything else difficult At the movies

NICHOLAS WILSON. UNIVERSAL PICTURES.

about mentoring?
We were spending only a couple of
hours with them while they were
prepping – as soon as service started
we had to walk away. It doesn’t matter
how many things you can tell them
how to do, when you’re not there and
you can’t see what’s going on you’re
just hoping for the best.
EMMA
In a delicious new adaptation of Jane Austen’s
beloved comedy, Anya Taylor-Joy stars as the
wealthy young matchmaker who plays cupid
with her inner circle (with mixed results), all while
navigating her own romantic missteps. Bill Nighy,
Miranda Hart and Josh O’Connor also star.
In cinemas February 13.

170 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

 Entertainment
1

the

8
diary 2
Inspiration for a weekend
7 away or special night out.
• JANUARY 31 The Twilight at Taronga concert
series returns with performers including Kasey
Chambers (2), Pete Murray and Bernard Fanning.
twilightattaronga.org.au • FEBRUARY 4 Marta
Dusseldorp (7) takes to the Sydney Theatre
Company stage to star in The Deep Blue Sea,
a drama about loss, longing and having the
courage to want more. sydneytheatre.com.au
• FEBRUARY 7 With Perth’s City Beach Quarry
Amphitheatre as the setting, the West Australian
Ballet will deliver a spectacular program in Light
and Shadow: Ballet at the Quarry. waballet.com.au
• FEBRUARY 7 The Perth Festival (1) has more 3
than 250 events and performances to dazzle
audiences during the festival’s three-week run.
perthfestival.com.au • FEBRUARY 8 Melbourne
Theatre Company will presentt B Benjamin
j i LLaw’s ’
debut work, the funny anda moving Torch the
Place (3), at the Arts Centree Melbourne. mtc.com.au
• FEBRUARY 16 Don’t misss In Conversation with
Margaret Atwood (6), as The Handmaid’s
Tale author discusses her
h career at
Sydney’s Darling Harbour Theatre
before travelling around d the country.
6 margaretatwoodlive e.com.au
• FEBRUARY 25 The Australian Ballet’s
The Happy Prince (4) leap ps onto the stage
at the Queensland Perforrming Arts Centre,
JUSTIN RIDLER. LIAM SHARP. RENE VAILE. DAMIAN BENNETT.

before travelling to Melb bourne and Sydney

COMPILED BY NICOLE HICKSON. DAMIEN BREDBERG.

later in the year. austra

alianballet.com.au
• FEBRUARY 28 For its 60th birthday, the Adelaide
Festival is delivering an excciting program of music,
theatre and art. Tim Minch hin (5) will kick things off
with the free birthday concert on opening
weekend. adelaidefestival.com.au

BOOK NOW! Spirit of the Dance (8) celebrates

movement in all its forms. The show opens
at the Glasshouse, Port
P Macquarie on
5 April 21 before visitin
ng other locations
4
around Australia. me ellenevents.com.au
 Reading
THE
room
E D I T E D by JULIET RIEDEN
Suspense thriller
American Dirt
by Jeanine Cummins, Tinder Press
In the heart of every migrant is
hope, it’s a dreamy driving force
more powerful than those of us who
live in comfortable “lucky” countries
can ever comprehend. This book
crystallises that emotion and imbues it
with a compelling urgency that makes
Jeanine Cummins’ brilliant American
Dirt essential reading. The thriller
intertwines the stories of men, women
and children desperate enough to cling
to the roof of La Bestia train network
as it thunders through Mexico towards
the promised land: el norte.
The tale centres on bookshop owner
Lydia and her smart son Luca, eight,
seemingly unlikely candidates for this
perilous escapade but as we soon
discover there is no “typical” in the
world of illegal aliens. In the opening
scene they are cowering in the
bathroom shower stall while 16
REVIEW BY JULIET RIEDEN. ILLUSTRATION BY LIZ ROWLAND.
members of their family are
massacred in the back yard by Los
Jardineros. Lydia’s husband Sebastián
is among the dead, murdered with his
barbecue spatula still in his hand. He’s
a newspaper journalist and we later
discover his profile story about La
Lechuza, the cartel’s head honcho, has
angered el jefe. If Lydia and Luca are
to survive they must flee …
immediately. Their tortuous journey
involves a stream of horrors. And as
they travel they meet others –
including two troubled sisters – also
About the
author
Jeanine Cummins,
45, was born on
a US naval base in
Spain, but grew up
in Maryland, US. “My
family is Irish and Puerto Rican, and
we lived in a community that was
not only extremely diverse, but also
(unusually) very racially integrated.”
After working in publishing Jeanine
turned her hand to her first love,
writing, including her bestselling
memoir A Rip in Heaven. She writes
from her home on the Hudson River
where she lives with her husband
and two daughters. “We live in the
woods, and we like to watch
the animals in the forest. Our most
recent discovery is that a bald eagle
has built a nest we can see from
our window. We watch him fly.”
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
risking their lives to get to the US and
end up trekking with a “coyote”
people smuggler across the desert.
“I’m acutely aware that the people
coming to our southern border are
not one faceless brown mass but
singular individuals with stories and
backgrounds and reasons for coming
that are unique,” says Cummins, who
was inspired to write the novel to give
a human face to the US immigration
policy. “When I saw our government
was taking children away from their
parents at the US border, I think my
feelings about it can accurately be
described as panic,” she says. “To me,
the whole book takes place on
American dirt. This dirt is as American
as that dirt and some random, arbitrary
line on a map shouldn’t decide whether
a person lives or dies.”
Her breathtaking tale doesn’t shy
away from the shocking reality of
narco atrocities and it stays with you.
“I believe that stories can absolutely
shape our thinking. I’ve read books
that have completely changed my
understanding of certain elements of
our culture, books that have blown
open my mind. Of course, those are
the kinds of books I hope to write.”
This is one of those books.
173
 mm
i n
d
r
Wonderful books for lazy
holidays, edited by Katie
Ekberg and Juliet Rieden.
Literary r
The Drover’s Wife
by Leah Purcell,
Hamish Hamilton
Actor, playwright and author
Leah Purcell grew up u reading
Henry Lawson’s fam mous
1892 short story Th he
Drover’s Wife carry ying
around her own batttered
copy of the book an nd
annotating it with her
h France. The duo is so
childish sketches. The tale of
the pregnant woman isolated
in the family’s two-bedroom
hut with her four ch hildren
deep in Australia’s hihigh
h Hachette
country reached into her
soul. This novel, which also
incorporates some of Leah’s
family history, is just one of
her reworkings of the tale –
first came the stage play and
soon there’ll be a film.
And in this courageous
reimagining of the classic
she has created something
of a thriller, with the woman
now named Molly Johnson
and Aboriginal. The result
is engrossing and truly
powerful.
MAYBE THE HORSE
WILL TALK by Elliot
Perlman, Vintage
Black humour abounds
in this slick and
thought-provoking
part thriller, part love
story. The author has
no doubt drawn on his him to move out, he gets
own early experience desperate and embarks
as a junior lawyer in on a risky assignment
a commercial law to defend a company
firm, where bullying
and intimidation were
besieged by sexual
harassment accusations.
the norm. Protagonist,
married father-of-two AKIN Emma Donoghue,
Stephen Maserov, has Pan Macmillan
swapped teaching for Michael is a boy in need.
law and now realises His father died of an
he is stuck working all overdose 18 months ago,
hours in a job he hates. his mother is in prison
When his wife asks for drug possession and
his grandma, who was
looking after him, has
just passed away. His
new guardian is great-
uncle Noah, a retired
chemistry professor who
lives in New York’s Upper
West Side and opts to
take Michael with him
on a visit to his childhood
hometown of Nice in
very different but what
unites them is where
the poignancy of this
INLAND by Téa Obreht, novel shines through.
The American dream
comes under the
microscope in this
lyrical tale of Arizona
frontierswoman Nora
Lark, whose husband
has disappeared while
searching for water and
whose elder sons have
also vanished. As Nora
waits with her younger son
and hopes for the return of
her menfolk we also meet
GETTY IMAGES.
Lurie Mattie, actually our
hero and a murderer on
the run. Superb storytelling
with a mythical aura.

Memoir
Olive Cotton,
A Life in
Photography
by Helen Ennis,
HarperCollins
When she was just 11,
in 1922, Olive Cotton
was given a Kodak
Brownie box camera
by her aunt. Two
years later, while
holidaying on SSydney’s northern beaches,
she met 13-year-old Max Dupain, the son
of family friends, and a union began. They
took photos of each other, created their
own darkrooms and developed their work.
And as young adults Olive joined Max’s
photography studio where their romance
developed. This gentle biography follows
Olive, who divorced Max in the mid-1940s,
remarried and raised her children first in a
tent and then in a basic cottage in country
Cowra. She died aged 92 in 2003 and was
one of our greatest photographers.
TELL ME WHY by Archie
Roach, Simon & Schuster
Singer-songwriter Archie
Roach was tiny when he
was stolen from his family
and put into the foster
system. He believed his
parents had died but it
wasn’t until his teens that
at
he learned what had
really happened. This
unflinching auutobiography underlines the
power of Archie’s spirit through a life of
shocking struggle. Well might he ask “why?””.
UNFOLLOW by Megan
Phelps-Roper, Hachette
Aged five the author
was picketing against
homosexuals, who – herr
preacher dad told her
– were wicked and should
die. He ran the Westboro
Baptist Church – a sect
now famous thanks to
Louis Theroux’s TV exposé.
Megan didn’t find her own
voice until she was 26 and today is an
advocate for tolerance and diversity.
Fiction
The Best Kind of
Beautiful by Frances
Whiting, Pan Macmillan
The undercurrent of wit in Sunday
Mail journalist Frances Whiting’s
tale of love, family and friendship
has all the appeal of a Richard
Curtis movie. And while we’re not
quite in Love Actually there is
a hilariously cheesy Christmas hit
– ‘Santa Was A Jazz Cat’ – at the
heart of this infectious story.
Music is the metier of the Saint
Claire family with patriarch jazz
man Lucas sort of famous, and his
theatrical wife “L’Amanda” and
their three offspring
producing beautiful
melodies togeth her. But
Florence wantss to
escape her child d-star
status for the so
olitude
of plants. As ann
activist she meeets
greenie Albert
Flowers, a party-
loving socialite,
and while they are
incredibly diffeerent,
love will surelyy
bloom. Won’t it?
THE 24-HOUR CAFÉ by Libby Page,
Hachette
The second book from author
Libby Page’s six-figure publishing
deal is every bit as captivating
as her debut The Lido. Set in an
all-night diner opposite London’s
Liverpool Street station, we learn
about the hopes and dreams of
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
Books
VERY NICE by Marcy Dermansky,
Bloomsbury
Zahid Azzam is Rachel Klein’s silky
haired writing professor, who
she can’t help but indulge in a
dalliance with. It’s a tad naughty
but feels harmless until on vacation
Zahid pops up as an unexpected
houseguest at her mother’s
Connecticut home. Rachel’s father
has recently left mum Becca and
the appearance of Zahid in her
swimming pool is about to shake
things up. He is captivated not so
much by Rachel, but by her mother.
This edgy rom-com has an extra
frisson of social comment.
flatmates
fl and workmates,
singer/waitress Hannah
and dancer/waitress Mona
and how suddenly their
lives are to change forever.
THE LAST VOYAGE OF
MRS HENRY PARKER
by Joanna Nell, Hachette
Evelyn Parker is on her 662nd
voyage on the Golden Sunset.
She’s the wife of the ship’s
retired doctor and now the couple
can enjoy life aboard without
the pressures of Henry’s job. But
Evelyn can’t find Henry and as she
searches the nooks and crannies
of the ship to find him, a lifetime of
memories tumbles out. A touching
love story about the power of
memory when the mind is failing.
175
Books
Rural tales
Taking Tom
Murray Home
by Tim Slee,
HarperCollins
When bankrupt Tom
Murray burns down
his own farmhouse
rather than
relinquish it to the
banks, he accidentally
kills himself. His
wife Dawn is not just
distraught she
she’s incensed, and in an act of
protest puts her husband’s body on a
horse and cart for a 350km funeral
procession through country Victoria to
bury him in Melbourne. Black humour
abounds, highlighting the plight of dairy
farmers as cheap milk meets consumer
demands and the salt of our wide brown
land suffer. This is a truly Australian
yarn, superbly written which evokes
Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson.
THE DESERT MIDWIFE
by Fiona McArthur,
Penguin
The burning heart of
Australia, the Red Centre,
is the backdrop for this
girl-meets-boy tale of
love and loss from rural
fiction bestseller Fiona
McArthur. Informed by
Fiona’s own life as
a midwife inn country Australia, our
protagonist is Ava, an outback midwife
who falls for Zac en route to Alice Springss.
But their thrilling adventure turns quickly tto
disaster and that’s when drama unfolds.
CHARLOTTE PASS
by Lee Christine,
Allen & Unwin
Murder is in the chill airr
of the Charlotte Pass sk ki
resort when patroller
Vanessa discovers
human bones. Sydney’s
detective Pierce Ryder is
called in; the bones are
from a woman who
went missingg back in 1964. As the village
is snowed in there’s a second murder.
Thriller
The Truants THE INSTITUTE by Stephen King, Hachette
This is not one of Stephen King’s famed horror
by Kate Weinberg,
chillers, but it is scary. The ghouls here are very
Bloomsbury
human and the story shows all the brilliance of
An impressive debut
the author’s writing skills in a potent attack on
from journalist Kate
contemporary America. The institute of the title is
Weinberg follows a
a demonic state facility where extraordinary
group of college students
children with gifts including telekinesis and
who, under the tutelage
telepathy are put through a series of tests which
of maverick professor
range from the relatively simple to the appalling
Dr Lorna Clay, rescue
and painful. The aim is to harness the children’s
crime legend Agatha
powers and they are told they will be returned to
Christie and other female
their parents once their work is done, though the
authors from critical
reader knows this is unlikely, not least because
disparagement. Lorna is
12-year-old Luke’s parents were executed after
a dangerous role model
he was abducted. The plot also concentrates on
espousing debauchery
the staff who truly believe their experiments are
as a necessary adjunct to
for the greater good. Sound familiar? With
artistic endeavour. Jess
echoes of the Holocaust and allusions to Trump’s
Walker is our vulnerable
America this could be King’s best novel yet.
narrator, the middle child
of a middle-class family
in a dull part of middle
England, determined to
change her life. She is
obsessed with her tutor,
so much so that she
wants to be her and
when she meets sexy
Georgie, intriguing Alec
and geologist Nick, an
exciting world opens up.
Together they are
rulebreakers but their
daring flips into tragedy.
are called on when she helps
apprehend a White House
intruder. But when her boss
turns up dead, Hayley discovers
a conspiracy against the
controversial President.
Unsurprisingly the novel has
already been optioned for TV.
THE STRANGERS WE KNOW
by Pip Drysdale,
Simon & Schuster
STATE bby Chris
DEEP S Ch H
C Hauty, Infidelity gets a thrilling new
Simon & Schuster take when Charlie thinks she spies
It’s deeply refreshing to see a her husband Oliver’s photo – the one
kick-arse woman – Hayley Chill – she took on their honeymoon – on a
at the helm in this nail-biting West dating app. Gulp. She signs up to the
Wing political thriller. The new intern app, but what follows is way more
is also an army veteran and her skills alarming than a cheating hubby.
Historical
fiction
arden
Josephine’s Ga
by Stephanie Parkyn,,
Allen & Unwin
It’s 1794 in France and the
nation is steeped in the blood
of the Revolution. Threee
months earlier Rose de
Beauharnais was imprissoned
in Les Carmes and senteenced
to death, her husband an a
alleged traitor. Now thee day of
reckoning has come. Alexandre
has already been executed and
Rose’s date with the guillotine
is up. As she tries to calm her
nerves, the doors of the prison
are thrown open. She and all
those within these walls are
free. But less than a decade
later Rose is back in a different
sort of prison, married to
Napoleon Bonaparte, her name
changed to Empress Josephine
of France. In her gilded cage,
her only escape is tending her
garden and in the friendship of
two other women who become
her touchstones. A fascinating
insight into the woman whose
sexual prowess was famous
and whom Napoleon
ultimately divorced.
Children
THE LIGHT AFTER THE WAR
by Anita Abriel, Simon & Schuster
Vera and friend Edith are the
lucky ones as they arrive in
Naples in 1946. This novel
was inspired by the author’s
mother’s experiences escaping
from a train heading for
Auschwitz, a memory that
haunts this story at every turn.
The girls’ mothers threw them
from the carriage and in doing
so saved their lives. Now they
must fend for themselves. After
the war Vera finds work with
the US Embassy in Italy where
she falls for a dashing captain.
But when he disappears, she
and Edith embark on a lengthy
journey to Ellis Island, Caracas
and finally Sydney.
3+
THE UNDERHILLS by Bob
Graham, Walker Books
Tooth fairies April, Esme and
baby brother Vincent stay
with grey nomads Grandma
and Grandpa while mum and
dad go on a molar pickup.
There are always special
treats and learning to box
a teabag in their teapot home
is a blast. With a bag of
warm cakes, the children fly
to the airport to give Akuba
a coin for her lost tooth.
4-7
THE PAINTED PONIES by
Alison Lester, Allen & Unwin
Prolific author Alison Lester
brings us a delightfully
colourful tale of the circus
ponies that Lucky, Matilda’s
grandma, used to travel
with in their wagon. “There
were dogs who could play
football, dancing goats,
clairvoyant hens.” When her
parents spot wild ponies
they capture them for the
show, later releasing them.
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
A MURDER AT
MALABAR HILL
by Sujata Massey,
Allen & Unwin
Inspired by pioneering
lawyer Cornelia Sorabji,
this delightful murder
mystery, the first in a
series, takes us to the
streets of 1920s Bombay.
Our heroine is Miss
Perveen Mistry, who,
in joining her father’s
law firm, has become
one of very few female
lawyers in India. She
must execute the will
of a wealthy mill owner
but very quickly Perveen
senses something
is wrong.
THE PARIS MODEL
by Alexandra Joel,
HarperCollins
Grace Woods goes from
outback sheep station to
modelling for Christian
Dior in Paris. Her new
world is glamorous and
exciting, and when she
meets dishy Philippe
Boyer she is walking
on air. But Philippe is
involved in international
espionage and soon so
is Grace, risking her life.
12+
MYTHS, LEGENDS &
SACRED STORIES Penguin
From Europe through Asia,
Africa, the Americas and
Oceania, this captivating
children’s encyclopaedia
of magical creatures
and terrifying monsters is
easy to read for enquiring
young minds. Information
boxes and vibrant colour
plates complete a real
keepsake to hand on to
the next generation.
177
Money
How tobe
super ethical E D I T E D by GENEVIEVE GANNON
The growth in ethical super funds means it’s easier
than ever to do good while saving for retirement.
O
ncologist Bronwyn King
always wanted to save
lives, but she never
expected the best way
to do so would come
from examining her finances. When
she discovered the default setting on
her superannuation fund meant she
was supporting the production of
cigarettes, she was horrified. She now
heads Tobacco Free Portfolios, a
company that has driven a significant
reduction in investment in cigarettes.
But tobacco isn’t the only questionable
product super funds invest in, she
says. Weapons, slavery, pornography
and logging are just some of the
industries Australians may be
supporting without realising it.
Canstar Editor-at-Large Effie Zahos
says there is a growing appetite for
ethical investment but most people
don’t know where to start. Legislation
that requires super funds to make their
investments more transparent has
been deferred until the end of next
year, so we spoke to experts about
what you can do to ensure your
hard-earned salary is not supporting
industries you ethically oppose.
Is ethical investment
riskier?
There has long been scepticism
around ethical investing, Effie says.
“There always was a fear from a
consumer perspective, is there a trade
off? Do I get less return? That’s definitely
178 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
not the case. When
you look at the past
performance of ethical
super funds they’ve done
really well.”
Part of what shocked
Dr King when she
learned she was
investing in tobacco was that it seemed
like bad business. “Declining returns
and growing business threats present
a clear and present financial risk for
investors in tobacco,” she says.
Ethical investment is normally
directed towards sectors with long-
term growth, Effie says.
“Renewable options, that’s a
growth sector so they’ve got
long-term growth prospects.”
Where is your money?
Start by looking at your product
disclosure statement. Even if you have
an “ethical” fund, it’s worth taking
the time to understand what you’re
actually investing in.
“Ethical” has unfortunately become
a bit of a buzzword in the financial
sector, Effie explains.
“Some of the unethical investments
that are screened out are fossil fuels,
weapons, tobacco and logging. But is
animal cruelty? You’ve got to actually
see where they’re investing and where
they’re not.”
Your fund manager should be able
to provide you with a breakdown of
the companies your fund is currently
investing in. The Responsible Investment
Association Australasia provides a
wealth of information about navigating
this complex area.
Look before you leap
You can then speak to your fund
manager about what options they
have. They may be able to offer you
an ethical option. Yet if your fund has
one “ethical” option but maintains
holdings in areas that are not meeting
your ethical standards, you may want
to consider looking elsewhere, Effie says.
GETTY IMAGES. ALWAYS CONSIDER YOUR PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES
She cautions again being rash.
“Don’t rush straight out of your super
fund because there are so many things
attached to it. You may be on a very
lucrative insurance policy. There may
be exit fees,” Effie says. “Get some
expert advice before you run.”
BEFORE ACTING ON FINANCIAL ADVICE.
One thing she does advise is letting
the fund know why you’re leaving.
“Ethical investment has been
around for a long time but it’s
gaining momentum because people
are starting to realise that if the
government’s not going to fix these
issues we as investors can, and that’s
a very powerful thing.” AWW

Behind
closed doors
With one in six women reporting signs of
financial abuse, it’s important to recognise the
signs for yourself or someone close to you.
Money can be a sensitive topic for
many of us, particularly if you are in
a situation where you’re not in control
of your finances. Whether it’s limited
access to cash or constant scrutiny
of spending, a financially abusive
relationship can take many forms.
According to Jan Breckenridge,
Associate Professor at the University
of New South Wales’ Gendered
Violence Research Network, financial
abuse can occur without physical
violence and can be overt or incredibly
subtle. However, regardless of the
method, the planned outcome for
the perpetrator is always the
health status, disability and financial stress. Australian and New Zealand journal of public health (2017).
same – control.
Kutin, J., R. Russell, and M. Reid, Economic abuse between intimate partners in Australia: prevalence,
“There are three key ways money
is used to abuse a partner: financial
control, financial exploitation or
sabotage of work or study which
limits economic opportunities. A
perpetrator might withhold money,
track the other person’s spending
online, block access to their own
accounts or create debts in the
victim’s name,” Breckenridge explains.
“We see so many forms of control
– maybe they’ve changed a password
on an account and have withheld
details of the new password. People
PRODUCED BY STORY
can be asked to work in the family
business with no pay or asked to do
chores at home in return for money.”
For many, lack of financial autonomy
is what keeps them in a situation that
they might otherwise leave.
1
If you or someone you know is affected by domestic violence, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).
In an emergency, call 000.
Promotion
“Through my research it’s been clear
how economic abuse can create a
situation where often women have
to leave relationships with nothing.”
“Financial literacy is one important
area that can help everyone spot the
warning signs of abuse – either for
themselves or for someone close
to them. It’s not necessarily about
looking for it, but if there are signs
of financial stress, sometimes it’s an
indicator that something is not okay.”
Financial abuse can impact all types
of relationships, age groups, cultures
and extended family dynamics.
Commonwealth Bank Group
Executive Sian Lewis says, “Many
Australians know domestic and
family violence is an urgent issue
but less are aware of how closely
it’s linked to financial abuse.
“Financial abuse is a hidden
epidemic with research telling us
it is prevalent in about 90 per cent
of domestic and family violence
situations. As one of Australia’s largest
banks, we have a responsibility to
do what we can to address this
disturbing issue.
“Over the past five years, we’ve
committed $30 million to programs
that have helped people affected
by domestic and family violence,
offering support to vulnerable
customers when they need it most.
“But we know there is more to be
done. That’s why we’re investing in
and partnering with a range of
leading community organisations,
academics, survivors and advocates
to develop new financial solutions
and support to help those affected
achieve long-term financial
independence.”
Find out more about financial
abuse by visiting commbank.com.au/
financialabuse
WHAT ARE THE FINANCIAL
ABUSE WARNING SIGNS?
1. You are prevented from contributing
to household income by getting a
job or earning income.
2. Your partner controls how all of
the household income is spent.
3. You have been forced or pressured
to take out a loan or credit card
in your name.
4. You have to ask for money for
basic expenses.
5. Your partner monitors what you
spend and expects to see receipts.

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Find A Word
Puzzles
H T U M I Z A A O E N S S C M
U R O A H L S N R S O U A S E
Easy Crossword
1 2 3

8
4 5 6 7

B S O T L T E E B R I N T O T 9 10

B R R E E U H O I E L A U L S
L A E R T P B T T V E R R A Y 11 12
E P O C S E L E T I H U N R S
13
A I E O N E M E N N I D O T E
14 15 16 17
D N N T E A N O C U R V T S N
J O T G I U C O C O E L A A O 18

I U O A T L S L M R P L U T O 19 20 21

M P P P R M L E Y R U C R E M 22

A A E I O E D E R E T S U L C 23 24
R N T S T A S I T R A N S I T
S U E S R E P Y X A L A G O N
25 26
R A T S C O R P I O S U N E V

WIN 5 X $100 We’ve hidden a collection of words related ACROSS DOWN

to space in the grid. They can be spelt horizontally, vertically, 1. Artefacts display centre 1. Greatest amount
diagonally, backwards and forwards, but always in a straight line. 4. Prestige, ranking 2. Texts for plays
When you have found all the words listed below you should have 9. Live through danger 3. Workers’ organisation,
13 letters in the grid left over. These will spell the winning word. 10. Barrack for, trade …
Write the winning answer on the coupon on the last Puzzles … them on 5. Intrigues, … her fancy
page for your chance to win $100. 11. Hand’s width, eg 6. Dentures, false …
12. Ocean mammal, 7. More powerful
ANDROMEDA IONOSPHERE ROVER
bottle-nosed … 8. Prepared to start
ANTARES JUPITER SATELLITE 14. Published or distributed 13. Two-wheeled vehicles
APOGEE LEO SATURN 16. Take for granted 15. Hemispheres’ divider
19. Fermented dairy product 17. Strange, abnormal
ASTEROID MARS SCORPIO
21. Purple stonefruit 18. Metal alloy, stainless …
ASTRAL MERCURY SOLAR 23. Minimum, the … possible 20. Wheat or barley, eg
AZIMUTH METEOR STAR 24. Carry out, 21. Portion, part
CANCER MOON SYSTEM … the plan 22. Netting material
25. Military guard,
CLUSTER NEBULA TAURUS
on … duty Solution in next
COMET NEPTUNE TELESCOPE 26. Medical fitness month’s issue.
COSMOS ORBIT TRANSIT
EARTH PERIHELION UNIVERSE WIN 5 X $100 When you complete the crossword, the letters on
the shaded squares, reading left to right, top to bottom, will spell the
GALAXY PERSEUS URANUS winning answer. When you have the winning answer, write the answer
HUBBLE PLUTO VENUS on the coupon on the last Puzzles page for your chance to win $100.

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 181

ACROSS 92. Heart monitor (1,1,1) 192. Children’s guessing 41. Bewitching 136. Author of To Kill a
1. Most puny and weak 94. Light musical drama game (1-3) 42. Initiated Mockingbird, Harper …
5. Supports, … up in an 98. Sicilian ice-cream 194. Washtub 43. Expert pilot, eg 138. Warning sound
argument cake 197. Eternally, for … 44. Trims plants, 139. Small whirlpool
8. Enclosed sporting 102. Harsher, … penalties 198. Old pubs … the hedge 140. Space centre
venue 105. Basil-flavoured 200.Makes a mistake 46. Merriment, have … structure, rocket …
11. Round red-purple spaghetti sauce 202. Search for 49. Mineral spring 142. Too, as well
vegie 108. Squander 204. Blacksmith’s 51. Distinguished 143. Did crawl or
15. Sense of self 111. Revolve rapidly workplace female singer
113. Affectionate term backstroke, had …
16. Snooker implement 205. Artist’s painting 53. Twelve in the
for father 145. Rare
17. Stage of a relay stand evening
18. Tofu bean 115. Reticent, restrained 208. Friendly relations 146. Window ledge
55. Count, … on
20. Walks with difficulty 116. Posing no difficulty 209. Deducts, takes away 57. Flip, … a pancake 147. Give rise to
21. Group baked 118. Burglar’s swag 214. Person, … being 59. Inborn 148. Style of hat
together, 120. Square root of 100 215. Electrical measures 60. Eye complaint 149. Eat in a restaurant,
a … of loaves 121. Barrier across a river 218. Truck-drivers’ 63. Price, cost … out
22. A long way off 122. Winter flakes compartments 65. Frankfurter in a bun 150. Former tennis star,
24. Readily available, 123. Solo musician, 220. Musical twosome (3,3) … Sampras
draught beer on … … piper 221. Chrysalis 70. Powerful dog-faced 151. Soul, mind
25. Spoken test 125. Impassioned, 222. Lukewarm monkeys 160. Small pools of water
27. Tea flavour, … Grey an … speech 223. Japanese poem 71. Correspond in sound 161. Be offended, take …
29. Song, Boogie 128. Sudden sharp pain 224. Smaller quantity, 73. Big fibber 164. Highest point
Woogie … Boy 131. Poke with finger … than before 75. Chardonnay or 165. Diversion, bypass
30. Intolerant, 133. Chinese spice, star … 225. Stain with colour Merlot, eg
135. Convicted criminal 167. Decorative skirting
narrow-minded 226. Tiny vegetable 77. Fortune-teller’s deck
34. Windscreen’s cleaner 137. Handed out playing board, eg
227. Word used to of cards 168. Large brown
35. Oak-tree nut cards incorrectly surprise someone 78. Mosque tower
36. Join forces 141. Hottest wingless NZ insect
228. Unfastens and 79. Piano piece,
37. Pimples condition 144. Bunchy clumps of 169. Men’s businesswear,
removes, Clair de …
40. Him and her grass … the trailer … and ties
80. Protracted tale
42. Garment join 148. Bored or frustrated, 229. US actress, Halle … 170. Roused from sleep
81. Notice, espy
44. Clothesline fasteners … up 230. Scoundrel 176. Doctor for animals
83. Move slowly,
45. Gum, paste 150. Vigour, vim 231. Sudden chilly spell 177. Eagle nests
… along the runway
46. Bloodsucking insect 152. Rented (4,4) 179. Crops up, occurs
91. Donkey
47. Behave 153. Open-back van 180. Child’s plaything
93. Lettuce variety
48. Low male singing 154. James Stewart 182. Clumsy fool
voice classic, … a DOWN 95. Extended the
1. Feral pig (4,4) validity, … her licence 186. Recede
50. Rudely brief Wonderful Life (2’1)
2. Employing, … staff 96. Uppermost part 187. Insisted on,
52. John Williamson 155. Consume,
… the resources 3. Part of a shoe 97. Smartphone … her rights
song, Old Man …
156. Small pouch 4. Rip, rend program 188. Chopper landing
54. Rocky outcrop
157. Extols 5. Round capsule of 98. Scam, swindle facility
56. Stake in poker
158. Intense desire raw cotton 99. Move lightly 190. Remove
58. Crusted dish
61. Fastened with 159. Poppy drug 6. Animal of the desert and quickly wallpaper, eg
a knot or bow 162. Large bird, powerful … 7. Japanese snack, 100. Fatty tissue 193. Penne, eg
62. Whip up, … violence 163. Fairy godmother’s … roll 101. Amazement 195. Enclosed (6,2)
64. Parentless child magic stick 8. Walk casually 102. Body of water, 196. Shallow and
66. Almonds, 166. Fiddled the accounts, 9. Additional cricket run Caspian … superficial (4-4)
cashews etc … the books 10. Throbbing pain 103. Goodfellas actor,
199. Central issue
67. Looked at 168. Live internet digital 11. Carry, … the load … Liotta
201. Huge mythical bird
68. Pinpoints, finds movie machine 12. Discards, … away 104. West Indian
folk song in The Arabian Nights
69. Own, possess 169. Does needlework 13. One of eight babies
born together 106. Devoured, had … 203. Short-sighted
70. Shakespeare’s 171. Apiece
14. Nickname for senior 107. Fork prongs 204. Flutter, … wings
nickname, the … 172. Can be heard, is …
army officers (3,5) 109. Confuse, … his wits 206. Get distracted,
72. In a tidy way 173. Fishing-net material
74. Heavily bandage 174. Nuisance 19. System of relaxing 110. Pace of music … track of time
76. Slender stalk 175. Dodged payment, exercise 112. Fastener, safety … 207. Pursued
79. Hawaiian garland … tax 23. Arctic waters 114. Fuss and bother 210. Dominance,
80. Toboggans 178. Develop a fondness feature 117. Song, Here Comes have the … hand
82. Putrefy, decay for (4,2) 26. Circular coral reef the … 211. Stuffed bear
84. Swampy land in 181. Irritates 28. Pseudonym 119. Or nearest offer (1,1,1) 212. Find disgusting
southern USA 182. Bauxite, aluminium … 30. Whole and 122. By hook or by crook 213. Unspecified object
85. Pop concert, eg 183. Cry of pain or distress unbroken 123. Grazing land 216. Atlas pictures
86. Home and Away 184. Slightly open 31. Recline, … back 124. Singer, … King Cole 217. Wound with a knife
star, … Nicodemou 185. Movie, … Flew Over 32. Fish spawn 126. Cry of a kitten 218. Small block of ice
87. J. M. Barrie story, the Cuckoo’s Nest 33. Saddle with 127. Nautically astern 219. Group of aligned
Peter … 188. Play or exercise ring, unwelcome task, 129. Colony insect nations
88. Type of poem … hoop … with 130. Hydrogen or
89. Kitchen garment 189. Old Russian leader 38. Avoided, … capture methane, eg
90. Boxing injury, 191. Chocolate treat, 39. Song, I Can … Clearly 132. Stops, ceases Solution in next
cauliflower … Easter … Now 134. Rage month’s issue.

182 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

The Colossus
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28

29 30 31 32 33 34

35 36

37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44

45 46 47 48 49 50

51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

61 62 63 64 65 66

67 68 69

70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78

79 80 81 82 83

84 85 86 87 88 89

90 91 92 93

94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104

105 106 107 108 109 110

111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119

120 121

122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132

133 134 135 136

137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147

148 149 150 151

152 153 154 155 156 157

158 159 160 161 162

163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170

171 172 173

174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181

182 183 184 185 186

187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196

197 198 199 200 201 202

203 204 205 206 207

208 209 210 211 212 213 214

215 216 217 218 219

220 221 222 223 224 225

226 227

228 229 230 231

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 183

Insider
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184 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020

Cryptic Crossword
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ACROSS DOWN
1. Criticise toboggan (6) 2. Turning machine left
5. I’m backing rage at to heat up (5)
desert vision (6) 3. Crowded state of Den’s
8 9 8. Returned note to posh city we hear (7)
English school (4) 4. Finance specialist turning
9. Named Ron again to be in to incomes (9)
custody pending trial (2,6) 5. Spoil returning ram (3)
10 11
10. More in spun fine wool (6) 6. Inclinations to redesign prams (5)
11. One abstaining from food 7. Gent finds long swimmer is
more quickly? (6) well-mannered (7)
12 13 14 15
12. Observe spy from East (4) 11. Prying fan initially swaps
14. Four, yes, get climbing plant (3) cooking utensil (6,3)
15. Fit to remove top from table (4) 13. Take confident strides, turning
16. Statement showing Queen pets away from home (4,3)
16 17 18 19 knocked back port (6) 15. Female thespian’s current hair (7)
18. Remarking nothing lost heart (6) 17. Lubricated and worked hard
20. Trail on rise? Take further from beginning (5)
action! (6-2) 19. Courage and impertinent
20 21 22 22. Sources held up light assurance (5)
brown colour (4) 21. Which person would laugh
23. Stud I ring from artist’s at West? (3)
room (6) Solution in next month’s issue.
23 24 24. Created a home from need on
street (6)

7 6 2
8 5 9 3
Bogglewords Sudoku
Can you work out the words or phrases depicted here? Each number from 1 to 9 9 4
Solution overleaf. must appear in each of the
nine rows, nine columns
6 2 9
1. COUNCLOSETERS and 3 x 3 blocks. Tip: No 9 8 7
number can occur more
2. YENOMRUOY YENOMRUOY than once in any row, 1 8
column or 3 x 3 block.
Solution overleaf.
6 3
3. 011011010 HOPE, DYLAN
4 7
4. CHAWHOWHORGE 5 9 7

Spot The
Difference
Test your powers of
observation. The two
pictures at right may
look the same, but
we’ve made five (5)
changes to the one
on the right. Can you
spot them all?
Solution overleaf.

FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 185

 How Answers

to enter February 4
8
1
2
7
5
8
9
3
7
6
1
9
3
5
4
2
6

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BOGGLEWORDS: 1. Close encounters. 2. Double your money 9 6 3 2 4 5 7 1 8
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SPOT THE DIFFERENCE: 1. Two leaves removed near centre of 5 9 2 1 8 4 6 7 3
image. 2. Red flower top right quarter changed to pink. 3. Stem 1 3 4 7 6 9 8 2 5

SUDOKU:
Write your puzzle answers on the removed bottom right quarter. 4. Centre of flower bottom left 6 7 1 4 2 8 5 3 9
quarter changed to yellow. 5. Flower changed to blue. 2 5 9 6 1 3 4 8 7
relevant line, then cut out the whole
January
coupon and MAIL to: 3 4 8 5 9 7 2 6 1

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D D L E D T A
P N L
A R C A D E
R
F L OW E
E C
R P OW
R
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D

I O F OR G E T Z E A C HO P I N O E Y A G I
ON E O F F C A D U L T E R E R P I MB I B E
G N E C HO E D R E L YOD E L S R U P R O P E R N OU N S
GOV E R N A L T E A RO S E T A H E A L T H T R A E V
Easy Crossword: A A S C E ND A V D G HOR ROR O L I G AM E N T AW A Y
M A L AW I O E I C E B E R G E A MAGN E T B N L A T L
B P V E L C RO A E H F R I NG E R L
C H A R G E O WA T E R L I N E C L I A B L E M E N T A L I R ON I C
O O N I GG L E C E N D E L E T E I E R Y A N M D
Insider: OR ANG E
B T S
Y O C H
I N C H
A T T E D
T A
X
A X E D
S T A L ON S
T N T
T R A I P S E S G I N H E R I T R P R E T E N C E FIND A WORD:
U R O A S WA N L R I T C H U A O R
S C A T T E R S A K EM I N I R E K I ND L E Winning answer: Sandcastles.
E A T T S V I S I T E DG E S S W D UO
Clueless: R E P E L
P RO R I D
S E E N V
X A Y
E R D I
U D
S E T H
P H
R A P I D
B AN N OW
CLUELESS: 1=E, 2=X, 3=Z, 4=W,
H F P I S T ON S U S A M I M I C R Y G A 5=U, 6=S, 7=C, 8=M, 9=L, 10=Y,
YOK E S G O Y I T F O C A GA T E S 11=P, 12=N, 13=I, 14=D, 15=F, 16=G,
S N E AG E R C D E L V E N K E V I N E T 17=Q, 18=R, 19=A, 20=B, 21=T,
I L OV E E T R AW L E L E AN S E AOR T A
NAME C T D I R G E S E N RO L G E A R N S M G 22=J, 23=V, 24=H, 25=O, 26=K.
S A S S Y S D E EMS S SWE E T Y H A S T E Winning answer: Thongs.
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Aquarius
JA N 2 1 - F E B 1 9
Happy birthday, Aquarius – progressive
February gifts you sudden insights,
swift changes of perspective and
completely unexpected pleasures. Yes,
there is Mercury retrograde’s inevitable
glitches and bickering, but there’s also
plenty of celestial support for moving
through hurt to healing. Pied Piper Mars
in the sign of poetic licence makes you
very persuasive and if other people’s
behaviour seems downright bizarro,
well, we all have our peculiarities, don’t
we, Aquirkyans? Venus will help you
find the best in difficult people or
situations (it’s there if you look).
Taurus
A P R 2 2 - M AY 2 1
With love planet Venus morphing from
dreamy to steamy and lusty Mars joining
a gang of heavenly bodies in your sector
of adventure and wisdom, February’s
a fabulous month to revise your personal
love style. And when mid-month’s
Mercury retrograde performs an
illusion-busting removal of the rosy
specs, then ready or not it’s time
for an eyes-wide-open look at that
situation you’d rather ignore. Once
seen it can’t be unseen, but according
to Taurean self-help author Dr Wayne
Dyer, the good news is that when you
change the way you look at things,
the things you look at change as well.
188 The Australian Women’s Weekly | FEBRUARY 2020
Pisces
FEB 20-MAR 20
Venus enjoying a lush month of sensual
indulgence is set to float your love boat,
so what could go wrong? That would
be mid-month Mercury backsliding
through Pisces – which can make your
communications confusing to others,
who may hear your intuitive take on
things as fact, or take your inspired
proposals as promises. You mean one
thing, they understand something
entirely different, so be as clear as
possible to reduce mix-ups. When the
sun and new moon dance a pas de
deux in Pisces on February 24, let
your imagination meander – this often
drops something lovely into your lap.
Gemini
M AY 2 2 - J U N 2 2
Geminis intuitively understand that love
isn’t just for sharing with one special
person, it’s a way of relating to everything.
And February fizzes with opportunities
to play the game of love with everyone,
including kids, the elderly and total
strangers. Your mind’s hot wired right
now to make fresh connections and
initiate new projects, but with Mars
igniting arguments and drama, this
month’s major pitfalls are conversational
exaggeration, overblown promises and
inflated expectations. But most of you
know the Mercury retro drill by now:
retreat, review, reflect, reset and don’t
believe all you read.
Aries
MAR 21-APR 21
As vivacious Venus sashays into Aries
for a month-long romp, romance wears
a bold new look. And while Mars
joining a trio of ambitious planets could
torch a burning urge to go, go, go, this
month’s Mercury suggests listening to
creative inspiration rather than trying
to make things happen. Resist pushing
for change that isn’t ready to manifest.
If February’s combustible chemistry
sparks kneejerk reactions, honour your
instincts to withdraw and process
triggered emotions. Don’t blow rebuffs
out of proportion or buy into anyone’s
idea of who you are – adjusting their
viewfinder isn’t your call.
Cancer
JUN 23-JUL 23
Mars moving into your partnership
department for the first time in two
years reignites relationship fires. Or
lights a new flame. Or says sayonara
to something that’s run its course –
whichever’s applicable. No partner, no
problem, because an alignment between
Mars and Uranus ensures you’re this
month’s attraction magnet even with
retrograde Mercury’s edgy personal
politics. Restraining sharp remarks and
critical observations isn’t easy, but if
someone’s antsy consider what that
says about how they’re feeling. And
if you want more love in your life,
the solution’s simple: give more love.

Leo
J U L 2 4 - AU G 2 3
Mercury taking this month’s interactions
undercover into undiscovered territory
can be thrilling, confronting or a
mixture of both. And with Mars
returning after two years to your house
of self care, the backing track to February
9th’s annual full moon in your sign
has to be Leo Whitney Houston’s
version of, “learning to love yourself
is the greatest love of all”. Valentine
vibes combined with Mercury in low
gear make this month ideal for reflecting
on the roles all kinds of love play in
your life, because as Leo Madonna
so succinctly puts it, “Love is like
breathing, you just have to do it.”
Scorpio
O C T 2 4 - N OV 2 2
This February, Venus decrees that when
you feel good you look even better, so
ILLUSTRATIONS BY LUCILE PRACHE/THE ILLUSTRATION ROOM.
lavish some quality care on numero uno.
The quartet of heavenly bodies in your
ideas sector advises care in selecting
which to take to the next level. And
when Mercury scrambles signals
mid-month, try to say things in the way
you’d want them said to you. Sing
rather than sting, because irritable
people can’t create a peaceful world;
only a compassionate mental attitude
can do that. Love is a decision we
can all make at any time under any
circumstances, and Scorpios have the
discipline and determination to do it.
Virgo
AU G 2 4 - S E P 2 3
When Venus lights February’s romantic
candles and ardent Mars pays its
every-other-yearly visit to your house
of creative play, get ready for a juice
boost of confidence and charisma.
Which makes you the least likely of
all signs to be fazed when Mercury
swerves into reverse mid-month and
old relationship issues resurface,
since planetary retrogrades echo the
past. Love’s still in the air, though, so
do what you can to keep it there by
not letting people’s assumptions or
inconsistencies make you cranky;
because the more relaxed you are, the
more negotiable this month will be.
Sagittarius
N OV 2 3 - D EC 2 1
This month’s personal hotspot for
Sagittarians is Venus firing your penchant
for flamboyant presentation. A new
style-up can be great fun under this
transit, producing surprisingly magical
results, plus high-octane Mars motoring
into your zone of strategy and
production could bring a lucrative
new opportunity. Practise patience
during February’s final fortnight when
Mercury backpedals, details get lost
in translation and people take what
you say the wrong way. It’s a period
when the nurturing company of your
innermost circle is often preferable
to the madding crowd.
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly
Horoscopes
with LILITH ROCHA
Libra
SEP 24-OCT 23
As Venus morphing from watery to
fiery ignites your heart’s desires, keep
in mind that inspiration tends to arrive
in stillness, followed by results which
manifest through movement. February’s
Aquarian variations feature a radical
balancing act between dreams and
reality, facts and fantasy – challenging
aspects, but nothing love can’t overcome.
No question that Mercury backtracking
while Mars is in go-getting mode feels
like one foot on the accelerator while
the other pumps the brakes, but this
stop-go energy can be usefully applied
to decluttering not just stuff, but old
attitudes, behaviours and habits.
Capricorn
D EC 2 2 - JA N 2 0
With Venus up close and personal in
your home zone this month, what could
be cosier than intimate nesting and
entertaining at Casa Capricornia? And
when spunky Mars rocks up mid-month
to the planetary party already percolating
in your sign, single or spoken for you’re
this month’s signature dish. The not-
so-fab news is that you might experience
tendencies to act out old narratives,
as something you thought was sorted
uncovers another layer of the existential
onion. It’s advisable to take care of
important business before Mercury
reverses mid-month and everyone’s
discernment heads temporarily offline.
189
 Travel
Beam me
up, barista!
Michele Crawshaw is captivated as much by the modern technology
on Princess Cruises’ brand new liner, Sky Princess, as the passing scenery.
A
t 19 storeys high and
330m long (25m longer
than Sydney’s Centrepoint
Tower lying sideways), the
Sky Princess is truly like
a floating city. The heart of the ship
is the Piazza – a glittering gold three-
storeyed atrium with grand winding
staircases and water features. It’s here,
while en route from Trieste to Athens,
I discover one of Sky Princess’ biggest
– and possibly best – new features.
Suffering from jetlag, I go in search
of coffee. The barista looks down at
his device then greets me by name and
asks if I’d like a flat white – the same
order I’d made earlier in the day. One
longstanding criticism of cruising has
been that the larger the ship, the less
personal the service – so when you’re
one of around 3000 passengers, little
touches like this go a very long way.
The new, deeper personalisation
of service is part of Princess Cruises’
new high-tech MedallionClass, and
Sky Princess is the first ship to be
built from the ground up with the
innovative technology.
It works by downloading an app
to your smartphone or device that
operates through a small medallion
you carry with you on board. More
than 7000 sensors are located around
the ship, and whenever you go near
one your photo flashes up on the
crews’ devices so they can see who
you are and your preferences.
It might sound a little Big Brotherish,
but you choose how much or how
little information you share, so the
level of personalisation is up to you.
It comes with other benefits too,
perhaps the coolest being that your
cabin door will magically unlock as
New
horizons
Scandinavia and Russia
will be the focus of Sky
Princess’ Europe 2020
season. Princess
Cruises’ 11-night
roundtrip cruises from
Copenhagen to
Scandinavia and Russia
on board Sky Princess
start from $2569 per
person twin share, and
run from April to August
2020. Stops include
Oslo, St Petersburg,
Tallinn and Helsinki.
Visit princess.com.
you approach it thanks to your
medallion – so no more rooting
around for lost keys or swipe cards.
The new app also allows you to
locate and message friends or family
you’re travelling with, and if you’re
like me and don’t know your port
from your starboard the location
tracker can be particularly handy.
But perhaps the most popular
function is the app-based ordering
service, which I put to the test on my
second day on board. With book in
hand and a premium spot on a chair
by the pool, I don’t want to join
a queue at one of the restaurants
so I use the app to order pizza and
a glass of wine directly to me. With
the medallion in my pocket the waiter
GETTY IMAGES.
is easily able to locate me; and I can
track the progress of my order. It’s
like Uber Eats – at sea! Clever.
 Promotion

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cruise on Celebrity Edge from Rome in a with Princess MedallionClassTM, available and Bergen, Norway. RRP $7,195pp plus
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*Fares are per person twin share based on voyage 8054. Terms and conditions apply. Full details on princess.com **Fares are per person twin share based on voyage G034. Terms and conditions apply. Full details
on princess.com. ^Terms and Conditions: Airfares are on an airline of Viking’s choice in Economy class, include airline/airport taxes and available from major cities in Australia (Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth
or Sydney). Both guests must fly together on the same flights in both directions. All offers are subject to availability of airline and booking class. Airline schedules are subject to change without notice and Viking is
not liable for any additional costs incurred due to airline schedule changes.
 – YOUR NEX T HOLIDAY –

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You’re not made to fit that cookie-cutter mold.
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*Travel restrictions & conditions apply. Valid for sale until 26 Feb 20, unless sold out prior. Prices are per person, twin share and subject to availability. Price based on departure from Melbourne,
Prices from other cities may vary. Onboard credit is per cabin & is not transferrable, not redeemable for cash & cannot be used in the medical centre or casino. Beverage Package applies to the
first 2 guests in the stateroom when aged 18 years or over (21 years on some international voyages). Flight Centre Travel Group Limited (ABN 25 003 377 188) trading as Travel Associates. ATAS
Accreditation No. A10412. TA19215

Eurasia’s
new star
Stunning scenery, historic
sites and a vibrant food and
wine scene put Georgia
high up on the list of
destinations to visit in 2020.
W
edged between the
Greater Caucasus
mountain range to the
north, where Europe’s
highest peaks make a
border with Russia, and the Lesser Caucasus
to the south, separating Georgia from
Turkey and Armenia, lies Tbilisi, its
colourful and cosmopolitan capital.
The valley between the two ranges has
been an ancient silk route through history,
and just over a decade ago, a short-lived
war with Russia turned it into a no-go zone.
Since then it has embraced tourism in a big
way and tour companies are putting it and
neighbouring Armenia on their itineraries.
The cobbled old Tbilisi town is a great place
to get a feel for the place, while the cable car
from Rike Park up to the Narikala Fortress
gives an exhilarating overview of the city.
Tbilisi was built on top of thermal springs
and the bathhouses are a popular attraction.
Some 20km to the north the exquisite 6th
Century Jvari Monastery has stunning views
Travel
A N WO
LI
A taste of
AU STRA
M
GEO
local life
E N ’S W
RGI
A
E
EE
K LY • T H
One of the joys of travel to
lesser known destinations is
the warm welcome of the
locals, many of whom have
had little chance to travel
and relish the chance to
mingle with international
visitors. Connections with the
locals are high on the agenda
of one of Trafalgar’s new
trips for 2020, Georgia and
Armenia Uncovered. The
11-day tour features
Trafalgar’s signature ‘Be My
Guest’ experiences whereby
travellers visit local homes to
enjoy regional food and
wines, learn about local life, in
the process helping sustain
the communities. In Kakabeti
in eastern Georgia, for
example, guests are treated
to lunch and a churchkhela
making class. Trafalgar’s
Georgia and Armenia
Uncovered tours from Tbilisi
to Yerevan are priced from
$3075.62 per person and run
April to October, 2020. The
itinerary includes visits to
UNESCO World Heritage
over the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers, and monasteries and cave towns
Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. in both countries. See
Other top attractions include the ancient Trafalgar.com for details.
cave cities at Vardzia, 140km south-west of
Tbilisi, and Uplistsikhe, near Gori, the
birthplace of Joseph Stalin. To sample beach
resort life on the Black Sea, head for Batumi
near the Turkish border. It’s the Caucasus
mountains, however, that steal the show,
offering nature and adventure lovers splendid
hikes, white-water rafting and skiing.
Georgia has a notable claim to fame: it’s
the world’s oldest wine producer. Three
years ago 8000-year-old pottery fragments
with traces of wine were found south of
Tbilisi. Foodies have a lot to savour too:
Georgian gastronomy is a mix of local,
Greek, Turkish, Persian and Mediterranean
flavours. Favourite dishes include khinkali
(spicy meat dumplings), khachapuri (bread
stuffed with cheese and often with an egg on
top) and churchkhela – colourful strings of
nuts dipped in a flour and grape juice paste.
Find more information at georgia.travel.
 Travel
A N WO
AU STRA LI
M
E N ’S W
NO
RW
AY
E
EE
K LY • T H
Spotlight
on
Bergen is the
gateway to Norway’s
majestic fjords, writes
Sven Gebele.
sk any fjord fan where
A the best are to be found in
the world, and the answer
will inevitably be Norway.
For sheer quantity (well over
1000) and beauty, they can’t be beaten.
The starting point for many cruises
is the historic port of Bergen and most
companies will include a day or two
there on their itineraries, but any extra
days you can add will be well rewarded.
The first thing any tourist should do
is head to the UNESCO World Heritage
waterfront to see the city’s Instagram
stars – a row of colourful wooden
Hanseatic houses – the world’s only
surviving cluster from the days when
the Hanseatic League dominated the
Baltic sea trade (circa 1100 to 1450).
The Hanseatic Museum and SchØtstuene
tells the story.
There are two other museums that
should be on your to-do list. For art,
the pick of the four Kode museums is
Kode 3 – it has a great collection of
works by Edvard Munch and other
notable artists. Further afield is the
Edvard Grieg Museum Troldhaugen,
part of the hillside villa where the
composer lived for the last two
The famous
gen
Geirangerfjord.
Below: Hanseatic
houses line the
waterfront.
decades of his life and is buried.
If you can time your stay to coincide
with a lunchtime concert at the nearby
concert hall, Troldsalen, all the better.
Bergen is nicknamed ‘the City of
Seven Mountains’. Take the funicular
railway up to one, Mount FlØyen, for
a spectacular bird’s eye view and then
enjoy the walk downhill back to
the city.
From Bergen there are very pleasant
day trips into the interior, where you
can explore some of the narrower
extremities of fjords that the bigger
cruise ships tend not to venture into.
The local rail, bus and ferry systems
are efficient and relatively cheap. bus ride takes you to Kvanndal on
The most popular excursion is by Hardangerfjord, where you can catch
train to Vossevangen, then bus to a ferry to Utne, a quaint village with
Gudvangen to catch the ferry (there lovely views.
are five a day in summer) to Flåm at Viking Cruises has 15-day Into the
the end of the Aurlandsfjord (a branch Midnight Sun cruises from Bergen to
of the vast Sognefjord). The boat ride Greenwich, London, or vice versa,
takes two hours one way and is a including visits to Geirangerfjord,
beautiful way to absorb the serene Honningsvåg in the Arctic Circle, the
surroundings and sample village life. Shetland and Orkney Islands and
Alternatively, if you’re looking for Edinburgh. Fares start from $9995 per
GETTY IMAGES.
a route less travelled, there’s another person twin share. Book before March 31,
spectacular adventure starting from 2020 to access Viking’s Companion Fly
Vossevangen. A short, breathtaking Free offer. Visit vikingcruises.com.au.
 with Singapore Airlines or Qatar
Airways when you book your dream
Europe & Britain 2020 holiday.

CALL 1800 002 007 OR VISIT YOUR TRAVEL AGENT.

*
The air ofer $799 return per person is valid when booked in conjunction with selected 2020 Trafalgar trip departures to Europe & Britain with a duration of 11 days or more, or on
selected trips when combined to create a total duration of 11 days or more. Air ofer is not combinable with the Early Payment Discount or any other promotional ofer. Includes
flying Economy return with either Singapore or Qatar airways available for new bookings created from 15 January to 27 February 2020 economy fares for Qatar Airways & Singapore
Airlines until sold out. Airfares are valid for travel to Europe for travel between 1 March 2020 30 November 2020 excluding 20 June to 7 July on Qatar Airways. Please call to book flight
inclusive trips. The airfare cannot be sold in isolation & is subject to availability. Ofer does not apply to Autumn; Winter & Spring departures or indicatively priced departures. Ofer
does not apply to select packages including Oberammergau, trips to Greece; Turkey; Israel; Jordan; Egypt & Special Group Itineraries. For full terms and conditions visit trafalgar.com.
 ®

F LY F R E E
TO C H I N A & J A PA N
OVER 30 TOURS AND
220 DEPARTURES

WHAT’S Return economy airfares & current taxes All meals All transportation

INCLUDED All accommodation Touring with expert guides Visa fees for Australian passports

MAJESTIC YANGTZE A WEEK IN JAPAN ANCIENT EMPIRES OF CHINA & JAPAN

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nspiring
her world.
Marshall is awestruck.
A
ntarctica doesn’t come
easy. Two days by ship
across the Drake Passage,
an ocean so vast it seems
to exist in perpetuity.
There’s not a soul out here except for
the albatrosses, dipping and swaying
above the ocean’s draught.
The voyage of the mind is more
GETTY IMAGES. OTHER IMAGES SUPPLIED AND USED WITH PERMISSION.
confounding. In two days my world
has been turned upside down:
temperateness has been replaced by
frigidity, and we visitors have been
relegated to mere bit-players in an
evolutionary play.
This sense of insignificance is
reinforced by the scale of the
continent: icebergs gliding by like
ice-bound apartment blocks; snow-
smeared mountains piercing a
deceptively blue sky; an infinite stillness.
But the silence is swiftly shattered.
Approaching landfall in a Zodiac boat,
we’re assailed by the collective call of
Antarctica’s most prolific residents,
Gentoo, Adélie and chinstrap penguins.
o
il AU STRA
ANT
ARC
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A N WO
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E N ’S W
A
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Belying their tiny stature, torrents of
squawking, babbling and screeching
spill from their beaks. The clamour
continues even as the penguins slide
down icy hillsides on their stomachs,
vigilantly guard their eggs as skuas try
to snatch them, and waddle to the
water’s edge before diving in.
It’s springtime, and the penguins
have returned to their colonies’ nesting
sites to incubate their eggs. In around a
month’s time the cacophony will swell
when the chicks hatch and begin to
loudly solicit their parents’ attention.
“The chick that begs the best gets
fed the most,” says expedition leader
Dr Peter Carey. “That’s the chick
that’s going to survive.”
Biding their time for the hatching
season, leopard seals lurk beneath
ledges of ice. Sea lions blink before
falling back to sleep on beds of
volcanic beach. A crab-eater seal slides
along bright sea ice and slips into a
fissure; so clear is the water I can see
bleached whale bones on the seabed.
Travel
There’s no sign of the whalers who
once plundered these waters, just the
remains of their huts, frozen in time.
Human presence is confined now to
this ship as it slices through shattered
sheet ice, to tight groups trekking
across fast ice. Immaculate though it
is, we can sense our impact in the
receding glaciers and melting ice.
“The polar areas are the canaries in
the coal mine,” says naturalist Adam
Cropp. “Huge volumes of ice that have
been here for 15,000 years have melted.”
Much as our fingerprints can’t be
truly wiped from Antarctica, its
testament will remain forever etched
on my soul. The only continent we
can never inhabit, it’s a place that
allows us to contemplate our own
transience, and comprehend the
perfection of a habitat that’s been
left to its own devices.
To organise your trip to Antarctica,
contact one of Travel Associates’ Bucket
List Specialists at travelassociates.com.
B auty
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As far as cruising goes,

few regions can match
the Caribbean for the
sheer variety of
destinations and
experiences on offer,
writes Marilyn Jones.

S
waying palm trees, sugary
white-sand beaches and
turquoise seas frame every
Caribbean experience. Add
to this the unique personality
of each island and tropical weather
year-round and you have the perfect
destination for natural beauty,
relaxation and cultural discovery.
One of the best ways to experience
the Caribbean is on a cruise. There are
more than 7000 islands in the
Caribbean, which is bordered by the
United States, Mexico, Central America
and South America in the Caribbean
Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Some islands
are lush, with rainforests and mountain
trails, while others have desert
climates. Cruise ships stop at about
40 islands including The Bahamas.
Some islands have several ports.
Homeports where ships depart for
the Caribbean include New York City;
New Orleans, Louisiana; Galveston,
Texas; Charleston, South Carolina;
Baltimore, Maryland; Miami, Tampa
and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Convenience of sailing
The beauty of cruising is the ability to
visit several islands, each with its own
Caribbean cruise must-dos include
swimming in Belize (right), exploring
Curaçao (top right) and diving from
Cozumel (below right).
unique character. I have rumbled
along Aruba’s desert roadways in
a four-wheel drive truck, rescued baby
turtles on a sun-kissed beach in
Cozumel, Mexico, snorkelled in Belize,
explored caves in The Bahamas and
learned about pirates in St Thomas.
The longer the cruise, the more
islands you experience. A seven-day
Western Caribbean itinerary from
Galveston, for example, takes
passengers to Jamaica, Grand Cayman
and Cozumel. An eight-day Eastern
Caribbean tour includes Key West and
three stops in The Bahamas.
Personally I enjoy learning about
island history including the
indigenous population, European
domination and current political ties.
For example, the ABC islands – Aruba,
Bonaire and Curaçao – located just
north of Venezuela are governed by
the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Aruba is known for its beaches and
Bonaire is popular with divers.
Curaçao is the largest and wealthiest
island of the three.
In many cases tourism is the largest
industry on an island. Locals are
always friendly and appreciative, and
merchants, restaurateurs and guides
speak excellent English. American
dollars and credit cards are accepted
for services and purchases.
Often a day or two goes by in
between ports of call. Cruise ships
offer everything from swimming
pools, water parks and basketball
courts to casinos and shopping. There
is also a wide variety of organised
activities including dance lessons,
karaoke, trivia contests, evening
entertainment and comedy clubs.

Cruising
with kids
In recent years, cruise
lines have pulled out all
the stops for young
travellers. Disney,
Carnival and Norwegian
cruise lines are all
known for great kids’
activities. Carnival
offers Camp Ocean
geared towards
children two to 11, Circle
C is designed for ages
12 to 14, and Club 02 for
ages 15 to 17. Each group
has its own space from
play areas to high-tech
teen lounges. Dr. Seuss’
Cat in the Hat and Sam
I Am are also on board.
When to take a cruise
Many people avoid the Caribbean
during hurricane season – June 1
through November 30, with a peak
activity period from late August
through September. But if a tropical
storm or hurricane forms in the
Atlantic, ship captains change their
course to stay out of danger’s way.
In 2012 when Hurricane Sandy was
still a tropical storm, the captain of the
ship I was sailing on changed the ports
of call, avoiding Jamaica and Grand
Cayman by substituting Key West and
Costa Maya. The itinerary changed
and passengers were kept safe.
Caribbean cruises are offered year-
round. The most popular cruise lines
include Carnival Cruise Line, Disney
Cruise Line, Holland America Line,
Oceania Cruises, Norwegian Cruise
Line, Royal Caribbean International,
Seabourn Cruise Line, Silversea Cruises,
Celebrity Cruises, Princess Cruises
and Viking Cruises. They all regularly
offer discounts and sales.
If you’re looking for an inviting,
culturally rich, fun adventure, look
no further. The Caribbean is
GETTY IMAGES.
a great destination.
For more information on Caribbean
cruises, visit travelassociates.com.
Shore
excursions
As varied as the Caribbean
islands are, so are the shore
excursions. Here are some
tips to get the most
of offshore days.
First, consider the homeport
part of your holiday. Fly into
New York or Miami and
spend a few days before
embarking on your cruise.
When I sailed from
Charleston I toured the
Ashley River plantations,
took a carriage tour past
historic homes and gardens,
and bought local treasures
at Charleston City Market.
On the islands, just about
anything you can think of
that would be fun and
interesting is offered. In
Grand Cayman, this variety
includes stingray and turtle
encounters, snuba diving
(a combination snorkel and
diving experience), food tours
and helicopter tours. Often
tours cover history and stops
for lunch and shopping.
Travel
Fun on the frontier
Once you venture beyond the cluster
of historic cities on North
America’s east coast –
Washington DC, Montreal,
New York City, Boston – you
enter a land of forests (best
seen in resplendent autumn
colours), lakes, streams and
waterfalls. The coast of
states such as Connecticut,
Maine and New Hampshire offers
a mix of quaint fishing villages,
isolated coves and resort towns.
Popular cruising ports include New York,
Boston, Newport on Rhode Island, Bar Harbor in
Maine, Halifax in Nova Scotia, Charlottetown on
Prince Edward Island, and the ‘other Sydney’
– the Canadian one on Cape Breton Island. North
America’s only walled city, Quebec City, is the
most picturesque spot to dip into French-
Canadian culture. Spend time strolling
through its cobbled old town and
venture into its most striking
building, the enormous Le
Chateau Frontenac hotel.
Toronto in Canada and
Buffalo in New York state
are the airport gateways to
the Niagara Falls, which
straddle the border. The
Canadian side has the better
views but there is a pedestrian
bridge between the two countries,
enabling you admire both sides.
Tourism operators are starting to offer
packages incorporating Niagara Falls and cruises
on some or all of the region’s great lakes –
Michigan, Superior, Erie, Huron and Ontario
– hopping off one craft and
transferring by minibus to
another craft on another lake
where necessary.
The big names of land
and ocean travel such as
APT, Trafalgar, Princess
Cruises and Cunard, all
operate in the region, and
cruises south of New England
to Florida and the Caribbean are
popular add-ons.
The visa arrangements for Canada and the US
can be complicated, but experienced travel
agents can provide guidance. For more
information, visit travelassociates.com.

Travel
Our ship’s
coming in
Janette Wall, a cruising fan
and specialist with Travel
Associates, offers her tips to
land the best cruise deals.
When is the best time to book
a cruise holiday?
Book as soon as the cruise itineraries
are released (up to 24 months in
advance). The earlier you book the
more likely you are to secure exactly
what you want – such as preferred
dining times and cabin location. This
can be important if travelling with a
group and cabins close together are
required or travelling with children
and you want interconnecting cabins.
If you leave it to the last minute you
can end up with accommodation no
one else wants (i.e. no balcony or
under the nightclub), or run the risk
of the ship being sold out.
How do you know what cruise line
is best for you?
Work with a cruise specialist travel
adviser to book your cruise holiday.
Doing it yourself online will only give
you answers to the questions you
ask. It’s what you don’t know that
is key. Having a great conversation
around your needs and expectations
(i.e. price point, destination
experiences, travel party, reason for
trip, what your non-negotiable points
are) is key to getting it right.
What regions are best seen
by cruising?
The world is 70 per cent water, so
many places are best seen by ship.
There’s an itinerary, ocean or river, to
suit everyone. Alaska comes to mind
as it’s easier to get around by the
Alaskan Marine highway, which is a
ferry servicing the Alaskan coast and
islands, by expedition, or cruise ships.
European rivers were traditionally
the ‘marine highway’ sailing through
large cities, small towns and villages
transporting goods.
2 020
hotspots
Colombia
The South American country has
emerged from its troubled past.
Trafalgar’s new 13-day Colombia
Rediscovered tour makes for an
What type of people enjoy cruising?
exotic escape, including the
Caribbean charms of Cartagena and Santa
Cruising is an affordable holiday option Marta. Visit Trafalgar.com for details.
for people with varied requirements and
expectations. When considering a cruise Egypt and Jordan
be honest with your cruise adviser as to If the pyramids, the Great Sphinx
what you like and don’t like. The more and Petra are on your bucket list,
you share with your cruise adviser, the 2020 is a great time to visit. The
better chance your cruise will deliver the Red Sea corals are thriving despite
experience you seek. It’s a great option rising global temperatures, and
for couples, solo travellers, friends, resorts beckon. Ask a Bucket List
groups and families, including multi- Holiday Specialist at travelassociates.com.
generational groups. There’s a cruise to
suit everyone’s tastes, style and budget. Japan
Why do you love cruising? Hosting the 2020 Olympic Games,
From the moment you step on board, Japan is set to be popular this
you’re on holiday. You unpack once year. Why not add China, Korea
whilst the ship transports you to new or Russia? Princess Cruises has 7
locations, and there’s a huge selection to 9 day Japan-focused cruises
of dining options. You can meet new that also feature Shanghai, Busan
people, or have the opportunity for and Korsakov. Details at princess.com.
quiet time. You can do as much or as
little as you want. Turn off the mobile Africa
phone – particularly at sea! It’s no surprise Africa is a hot spot for
What was your most memorable trip? 2020 and October is a great time
I’ve cruised on vessels as small as 36 to visit. The annual wildebeest,
guests and as large as 5000 and each zebra and gazelle migration
experience is different. From shopping should be in full swing, and
with chefs in St Maxime to transferring predators will be prowling. Grab the
from a zodiac into a kayak in the middle binoculars and contact travelassociates.
of Misty Fjord without getting wet, and com for your African adventure.
experiencing Russia by river.
Chile
Tell us about Travel Associates.
Often overlooked for Brazil and
PHOTOGRAPHY THIS PAGE AND FLIP COVER: GETTY IMAGES.
Our advisers have years of experience
Peru, Chile is coming into its own as
and a passion for travel, creating
a popular location for visitors, with
itineraries for all wants and needs. Travel
the country’s landscape drawing
Associates Cruise Boutique has the most
awe. Visit Chile as part of Viking’s
experienced cruise advisers in Australia.
18-day South America and the Chilean
We work with partners on cruises
Fjords cruises. Visit vikingcruises.com.au.
specifically designed for us, as well as
having access to the newest ships and
other benefits. Travel Associates Cruise
Northern Territory
Boutiques provide the counsel and service Our very own red centre is a
no other travel group can match. In 2019, must-visit, and Kakadu National
Travel Associates was announced as Park is the perfect location to take
the Travel Agency of the Year for more in the majesty of the region. The
than 30 employees by The Travel Awards. team at travelassociates.com can
help you book the ultimate NT escape.
 regal
& majestic
princess ®

Sailing from Sydney in Summer

2020/2021 for our biggest season ever!

experience the newest and largest princess ships in the region

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 We’re the experts in cruise.
And we really mean it.
We’ve spent 16,849 nights at sea.

We’ve enjoyed 59,362 delicious meals onboard.

We’ve boarded 485 different ships.

We’ve met 521 captains in command.

We’ve completed 2,759 shore excursions.

We’ve watched 5,039 incredible onstage shows.

We’ve sailed through all 7 seas and 5 oceans.

We’ve achieved 304 professional cruise accreditations.

NO MAT TER THE DES TINATION, THE SHIP, YOUR ST YLE OR BUDGE T,
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