At 72, Greens founder Bob Brown may be retired, but there’s no sign of the environmental warrior giving up the battle to save the planet. And right beside him is his partner, Paul Thomas. Samantha Trenoweth meets the devoted activists.
A gentle, drizzling rain drifts across green-grey hills and collects in tiny pearls on Bob Brown’s hand-knitted jumper. The retired Senator and former Australian Greens leader has quite the fan-base among women of a certain age who provide him with a treasure-trove of homespun knitwear. While Bob feeds the chooks, his partner of 21 years, Paul Thomas, dashes off to put a roast in the oven. A neighbour has whipped up a lemon and poppy seed cake for afternoon tea. It would be fair to say that Bob Brown is enjoying a comfortable retirement. “I’ve never been happier,” he says earnestly.
Bob, 72, and Paul, 61, have invited The Weekly to spend a day with them on Paul’s property, 43 hectares of rolling sheep country and bush land on the Huon River, south of Hobart. Further downhill, they have built a new house on the water, which looks out across the D’Entrecasteaux Channel towards the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. Without companionship, one could feel precariously balanced on the edge of the world here, but there’s no risk of that.
Paul’s family has been tilling the soil along the Huon for five generations and his brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews are dotted through these hills, alongside the sheep and apple trees. Paul’s father passed away last year, but his mother still lives a stone’s throw away. And Bob and Paul have gathered around them a warm, supportive circle of friends, some of whom will be arriving later to share that roast.
“We’re a family that accepts you, whoever you are and whatever you do, and Bob has become part of our family,” says Paul’s youngest sister, Mary. “I think it was initially a bit of a struggle for our parents – being Catholic – to accept a gay son and his partner, and have them sitting around the family dining table.”
この記事は The Australian Women's Weekly の August 2017 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は The Australian Women's Weekly の August 2017 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
