Jeff Kennett
Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 4:27 pm
Many years ago I enjoyed a friendship with Jeff Kennett.
Jeff is an ex-Premier of Victoria.
He then had a company called KNF Advertising and they had a real photocopier! WOW! very handy.
He was in the front row when I did a recitation of "How McDougall Topped The Score", and the audience went beserk. We were mates.
I would humbly front up with bits of Bush Poems on scraps of paper (pretty tatty really!) and Jeff would be really keen... but then he hit the Big Time. He wanted to publish and really go for it... but other things suddenly took priority. He became Premier.
On a plane to Sydney then which I was doing every week for work, I met a fellow who said for $120 we could go to the Melbourne Cup and The Cup Eve Ball.
So, to his amazement, I handed over $120 in cash on the spot on the plane. Talk about trusting!!
Anyway he was a Crazy Guy but also an incredibly Good Guy, and we went to the Cup in the Members, top hats, wonderful people there ... and I made $80 betting on Black Knight for a win.
At the Cup Eve Ball, which is the THE biggest social event of the year in Victoria, Jeff was coming up the broad hotel stairs, flanked by his minders. When he saw me at the top of the stairs, he broke away, raced up the stairs and shook my hand. "What are you doing here!!?" he said. "Luckily they let anyone in!" I replied.
I was going to wittily say "And what are YOU doing here" but as he was the Premier then, the joke would have fallen flat.
So.. Jeff Kennett to me is always No. 1. I do not care what side of politics you sit on. Jeff Kennett is/was an amazing bloke... tough when toughness was needed, he put the fear of God into some lazy public servants as I recall!! .... and was a Man for all Seasons. Someone who got into the engine room, got down and dirty and was.. A Man Of The People.
Even if he sanctioned the demolition and sale of my old High School... grrr.. that's life. Ah well. A great guy is Jeff. Someone who loves and appreciates Bush Poetry too. He.. Understands.. as they say. He could see what others could not, and is a remarkable fellow.
Jeff is an ex-Premier of Victoria.
He then had a company called KNF Advertising and they had a real photocopier! WOW! very handy.
He was in the front row when I did a recitation of "How McDougall Topped The Score", and the audience went beserk. We were mates.
I would humbly front up with bits of Bush Poems on scraps of paper (pretty tatty really!) and Jeff would be really keen... but then he hit the Big Time. He wanted to publish and really go for it... but other things suddenly took priority. He became Premier.
On a plane to Sydney then which I was doing every week for work, I met a fellow who said for $120 we could go to the Melbourne Cup and The Cup Eve Ball.
So, to his amazement, I handed over $120 in cash on the spot on the plane. Talk about trusting!!
Anyway he was a Crazy Guy but also an incredibly Good Guy, and we went to the Cup in the Members, top hats, wonderful people there ... and I made $80 betting on Black Knight for a win.
At the Cup Eve Ball, which is the THE biggest social event of the year in Victoria, Jeff was coming up the broad hotel stairs, flanked by his minders. When he saw me at the top of the stairs, he broke away, raced up the stairs and shook my hand. "What are you doing here!!?" he said. "Luckily they let anyone in!" I replied.
I was going to wittily say "And what are YOU doing here" but as he was the Premier then, the joke would have fallen flat.
So.. Jeff Kennett to me is always No. 1. I do not care what side of politics you sit on. Jeff Kennett is/was an amazing bloke... tough when toughness was needed, he put the fear of God into some lazy public servants as I recall!! .... and was a Man for all Seasons. Someone who got into the engine room, got down and dirty and was.. A Man Of The People.
Even if he sanctioned the demolition and sale of my old High School... grrr.. that's life. Ah well. A great guy is Jeff. Someone who loves and appreciates Bush Poetry too. He.. Understands.. as they say. He could see what others could not, and is a remarkable fellow.