Heather O’Connor: survivor, activist, volunteer, driving force

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by Jen Severn

In 1988, Bob Hawke was prime minister and, arguably, the second Australian prime minister to take women’s affairs seriously (Gough Whitlam being the first). Margaret Reynolds was Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on the Status of Women, and Heather O’Connor was on her staff. She advised many ministers, particularly on the education of women, and she’s never lost that commitment.

Education, domestic violence, economic security – where did her interest in social justice … Read more »

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Coral Vorbach

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by Jen Severn

‘I’m not a performer,’ Coral Vorbach says. ‘I learned piano for years, and violin, but I’d never perform. I’m a listener. And an organiser – I work behind the scenes.’ 

And organise is what she did. She and her partner Graeme Fryer joined the Yuin Folk Club in 1998. They had arrived here from Melbourne in 1997, looking for a rural life, and had fallen in love with … Read more »

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Judi Hearn: not a person who rehabilitates goldfields

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by Jen Severn

It took Judi Hearn a few years to realise she was living in Bermagui. She and Bob were still on their cattle farm near Echuca on the Murray River when they bought the house in Bunga Street in 1989. At first, they’d head to Bermi for a couple of weeks at a time to give their sons, Jamie and Donald, some rein to run the property. Then it was a few weeks, and … Read more »

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Anh-Thu Stuart

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Characteristics of Vietnamese cuisine by Anh-Thu Stuart

I was born in the Mekong Delta, the ‘rice bowl’ of Vietnam. I came to Australia in 1964 on a Colombo Plan Scholarship to study Economics at university. After graduating, I worked as a researcher and then public servant in Canberra. In 1986 I published a cookbook with my mother – Vietnamese Cooking: Recipes My Mother Taught Me. It was sold in Australia as well as the US, Canada … Read more »

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Introducing Dr Michael Holland

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Questions by Angela Marshall

The State electorate of Bega has a new member, Dr Michael Holland, who stood for the ALP in a seat that has always returned a conservative member. The Triangle sent the following questions to Dr Holland to introduce our readers to their new representative.

  1. What made you decide to stand at the recent by-election for the state seat of Bega and why the ALP?

I have … Read more »

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Rhonda Drakos – Are you being served?

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Georgina Adamson

On the north side of the river, opposite the primary school that is on the site of one of the original buildings of the town, the 777 Store is a landmark in Bermagui. It has always been a general store selling a range of grocery essentials, fruit, vegetables and meat and it is also a newsagency (it was the original north side Post Office) and a craft gallery … it has had many owners and transformations.

For … Read more »

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