Canberra - Townsville 1984-91

Rather than return airline tickets from Perth to Canberra, we opted for cash in lieu - based on a mileage formula.

This gave us the opportunity to:

• hire a car and explore the Perth, the Bumbury, Albany and Kalgoorlie regions

• take a train across the Nullabor to Port Pirie; Bus to Adelaide and hire car to Canberra via Gundagai.

I had accumulated three month leave while on secondment and we consumed most of it living in Talbingo at the foot of the Snowy Mountains.

Marie (Carme's sister) and Barry were the Principal and Assistant Principal at the local primary school and they organised a short term rental in a nearby fully furnished cottage where we had a lovely times in a new climate (Autumn), playing golf every day, going to school concerts, trivia & poker nights and re-establishing family links.

The downstairs flat was big enough for Yuriere to entertain her friends.

They delighted sharing the costs and putting on Japanese meals complete with Sake for the main guest.

We ate sitting on the floor.  Raw fish ‘n all.

Yuriere went “walkabout” with us.  To Gundagai for Xmas 1986 and Sydney then Port Macquarie.

One year we drove to Gold Coast and dropped her off at Port Macquarie where she had organised to stay for a few weeks.

These were the early days of Home Stays.  I do recall going into a restaurant in an RSL in some town along the way whereupon a hundred eyes looked at her curiously as if to ponder Who What and Why .

Travels

Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar, Comoros - 1985

...

Sri Langka, Maldives, Mauritius, Rodrigues

....

The Golden Handshake

By the late ’80s, desktop computers were more than just shiny novelties—they were the perfect excuse for the government to restructure the public service. Translation: fewer typists, fewer clerks, and far fewer people shuffling hard copy from one pigeonhole to another. The savings, naturally, could be nobly redirected into retrenchment packages.

It was the era of Peter Wilenski (see Saigon), now head of the Commonwealth Public Service, who ushered in the “golden handshake” with the solemnity of a man bestowing a royal favour. The conditions were simple: 20-plus years of service, and you were entitled to two inducements—(a) 2.5 times your superannuation contributions, and (b) a bonus week’s leave for every year you’d stuck around.

Some departments wielded this policy with the grace of a guillotine, but Foreign Affairs (AIDAB) took a more genteel approach: no pressure, no recriminations. If you wanted to go, you went. My name was on the list for the first tranche—about 20 of us in total—and I remember thinking: How stupid to let us go.

A second thought followed: what, exactly, would I do for my big exit? My best idea involved walking out to the soundtrack of Céline Dion’s I’m Alive, blasted at full volume from a battered cassette player. A small gesture, but one that would have captured the mood perfectly.

Financially, leaving the safety of the public service was probably the wrong move. But I no longer started my mornings glaring into the bathroom mirror, dreading the day ahead. I traded Canberra’s bureaucracy for 12 months behind the wheel of a taxi, and eventually landed at James Cook(ing) University in Far North Queensland—a role that at least looked like it might be fun.

Townsville 1989-91

Moving to Far North Queensland was the result of a job advertisement in the Australian Newspaper.

James Cook University in Townsville created a position of Co ordinator, International Students for which I applied and was flown up from Canberra for an interview.

The interview was on a Friday.  I spent the weekend with my sister Sue and family -Peter Hine (RIP), Lisa and Renai.  Most of the time was spent on Magnetic Island - which encapsulates all you read about a tropical paradise.  Peter ran the local Queensland Tourism Bureau and spruiked the virtues of living in the tropics.

He "sold" me. I sold Carmel.  It was mid winter in Canberra.  We remembered the balmy nights of Thailand and Cocos.

I was also keen about the job.  Australia had a lot of comparative technical advantages in the commercialisation of tropical agriculture including livestock; dryland farming; marine science and marine park management; tropical medicine.

I was still relatively young and there could have been opportunities.

It did not matter if I was starting out on a very low salary. We had no debt and the job offer was a permanent appointment.

So, we sold up our townhouse at the Canberra suburb of Cook as well as most of our furniture and downsized to a small three bedroom unit in the suburb of Rosslea.

The unit was in Lindsay Street opposite the golf course.  The view from our top floor was great.  With a drink on the balcony you would chat as you looked over the tree tops watching the sun fade behind Mount Stuart.  It was nice to go for regular walks within the manicured grounds of the course resplendid with it very old and established giant trees.  One was careful, however, to avoid getting too close to the Ross River due to crocodiles.

Detractors referred to Townsville as "Brownsville. I gave it a more upmarket name Broken Hill by the Sea.

The sprawling city, no more than a country town, was on a flood plain and located in a rain shadow. I remember water restrictions limited the degree to which landscaping could take the harshness of this dust bowl.  The houses were either the older wooden Queenslander style or the cheap and ugly looking Besser block construction.

I rode a motorbike to and from work every day and was drenched in sweat by the time I had traveled the 8 kms.

If a local asked you the time, you would reply "Twenty years behind the rest of Australia".

If you ventured twenty kilometers either side of Townsville you would be in and out the tropical rainforest which was interspersed with vast plains of cane plantations.

A lot of my time was spent overseas on university business.  So our visits to the region were both disjointed and short.

We did, however, take charter trips to coral reefs; go on road trips to the Atherland Tablelands; Cairns and the Daintree River/Cape Tribulation as well as visit the historical gold field townships.  We went on picnics and swam in inland national parks - where there were only fresh water crocodiles.

Most of our social life was spent with Sue and family.  They lived in the same complex.

Emma, cousin Lisa and Carmel went to Thailand via Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.  Many international students had returned home for university vacations.  They went out of their way to give the girls a memorable experience.

James Cook University

Most the southern university campuses project an image of an ivy league establishment complete with ornate sandstone buildings, manicured grounds and gardens.

Not so James Cook University campus.  Concrete bunkers with thin narrow windows was the general decore. This was because it was a new facility built post 1974 Cyclone Tracey and water restrictions.

The campus was not located not in the CBD but 11 kilometers away.  Far from cafes, takeaways, movie theaters etc.  Public transport was by bus - via a circuitous route.

My Job

The position was created to "kick off" the nation wide Full Fee Paying Overseas Student (FFPOS) program in February 1990. I got the gig because I could converse in Indonesian, Thai, Japanese, and French—and had experience with induction programs for AIDAB’s indentured scholarship students. FFPOS was pure private sector: a tidy earner for Australia’s foreign exchange and a boon to local accommodation and services. Finally, I thought, something genuinely productive.

Starting from scratch, with a staff of one—me—I was tucked away in a cramped alcove inside the Admissions Department. I had to wrestle market share from more established southern universities, tweak promotional material, attend international roadshows, process applications, match overseas qualifications, negotiate credits, issue offers, collect fees, organise visas, accommodation, induction, and pastoral care. All that, on my own.

There was no integrated IT system. The Finance and Admissions Department had mainframe access, but not me. I had to fight tooth and nail for a standalone desktop computer—and threatened to walk out if I didn’t get one. The Golden Handshake and public service downsizing had made me bold.

As with AIDAB, I cobbled together an Excel spreadsheet powered by macros for reports, used mail merge for offers, and relied on a fax machine for communication. The internet was still a distant dream.

Overseas agent liaison was critical. One unforgettable incident: four students drowned after misjudging the tide on a reef. No names were released, so once I confirmed none were international students, I faxed all agents reassuring them. The Hong Kong agent replied, “I saw the report but wasn’t worried—none of our students can swim.” Probably just as well.

Results spoke for themselves. Orientation Week Year One: 120 FFPOS students. Year Two: 300 more. Still, no central IT system managed the program’s complexity.

Once again, I  deemed that my homemade system was unsustainable - it had to be migrated to the mainframe. Management hesitated despite the $$$ the International Student Program was considered an inconvenient “side show.”
Peronally, the workload versus pay was draining.

Academia, of course, offers its own brand of drama: elitists, egotists, prima donnas, and turf wars. Each faculty got a cut from FFPOS—extra cash beyond government funds. Naturally, the spoils fueled rivalry. Many grumbled about my overseas trips, insisting they could counsel students better.

Caught between upholding academic standards and the temptation to overlook weak English or academic performance, I witnessed the a “Back Door Strategy.” Students started at JCU on cheaper courses, then transferred after Year One to flashier southern universities—where you could find noodles any hour of the day.

Do the math. After three or four years, which uni gets the better return?

After two years, despite strong ties with international students, my professional prospects had stalled. Time to quit and head south to the Gold Coast.  On balance, I was priviledge to once again have the opportunity to immerse myself in cross-cultural experiences, knowing that the nationwide International Student program greatly contributed to Australia’s economic growth and strengthened its global connections.