Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister
IVO DA SILVA, HOST: Yes, it is the Coronation of King Charles III this weekend and the Goldfields-Esperance region was set to contribute something. You may remember, we spoke to one person who was very passionate about Kalgoorlie-Boulder and wanted to put our town on the world stage. Well, plans changed a little bit, but our region was still take part. Joining us now is Patrick Gorman, who’s the member for Perth and Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister. And Doug Daws is a well known local and very much a royalist. Good morning to you both. Good morning, Mr. Gorman. And Doug Daws.
DOUG DAWS, GUEST: How are you, Ivo?
PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Ivo. And good morning to your listeners.
DA SILVA: Mr. Gorman, first I will start with you. Why is King Charles’ coronation so significant?
GORMAN: Well, this event hasn’t happened in 70 years and we know that what is going to happen in Westminster Abbey on Saturday is going to be a gathering of so many people from all over the world seeing this major event. King Charles III is the Head of State of Australia, and as a result, this is significant for us and I know for people like Doug. And there are people like Doug all over Australia who have a special connection with the Royal Family. And so it is significant and it’s also an opportunity for Australians to reflect on our relationship with the Commonwealth and to also learn a little bit more about our Constitution and the role that the King plays.
DA SILVA: Doug, can you tell us about your interactions with the King, and especially in Kalgoorlie-Boulder?
DAWS: Well, he came here, as you know, was it 1978? 1979, 1978. And I just happened to be in Local Government at the time. Fortunately, the Shire President and so won the guernsey to meet the then-Prince of Wales at the Kalgoorlie Airport. He actually flew himself in. He was the pilot. And I remember it was a notable afternoon. It was very, very hot. Like, extremely hot. The Prince radioed ahead and said, “I won’t be wearing a coat. You should all remove your coats.”
The Deputy Premier, a bloke called Des O’Neill was there. So, he told us, “Take your coats off.” But our famous mayor of Kalgoorlie, Ray Finlayson, was there. He said, “indeed, I will not, I will not appear without a coat in the presence of the Prince.” And so he singularly, was the only one that wore his coat through the whole performance. But, yes, as a Shire President, because the airport was in the Shire, it came to my duty to greet him off the plane and then drive with him in the royal vehicle into the civic reception in the Kalgoorlie Town Hall.
DA SILVA: And what was that like?
DAWS: Well, it was quite interesting because what’s not commonly known in these two is they’re very orchestrated. Like, maps came out beforehand. We had test runs and the maps showed literally had footsteps on it where everyone walked. And so the layout of the airport required the Prince to walk along the right hand side and get in the right hand side of the vehicle. But when we arrived at the Kalgoorlie Town Hall, he had to pull in to get out the left hand side of the vehicle. So, we did a bit of a tape on the way through. Fortunately, he had a big space in the back and so we were able to change seats and swap sides. But look, he was a lovely bloke. He nearly came down to have a swim in the family pool until security intervened. But he’s a pretty ordinary bloke. Of course, at that stage, he’d not met what became Princess Diana. Yeah, he was a bit of a free agent, but very controlled by security.
DA SILVA: Yes, I can imagine. Mr Gorman, what do you think about when you hear stories like this?
GORMAN: I think it’s wonderful that people have such fond memories. I myself remember meeting then-Prince Charles when I was a student at university, when he visited Perth in 2005. So, I know how it does feel, that it is a significant moment. But what I think for now, King Charles III, as he is coronated this Saturday, is that over the 16 visits that he’s had to this country, everywhere, from, as we’ve said, Kalgoorlie, Esperance, Albany, he has seen so much of our country. And I think, again, I’m a republican, I’m very open about that. But whatever your views on the monarchy and the future of the monarchy, isn’t it fantastic that someone who’s taking that role knows our country so well?
DAWS: Yeah.
DA SILVA: And I must say, I love the pomp and ceremony. I think it’s fantastic.
DAWS: But he’s an ordinary guy! I mean, he went to that school over in Victoria.
DA SILVA: Geelong Grammar, wasn’t it?
DAWS: It had a special name.
GORMAN: Yeah Geelong Grammar’s Timbertop, he stayed for two terms.
DAWS: He’s right; the Minister’s right.
GORMAN: Those connections. And again, these sort of conversations happening all over Australia this week, which I think is a really nice thing.
DA SILVA: Now, you did hear the gold price just before and we did hope to get a bit of Kalgoorlie gold onto the Coronation Chair. But, Mr Gorman, you announced Australia’s contribution. A special bird in the Esperance region has got some money for its preservation because he’s such a conservationist as well, the King. Can you tell us more about that?
GORMAN: Well, firstly, let me say thank you to Doug for his very kind letter to myself and some of my colleagues offering to assist with providing gold for the Coronation Chair. I did take that proposal to the Governor-General’s Office and onto the Palace. And unfortunately, it was too late in the process for that very kind offer to be accepted. But I was able to call Doug about a month ago and tell him that we had fully considered it and tried our absolute best instead.
And I think something that people across Australia will celebrate is we have committed to providing a $10,000 gift as our national contribution, as our gift to the new King for the Friends of the Western Ground Parrot in honour of the Coronation. Now, for those who know the plight of this bird, there are only about 150 Western Ground Parrots remaining. Recent bushfires have damaged some of their habitats. A range of other animals competing for resources have also provided challenges. So, by supporting this charity, hopefully we can preserve this very important native wildlife for future generations and also honour the King’s commitment, his personal commitment to conservation.
DA SILVA: It’s going to be great. Well, Mr Gorman, thank you very much for joining us here.
DAWS: I have a question for him. Minister, I do thank you. Amongst all of the very important things that you’ve had to arrange in association with the Coronation, you must have been pretty busy. And for you to contact me the way you did is pretty impressive. The machinery of Government, in my opinion, is working well and we were too late and we realised we were probably pushing pretty much against the wind to get that through. But, look, the offer remains. And once all of the frustration of getting everything done in a relatively short time is out the way, I want you to know I intend to write to you again to renew the offer so that if there is an appetite over there in London for them to actually do up the chair for what may be some future event, we’ll be there with them. Let’s do it while we’ve got time.
GORMAN: Let me just say thank you so much. It was such a generous offer and I think there’s been so many generous offers from Australians who’ve wanted to engage. And if the President of the Senate or the speaker of the House of Representatives need any gold leaf for anything in the building, I know exactly who to call. And just to round out on the earlier conversation with your listeners, obviously the official meal for the Coronation is Coronation Quiche. And the recipe for that, yes, that was came out for us here in Australia. I would say, Ivo, a toasted Vegemite sandwich. Equally good substitution.
DA SILVA: Sounds good. Well, Mr Gorman, thank you very much for joining us. Doug, as always, a pleasure. Take care to the both of you.
DAWS: Thank you, Ivo. Congratulations, Minister.
DA SILVA: There we have it. I wonder if you’ll be watching the Coronation? I know I’ll be at the Dockers match, but I will be watching it on replay on ABC I view as well. So, looking forward very much to that.
