Wayne Ryan
Following NSBHS, I found myself doing agricultural science at Sydney University, primarily I think on the basis of a Vocational Guidance recommendation which picked up on my interest in things rural. Unfortunately this interest was largely the result of holidays on a farm near Tamworth with a family including two delightful daughters, rather than any real interest in agriculture.
However, I found that I enjoyed the course once I started to specialise in agricultural economics and this led to a position in the then Bureau of Agricultural Economics in Canberra. After five years in commodity research positions, I was posted to London as an agricultural attache for three years.
Somewhat to my surprise, I then ended up spending my whole career in the Commonwealth agriculture department in its various guises in a range of policy advising/program administration positions concerned with domestic and export marketing of Australian food.. At the time of my retirement at the end of 1999, my main responsibilities were programs aimed at improving Australia's export performance to Asia, particularly through improved supply chain management.
In 1969, I married Judy Henry, a pharmacist, and we have two adult sons. Steven works for a Canberra Internet company and Trevor has now been in Japan for a bit over a year, teaching English after completing an Arts Law degree.
Since retirement at the end of 1999, I have had a great time, including exploring parts of Australia I haven't seen before in our four wheel drive camping van, and more time at our beach house at Broulee on the NSW south coast.
Long time member of the ALP. Very disappointed at not achieving the republic for the new millennium thanks to the efforts of that miserable John Howard.
2020 Update
Earlier this year, I finished a family history and memoir for the benefit of my kids and grandkids and any further descendants who might come along. This must be a common activity, especially in the era of Covid, but when I look back on the lives of my ancestors, I wish I knew more about these people. My descendants will probably wonder why I bothered to provide so much detail.
I did include a number of pages about my NSBHS experiences, including a quote from Rod Wise's excellent contribution to the website. I recalled a school which had a strict uniform code, a prefect system, an army cadet corps and corporal punishment which was applied fairly frequently. I wouldn't say I was happy there, but I wasn't unhappy. There was a certain pride in attending what was seen as one of the State's top schools and we received a good education for the times.
I did enjoy most of the cadets, but unlike some who went on to highly successful military careers, never took it seriously. Looking back, it is extraordinary that we were trained as young teenagers in such things as firing Vickers machine guns. It was, of course, only 12 years since the end of WW2, when we started high school, although for me the war was something in the past I didn't think much about. It's the trivia I remember particularly, and my life since school has been an unsuccessful search for a bun which approaches the tuck shop's Chelsea buns, big yeasty buns, full of fruit and jam and iced on top!
After NSBHS I enrolled in Agricultural Science at Sydney Uni, majoring in agricultural economics. The choice of agriculture was a strange choice for a city boy, but arose from a vocational guidance recommendation which picked up an interest in agriculture. This was a result of being keen about the daughter of family friends whose farm I used to holiday on, rather than any real interest in agriculture, but it did lead to a career I enjoyed. It started with five years in the economic research unit of the Commonwealth Dept of Agriculture and subsequent policy advising positions in the Department including as an agricultural attache in London at the tme the UK joined the Common Market and as the government director of a company established to promote Australian food on its clean and green image.
I have been fortunate in my personal life, including 44 years of a happy marriage to Judy Henry up to her death as a result of misdiagnosed kidney cancer just before her 70th birthday in March 2014. We have two children. Steven, now 48, and who lives a semi-alternative life on 5 acres near Bega and is a software engineer. Trevor is 44 and an associate professor in law at Canberra university. I have two grandchildren, both of whom represent today's multicultural society. Sofie, 14, has a Dutch mother and Kei,11, a Japanese mother. Both are bi-lingual.
Our retirement followed a common path of much travel, initially for up to 5 months at a time in the Australian outback in our high top Toyota Troopcarrier camper. This included two great trips each to Cape York and the Kimberley. Extensive overseas travel followed in Europe, North America and NZ, based around house exchanges and tours to the west of China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Iran and southern Africa.
Health. Not a totally happy picture, but can't complain. In March 2018, I had a spinal fusion and a pre-operative scan showed cancer in the right kidney. This was removed without leaving hospital, and so far, so good. Six months later I had a major clot in my left leg, which led to an extensive hospital stay, and a dropped left foot, requiring an ankle brace. Somewhere between the back operation and the clot, I have developed peripheral neuropathy, particularly in the left leg. I am able to get around OK and can drive, but long bush walks are out. Last year, I organised a six week house exchange with friends on the outskirts of the English Cotswolds
Daily activities. For much of the year, it has been a Covid existence, careful in personal contacts and Zoom sessions with friends and U3A current affairs groups. Canberra has been fortunate with Covid, it's now around 60 days since a positive diagnosis, and more normal social life has commenced with dinner parties, restaurants and cafes making a comeback. I have chosen not to go back to the gym or Bridge, and early in the pandemic bought a very good exercise bike and have some leg weights and low weight dumbbells.
Views. I worked my way through various churches in my teenage years before coming to atheism early at university, rather late by the standards of Philip Adams who claims to have been that way inclined since the age of 7. I admire, however, those people whose religious beliefs have led them to valuable social and community contributions. I am appalled at Australia's unnecessarily cruel treatment of refugees. I can't believe there are still Australian politicians who deny the science of climate change and that we still don't have a sensible energy policy. I worry about the futures of my grandkids faced with other threats including nuclear war, even more deadly pandemics, cyber warfare, and artificial intelligence. I am furious that a minority is preventing those who want the reassurance of euthanasia. I absolutely agree with the UK Shadow Minister's character assessment of Tony Abbott. I watch American politics with fascination, horror and apprehension that the monstrous Trump could be re-elected. I think the US is in decline, parly as a result of the deep divisions in society, exacerbated by Trump. Australia is going to have to adapt to the reality that China is going to be the major economic and strategic power in our part of the world and regret the way our relationship has deteriorated, with fault on both sides. It hasn't been smart to get offside with our major trading partner, while at the same time, the US has pressured China to give greater access to its agricultural exports. I think the ideologically driven privatisation of water, electricity, airports, employment services, aged care etc have generally been disasters. I regret the fact that Australia now has one of the most segregated school systems in the OECD. I support a Commonwealth Charter of Human Rights and an Integrity Commission. That's probably enough of a rant for now.
Despite such doom and gloom, I am an optimist and hope for the best. I spend too much time keeping up to date with current affairs, rather than getting out and doing something useful. High School English put me off reading novels for a decade, probably more my fault than the teachers, but I have overcome that and am now a keen reader. I enjoyed Hilary Mantel's latest on Thomas Cromwell and recently re-read John Fowles', "Daniel Martin".
As a result of primary school reunions, beginning in 1994, the guys who I have kept in contact are those from those days, specifically John Wilson, Chris Hunt and Leo Radom. I regularly see Monty Fox, a friend since Waitara public school, and who, with his wife Colleen, shared the English house exchange last year.