PODCASTS: www.thelastpostmagazine.com/tlp-interviews
INTERVIEW WITH GREG T ROSS BE: So I’m here today with Greg Ross, the editor, creator, and owner of The Last Post Magazine. Greg, we’ve been talking about getting together and doing this interview for a while, but I suppose the 10th anniversary of The Last Post Magazine has given us a fantastic opportunity to make this finally happen. GTR: Ben, it’s been a journey of some worth, and you’ve been a part of that, mate. And I do appreciate this opportunity to tell a story. It’s a change of tech for me to be interviewed instead of interviewing. BE: Yeah, it is quite different, isn’t it? On the other side of the table, you could say. GTR: Yes. Yes, indeed. And you’ve got a bit of a name around Adelaide and beyond for your interviewing skills, anyhow. BE: Well, I like to think I’m a bit of an interviewer at heart, so let’s see how we go today. Let me just start by asking the first question. Look, it’s been 10 years of The Last Post. Let’s start at the beginning. How did you come up with the concept and the idea for The Last Post Magazine? GTR: Well you know, Ben, I first met you and Kirstie through Business For Environment, when we were doing some environmental stuff with the SA government, and then I started to have an idea because Kirstie’s work was so good with the B4E, I started to wonder about the possibility of producing a magazine. And it was going to be The Last Post. And because my father had produced a much smaller version in Sydney, way, way, way back, and a veteran of the Second World War, my father. So I really knew the brief of the magazine or at least how you
went about talking to people about it. So I thought I feel comfortable with that. So I thought, okay, let’s do it, but let’s make it more inclusive, Ben, let’s make it for all Australians as a connection between the veteran community and the general community. So that’s how we did it. And the first edition happened 10 years ago, obviously, and we just keep getting better, seemingly, so it’s a wonderful thing. BE: Fantastic. So tell me, how would you describe The Last Post Magazine to someone that perhaps has never heard of it? GTR: Yeah. Well, this is the question that I fear. In the early days, I had to do a lot of explaining on this level, and now most people have either seen it or know about it. So it’s probably a magazine that, if we go back to the inclusiveness of all Australians being connected to the Anzac spirit, not in a flag waving or flag raising sense, Ben, but as a way of looking at our lives and how we have benefited from the sacrifices of those before us. BE: Lovely. That was very concise, too. Very nice. So what about... Give the readers and the listeners a quick insight into how you’ve built the brand of The Last Post over this last 10 years? GTR: Good question, Ben, and I guess that’s not something that’s asked often. People assume each edition comes out and it’s an easy thing, but of course, and we’ll get onto question seven I guess a bit later about the responsibilities of those involved... but I guess it’s about trust and about delivering trust. I suppose you have people say, how do you do it? And I guess just by speaking to ordinary Australians. And some of those Australians, Ben, have achieved great
“SO I THOUGHT, OKAY, LET’S DO IT ...LET’S MAKE IT FOR ALL AUSTRALIANS AS A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE VETERAN COMMUNITY AND THE GENERAL COMMUNITY. SO THAT’S HOW WE DID IT.” 8 THE LAST POST – 2021 TENTH BIRTHDAY EDITION
Photos by Paula Alexander.
