Meet Your Vendor
Greg
SELLS THE BIG ISSUE AT CLOISTERS ON HAY ST, PERTH
interview by Simon Grammes photo by Ross Swanborough
PROUD UNIFORM PARTNER OF THE BIG ISSUE VENDORS.
05
29 JAN 2021
I’m a New South Wales boy who’s called Perth his home for the last 20 years. I was born in Goulburn and spent my childhood and school years there and in Yass. I’ve had a good childhood, hanging around at the pool in Yass, playing lots of rugby league, touch footy and cricket. I worked out a lot when I was younger. I love my sports! I moved away from Yass in 1990 after my best friend Aubrey died in a truck accident. I went up to Moree, close to the Queensland border, where I got married and had a son who made me a grandfather a few years ago: a little girl! I also have a daughter in her mid-twenties from another relationship from that time. I moved back to Goulburn in 1999 when Mum got sick. Dad had died years earlier, and I moved back to spend time with Mum and to care for her until she passed a couple years later. After I moved to Perth, I started going to TAFE to do my Certificate I, II and III in Adult Education – I passed all of them. I started working as a kitchenhand in stadiums around Perth. My work on the deep-fryer earned me the nickname “The Chipmaster” because my chips were always spot on. I spent a lot of time playing rugby league until I had my final game for the Goulburn Exchange Rabbitohs in 1999. My knees weren’t well enough to continue playing; sport and the hard work of being a kitchenhand deteriorated my knees over the years. I’ve had three surgeries on my right knee and one on my left. I still wouldn’t change a thing – I loved every second of the rugby league I played. I’m still a huge fan of the NRL, where I support the St George Illawarra Dragons. About three years ago I found The Big Issue after I couldn’t continue my work due to my knees. I had a chat to a vendor, Donna, and she told me all about the work. I love the work, and The Big Issue helps me to get out of the house and out and about. I like chatting with my regular customers; it keeps my day interesting. In my spare time, I love to watch all kinds of footy. My favourite AFL team is Collingwood. I also like to go for walks to keep my knee moving and enjoy catching up with friends over a meal. I don’t like to look back too much to some of the bad times in the past, and instead focus on the good and my future. I want to stay happy in the place that I’m at and want to work on relationships in my life, especially on continuing to reconnect with my sister and my brother-in-law. I also would love to travel overseas, I’ve never been out of the country, but I’ve taken the Indian Pacific a few times, which was awesome.