TRINITY TODAY T H E
M A G A Z I N E
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T R I N I T Y
C O L L E G E
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N O V E M B E R
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THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
Tiger Wu! How Wu Chun and other Trinity alumni are changing the world
OPEN CONVERSATIONS Why the modern world needs multifaith dialogue FORGING FRIENDSHIPS When donors and students connect THE MABO EFFECT How a landmark court case shaped a career
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TRINITY TODAY 2 CONTENTS DIRECTORY
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS Email your feedback about this edition of Trinity Today to tt@trinity.unimelb.edu.au or write to us at: Trinity Today Marketing, Communications and Events Trinity College 100 Royal Parade Parkville VIC 3052 Stay up-to-date with Trinity College news at trinity.unimelb.edu.au MANAGING EDITOR Emily McAuliffe Communications Manager, Trinity College EDITOR Simon Mann Mediaxpress DESIGNER Bill Farr Mediaxpress CONTRIBUTORS Dr Peter Campbell Registrar, Trinity College Theological School, University of Divinity Ruby Crysell (née Ponsford) (TC 1981) Associate Director of Advancement, Trinity College John Daley CEO of Grattan Institute The Revd Dr Robert Derrenbacker Dean of the Theological School, Trinity College Michelle Fincke Freelance Writer Timothy Flicker Careers and Alumni Coordinator, Trinity College The Hon David Harper AM (TC 1963) President of the Union of the Fleur-de-Lys Professor Ken Hinchcliff (TC 1976) Warden and CEO, Trinity College Danielle Norton Freelance Writer Dr Benjamin Thomas Rusden Curator, Cultural Collections, Trinity College Natalie van Wetering Former Director of Marketing, Communications and Events, Trinity College
A LIFE TRANSFORMED
Sophy Ron’s journey from a Cambodian rubbish dump to the University of Melbourne. 24
Yao Wu Finance Officer, Trinity College PHOTOGRAPHY Kit Haselden; Daniel Adams; Mark Chew; Wu Chun Management; Dr Bryan Keon-Cohen; Peter Hislop; Carole Rudd; Commonwealth of Australia; Trinity College Cultural Collections; Shutterstock; Trinity College student photographers; supplied imagery from staff, students, alumni and friends of Trinity College. Information in this magazine was understood to be correct at the time of printing. Views expressed in Trinity Today do not necessarily reflect the views of Trinity College. We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this country and pay our respects to Elders past and present.
Trinity Today is printed on HannoArt Plus, which is manufactured using low environmental impact FSC certified pulps in a facility that is ISO 14001 Environmental Management System accredited.
CREATING DRAMA
How a leap of faith became a curriculum success.
A PIONEERING START 16
Catherine Hill’s long family connection to Trinity.
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WELCOME 3 TRINITY TODAY
How Trinity is influencing the world
College news
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Appetite for change
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Trinity’s global impact
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The gift of giving
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Seeking a multifaith dialogue
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From slums to success
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Gaining insights, giving back
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Memories of Mabo
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Tales from the Territory
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From generation to generation
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Our stories
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Photo galleries
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Obituaries
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Honours and awards
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This edition of Trinity Today confirms that the College’s reach and influence goes far beyond Melbourne, and even Australia. The diaspora of our community extends across more than 79 countries and the stories in this magazine show that our students and alumni are having a positive impact on people across the world. As we all know, Trinity is much more than just a Residential College, Pathways School and Theological School. Every student who comes through our gates joins a close-knit community that will continue to support and inspire them long after they graduate and regardless of where they end up. We are committed to ensuring that Trinity alumni have the opportunity to be active members of this community, both in Australia and abroad. Just this year, we travelled to 13 cities internationally and hosted more than 90 events to reconnect with past students. We look forward to diversifying our alumni cohort even further in coming years, as the expansion of our scholarship program will give deserving yet underprivileged students from countries such as Indonesia and Cambodia the chance to join our collegiate community. We’ve also created a series of full scholarships for domestic students and are aiming to build the largest college scholarship program in Australia. Coupled with our new 100-bed residential building, which will open in 2020, and our new Pathways School complex at 611 Elizabeth Street (opening mid-2021), we are ensuring the Trinity College experience – which we know to be transformational for many people – is becoming more accessible than ever. Professor Ken Hinchcliff Warden and CEO
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TRINITY TODAY 4 COLLEGE NEWS
Professor Ken Hinchcliff has been reappointed as Warden of Trinity College for the next five years. During his time as Warden, Ken has led the development of Trinity’s ambitious strategic plan and has been described by Chairman of the Board, Charles Sitch, as an exceptional leader who is dedicated to the Trinity community and is a passionate advocate for the College’s vision and values. Ken says that he is honoured to be reappointed and will work diligently to ensure Trinity continues to give young people the opportunity to imagine and create a better world.
We welcome our next Senior Student Morgan Galea to lead the 2019-20 TCAC. Morgan says his top priority in the role will be ensuring the culture of Trinity College continues to prioritise student welfare and promotes inclusivity, while also making sure everyone has fun.
In the inaugural intercollegiate TAG (Traditional Aboriginal Games) competition, Trinity lost the final of the Buroinjin Cup to Queen’s. Buroinjin originated in southern Queensland and is similar to AFL, but traditionally uses a buroinjin (a ball) made of kangaroo or possum skin.
THE YEAR
100 YEARS AGO …
With burgeoning numbers of returned servicemen, Trinity made the decision to erect a temporary ‘Wooden Wing’ in 1919 to house the overflow of students. The so-called ‘temporary wing’ lasted four decades, only coming down in the early 1960s with the construction of Cowan.
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COLLEGE NEWS 5 TRINITY TODAY
Our women’s team won the AFL final for the fourth year running, beating Queen’s College by three points. The inaugural women’s AFL allstars (seconds) team also competed this year.
THAT WAS Our final exhibition for 2019 in Trinity’s Burke Gallery opened on 3 October. Be Brutal: Nicholas Harding Portraits showcases the works of Archibald Prize winner Nicholas Harding, who has made a name for himself as one of Australia’s leading artists in contemporary portraiture. He painted Trinity’s portrait of Bill Cowan.
In August, as part of the University’s Indonesia strategy launch in Jakarta, University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor, Professor Duncan Maskell, announced Trinity’s new Australia-Indonesia Academic Scholarships. These scholarships will commence in 2020 and will be offered to students from Trinity’s partner schools in Indonesia.
Our Foundation Studies and Residential College students got together earlier this year for Clean Up Australia Day, then reunited in August to plant 500 trees around Parkville. The lights were switched off for Earth Hour in March.
Trinity placed second in the intercollegiate band competition with a smashing performance of Rock DJ, Love Song, and a mashup of American Boy and Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.
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TRINITY TODAY 64 COLLEGE NEWS
At the Archbishop’s Dinner in September we announced the creation and endowment of the John & Jeanne Stockdale Chair in Practical Theology and Ethics, allowing us to create another full-time lecturer position in 2020.
In March, we officially welcomed our new Deans, Richard Pickersgill (Pathways School), Leonie Jongenelis (Residential College) and the Revd Dr Bob Derrenbacker (Theological School).
THE YEAR
The Warden and a group of staff and students travelled to the Northern Territory for the 2019 Garma festival, which focused on the theme ‘Voice, Treaty, Truth’. While there, they paid a visit to Government House to meet with Administrator of the Northern Territory, the Honourable Vicki O’Halloran AO, mother of current student Coco.
Earlier this year the athletics team had a dominant day with the men’s team coming first, the women’s team coming second, and Trinity being crowned the overall winners.
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We hosted fireside chats with a series of inspiring alumni and friends of Trinity, including Sue Dahn (TC 1979), who is a member of our Investment Management Committee and this year took the number one spot on Barron’s Top 50 Financial Advisors list – the first female to do so.
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COLLEGE NEWS 57 TRINITY TODAY
In October, we renamed two teaching spaces in the Old Warden’s Lodge the Bishop James Grant Room and the Rowena Armstrong Room in honour of the late bishop and his wife’s longstanding dedication to Trinity College. The couple’s portrait, formerly hung in the Dining Hall, will be permanently installed in the foyer outside these rooms.
Our students held a fundraiser as part of the annual Row for Rudi ergathon, raising funds for the Asha Foundation in memory of the late Rudi van Breda (TC 2011). They clocked up 508 kilometres and $554.
THAT WAS In June, our choir sung in the High Court of Australia in Canberra as part of their tour of NSW and the ACT. The choir also released a new album this year titled Land of Dreams, available from Trinity’s online shop and Apple Music.
Trinity’s table tennis team won the grand final this year after defeating St Hilda’s. The tennis team then had an undefeated season, taking out Queen’s 4–1 in the grand final.
Juttodie is still going strong at Trinity. First years Jeremy Ho and Jed Van Din Thang were crowned the 2019 winners.
We had 220 high school students from 22 countries attend our Young Leaders Program in July. Students lived on campus at Trinity while attending lectures and workshops with other like-minded leaders.
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TRINITY TODAY 8 BUILDING CONFIDENCE
Appetite for change When Kaley Chu (TCFS 2007) challenged herself to have 100 lunches with complete strangers, she thought the social contact and conversations might cure her debilitating shyness. She never expected the experience to completely change her life. BY M I CH EL L E F IN C K E
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or Kaley, it was a break or breakthrough moment. Her boss had identified the potential in his shy employee, so he encouraged and trained her. Finally, he invited her to talk to a client. Silence. Nothing. ‘I just didn’t understand why I couldn’t answer simple questions,’ Kaley reflects now. ‘I’m sure John, my boss, was disappointed. We’d practised. He’d said, “Show me how you’re going to do it.” And I did it! But then … I didn’t.’ She laughs at the horror of it all. It’s easy to laugh now, because she’s shy Kaley no more. Instead, she’s an author, ‘people connector’ and polished public speaker. Client presentations are exciting, not terrifying. That’s because, after her rockbottom moment, she regrouped to embark on her ambitious personal development project to have lunch with, and learn from, 100 complete strangers. From the first – marked by hard-to-eat chicken wings and polite but awkward chat – to the 100th, she spoke to men and women from different cultural backgrounds and industries. Some were high-profile people, many less so. They discussed work, but mostly life. With no choice but to talk about herself, Kaley slowly came out of her shell.
Hong Kong-born and educated, Kaley now wishes she’d had that level of confidence while at Trinity College and studying commerce at the University of Melbourne. ‘There were lots of occasions at Trinity when there were people – people from other countries, for example – that I would have loved to talk to or work with, but I just didn’t have the courage,’ she laments. ‘Everyone was so friendly and wanted to talk, but I didn’t know how. ‘For the whole three years I was at Melbourne Uni, I only hung around people from Hong Kong. We’d download television dramas from Hong Kong and listen to songs from Hong Kong. Dinner with friends was at Hong Kong restaurants, and I was on the committee of the Melbourne University Hong Kong Students’ Association.’ She and husband Vincent, also from Hong Kong, stayed in Australia, began careers in financial services and started a family. But Kaley remained stuck, silenced by shyness and fearful of being judged for opinions or linguistic errors. Even her local mothers’ group was a challenge. ‘They were all super friendly mums who encouraged me to talk and asked me questions. It really frustrates me because
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BUILDING CONFIDENCE 9 TRINITY TODAY
I’m an extrovert, I like to be with people … I just didn’t know how.’ Shyness limited her potential after maternity leave too, despite a supportive boss and an exciting new job as a business development manager at Equi Wealth. ‘My boss took me to networking events and I’d just sit in the corner and eat,’ she laughs. ‘The first networking event, where there were 30 people in the room, I talked to one girl, and she was Asian and an accountant. ‘From the moment when I couldn’t speak to those clients, I was consciously looking for change. If I couldn’t talk to 80 per cent of the population here in Australia, what sort of future could I expect for myself? More importantly, I wanted to be a role model for my two kids. What sort of example had I been setting?’ With her boss’s support, Kaley devised a plan: to meet 100 strangers through invitations sent via LinkedIn. Some declined, but more were curious about her project and wanted to help. In late 2018, 10 months after her first lunch, she’d reached her target and was increasingly confident, was actively striving for a ‘more interesting life’ and began writing a book about her remarkable transformation. ‘My friends from Trinity College can’t believe how much I have changed,’ she laughs. ‘When I was at Trinity, I never put up my hand to volunteer for anything. I knew it would be good to do, but I’d just go “why?” And now, of course, I go “why not?” ‘One piece of advice I’d give my younger self would be to treasure time, because time’s something you can never get back. I wish I’d started the self-development and reading when I was in uni … I’ve wasted so much time. Why would I spend so much time on Candy Crush and be proud of it?’ Having successfully completed her 100 Lunches with Strangers project (kaleychu.com), Kaley’s confidence is assured and has ‘grown tenfold’, she says. ‘Now, I know who I am and that’s the most important thing,’ she declares. ‘I know why I’m here, what I’m doing and what the purpose of my life is, so what people think becomes less important to me. Before that, when I wasn’t sure of who I was, everyone’s opinion mattered. ‘Now, I want to get a message across to everyone: you only live once, so make it count!’ n
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TRINITY TODAY 10 COVER STORY
GLOBAL IMPACT
AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA BAHRAIN BANGLAD BRUNEI CAMBODIA CANADA CAYMAN ISLANDS C ECUADOR ESTONIA FIJI FINLAND FRANCE GERMANY ISRAEL ITALY JAPAN JORDAN KENYA KUWAIT LAOS LE MEXICO MICRONESIA MYANMAR NETHERLANDS NEW ZE PAPUA NEW GUINEA PERU PHILIPPINES QATAR RUSSIA SA SOUTH KOREA SPAIN SRI LANKA SWAZILAND SWEDEN SWIT VANUATU VENEZUELA VIETNAM ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE AUSTR 5 ● 6 BOTSWANA BRAZIL BRUNEI CAMBODIA CANADA ● CAYMAN ISL 4 ● ECUADOR ESTONIA FIJI FINLAND FRANCE GERMANY GUINEA HO JORDAN KENYA KUWAIT LAOS2 LEBANON MACAU MALAYSIA M NETHERLANDS NEW ZEALAND● NIGERIA NORTH KOREA NORWAY RUSSIA SAUDI ARABIA SINGAPORE SOLOMON ISLANDS SOUTH A 1 WU CHUN SWITZERLAND TAIWAN THAILAND TURKEY UAE UGANDA UK USA SUPERSTARBAHRAIN CAMPAIGNER BANGLADESH BELGIUM BERMUDA BOTSWAN AUSTRIA CHINA COLOMBIA CZECH REPUBLIC DENMARK ECUADOR EST INDIA INDONESIA IRAN IRELAND ISRAEL ITALY JAPAN JORDAN MALTA MAURITIUS MEXICO MICRONESIA MYANMAR NETHERL PAKISTAN PAPUA NEW GUINEA PERU PHILIPPINES QATAR RUSSI SOUTH KOREA SPAIN SRI LANKA SWAZILAND SWEDEN SWIT 2 STEVE HASKER VENEZUELA VIETNAM ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE AUSTR VANUATU MEDIA MAESTRO BRAZIL BRUNEI CAMBODIA CANADA CAYMAN ISL BOTSWANA ECUADOR ESTONIA FIJI FINLAND FRANCE GERMANY GUINEA JAPAN JORDAN KENYA KUWAIT LAOS LEBANON MACAU MAL MYANMAR NETHERLANDS NEW ZEALAND NIGERIA NORT PERU PHILIPPINES QATAR RUSSIA SAUDI ARABIA SINGA SPAIN SRI LANKA SWAZILAND SWEDEN SWITZERLAN VANUATU VENEZUELA VIETNAM ZAMBIA ZIMBAB 3 YIEN LI YAP BELGIUM BERMUDA BOTSWANA BRAZIL BR WASTE WARRIOR CHILE CHINA COLOMBIA CZEC
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COVER STORY 11 TRINITY TODAY
Trinity alumni are making their mark across the globe, with our worldwide network spanning 79 countries. Emily McAuliffe shares the journey of seven past Trinity students whose impact has gone global.
DESH BELGIUM BERMUDA BOTSWANA BRAZIL CHILE CHINA COLOMBIA CZECH REPUBLIC DENMARK Y GUINEA HONG KONG INDIA INDONESIA IRAN IRELAND EBANON MACAU MALAYSIA MALDIVES MALTA MAURITIUS EALAND NIGERIA NORTH KOREA NORWAY OMAN PAKISTAN AUDI ARABIA SINGAPORE SOLOMON ISLANDS SOUTH AFRICA 4 AMANDA VAUGHAN TZERLAND TAIWAN THAILAND TURKEY UAE UGANDA UK USA TOP TALENT SCOUT RALIA AUSTRIA BAHRAIN BANGLADESH BELGIUM BERMUDA LANDS CHILE CHINA COLOMBIA CZECH REPUBLIC DENMARK ONG KONG INDIA INDONESIA IRAN IRELAND ISRAEL ITALY JAPAN MALDIVES MALTA MAURITIUS MEXICO MICRONESIA MYANMAR OMAN PAKISTAN PAPUA NEW GUINEA PERU PHILIPPINES QATAR AFRICA SOUTH KOREA SPAIN SRI LANKA SWAZILAND SWEDEN 5 ANDREW AUSTRALIA MUIRHEAD A VANUATU VENEZUELA VIETNAM ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE BUSINESS INNOVATOR NA BRAZIL BRUNEI CAMBODIA CANADA CAYMAN ISLANDS CHILE TONIA FIJI FINLAND FRANCE GERMANY GUINEA HONG KONG N KENYA KUWAIT LAOS LEBANON MACAU MALAYSIA MALDIVES LANDS NEW ZEALAND NIGERIA NORTH KOREA NORWAY OMAN 1 ● 3 ● SOLOMON ISLANDS SOUTH AFRICA IA SAUDI ARABIA SINGAPORE TZERLAND TAIWAN THAILAND TURKEY UAE UGANDA UK USA ●7 6 SabrinaBERMUDA Anjara RALIA AUSTRIA BAHRAIN BANGLADESH BELGIUM SOCIALDENMARK CHANGE AGENT LANDS CHILE CHINA COLOMBIA CZECH REPUBLIC A HONG KONG INDIA INDONESIA IRAN IRELAND ISRAEL ITALY LAYSIA MALDIVES MALTA MAURITIUS MEXICO MICRONESIA TH KOREA NORWAY OMAN PAKISTAN PAPUA NEW GUINEA APORE SOLOMON ISLANDS SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH KOREA ND TAIWAN THAILAND TURKEY UAE UGANDA UK USA BWE AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA BAHRAIN BANGLADESH 7 RICHARD WOOLCOTT AC RUNEI CAMBODIA CANADA CAYMAN ISLANDS DOGGED DIPLOMAT CH REPUBLIC DENMARK ECUADOR
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TRINITY TODAY 12 COVER STORY
WU CHUN
(TCFS 1997)
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, BRUNEI
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then it’s a big motivation to be the best I can at f you’re from Australia, the name Wu Chun what I do,’ he says. Wu Chun demands that his may not ring any bells. But if you’re from fans don’t buy him gifts, asking instead that they send Asia, you may well be one of his 10 million him receipts to show what they’ve donated to charity. social media followers or might recognise him as the He also runs blood donation campaigns, is an Earth Hour face of Royal Brunei Airlines, Sketchers, Land Rover, Disney, ambassador, supports Dementia Brunei and raises funds for Swisse, Hugo Boss and Lexus. children participating in the Special Olympics. The Brunei national shot to fame after being spotted by a Wu Chun says his commitment to giving comes from his late producer in a Taiwanese cinema. ‘He gave me his card and asked mother. ‘My mother always told me that we have to help people if I would like to be part of a TV drama project,’ says Wu Chun, when we are capable,’ he says. ‘Giving happiness to others formerly known as Goh Kiat Chun, recounting the moment that gives me happiness in return, and if I can get my fans and those would change his life forever. ‘I didn’t have a background in who support me to band together, it can be incredibly powerful, acting at all, but he said I had the right look for the role.’ and we can make a big change.’ Television led to the stage when Wu Chun’s boss decided he Wu Chun’s business acumen comes wanted to start a pop band. Wu Chun, who from his father, who works in the property describes himself as a shy and nervous person, ‘Trinity has such great sector. Along with his charity work, Wu initially declined. He had never sung in public. teachers, and I remember Chun runs seven successful businesses, But his fellow band-members-to-be insisted – how well they guided us and including a gym franchise, Fitness Zone, the manager wasn’t going to go ahead unless which taps into his love of sport (Wu Chun is made us feel like family. Wu Chun got on board. a former basketballer and competed in the It was the passing of Wu Chun’s mother The environment fostered a Asian Games), as well as a bakery and roti soon after his graduation that gave him the positive sense of community restaurant, which tap into his passion for courage to face the spotlight. He knew life and this allowed us to grow food – born out of necessity when Wu Chun was short. and build strong friendships. began studying at Trinity and needed to learn Fahrenheit went on to release some of to cook for himself. Asia’s best-selling albums and the band I’d love for my kids to go to Wu Chun’s sharp business skills won scooped a slew of awards, including a Trinity someday.’ him a coveted Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship series of ‘best single’ and ‘most popular Award, while his go-getter attitude and group’ accolades. The shy boy from Brunei philanthropy were recognised by the King of Brunei with a role became an international sensation and a millennial idol. model excellence award. When Fahrenheit called it a day in 2011, Wu Chun’s career Wu Chun is now focused on instilling strong values into continued to soar as he was cast in movies and TV shows his children, Nei Nei and Max, and spending time with his across Asia, and graced the covers of Men’s Health, GQ and childhood sweetheart now-wife Lim Lee Yen, who also Harper’s Bazaar. studied at Trinity (TCFS 1997). ‘Giving my kids the right But Wu Chun isn’t just a pretty face. Behind the glitz and guidance, love and support is my top priority now,’ he says. glamour is a driven businessman on a mission to change the ‘I want to teach them that as long as you do your best, world. With fame comes power, and Wu Chun is determined you’ll either win or learn.’ to use that power for good. ‘Fame isn’t something I look for now, but if I have to be famous to inspire others to make the world a better place,
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COVER STORY 13 TRINITY TODAY
STEVE HASKER
YIEN LI YAP
(TC 1987)
(TC 2006)
NEW YORK, USA
SINGAPORE
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urdling can’t last forever. That’s what Steve Hasker learnt when his track and field career came to a halt in 1995. Looking for a fresh start, Steve signed up for a Master of International Affairs and an MBA in New York, and after stints working in various cities in Australia and abroad, ended up in the New York office of management consulting firm McKinsey. Twenty-five years later, NYC feels like home. Steve’s ensuing career as a media industry executive follows a ‘right place, right time’ narrative. It was during his time at McKinsey that a string of media studies came his way, and eventually led him to take on a turnaround of Nielsen’s media measurement business. ‘I made a lot of friends Steve’s business smarts at Trinity; it was such a then landed him in the chief fun and dynamic place. executive’s seat at CAA, the world’s biggest talent agency, It’s certainly one of which, unsurprisingly, looks after those periods I look some of the globe’s highestback on fondly and profile names, including Lady Gaga, Ashton Kutcher and I’m envious of those Martha Stewart. going through college Steve has now stepped out now. Trinity attracts of the talent agency spotlight an interesting mix of and into its majority shareholder company, TPG, as a senior advisor, talented people who where he is tasked with navigating go on to do interesting an increasingly complex global things with their lives.’ environment to make investment decisions across multiple sectors. It’s a tough job but Steve has never been afraid of a challenge. ‘I’m actually really excited to focus on two or three businesses on any given day rather than just one,’ he says. ‘It’s eclectic and that’s what makes it interesting.’
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ien Li spends a lot of time looking in bins. Her goal is to help them lose weight – kind of like a garbage bin personal trainer, she says. In an exciting new development, Yien Li is getting help from a group of assistants … but they’re not people, they’re robots. Yien Li is the Client Success Manager in the APAC headquarters of Winnow, a company using artificial intelligence in commercial kitchens to reduce food waste. It’s not a position she ever imagined herself to be in, but it happened to draw together her passion for sustainability, qualification as a chef, degree in commerce and experience working with start-ups. ‘I just tried everything around ‘I took a friend’s those interests and eventually advice to come to I found this niche, which, weirdly, fits really well,’ she says. Trinity and I’m really Yien Li’s operations team glad I did. I tried measures the amount of out for everything waste coming out of kitchens, at least once, even including those of Hilton and InterContinental hotels and IKEA, if I’d never tried it and then offers advice on how to before – swimming, reduce it. ‘We work with a smart netball, theatre scale, which has a camera that sports, musicals, the records everything that goes into the bin,’ she explains. ‘Through Candystripes. I just image recognition, we’re trying to went nuts and gave get the machine to a point where everything a go!’ it knows exactly what’s going into the bin without being told.’ By cutting waste in commercial kitchens, Yien Li’s work has the capacity to bring about real environmental change. ‘I go to work every day and feel fulfilled. I look at the reports that come in from restaurants or entire hotel chains and see the tonnage of food that we’ve saved from going into the bin each year. That’s a concrete number that shows what I’m doing for the fight.’
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TRINITY TODAY 14 COVER STORY
AMANDA VAUGHAN
ANDREW MUIRHEAD
LONDON, UK
HAMBURG, GERMANY
(TC 1990)
S
oon after graduating, Amanda Vaughan, like many young Aussies, set off to live in London for a year … but never returned. Having worked in human resources consulting in Melbourne prior to her intended sabbatical, Amanda took on a number of HR roles in the UK before joining AXA in Singapore as a regional HR director. She quickly realised that, as a financial services company with more than 170,000 employees in 60-plus countries, AXA would give her career room to grow. After eight years in Singapore, Amanda found herself back in London and now commutes between London and Paris as AXA’s Group Head of Talent and Development. Her focus is the top end of the ‘I look back on my organisation, leading executive Trinity years with recruitment and development, and she’s helping drive AXA’s such fond memories. commitment to promote greater College provided a diversity within the workplace. wonderful opportunity ‘Our workforce should be to get to know many representative of our customer base and we know that companies people from many with high levels of diversity and different places. inclusion perform better than While I’m sure I could others, so this is something we’ve have worked harder, taken a strong stance on.’ Amanda says that finding I learned a lot during people who share the company’s those years and made values is the secret to successfully life-long friendships recruiting in a global environment that I treasure to and is what brings her personal job satisfaction. ‘It’s a pleasure, this day.’ because you end up with colleagues from all over the world who give you different views and opinions, but everyone has a common way of operating and we all share a common language.’
(TC 1988)
W
hen Andrew Muirhead was five years old, his grandfather gave him a model aircraft for Christmas – a Lufthansa Airbus A300. It wasn’t symbolic in any way, but strangely pre-empted Andrew’s career with Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg, where his first engineering project involved the Airbus A300 fleet. Although serendipitous, Andrew’s route to Germany wasn’t straightforward. While at Trinity, he had applied for an internship with Lufthansa, only to be rejected. ‘Luckily, they told me the reason I wasn’t accepted was because I didn’t have the right subjects,’ he says. ‘So, the next day, I went to the university and changed my ‘If there was a part subjects, then wrote back to tell of my life I could go them. Four months later, I had a business class ticket to Hamburg back to and do all and an invitation to join their over again, exactly internship program.’ the same, it would His then boss ultimately be my time at Trinity. became the company’s CEO and was the person who approved I underestimated it Andrew’s business plan to start while I was there, but a manufacturing unit within Trinity was probably Lufthansa after Andrew tired the most formative of installing equipment from suppliers onto aircraft. He thought part of my life. That they could do better. whole experience It turns out they could – and really rounded me off.’ they did, with Andrew’s Original Equipment Innovation product division now employing more than 350 staff and turning over $A100 million in revenue. The team is regularly challenged to come up with novel solutions for clients, including the development of thin wooden veneer surfaces that light up with a motion-activated control panel. Given Andrew’s fruitful career off the back of his interning experience 30 years ago, he has just awarded internships to two Trinity students to join him in Hamburg in 2020.
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COVER STORY 15 TRINITY TODAY
DR SABRINA ANJARA
RICHARD WOOLCOTT AC
(TCFS 2004)
(TC 1946, Senior Fellow)
DUBLIN, IRELAND
VARIOUS
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hen Sabrina Anjara did fieldwork with migrant domestic workers in Singapore as part of her master’s degree in science, she was troubled by a disheartening trend. Many of the women she spoke to had left their children to work abroad as domestic workers, sending almost a full salary home to feed those children, who were now under the care of somebody else. Then, when Sabrina entered the workforce in Singapore, she watched as abused children became juvenile delinquents who often ended up in prison. Later, she became aware of a distressing trend in her home country of Indonesia, where people would lock up mentally ill family members, simply because they didn’t know where to find help. ‘Having to take subjects Recognising a series of like history of ideas broken systems, Sabrina wanted to address these problems by and drama at Trinity looking at the big picture, but felt was quite a shock, she was too young at the time to as I had come from a enter politics. very academic setShe took to research instead and is now working at University up in Singapore and College in Dublin as a postdoctoral just wanted to study research fellow, focusing on the science. I wouldn’t development of an integrated care have considered doing model for older people in Ireland. ‘With research, it’s always an arts degree if not a toss-up between doing for my time at Trinity. something with social impact I’m so glad I had that or doing something glamorous exposure.’ that contributes to theory,’ says Sabrina. ‘I’ve always looked for research opportunities where I could make a difference.’ Sabrina, who catalysed a change in Singaporean government policy through her research, went on to become the first Indonesian to be named a Gates Cambridge Scholar, before being invited by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in August 2019 to discuss the role of Indonesia’s diaspora as the country grows. Her latest passion is promoting intellectual humility within multidisciplinary healthcare teams to ensure patient interests always come first.
R
ichard Woolcott’s international influence extends far beyond one country. His esteemed career as one of Australia’s finest diplomats took him around the world, and he can rattle off a list of prime ministers he’s advised, from Menzies through to Rudd. In these advisory roles, Richard, now 92, was strong in his belief that Australia needed to work on building close relationships with its Asian neighbours. It was under his guidance that Harold Holt famously proclaimed that Australia is geographically part of Asia. ‘Most countries look north,’ says Richard. ‘And when Australia looks north, what does it ‘My years at Trinity see? It sees China, and, of course, formed a very India too. So, I’ve always argued that we need to focus more on the important part of countries in our own region.’ my life. Living there Richard’s career highlight is was delightful and his part in establishing the Asiafascinating, and I found Pacific Economic Cooperation the staff to be engaged (APEC), which has grown from 12 to 21 member countries since and intelligent. I still its inception in 1989, while he stay in touch with considers his posting to Indonesia people from Trinity.’ as Ambassador (1975–77) to be among his most important roles. Richard’s other prominent positions included Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ambassador to the United Nations, and Kevin Rudd’s Special Envoy. He penned two books about his global experiences and will soon release four more as part of a series. When asked whether he received any poignant career advice throughout his 50-plus years as a diplomat, he responds with a laugh: ‘I was always the one giving out advice.’ He does, however, credit life at the forefront of Australian and international politics as being both demanding and interesting. ‘I never expected my career would be so full,’ he says.
To read the full profiles, visit trinity.unimelb.edu.au/globalimpact
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TRINITY TODAY 16 FOUNDATION STUDIES
Creating drama
How a bold pilot program became a linchpin of Trinity’s Foundation Studies program. BY E MILY McAU L IFFE
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FOUNDATION STUDIES 17 TRINITY TODAY
Dr Rosemary Blight, front, with a group of Trinity’s drama students.
‘I
magine a pompous group of men towering over me, saying my idea was ridiculous,’ says Rosemary Blight, jumping up on her chair to demonstrate the point. Rosemary is recounting a moment in the early ’90s when she had to convince a group of Trinity College and University of Melbourne stakeholders that drama be included in Trinity’s soon-to-be-launched Foundation Studies program, which would be used as a pathway for international students wishing to study at Melbourne University.
Rosemary had been employed by Trinity as an English lecturer but, given Foundation Studies was an uncharted concept at the time, she first had to come up with the curriculum. ‘I was part of a small team and we were tasked with working out the impossible – the unknowable. You couldn’t just Google things in those days,’ she says. While trying to determine the best way to structure English classes for a group of young international students – most of whom would speak English as a second language – Rosemary couldn’t help ▶
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TRINITY TODAY 18 FOUNDATION STUDIES
‘Drama is definitely my favourite class. When I’m in drama, I can just relax and forget things like study. It makes me feel free.’ ENOCH LIU, CURRENT STUDENT
Drama is a core subject for all students enrolled in Trinity’s Foundation Studies program. Students attend a 90-minute class per week, with the program currently employing 20 drama teachers. but wonder how students would ‘own their words’ if they were just sitting in lectures and reading books. ‘I’d lived in Europe for 18 months and speak French and German, so I knew what it was like to not speak the native language in a country – it can be difficult to express yourself,’ she reflects. ‘When the Foundation Studies program director at the time found out I had a drama background, he encouraged me to be myself and not feel like I had to teach formal literature.’ It was the blessing Rosemary needed to take the curriculum in an unconventional direction, and amid some heavy persuasion, the boards of Trinity and the University agreed to trial drama as a pilot program. Rosemary’s title soon shifted from English to drama teacher as she drew on her experience performing in theatre productions to teach a classroom full of ‘blank faces’ a subject that most were completely unfamiliar with. She admits to having often felt like a comedian struggling to get a laugh in those early years, but constantly adapted the classes to suit the needs of the students. ‘Many spoke very good
English, but I noticed that when they’d talk to a shopkeeper for instance, they weren’t understood. I realised it was because of their body language.’ That’s where Rosemary’s time on the road performing mime and magic shows in the 1980s came in handy, as she integrated non-verbal activities into the program to encourage self-expression without the pressures of grammar and pronunciation. Coupled with performance planning through teamwork and speaking practice through monologues, drama began to have a transformative effect on many students.
H
aida Hazri (TCFS 1992) was one of the first students to partake in Trinity’s drama program. Now a CEO of a company in the oil and gas industry in Malaysia, she credits her drama lessons with having helped to build her confidence. ‘I had come from Malaysia where there was a very structured education system based on a lot of reading and rigorous teaching,’ says Haida. ‘We were very smart children, but many of us lacked the self-confidence to speak in public and
express our ideas because it just wasn’t what we did. It’s a common theme for lots of kids with Asian backgrounds.’ Haida says that many of the other subjects taught through Foundation Studies were necessarily an extension of her home schooling, but drama was a totally different concept. ‘Those classes broke down the idea of what drama was in a traditional sense, too,’ she continues. ‘We learned that drama could be far more than just acting on a stage.’ For Haida, a side benefit of Trinity’s drama program was the friendships it helped build. ‘In other classes you were usually in observational or input mode, but in drama you had to get together to do activities and brainstorm with others,’ she says. ‘It really allowed us to make friends with people from all over the world.’ Many of Haida’s classmates still stay in touch, and Haida even visited Rosemary on a recent trip to Melbourne. ‘I was so excited to see her,’ says Haida. ‘So, clearly, those classes that I took more than 25 years ago had a big impact.’ Given 2020 will mark the 30th anniversary of Trinity’s drama program, it’s safe to say Rosemary’s idea wasn’t so ridiculous after all. n
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PHILANTHROPY 19 TRINITY TODAY
GIVING
THE GIFT OF
Alumnus James Kelly tells of his passion for Trinity, music and philanthropy. BY NATA L I E VA N WET E R IN G
‘I
n a way, Trinity College is part of our DNA,’ says James Kelly (TC 1977) of his family. ‘My father went there, as did my two brothers, my sister and myself. Since then, I have had eight nieces and nephews attend, as well as my daughter Eliza.’ James’s familial connection to Trinity, and belief that the College provides many valuable life skills and experiences, led him to make a
significant donation, which was matched by Trinity, to acquire an American Mason and Hamlin grand piano for the Chapel. He also fully funded the Kelly Music Scholarship to support choristers to sing in Trinity’s choir. Trinity’s music program is close to James’s heart, given Eliza’s past involvement in the Candystripes, Trinity’s female a cappella group, and current choir membership. James puts Trinity’s choir on a par with an elite sport, given the discipline, camaraderie and relentless practise required, and last year saw the hard work pay off when the Trinity choir toured Europe. ‘Seeing the choir perform in St Paul’s Cathedral in front of 800 people … what a memory!’
Supporting philanthropic causes has always been James’s way. ‘Right from my very first job I have donated 10 per cent of what I earned,’ he says. ‘I’ve always thought that I was fortunate enough to have a tertiary education, so it’s my “obligation” to give back. This thought continues to this day.’ In April 2019, James expanded his philanthropic activities to establish the Blue Sky Foundation, which focuses on youth mental health. The foundation was set up in memory of his twin sister Elizabeth Kelly (TC 1977), who took her own life at age 21. James hopes Blue Sky will improve research and management of mental health issues. n
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TRINITY TODAY 20 THEOLOGY
Seeking a multifaith
BY TH E R EV D D R RO B E RT D E R R E N BAC K E R
O
ver a half-century ago, the American folk singer Bob Dylan sang that ‘the times, they are a-changin’.’ His song, from 1964, became an anthem for Baby Boomers as they experienced a seismic reorientation away from (and rebellion against) the values, politics and cultural forces of the previous generations in Western societies. Now, the times, it would seem, are still a-changin’…
According to Australian census data going back more than three decades, there have been some dramatic shifts in the religious allegiances of Australians and some interesting trends have emerged. For example, in 1986, Christians made up 73 per cent of the population (Anglicans, at that time, comprised 24 per cent). But 30 years later, the numbers have shifted significantly. As of 2016, Christians had dropped to just over half of the population (with Anglicans falling to 13 per cent). During that same period, other religions experienced significant growth. For example, Buddhists, Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims grew together from 1.3 per cent of the population to 7.4 per cent. Along with this trend of increasing religious pluralism in Western societies like Australia, we also see a lamentable rise in religious extremism and xenophobia – seen most horrifically in events such as the Christchurch mosque shootings, the Sri Lankan Easter church bombings or the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. For some, ignorance, hatred, prejudice and violence are still shamefully the all-too-familiar reactions
to difference and diversity in societies around the world. How should educational institutions, specifically those engaged in theological education, respond to these trends? How should theological colleges speak out against prejudice and foster understanding and mutual respect between various religious traditions? What sort of ministry settings will the graduates of theological colleges such as Trinity College Theological School be engaging in into the future? These are important questions to ponder as theological education works to maintain a relevant voice in society and sends its graduates out into ministry in contexts that are increasingly diverse and multifaith, where they can model the Christian virtues of tolerance, understanding and love for one’s neighbour. Other theological colleges have responded formally to these trends in Western society and have seen the need to specifically adapt their curriculums to these changes. For example, Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta has developed the Leadership and Multifaith Program (LAMP), which
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THEOLOGY 21 TRINITY TODAY
dialogue
offers students units in interreligious literacy and multifaith relations. The Faculty of Theology at the University of St Michael’s College in Toronto offers a Diploma in Interfaith Dialogue, which takes advantage of Toronto’s reputation as being the most diverse city in the world and provides opportunities for students to engage with people of other faiths in meaningful ways and develop the skills for multifaith dialogue. In addition, the ‘Scriptural Reasoning’ movement, which began among academics in the early 1990s, continues to gain steam. As its website states, Scriptural Reasoning is ‘a tool for interfaith dialogue whereby people of different faiths come together to read and reflect on their scriptures. Unlike some forms of interfaith engagement, it is not about seeking agreement but rather exploring the texts and their possible interpretations across faith boundaries and learning to “disagree better”. The result is often a deeper understanding of others’ and one’s own scriptures, as well as the development of strong bonds across faith communities.’[1] This movement largely
trinity.unimelb.edu.au/donate
involves people from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths, is practised by academics and non-academics alike, and continues to provide some exciting and valuable opportunities for respectful interfaith dialogue. With these trends and movements in view – within theological education and within society more broadly – the Theological School at Trinity College 1 scripturalreasoning.org
looks to be a leader in interfaith dialogue. Through events, lectures and conversations, our faculty seek to foster graduates who do not just have a deep understanding of Christian theology and history, the Scriptures of the Church, and the necessary practical skills needed for ministry, but who also possess a knowledge of the different religious traditions reflected in the plurality of today’s society. We also inspire a commitment to engage with people of other faiths – a commitment that is fundamentally consistent with one of Trinity College’s core values: diversity. By continually adapting our curriculum to respond to the multicultural realities of contemporary Western society, it is the Theological School’s hope that it can model and establish healthy and instructive multifaith dialogue to respond to the changing times in which we all live. n The Revd Dr Robert Derrenbacker is Dean and Frank Woods Associate Professor in New Testament, Trinity College Theological School.
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TRINITY TODAY 22 SOCIAL IMPACT
Trinity College and Indian social development organisation Asha are forging a bond that transforms lives in the slums of Delhi and on campus in Melbourne.
From slums to success BY M I CH EL L E FIN C K E
E
nvironmental science student Will Clarke listened with interest to a talk about Trinity’s relationship with the Asha Foundation and its work providing healthcare and opportunity in impoverished slums of Delhi. He didn’t realise he was about to be blown away. ‘Then Mahinder got up,’ he recalls. ‘I kind of knew him as a student here at Trinity, and he said, “I’m from a slum in Delhi”. And I was like, “What? No way!” ’ Mahinder (TC 2016) was supported by Asha and had received a scholarship to come to Australia to study. ‘It blew my mind how this small kid from a slum in Delhi had gone on to work in one of the largest banks in Australia and I thought, “This is powerful. This is a program that works”,’ says Will. ‘I could see the immediate impact and it was something I wanted to get involved in.’ Feeling inspired, Will, a 21-year-old from a farm in western Victoria, signed up for the annual student trip to Delhi in early 2018. A group of 11 Trinity students spent two weeks as volunteers, teaching, playing, laughing and learning with young people living in slum communities and whose infectious joy, industry and commitment to the Asha values, which include gratitude, generosity, compassion, respect and empowerment, left a profound mark on the students.
Trinity’s evolving relationship with Asha, which has included shared fundraising activities, giving Mahinder a place to live while he studied, and coordinating student-led visits for the past four years, brings great satisfaction to Trinity alumnus Robert Johanson (TC 1969). The recently retired chairman of Bendigo Bank is also chair of the Australian Friends of Asha and has enjoyed a long-standing connection to India. As the first in his family to have
ABOVE: Trinity student Will Clarke. TOP: Students Maggie Blanden (left) and Chloe Page (right) in India as part of Trinity’s annual volunteering trip.
a tertiary education, Robert deeply appreciates Asha’s transformative power. The foundation came to Robert’s attention when Melbourne University examined the organisation created by newly qualified paediatrician Dr Kiran Martin in 1988. She set foot in a slum for the first time to treat victims of a cholera outbreak, and since then, improving the lives of Delhi’s slum dwellers has been her driving force. Asha – which means hope – engages with 700,000 people in 91 slum colonies, providing vaccinations, healthcare and education opportunities. They offer financial services and have a strong commitment to empowering women to lead within the community. ‘It works,’ Robert says simply. ‘Asha really provides people with a full suite of life skills. Dr Martin is an amazing person, and she’s created some extraordinary and sometimes unexpected connections.’ Robert says that as long as people flee the poverty of villages for the capital city, Delhi’s slums will continue to grow, and Asha will have work to do protecting the poor and vulnerable. ‘If we want to engage with India in the future, it’s important that we engage with all levels of society, not just the elites.’ According to Robert, Asha fits logically into college life. He was
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SOCIAL IMPACT 23 TRINITY TODAY
MAHINDER’S JOURNEY
Mahinder with Trinity College Warden Ken Hinchcliff.
instrumental in the arrangements that brought Mahinder to Melbourne – indeed, he now regards him as a family friend – and sees the Trinity student visits, too, as essential global engagement. ‘It’s consistent with Trinity values; it’s a part of broadening and of giving back.’ Will Clarke urges Trinity students to grab the Asha opportunity with both hands. He was moved by the warmth and kindness of the community, and loved playing with the kids, but meeting fellow university students living in the slum – whole families living in one room – may have been his most profound takeaway. ‘They’re just so hungry for success, to break that cycle of poverty for themselves and their families; that was powerful,’ he says. ‘Look at my situation: I’m so lucky to be at this incredible college, surrounded by incredible people and opportunities, and I feel that I just have to live life to the fullest, because that’s what these kids do. ‘Even though your primary objective when you get involved with Asha is to help people, it really enables you to come back to your own community ready to deliver the Asha values. Already, Trinity lives a lot of these values, and I feel that’s why Trinity and Asha have such a strong affinity.’ n
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TRINITY TODAY 24 SCHOLARSHIPS
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SCHOLARSHIPS 25 TRINITY TODAY
A LIFE TRANSFORMED Growing up in incredible poverty, Sophy Ron’s chances for a full and rich life have been enhanced through a new scholarship. BY E M ILY McAU L IFFE
I
n October 1997, a child was born. Through no fault of her own, she entered the world in a place where opportunity was thin, unaware that her childhood would be spent in a garbage dump, scavenging for things to sell and scraps to eat. Life was going to be hard, but she wouldn’t see it that way. This was the only life she knew. Sophy Ron’s parents worked at a rubber plantation in a province of Phnom Penh. On a meagre wage and with no guarantee of regular work, they were constantly shifting house in search of cheaper rent. They still do.
‘I had no idea at all; I was quite young at the time and didn’t go to school,’ says Sophy, speaking fluent English, which she began learning at age 11. ‘When your parents move or run away, you just follow them, right? Scavenging was what the kids around me did, and since we didn’t really have a proper house, money or food, we just needed to do something, or we’d starve. I didn’t think about it, I just did it. ‘At first, I didn’t like the dump site – the atmosphere, the smells – it was really bad. But after sleeping there, eating there and living there, I felt like it was my home.’ When Sophy’s older sister was offered a place at a school – a luxury usually reserved for a family’s eldest child – through the Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF), Sophy got her first taste of the world she’d been sheltered from. My sister came home looking clean and nice, she got to have a proper shower and I didn’t. I thought, maybe if I could go to school, I could look nice too,’ says Sophy, raising a gentle hand to catch the tear rolling down her cheek. ‘I can still see that picture from my childhood.’ Despite the rawness of those memories and her lingering heartache, Sophy is adamant about sharing her story. She wants her family’s challenges – which mirror those of many others in Cambodia – to be better understood. ▶
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TRINITY TODAY 26 SCHOLARSHIPS
Sophy’s determination to study saw her secure a place with CCF in 2005 and her entrepreneurial spirit started to flourish. Knowing that education was an inaccessible privilege for many of her peers, Sophy began running informal classes, in English, for other children in the village. ‘I wanted to teach others what I’d learned since they wanted to go to school but didn’t have the chance. I knew what that felt like,’ she says. If Sophy was able to make any money, she’d award it to the top performers in her class as an added motivation for them to study. Despite her natural talents as a teacher, Sophy aspires to being in business and hopes to return to Cambodia someday to help others in her community and to be closer to her family. Sitting in Trinity’s grand Dining Hall and reflecting on her Residential College room, which is bigger than the canvas houses in which she grew up (and doesn’t have a leaky roof), Sophy says she constantly worries for her family back in Phnom Penh and feels helpless being so far away from them. But she also knows she’s lucky to have the opportunity to acquire the tools and knowledge to be able to make a difference in her community.
‘My family is my motivation,’ she says, once more dabbing at tears before taking a deep breath for composure. ‘My parents still have it tough, but they are really proud of me.’ Sophy, now in her first year of university after completing Foundation Studies in 2018, is the inaugural recipient of a full scholarship, one of two being made available each year by Trinity to Cambodian students. The scholarships, awarded through a partnership with CCF, include a year of Foundation Studies and three years in Trinity’s Residential College, covering all accommodation and tuition fees, while providing a living allowance. ‘I didn’t know anything about Australia, but when I found out about the scholarship I couldn’t stop smiling,’ says Sophy. ‘I felt like my life was going to change.’ And it has. Sophy’s incredible transformation story has captured the attention of media around the world and on a recent trip home to Cambodia she was inundated with requests for selfies from adoring fans. ‘It’s funny, I like K-pop and always thought I wanted to be famous like that too, and then, all of a sudden, I am,’ she laughs. ‘I guess my dreams came true.’ n
OUR AMBITIOUS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM In 2019, Trinity launched its biggest international scholarship program to date. The Trinity College AustraliaIndonesia Academic Scholarships – worth up to $300,000 each – will transform the lives of four Indonesian students annually from 2020, covering all tuition and accommodation fees, plus other expenses, for four years. These are in addition to two full scholarships for students from Cambodia (also worth $300,000 each), plus 16 full scholarships for domestic students who couldn’t otherwise afford tertiary education (valued at $120,000 each). Trinity will also continue to offer a range of partial scholarships. By 2023, Trinity aims to have the largest college scholarship program in Australia, awarding up to $8 million per year. If you’re interested in supporting Trinity’s scholarship program, please visit trinity.unimelb.edu.au/donate
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NETWORKING 27 TRINITY TODAY
GAINING INSIGHTS GIVING BACK
One of Trinity’s greatest assets is its network. Emily McAuliffe talks to two current students about their experience interning with a Trinity alum.
THE INTERNS
Evan Sinclair & Joe McGuire Evan Sinclair (TC 2017) and Joe McGuire (TC 2019) are two of four students who have been taken under the wing of E.L. & C. Baillieu’s Head of Corporate Finance, Stephen Macaw (TC 1990). Both studying commerce, Evan and Joe are tasked with Excel modelling, company research, proposing recommendations, and client presentation development. That’s on top of direct client contact, which is the icing on the cake. ‘I think for a university student, it’s probably as close to real-world work as you can get,’ says Evan, who began his internship at Baillieu in May 2019. ‘I get to sit in on presentations with CEOs of ASX companies and listen to them talk about their businesses, so it’s pretty exciting,’ he says. ‘In my uni classes I’m learning about how to value companies and projects, and just this week I was doing a lot of work [at Baillieu] trying to value a handful of companies in the mining industry,’ says Evan. ‘I enjoy seeing the practical applications of what I’m learning because it makes it much clearer that what I’m studying is useful and relevant outside of the classroom.’ Joe, one of Stephen’s newest recruits, agrees, and credits his internship for adding another level of teaching beyond university. ‘Already, I’ve learnt a lot of things that university doesn’t teach you, simply because it can’t,’ he says. ‘Uni provides the formula, but the internship teaches you how to apply it, when to apply it, and what to look out for.’
Trinity students Evan Sinclair, left, and Joe McGuire.
The fact Baillieu’s portfolio cuts across multiple sectors has also been valuable in exposing Evan and Joe to a variety of industries. ‘The company’s clients cover everything from mining to waste to tech, and I’ve come to realise that each industry within itself is so deep and broad,’ says Evan. With that, the experience has firmed up the direction Evan wants his career to take after he graduates. ‘It’s pretty easy to have a naïve understanding of something you haven’t actually experienced, but having had time in the workplace, it’s definitely reaffirmed the area of finance that really interests me at this stage of my career,’ he says. ‘I’ve been very fortunate to have this experience with Steve and his team, who ask me what I want to do down the
THE MENTOR
Stephen Macaw
Director, Head of Corporate Finance, E.L. & C. Baillieu ‘I had a great experience at Trinity and was very keen to give back. I think there’s huge value in getting practical experience alongside study
track, then also ask how they can help get me there,’ says Evan. ‘And when I do get down the track, I’d be more than happy to offer my time and do whatever I can for students who are in my situation, as I know how valuable that can be.’ Having only started at Trinity this year, Joe can already appreciate the generous nature of Trinitarians in helping each other succeed. ‘How could you not want to help someone else from Trinity out?’ says Joe. ‘Everyone loves the College so much and it’s a place you make close friends for life, no matter where you end up in the world. ‘If someone went to Trinity, it’s pretty safe to assume they’ll be a good person, so I think it’s natural to want to look after them.’ n and it’s very satisfying seeing students develop and thrive. I enjoy watching them grow in both understanding and confidence. I’d encourage anyone who can to take a few interns – it helps get their career started and having talented young people around is also great for the energy of the organisation.’
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TRINITY TODAY 28 FIRST NATIONS
Memories of Mabo On the back of Trinity’s exhibition showcasing a collection of bark paintings from North East Arnhem Land, Danielle Norton talks to Dr Bryan Keon-Cohen AM QC (TC 1966) about his legal career and how he came to be involved in the landmark Mabo case.
Eddie Mabo and Bryan Keon-Cohen outside the Queensland Supreme Court in 1989.
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FIRST NATIONS 29 TRINITY TODAY
B
ryan Keon-Cohen’s family has a long association with Trinity College. His grandfather, father, brother, two uncles and daughter Zoe attended, while his late sister and aunt attended Janet Clarke Hall. Bryan was involved in both sporting and scholarly pursuits during his student days and says, ‘I rowed, I played football, and tried to do some work.’ Bryan hadn’t always intended to practise law. Upon leaving school in 1963 he studied first-year medicine, failing all subjects except English literature. Interestingly, he read Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment during this time. Perhaps the seed of intrigue regarding the workings of the legal system was planted here. After a year jackarooing in the Darling River region in NSW, Bryan returned and started an arts/law degree at the University of Melbourne. After graduating, he undertook a Master of Laws in legal history, examining the early chapters of the Victorian Supreme Court, then taught for four years at Monash University. The ’70s were exciting, he says, and at that time, Monash had a radical, socially oriented law course with subjects such as poverty law, human rights and law in the community. In 1982, after three years working as a senior law reform officer with the Australian Law Reform Commission, Bryan joined the Victorian bar. A few months after his admission, he was briefed on the Mabo case. When asked why he was considered for this role, Bryan replied: ‘I was very new at the bar when Mabo came along … and I had just worked for three years in the area of Aboriginal customary law and had visited many places around Australia.’ Like most junior barristers, Bryan accepted a wide range of briefs as he was building his practice. Throughout his career, he appeared in the Magistrates, Federal, Supreme and High courts and represented litigants in criminal cases, building disputes, refugee matters, and environmental cases. Bryan acknowledges, though, that the Mabo case had a major impact on his career and was his top priority. ‘We knew this case was potentially very significant,’ he says. ‘We
Revealed – Arnhem Land Barks from the Anita Castan Collection: Yirrkala and Milingimbi in Trinity College’s Burke Gallery.
BARK ART AT TRINITY
Anita Castan (sister-in-law of the late Ron Castan AM QC, a senior barrister in the Mabo case), purchased a collection of Yirrkala and Milingimbi bark paintings in 2001 from an American collector and returned them to Australia. She generously loaned them to Trinity College in 2019 for the Revealed exhibition, in support of Trinity’s Indigenous scholarship program. knew, of course, that it could completely fail, but we recognised the justice of this cause and there was a crying need to bring it to the High Court for the first time ever, so the High Court could rule.’ Some senior colleagues warned him against getting involved in a case that was diametrically opposed to the obvious desires of the government of the day. The implication was that he’d never get another brief from the ‘top end of town’. Considering that the case continued for the following decade, the fallout was not as significant as forecast. If anything, Bryan’s involvement in the case solidified his place in the legal fraternity and made him a sought-after litigator in all matters of native title.
Bryan had no direct involvement with the Yirrkala bark petitions, presented to the Commonwealth Parliament in 1963 to assert the Yolngu people as traditional custodians of their land. However, he acknowledges the petitions as one of the initial triggers for the Mabo case and the eventual overturning of the terra nullius concept. Another trigger was the land rights conference held at James Cook University in September 1981. Eddie Mabo was in attendance and participated in a closed-door meeting, the outcome of which was the decision to mount a High Court test case. Instructions were given on the spot and senior barrister Ron Castan was engaged by the instructing solicitor, Greg McIntyre, acting for Mabo and the other four Murray Islander plaintiffs. Australian society was agitating for change during the 1970s and ’80s. Bryan recalls that, ‘The legal issue was clearly important, it was unresolved and to that date it had never been presented to the High Court for decision. There was a great deal of discontent and unhappiness, and destruction of cultural connection to country going on around the country, and politicians were unwilling, or unable, to introduce reforms to prevent this injustice.’ The legal team saw this case as a worthwhile exercise and the five plaintiffs were meritorious. All were passionate and each played an important role in proceedings. After the judgement was handed down in 1992, Bryan was frequently retained in native title claims around the country. His recognised area of expertise came to dominate his practice. ‘It was interesting work, often difficult – difficult for the client communities – trying to present a cohesive single voice as to who owned what country and who enjoyed what rights in what country,’ he says. Bryan retired from the bar in 2017 and is now writing native title articles for law reviews, lecturing in university law schools and giving presentations to secondary school legal studies students. In 2012, he wrote A Mabo Memoir: Islan Kustom to Native Title (bryankeoncohen. com), and was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his service to the law, especially the development of Indigenous rights. n
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TRINITY TODAY 30 THROUGH THE GENERATIONS THROUGH THE GENERATIONS
A PIONEERING Catherine Hill stands in Trinity’s Dining Hall, under the watchful gaze of great-great-great aunt Lilian Alexander.
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THROUGH THE GENERATIONS 31 TRINITY TODAY
From the first female student in 1883 to a current student in 2019, the Alexander, Cudmore and Hill families share a long history with Trinity. Emily McAuliffe maps out the family tree.
P
erhaps she didn’t consider herself a trailblazer at the time, but Lilian Alexander (TC 1883) was a gender-equality pioneer. Not only was she the first female to attend an Australian university college (Trinity), she was also one of the nation’s first female medical students after campaigning for women’s admission into medicine. Before studying medicine, Lilian graduated Master of Arts at Melbourne University with first-class honours. Proving that gender doesn’t hinder ability, she went on to become a leading surgeon and put a founder’s stamp on the Queen Victoria Hospital and Victorian Women’s Medical Society.
START While Lilian had no children of her own, she became guardian to her four nephews when her sister and brotherin-law passed away from illness in 1913. All the boys went on to survive service on the Western Front. Ernest, the second eldest, followed in his aunt’s footsteps to join Trinity in 1914, before becoming a navigator with the Royal Flying Corps in England (now the Royal Air Force). He experienced life as a prisoner of war after being shot down in 1917 while conducting photo reconnaissance.
ABOVE: Lilian Alexander, standing second from left, in her graduation gown. BELOW: Diana Cudmore, great-great niece of Lilian, and mother of Catherine Hill.
Ernest’s nephew John Cudmore (TC 1950) would be the next to come to Trinity, followed by John’s daughters Diana (TC 1984) and Edwina (TC 1986). Diana Cudmore went on to marry Richard Hill (TC 1982), a medical graduate like his father Dr Arthur Victor Leslie (Les) Hill (TC 1956), thus bringing together two families with a long association with the College. Les’s brother Douglas Hill (TC 1951) had also attended Trinity and Les took the college connection a step further by marrying Janet Clarke Hall resident Barbara Hill (née Bott) (JCH 1954).
Les’s granddaughter – Richard and Diana’s daughter – Catherine Leslie Hill (‘Cat’) is now at Trinity and is starting to understand the stories of her parents. Diana has memories of standing on the Bulpadock at night looking to see whose lights were on to know who she could visit. Friends of Catherine now do the same, peering up at her Cowan residence overlooking the lawn. ‘I had heard the word ‘bul’ before from my parents, but it never made sense until I could actually look out my window and see it every day,’ says Cat, who is studying a Bachelor of Arts. Terms like Juttodie and being ‘spooned in’ have also gained meaning (Cat having enjoyed the unique College recognition for her double debut in athletics and rowing). At Formal Hall, Cat alternates between wearing her parents’ academic gowns. ‘Dad’s looks a bit scruffier than Mum’s,’ she laughs. And wherever she sits at dinner, Cat’s great-great-great aunt’s eyes follow her from a portrait on the wall. ‘I always feel like Lilian is watching over me,’ says Cat. ‘It definitely makes me feel like I have a special connection with the place.’ n
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TRINITY TODAY 32 DONOR SUPPORT
Tales from the Territory Scholarship recipient Marli Mathewson shares her journey from Alice Springs to Melbourne Law School. BY E MI LY McA UL I F F E
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DONOR SUPPORT 33 TRINITY TODAY
‘F
educated.’ This was the couples’ inspiration to itting sticks in our bedroom window set up the Bryan & Rosemary Cutter Foundation, frames was not an uncommon through which a Trinity College scholarship is thing to do,’ says Marli Mathewson offered each year. (TC 2016), recounting her childhood When Marli secured one of these scholarships, in the East Side neighbourhood of Alice Springs. Rosemary wrote to her, as she does with all ‘More than once we woke up to find our house of their scholarship recipients. Through the being broken into, and the police were called exchange of handwritten letters, a special bond to our street several times a week.’ was formed, and Marli says she relished the fact For Marli, a future at Trinity College and that her support didn’t come from an anonymous the University of Melbourne seemed fanciful. donor, but from ‘real people’ who truly cared Growing up in a place so far removed from the about her. ‘Each year, Marli writes to tell us how opportunities available to those living in more she’s getting on,’ says Bryan. ‘It’s always so lovely urbanised areas – educational or otherwise – to hear from her.’ Marli says that for many kids in rural areas, After graduating her Bachelor of Arts with an attending college isn’t just a pipe dream: it simply average of first-class honours, Marli is about isn’t a dream at all. to enter the second year of a law degree while ‘It’s a world that is out of reach for so many working as a paralegal people, not just in at a corporate law a financial sense, firm. She also returns but culturally and to Trinity every experientially,’ week to teach as she says. ‘Where I an academic tutor. come from, there Upon graduation, are no colleges, or Marli hopes to use her anything that typically education to give back accompanies your to the place where average college she grew up. ‘I left experience. There Alice Springs because are no networking I wanted to pursue an events, no blackeducation and a career tie balls, no footy that would have been games at the MCG.’ otherwise unavailable It’s hard to imagine to me,’ she says. ‘But living a life you now I want to go back can’t conceptualise. Marli Mathewson and, inset, Rosemary and Bryan Cutter. to contribute to what That said, Marli was I believe is a necessary reform of the Northern fortunate to have received a good education, Territory justice system. It’s something I’m very encouraged by her parents, and had an inkling passionate about.’ that, given the right opportunity, she was capable Despite growing up in what was at times a of pursuing a career as a lawyer. challenging environment, Marli looks back on her That opportunity came in the form of a upbringing with appreciation, saying it helped her scholarship to attend Trinity College, made possible understand Australia’s complex social, cultural due to the generosity of Bryan and Rosemary and economic disparity. ‘Growing up in Alice Cutter, who were keen to give a leg up to young Springs gives you a lot of perspective on life,’ people living in remote parts of Australia. she says. ‘I feel very fortunate that I was exposed Following his retirement as a doctor, Bryan to these kinds of experiences in my childhood.’ (TC 1956) mentored young doctors in two rural Marli feels that Trinity then broadened her hospitals in the Northern Territory. It was here perspective further. ‘The students at Trinity are that he began to understand the challenges faced educated, passionate and are really engaged in by children growing up in the NT. ‘Rosemary and what they talk about,’ she says, recalling nights I realised that the way to help the community spent sitting around discussing everything from was not by us doing anything, but by them doing politics to social injustice to religion. ‘I felt like something,’ says Bryan. ‘And the way to get I’d found my people.’ n them to do something was to get them properly
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TRINITY TODAY 34 EXPERT WORD
FROM GENERATION TO ‘One consequence of increasing wealth inequality between generations is increasing inequality within generations.’
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EXPERT WORD 35 TRINITY TODAY
GENERATION BY JOHN DA L EY
T
here’s a strong sense of continuity between generations at Trinity. Parents take their children to see the room they were in when they were at College. Those who are first in their family at Trinity rapidly become part of past traditions – until they invent their own. At Grattan Institute, we’re also interested in how things flow from one generation to the next. We’ve published two reports, The Wealth of Generations and Generation Gap, asking whether the younger generation in Australia will be less well off than its parents. The reactions to those reports showed how every generation feels entitled. Older generations believe that they’ve paid higher taxes and the government is paying for family benefits and childcare they never got. They believe they’ve borne the brunt of budget cuts over the past few years. And to the extent that they’ve accumulated wealth, they believe they paid higher mortgage rates and saved harder to get there. Many younger people have a different take. Fewer of them can afford to buy a house. University debts hang around their necks. Secure employment is harder to find. And of course they’re going to pick up Mother Nature’s bill for climate change. Sorting through these arguments is revealing. Overall, younger generations have less wealth than their parents at a similar age. Younger generations are paying more tax overall (even if the top marginal rate is lower). They are spending more of their income on the mortgage (high house prices more than offset low interest rates). They spend less on luxuries, and save more. Everyone would like to believe that their prosperity is the result of hard work. But the biggest advantage for older households was being in the right place at the right time. They already
owned assets – particularly homes – when interest rates fell and pushed asset values upwards, in a move that we probably won’t see repeated for several generations. Luck created a generation much wealthier than its parents, and probably wealthier than its children. But governments also played a part. At the precise time that assets were returning windfall gains due to falling interest rates, governments reduced the taxes on investments, particularly through changes to capital gains tax and superannuation. And governments also shifted the intergenerational spending bargain. Governments are spending a lot more per senior on health. The age pension has increased even faster than wages. These cost the budget more per household than changes to family benefits and childcare subsidies. The generation gap is most visible in home ownership. Thirty years ago, when I was a student at Trinity, about 60 per cent of younger households owned their own home. Today, as my children are at university, that’s still the case for high-income younger households, whose parents are increasingly helping them to buy. But for low-income younger households, home ownership rates have fallen from around 60 per cent to around 20 per cent. One consequence of increasing wealth inequality between generations is increasing inequality within generations. An individual’s situation depends more on the continuity of wealth between generations, rather than ability and hard graft. This has big social consequences. It leads to a Jane Austen world where the first question about a potential partner is, ‘are they in possession of a good fortune’. Is that really the kind of society we want to bequeath to our children? And if not, what are both older and younger generations going to do about it? n
John Daley studied law and science between 1985 and 1987 while living at Trinity, where he argued about current affairs in the Dialectic Society, produced musicals and played the piano. He later completed a doctorate at Oxford University. John has worked at the High Court, McKinsey and Co, and ANZ. He is the founding CEO of Grattan Institute where he has published and commented on public policy for the past 11 years. This article is based on a speech John Daley delivered to parents and students at Trinity College’s Dean’s Dinner in May 2019.
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TRINITY TODAY 36 OUR PEOPLE
OUR STORIES CAREER SNAPSHOT P ROFE SSO R DAV ID TAN (TC 1991) On the rare occasion when academic, researcher, author, and fine art and fashion photographer David Tan has spare time, he hunts down the best double espresso and tiramisu pairing in metropolitan cities around the world. David, who is the Vice Dean (Academic Affairs) at the Faculty of Law at the National University of Singapore and specialises in entertainment law, freedom of speech, and privacy and data protection law, has always had an eye for detail and an appreciation of all forms of beauty. He has a particular love for photography, which developed at Trinity College where he was twice awarded the Andrew Sprague Bursary for Photography and Archives and was photography editor for the Fleur de Lys yearbook. David went on to build an impressive photography portfolio, shooting for fashion magazines such as Vanity Fair and Harper’s Bazaar, along with luxury brands like Cartier and Versace – success that he says comes from ‘the curse of an active imagination’. Despite his natural creativity, David is most proud of his achievements as an academic, having made it to full professor in less than 10 years. ‘It was a monumental challenge for me to publish over 50 articles, book chapters and case comments, as well as a 300-page monograph, within a decade,’ he says. ‘In comparison, taking great photographs is an easy endeavour!’ David has made a donation in support of the arts space in Trinity’s new residential building, to be named the David Tan Visual Arts Studio.
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OUR PEOPLE 37 TRINITY TODAY
A LIFE IN LIGHTS
SHE CAME FROM AWAY…
S H O U ME N D U SC HOR NIKOW (TC 2007)
K AT HE RI NE S TACE Y (TCFS 2019)
Former residential student and chorister Shoumendu Schornikow (né Ganguly) made an impressive leap from the Trinity choir to Opera Australia after graduating with a Bachelor of Music in 2011. Shoumendu has gone on to perform in major productions including La Boheme, Don Carlos and Madame Butterfly, and most recently played the lead role in the Australian premiere of Jonny Strikes Up! – a musical comedy-drama directed by former Trinity College Dean Peter Tregear. The bold performance, which is drawn from the heart of the Weimar Republic, was once banned by the Third Reich, who considered it degenerate; however, it is now considered an operatic masterpiece. ‘For me, the performance was an incredibly creative and meaningful experience in terms of both the complexity of the music and the historical importance of the piece,’ says Shoumendu. Given Shoumendu’s work is usually driven by the agenda of large production companies, he says it was particularly enjoyable to be part of a performance centred around one man’s passion. ‘Peter knew how he wanted to bring the story to life and his enthusiasm was really contagious throughout the whole experience,’ he says.
Katherine Stacey’s Melbourne venture has involved a curious series of events. How did a girl from the outskirts of Gander – a tiny town on a Canadian island in Newfoundland – come to enrol at Trinity College’s Pathways School? It was by chance that a student recruiter from Trinity was visiting her brother in Gander, where she was invited to dinner at Katherine’s home. After a night of chatter, Katherine, then 17, was hooked on the idea of living and studying in Melbourne and joined Foundation Studies in January 2019. By another coincidence, 2019 was the same year the smash-hit musical Come From Away opened in Melbourne. The musical unfolds the remarkable story of how Gander shot to fame in the week after 9/11, when it took in 6700 passengers and crew from 38 jumbo jets that had been diverted from US skies. The passengers (‘come-fromaways’, as the Newfoundlanders call anyone not from the island) were from 20 countries, plus states across the US – effectively doubling the town’s population within hours. The townsfolk stepped up to feed, shelter, entertain and care for these unexpected guests and their hospitality became world famous. This included Katherine’s parents, who rotated people through their house all day to eat, shower, make calls and do washing. Her father, who ran a hunting lodge, would take groups of 12 to 14 out to see the woods and surrounds, and the last group of the day got to stay in their home. Her mother hosted sing-a-longs to entertain the guests, while juggling care of Katherine, who was just five months old at the time. Given her homeland connection, Katherine was invited to the Melbourne premiere of Come From Away. ‘I felt proud watching it as that amazing community is my community,’ says Katherine. ‘It’s crazy that such a small place is now a world-wide story, and it’s pretty cool to be from there.’
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TRINITY TODAY 38 OUR PEOPLE
PRAYERS AT SEA T H E R E V D K AT E LO RD (TCTS 2013) Kate Lord isn’t your average priest. In a day’s work she could be abseiling, learning how to fight a fire, or getting tear-gassed. As a Chaplain with the Royal Australian Navy, these drills prepare her for potential combat situations at sea, while Trinity College’s Theological School prepared her to support the men and women on deployment. ‘Sometimes recruits have an existential crisis when they realise how dangerous their job is – they might have hunted a kangaroo before, but then they need to shoot a human-shaped target; then leaving family behind for six months is always a huge challenge,’ says Kate. Although an ordained priest, Kate says her role in the Navy involves little religious ministry, aside from prayer groups and a Sunday church service. ‘I just help where I can,’ says Kate, who is the ship’s only trained mental health provider. ‘I sit with people; I talk to them, and I listen to them.’ Listening to people’s stories is what Kate loves most, which is why she moved away from her first role in the Navy: driving warships. After leaving the Navy at age 24 to raise a family, Kate began studying theology. She had become a Christian through the Anglican Church in her teens, then, once she had children, Kate started attending St Paul’s Church in Ringwood, where the clergy encouraged her to study. With no clear life direction besides getting her two kids to school, Kate took up a Master of Divinity through the University of Divinity, followed by the ministry formation program through Trinity College, while also doing youth ministry at her church. She hadn’t considered marrying her previous profession with her new qualifications, but once the opportunity arose, everything fell into place. ‘This is the job I was born for,’ says Kate. ‘I loved being at sea in the Navy and I loved working with young adults in the church, and now this is the culmination of both. My life makes so much sense now.’
PAGE-TURNING SUCCESS G E ORG I A R I CH T E R (TC 1989) Georgia Richter began her arts/law degree at Melbourne University believing that her true calling was to be a writer. In 1993, she ditched the law degree with two years to go and moved to Western Australia as the first of two students at UWA to undertake a Master of Arts in creative writing. In 2008, a happy confluence of teaching creative and professional writing and editing, newspaper proofreading, and forming a freelance editing business with a friend, led Georgia to be offered the role of publisher of fiction, narrative non-fiction and poetry at Fremantle Press. Georgia has long since shelved ideas of becoming a writer: there is much more satisfaction to be had as an editor working with writers driven to tell stories that shape the ways Australians think about themselves. She spent three years learning Noongar (the language of the First Nations people of south-west WA) to better understand the language that increasingly appears in WA manuscript submissions, and she loves the ways the zeitgeist consistently manifests in manuscripts through their themes and concerns. Georgia is accredited with the Institute of Professional Editors and has edited a cracking list of crime stories that have garnered awards such as the Ned Kelly and the Ngaio Marsh.
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OUR PEOPLE 39 TRINITY TODAY
LEAPS AND BOUNDS
TUNNEL VISION
PH YL G E ORG I OU (TC 2003)
JU-HAN S O O N (TC 2003)
Phyl’s name has appeared in Trinity Today before, including in 2005 when he was named one of the world’s most promising future leaders by the Goldman Sachs Foundation, and in 2006 for winning the Student of the Year and Rotary Young Achiever awards. It’s no surprise that he has continued achieving since then. After leaving Trinity, Phyl studied at Harvard Business School. As part of an entrepreneurship class, he came up with the idea of creating tactile pieces that would interact with touch screens as a form of child’s play, given the iPad was fast gaining popularity and was impacting the development of toddlers. He took a prototype to the New York Toy Fair in February 2013 and by August of the same year the product was being sold in more than 20 countries. Phyl continued to grow the company, Tiggly, with two co-founders after he graduated. They went on to sell 200,000 toys and raised more than $6 million from investors. Despite the company’s success, Phyl had always had an interest in emerging markets, so returned to private investment firm LeapFrog, where he’d completed a oneyear fellowship in 2009. As Head of Strategy, Phyl is now tasked with unlocking the capital markets for high-growth, purpose-driven businesses. LeapFrog’s investments have facilitated the delivery of essential products like insurance and healthcare to more than 150 million low-income consumers in Africa and Asia. Phyl says this taps into a strong movement towards sustainable investing, given investors increasingly want their money to build a better future for the world, rather than support companies with whose values they disagree. ‘Our profit-with-purpose mantra is that there is no trade-off between strong financial returns and delivering high-quality impactful products that change people’s lives,’ says Phyl.
As a systems engineer, Ju-Han Soon is responsible for facilitating the integration and collaboration of the Melbourne Metro Tunnel project’s large, multidisciplinary engineering team. The project, which includes ninekilometre twin tunnels, five new underground stations, and high-capacity signalling to allow more trains to run more often and more reliably, has been a career highlight and also a challenge. ‘I’m not just integrating technology, but integrating people,’ says Ju-Han of his role. When asked which of the world’s public transport systems is his favourite, Ju-Han says Singapore takes the cake for its pervasive network coverage and use, regular services, decentralised routes and overall comfort. Ju-Han recently took a well-earned break in Europe before returning to Australia and travelling onward to New Zealand to get married. Ju-Han is pictured below with new wife Cathy Lowe.
Below: Phyl is pictured with wife Anisha Parambi (TC 2006).
Do you have a story to share? Email us at tt@trinity.unimelb.edu.au
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TRINITY TODAY 40 GALLERIES
YOUNG ALUMNI DRINKS
Claire Shinkfield and Robbie Stephen
George McPharlin and Kane Lo
Hugo Edwards, Rona Glynn-McDonald and Jack Young
Imogen Edwards and Finnlay Cowden
Jess Grills, Sophie Landgren and Elle Nicholls
Tom Beischer and Richard Bestel de Lezongard
SINGAPORE ALUMNI GATHERING
Eugene Ang, Albert Wong and Jun Pei
Jo-anne Tsai, Vivian Chan and Raymond Cheah
Trinity Trivia
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GALLERIES 41 TRINITY TODAY
YOUNGISH ALUMNI DRINKS
Marco Chandryanto and Astrid Fulton
Alix Roberts and Lauren Anderson
Allen Roberts, Lucas Oliveirs and Cheok Lee
Craig Battams, Julian Breheny and Julian Dascalu .
Sophie Crowther
Lucy and Katie Hawker
Khueen Mok, Min-on Tan, Hannah Young and Rachel Koh
Yien Li Yap
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TRINITY TODAY 42 GALLERIES
CANBERRA ALUMNI GATHERING
Cale Dobrosak and Cally Gilbert
Marion Wilson and Alasdair Stretch
Jesse Wallace and Dzifa Amenuvegbe Wallace
Veronica Craig, Rosemary Thwaites and Anne Gawan-Taylor
Lara Nichols, Simeran Maxwell, Heather Neilson and Scott Charles
Zuly Chidori, Alex Kupa and Miles Kupa
ARCHBISHOP’S DINNER
Bob Derrenbacker, Ken Hinchcliff and Philip Freier
Colleen O’Reilly
John and Marion Poynter
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GALLERIES 43 TRINITY TODAY
CORDNER ORATION
The Cordner family
Ken Hinchcliff, Martin Flanagan and Chris Cordner .
Keri Whitehead, Tim Flicker, Penny Mackieson and Martin Flanagan
Guest speaker Martin Flanagan
Padmini Sebastian and Andrew Donald
Richard Lee and Ashley Conn
GOVERNANCE DINNER
James McCluskey, Rick Tudor and Emma Harrison Ken MacKenzie, Chairman of BHP Leonie Jongenelis, Richard Pickersgill and Sana Nakata
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TRINITY TODAY 44 OBITUARIES
A 70-year connection
Dean and Acting Warden
JAMES ALEXANDER GRANT AM (TC 1950) 30 AUGUST 1931 – 10 JULY 2019
KENNETH BRUCE MASON AM 4 SEPTEMBER 1928 – 20 DECEMBER 2018
Jim dedicated almost 70 years to Trinity, first as a student then as Chaplain, Joint Acting Warden, Bequests Officer and Fellow. He was our historian, our conscience and our guide. Jim was born at Red Cliffs near Mildura where his father was an engineer. His mother was Scottish, and growing up, Jim would spend time in Scotland with his extended family. Back in Australia, he went to Geelong High School and Melbourne University, taking history tutorials as a non-resident at Trinity from 1950. Experience as Australian historian Geoffrey Serle’s research assistant led to five books, including the centenary history of Trinity College. Following theological study at Trinity, Jim was made a deacon in 1959 and priest the following year. Shortly after his appointment as College Chaplain in 1970, Jim was consecrated coadjutor bishop in Melbourne and served as Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral from 1985 to his retirement in 1999. From 1971 to 1987, he was also Chair of the Board of the Brotherhood of St Laurence. He was a member of the Trinity College Council from 1971 to 1974 and again from 1979 to 2002. In 1983, Jim married Rowena Armstrong QC. Shortly before Jim’s death, the couple agreed to Trinity’s offer of naming two Theological School teaching rooms in their honour. Jim featured as the cover story in the 2017 edition of Trinity Today, available to read online at trinity.unimelb.edu.au/about/publications
Ken was born in Sydney to Eric and Irene (née Pearse). He attended Bathurst High School then Balmain Teachers College. He taught in country high schools before becoming a candidate for the Diocese of Bathurst and attending St John’s Theological College, Morpeth. He was ordained priest in 1954 and served within the Brotherhood of the Good Shepherd in outback NSW as Brother Aidan. From 1954, he was Priest in Charge of Gilgandra, moving to Darwin in 1959 and Alice Springs in 1962. He returned to study at St Francis’ Theological College and the University of Queensland before his appointment to Trinity College in 1965 as Assistant Chaplain under Barry Marshall. The following year he became Dean at Trinity (serving as Acting Warden during Robin Sharwood’s sabbatical in 1967), but his tenure was cut short by his election as the first Bishop of the Northern Territory in 1968. The Trinity Council noted Ken’s talent for administration and his capacity for friendship with a variety of people. In Darwin, Ken oversaw construction of a new cathedral after Cyclone Tracy and made great progress in improving management of the old Aboriginal missions, including the ordination in 1974 of the NT’s first Indigenous priest, Michael Gumbuli Wurramara. Retiring as bishop in 1983, Ken moved to Sydney and was Chairman of the Australian Board of Mission (ABM) for the next 10 years.
A life cut short
The philanthropist
STEPHEN HAROLD JONES (TC 1997) 10 MARCH 1979 – 12 JULY 2019
ROGER HAMLINE STAFFORD RIORDAN AM (TC 1951) 24 MARCH 1934 – 2 JANUARY 2019
Steve’s life was cut tragically short in a boating accident while on holiday overseas with his wife Fiona and a group of close friends. The son of Russell and Lesley, and sister of Felicity, Steve attended Trinity Grammar and spent the Halcyon days of his youth on the beach at Lorne and Noosa. He studied accounting at RMIT and during these years, 1997 to 1999, was resident at Trinity College. Trinity was pivotal in shaping his future; it was here that he developed his infamous dance floor skills, met his future wife, and cemented incredibly strong and enduring bonds with a large network of friends. Steve went on to complete his MBA at the University of NSW and at the Stern School at New York University. He worked at KPMG, Macquarie Bank, Australia Post and founded the online company House of Home. More recently, Steve joined Canaccord as an executive director. ‘Jonesy’ was the life of the party, a confident and quick-witted orator and had an infectious energy about him. Above all, however, he was the most loving, jovial, thoughtful and adoring father to his three young children – Will, Jean and Herbie. To say he will be missed feels like an immense understatement. Alas, it is true.
Roger went to Upwey High School, winning a scholarship and entering College in 1951, only four years after his father Adrian completed a law degree as a non-resident returned serviceman. Roger graduated in electrical engineering in 1954, spending a year in England before joining the CSIRO Division of Mechanical Engineering as a senior research scientist. In 1973, he resigned to set up his own technology business, which proved unsuccessful. For six years from 1983 he lectured at Chisholm Institute of Technology, writing an anti-viral program, VET, to overcome a cyber attack at CIT. In 1998, he again went into business, establishing Cybec Pty Ltd to develop his product. Ten years later, at the height of the tech boom, he sold Cybec to Computer Associates. Roger married Shirley-Anne (Sally) Yeo in 1961. The couple’s first scholarship was established in 1995 at Trinity. After Sally’s death, Roger married Patricia Herman. With the proceeds from the Cybec sale, in 2002 they set up a private charity, the Cybec Foundation, funding educational and arts projects especially for the disadvantaged, Indigenous people and refugees. Pat died in 2010. Roger funded redevelopment of Medley Hall, expanding collegiate places at the University of Melbourne, and provided numerous residential scholarships at Trinity. Roger retired as chairman of Cybec in 2017.
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OBITUARIES 45 TRINITY TODAY
The industrialist
CYRIL VANE LANSELL (TC 1943) 4 MARCH 1923 – 1 JANUARY 2019 Cyril’s father, also Cyril, died when his twin sons, Lance and Cyril, were only nine. Their grandfather had made good mining investments during the Bendigo gold rush, and there were enough savings left after the Depression to send the boys to Brighton Grammar and then Geelong Grammar. Cyril came to Trinity during the war as a third-year engineering student, being prevented from enlisting with his two brothers because he was deaf in one ear. He was cox of the College’s 1st VIII, although there was no official intercollegiate boat race that year. In 1945, Cyril took up a scholarship at the University of Oregon. On his return, Cyril joined Lance – who came to Trinity in 1946, also studying engineering – in their first business, Irwell Engineers and Brass Founders in Huntingdale Road. During the 1960s, Lance guided the company’s expansion across Western Australia, assisted by their brother Eric. After selling Irwell to James Hardie in 1983, Lance and Cyril Lansell founded LCL Pty Ltd, recycling brass though a new process and becoming a leading manufacturer of copper alloys. Lance died in 2017. Cyril married Genevieve (Jenny) in 1958 and the couple had four children – Nuki (TC 1979) who died of a brain tumour in 2015, Jeremy, Mathew and Oliver. Cyril was stoic and loyal with a fierce work ethic. He was a straightforward man with simple needs who loved his family and his basset hounds in almost equal measure.
The Olympian
JOHN BALLANTYNE VERNON (TC 1955) 3 AUGUST 1929 – 21 JUNE 2019 John’s father, L.H. Vernon, trained as a civil engineer, establishing an architectural firm in Ballarat in 1945. John matriculated from Ballarat Grammar in 1947, where a sports field and athletics medal are now named after him. He came to Trinity in 1955, in the fourth year of his architecture degree. His athletic prowess preceded him, and he was handicapped with a record four bricks in the annual running of Juttodie, coming in third. He was captain of the Trinity athletics team in 1956, the year he competed in the high jump at the Melbourne Olympic Games. He had already represented Australia twice at the Empire (Commonwealth) Games, in Auckland in 1950 and Vancouver in 1954. John joined his father’s company in 1958, helping to build up a significant collection of architectural drawings, particularly of early Ballarat. He designed the new Anglican Diocesan Centre in Ballarat, opened in 1989. He was a loving husband to Jenny, with whom he had three sons, Peter (TC 1980), Tim (TC 1982) and David, all of whom became architects.
COMPILED BY DR PETER CAMPBELL STEPHEN JONES OBITUARY BY NICK AGAR (TC 1997)
VALETE We are saddened to acknowledge the passing of the following alumni and friends of Trinity College. Dr L Valerie ASCHE AM (JCH 1952) John James BAYLY (TC non-res 1946) The Venerable William Alan BEAGLEY (TCTS non-res 1991) The Revd Wilma BOND (TCTS non-res 2008) Astrida Erika COOPER (former Associate Director, Major Gifts) Dr Frederick George COX (TC 1948) Robert John Lewers DARBY (TC non-res 1972) Prof David Patrick Brian FITZPATRICK (TC 1966) Peter FOX QC (TC 1973) Dr David Peter GALE (TC 1950) The Rt Revd Ian Gordon Combe GEORGE AO (former staff member) The Rt Revd James Alexander GRANT (TC non-res 1950, former Chaplain, Joint Acting Warden, Bequests Officer, Senior Fellow) Samuel John GREENLAND (TCTS 2019) Benjamin Pascoe HANNA (TC 1950) Dr William Farnworth HEAPE (TC non-res 1957) Dr Dale Furneaux HEBBARD (TC 1947) Enid Florence HOOKEY (TC 1975) Thomas Henry HURLEY AO OBE (TC non-res 1942) Terrence John JASPER (TC 1979) John Alan JOHNSON (TC 1950) Stephen Harold JONES (TC 1998) James Campbell LAHORE (TC non-res1953) Cyril Vane LANSELL (TC 1943) Athol Kelvin LIDGETT (TC non-res 1950) The Venerable George Bromley LUCAS (TCTS 1948) The Rt Revd Kenneth Bruce MASON AM (Former Assistant Chaplain, Dean and Acting Warden) Robert Norman McMULLIN (TC 1934) Frederick John MEEKER (TC non-res 1967) Michael Tyrer MOORE (TC 1950) The Revd William Warren MORIARTY (TC 1956) Michael O’CONNOR (TC 1969) Marc PRUDEN (TC 1965) Anthony Eyres RADFORD (TC non-res 1960) Dr Roger Hamline Stafford RIORDAN AM (TC 1951) John Robert ROLPH (TC 1957) Stanley Barclay SPITTLE (TC 1961) William Russell STOKES (TC 1962) Thomas Norman SWINDON OAM (TC non-res 1945) Dr Raoul de Crespigny TUNBRIDGE OAM (TC non-res 1946) Dr John Charles VANCE OAM (TC non-res 1962) John Ballantyne VERNON (TC 1955) The Revd Denis John WOODBRIDGE (TCTS non-res 1952)
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TRINITY TODAY 46 HONOURS
ALUMNI OF THE YEAR 2019
This year we were pleased to recognise two outstanding Trinitarians with a coveted Alum of the Year award.
BILL COWAN ALUM OF THE YEAR (RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE)
INAUGURAL FS ALUM OF THE YEAR (FOUNDATION STUDIES)
THE MOST REVD KAY GOLDSWORTHY AO (TC 1981) ARCHBISHOP OF PERTH
‘RED’ HONG YI (TC 2004) INSTALLATION ARTIST
Hong Yi, better known as Red, is an internationally acclaimed installation artist. She was named one of the ‘11 art world entrepreneurs you should know’ by the Sotheby Institute, and has worked with multinational firms and the odd celebrity, including Jackie Chan.
Kay is a role model for female leaders in the church in Australia and around the world. She has inspired many with her determination to follow her own career path, regardless of the challenges she would face along the way.
THE HONOURS ROLL 2019 Once again, we were pleased to see a number of our alumni honoured for their significant contributions to society.
AUSTRALIA DAY HONOURS COMPANION (AC) IN THE GENERAL DIVISION OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA
The Hon Justice Geoffrey Arthur Nettle (TC 1974) For eminent service to the judiciary, and to the law, to criminal and civil appeals reform, to legal education, and to professional standards.
OFFICER (AO) IN THE GENERAL DIVISION OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA
Carrillo Baillieu Gantner AO (TC 1963) For eminent service to the community through professional involvement in, and philanthropic support for, the performing and visual arts, and to Australia-Asia cultural exchange.
Prof Fiona Kathleen Judd (TC 1977) For distinguished service to medicine, and to medical education, as a clinical psychiatrist and academic, and to professional bodies.
Emeritus Prof Richard Graeme Larkins AO (TC 1961) For eminent service to medicine and medical research, to education through academic leadership, to public health care, and to the community.
MEMBER (AM) IN THE GENERAL DIVISION OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA
MEMBER (AM) IN THE GENERAL DIVISION OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA
Ass Prof Anthony John Buzzard (TC 1960, Fellow 1997, Senior Fellow 2017) For significant service to the international education sector, and to medical science.
Ian Andrew Chesterman (TC 1978) For significant service to sports administration, particularly with the Australian Olympic Committee.
QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY HONOURS
Dr Ian Donald MacLeod (TC 1967) For significant service to the museum and galleries sector. Dr David Alexander McCredie (TC non-res 1944) For significant service to medicine in the field of paediatric nephrology. Susan Jane Peden (TC 1982) For significant service to the community. Michael Warner Shand QC (TC 1974) For significant service to the Anglican Church of Australia, and to the legal profession. MEDAL (OAM) OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA IN THE GENERAL DIVISION
James Morison Gardiner (TC 1966) For service to the community through LGBTIQ and human rights organisations. The Revd Marjorie Kathleen Keeble (TC non-res 2001) For service to the community of Hamilton.
Alexandra Mary Sloan (TC 1977) For significant service to the community of Canberra, and to the broadcast media as a radio presenter. The Revd Canon Dr Charles Henry Sherlock (TCTS Hon Research Associate 2004–present; Senior Lecturer 1998–2003) For significant service to the Anglican Church of Australia, and to theological education. MEDAL (OAM) OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA IN THE GENERAL DIVISION
Dr Donald William Hossack OBE PSM (TC non-res 1950) For service to medicine, and to the arts. Clive Julian Smith (TC 1954) For service to children through charitable initiatives. Michael Douglas Whalley (TC non-res 1971) For service to the community through charitable organisations. The Revd Ronald Mark Browning (TC Chaplain 1989–95) For service to the community.
GET EXCITED 2020 is the year our new residential building opens in Parkville.
PLUS 611 ELIZABETH ST
Our new second campus From mid-2021, the Pathways School will occupy a six-level vertical campus in the heart of a new research and education precinct on Elizabeth Street.
100 NEW ROOMS • ECO-FRIENDLY DESIGN • ART STUDIO • COURTYARD TWO-STOREY COMMON ROOM • MUSIC ROOM • GYM • STUDY SPACES
TRINITY COLLEGE • RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE • PATHWAYS SCHOOL • THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL
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