Governor Chris Dawson shares his Geraldton connection and what he thinks of the current state of the Mid West

WA Governor Chris Dawson and his wife Darrilyn visited the Mid West region last week to tour the region, and the Geraldton Guardian caught up with him to hear what he thought.

What are you excited about in Geraldton and the Mid West?

Five years ago, I was the commissioner of police, so I was also co-ordinating State emergencies throughout my policing career, so to return to places like Kalbarri, Northampton, and Mullewa, they’re all communities that have been impacted quite heavily by natural disasters such as cyclones, and to see the community really come together, and they’ve fixed up a lot of the infrastructure. But the more important thing, I think, is actually the strength of the community in working together and becoming stronger.

We were quite encouraged by the amount of volunteering in the community, and just seeing the way in which the community can be strengthened by people that are selfless and they give of themselves.

What do you plan to brief the State Government on after this trip?

We spoke to some people involved with small business, there’s an opportunity for me to talk to the Government about some of the ways in which they feel that they can operate a bit better.

At the same time . . . where you see things operating very well, you can shine a light on those. The (Bundiyarra Aboriginal Community) Aboriginal Corporation with the aged care and the short-stay accommodation. I was very impressed . . . I see that as being a very well managed example of how I can go back to government, say, ‘look, there’s an example where the community have got together and they’ve been able to optimise what land they’ve got there, and the community is stronger and safer because of it’.

So it’s not just showing where things need to be improved, it’s also saying do more of what is a really good thing.

How do you think Geraldton rates as a tourist destination?

The way in which the foreshore development has really opened up between the city and the sea ... that’s a great example where common sense improvements have made it much more accessible for tourists and, of course, locals. I was walking every morning along that, you can see it’s very well patronised for a very good reason.

The other thing that I’ve noticed is Geraldton’s got its own coffee culture now, so you’ve got tremendous cafes and bars and small restaurants, which have really sprung up, and it is a really pleasant place to come and have brekkie or have a meal, and they’re the sorts of facilities that will encourage tourists to keep on coming, and of course the locals benefit from it everyday.

Tell me a bit about this Geraldton connection you’ve got through your dad. How long did he live here?

My Dad was born in 1916 in the old Victorian Hospital that’s getting renovated, the old limestone one. He was born during the time of the First World War. My grandfather was farming just out of town, and he lived there till he was in his 20s, and moved to Perth for employment, but we would regularly come back here right through the 60s and 70s.

We were here every year, holidaying or visiting rellies, and he has got strong connections.

Today I was out at Mullewa, and we were able to visit the 11th Battalion Leane’s Trench. I had a great uncle that fought alongside Capt. (Raymond Lionel) Leane at Gallipoli, and it was great to be able to honour all of those people. So I’ve got connections on both my mother’s side and my father’s side, and it goes way back to running ticket-of-leave people down at Greenough.

Do you have any special memories from that time visiting here when you were growing up?

Yeah, fishing. I’ve got great memories of catching lots of fish down at Flat Rocks, and I haven’t been back there since my childhood, but maybe at my next chapter in life I might be able to partake in that again.

How many times have you met or talked to King Charles? And what do you chat about?

It’s royal protocol that you don’t actually repeat the conversations you have with the sovereign, but I can say I’ve spoken to him on about four or five occasions.

It’s a different experience, I can tell you, from being a local Western Australian lad, to be able to have the honour of representing the State. Witnessing him and the Queen receiving their crowns at Westminster Abbey was such a surreal but unique experience, and it’s something that has been going on in that Abbey for over 1000 years

The conversations with him on other occasions — he’s a really interesting man and very well versed in world events, but he has quite a passion for the environment.

So we did speak on those matters naturally, because I was able to share with him that Western Australia has greatly increased our marine parks and our national parks over the past 10 years and expanded what is already a tremendous coastline and a great inland heritage as well.