Profile

Judy Taylor is a Public Member of the Council. Here she is interviewed by Deborah Kirkman.

DK: From my observation, you would have to be one of the most popular members on the Council. Do you think friendliness is an important attribute for a Council member?

JT: When I think about it, possibly I inherited that ability to get on with people. My childhood was so happy, I had wonderful parents, and they were very friendly. Yes, I think it is most important that we all get on well together, because it enables public members, particularly, to feel comfortable enough to ask a question. When I first came on the Council I was shy, I didn't know them well enough.

DK: Did it take you very long to get to know people?

JT: Not to get to know them. But being an alternate public member for a long while, I only met them once every few months or so. But gradually, when I was included in a couple of the meetings away, it suddenly became easier because we all had a laugh and a few drinks together. I felt more comfortable.

DK: So being made to feel welcome increased your confidence in saying things at Council meetings?

JT: It is a matter of being able to ask a question. Because you know the people you are talking to, you know that they are completely approachable.

DK: Were you at all intimidated by anyone when you first arrived?

JT: No, I don't think I was. I remember acts of kindness.

DK: Do you have some examples?

JT: Bob Cronin [former editor-in-chief of WA Newspapers]was one particular favourite of mine because he has a very nice, friendly manner himself. Quite often I found him sitting opposite the table from me, and one particular day I was trying to phrase something. He looked across the table at me and said, "Would you like me to express that for you, Judy?". And I thought, what a nice man. There was much laughter, and he did it, he picked up what I was trying to say, and he did it very well.

DK: Judy, why were you interested in joining the Council?

JT: I have always been very interested in literature, in reading, in proof reading. Also, that strong feeling of everybody being entitled to their own point of view. It is most important in life to try and understand people from that angle. I think I felt that I was able to see another person's point of view, see the newspaper's point of view, and clear-headedly work it out.

DK: When you joined the Council in 1988 you were President of the NSW/ACT Guide Dog Association. What type of people were on the Association?

JT: A good cross-section, probably not unlike the Press Council. I thought it was essential that we got some young people on the Association - when I say young I mean 30 or 40 year olds who have started to do well. They dragged the Association from the table on the street selling buttons. They showed us how we could invest money and look at other ways of raising money besides the old-fashioned way.

DK: That has been the criticism by some of the Press Council; that there are not enough young people on it.

JT: The Press Council actually does need older people because of their experience. It needs to have people that have had some time to think their way through their lives and arrive at the ability to be fair. But, I know it would be good to have some younger ones on this Council, simply because I think it would take them about the same length of time as it took most of us public members

DK: How long would that be?

JT: I think Lange Powell, or Kevin McCreanor - whoever said it, that the first three years you don't really do a lot; the second three years you actually do come well into your own; and then by giving us another three years, as has been decided recently, we are going to be able to use all that and really make a contribution. Well, that's what I hope anyway.

DK: Upon your marriage, you moved from Sydney to Coonamble. Your husband is a grazier. Do you like life in the country?

JT: Yes I do very much, I think it has a quality about it that at times can be a bit lacking in the city. But it has its disadvantages. We don't get the culture, we don't get the interesting things to do and see that are in Sydney.

DK: What is the quality the country has that Sydney lacks? JT: More of a caring for each other. The small country town that I live near is only nine miles away, so I have been involved in the town quite a bit. The people in the shops that know you, the man who says "Oh, let me carry your parcels down". Your car breaks down and somebody comes and help you.

DK: I think people do tend to stay within their own little insular world in Sydney.

JT: Of course, I do love Sydney and I am in the lucky position, partly because of the Press Council and my interest in that, that I do come to Sydney once a month. I am able then to see my old friends, I am able to go as I did yesterday to the Art Gallery.

DK: It is made easier by you maintaining an apartment in Sydney as well.

JT: We are very lucky there. It was my mother's apartment, and when she died we decided to keep it on because it does mean when we come down we can stay there. And I do like the beach, and when I am in Sydney I go surfing. I am dedicated to fitness. I walk a mile a day wherever I am, and at home in Coonamble, I swim in our pool every morning. I am very anxious to keep fit.

DK: And it shows. You have been involved in many rural activities. You have been on the Parochial Council of the Church of England, joined Legacy and helped the local school, to name a few. And you now have a spot on community radio. Tell me about it.

JT: We have an hour and a half program on a Wednesday morning.

DK: What type of topics do you cover?

JT: What we try and do is get news about the town. For example, there is man in Coonamble who is renovating the old picture theatre there. So I got the original owners of it, before it closed down, to come along and talk about their grandfather who had built the theatre. And then later I got on the program the boy who is doing the renovations, trying to turn it back to what it was. So that is interesting you see. But there is no point in getting too far out of the town because quite frankly we are not heard too far out of the town.

DK: How far do you go?

JT: We might make 25 kilometres. I remember the first time I did a program, my son said to me, "Mum, you sound like the Queen". I was so trying to be proper and right. I was told to unstiffen, just be myself. So I have.

DK: Before your marriage, you started a nursing career. What made you decide on nursing?

JT: I don't know what made me decide, but I do know that when I was quite a small girl that every doll I had had its appendix and tonsils out. I really was very keen to do nursing. Maybe I read something about Florence Nightingale when I was very young.

DK: How long did you nurse?

JT: Just a bit over a year. It probably did me a lot of good. I hadn't been to boarding school, I'd been to a day school. So I learnt about how to live with other people. When a fourth year nurse spoke to you, and you are a first year nurse, you stood back ...

DK: She was like God.

JT: Oh, yes. And they got all the hot food and we got all the cold food. So it was good for me. I think I was possibly a bit spoilt, and maybe while I didn't become a nurse ...

DK: It is like sending a boy to spend a year in the Army.

JT: That's right. Exactly the same sort of thing.

DK: The Council has recently initiated a process whereby public members act as mediators. You have undertaken a mediation course. What benefits do you believe mediation offers members of the public and to publications? And, do you foresee any problems?

JT: Well, first of all as I expressed in my opinion earlier, mediation is a wonderful thing. I think one should try and do it all one's life. With a husband and two sons on a property, I found that I was doing a lot of mediation before I realised what mediation was. In answer to your question, I think that it does help. But I am not sure that it is widely enough understood. I think probably the industry understand. I am not sure that the public quite understand what we are trying to do. We offer the other alternative of coming before the Complaints Committee, and people do get a bit stirred up about things and they might feel that they haven't had their full pound of flesh if they don't. If we could be good enough mediators to approach them, and to get them to agree to mediation, I think in the long run talking any problem through with someone else can only help.

DK: It is a less adversarial way of approaching a complaint than a Complaints Committee. In the office we do explain to complainants, when they make enquiries about mediation, precisely that fact. But so far, it seems that those people who do wish the Council to go forward with the complaint prefer to have their "day in court".

JT: Yes I see that, but I don't know how we are going to be able to alter it. I think it is something we should actually put our minds to, because we put our minds to getting the public members interested (and they are) in doing it. They have all been very good sports. You and I have done a few training sessions. I think nearly all of them would be quite able to at least make a start on that procedure. The problem with mediation is getting over the concept of what possibly can be done for people.

DK: I think maybe once we go through a few mediations successfully, then we can promote it more. When complainants ring up we can give examples of what has happened in mediations. I think it's just a matter of getting the ball rolling.

JT: Yes, I do too. Have you found that any newspapers have not been keen to do the mediation?

DK: No. They are quite happy. The newspapers are very much for the idea of mediation.

JT: That's what I gathered. I am very keen on mediation. As I said earlier, I think it is a most important thing in life to be able to see the other man's point of view and to try and resolve something in a dignified way.

DK: Just a couple of final questions. Which newspapers do you read?

JT: I buy the Herald everyday. One of the factors involved there is that I love trying to do the cryptic crossword puzzle. Now that has nothing to do with the news I read. I do read it all. And on Saturdays, I buy The Australian as well.

DK: You like The Weekend Australian?

JT: I love the Weekend Australian: the Review, the Focus - I think they have very good, interesting articles. And the Herald also on Saturday, they have a lot of good sections in there too. I find myself quite happy, particularly when I am in the country. Saturday can be taken up reading the newspapers.

DK: You don't buy any local newspapers?

JT: Oh yes. We get the Coonamble Times, published on a Wednesday. The editor is a West Australian man. I get on quite well with him. He is a very independent gentleman, and he looked around Australia and he found that the Coonamble Times, extraordinarily enough, was still a privately owned newspaper. So he bought it. His paper depends on advertising, and we have 'sponsors'. So, there is enough room for both in the town. I always say on the radio, "Now don't forget it's Wednesday morning and buy your Coonamble Times".

DK: Do you read many books?

JT: Yes I do. At the present moment I am reading a book by J M Cooetze, which won the Booker Prize for 1999. And I am enjoying it very much. We have a public library in Coonamble, and the two very nice girls there will place your order. On our program we have one of them come down every Wednesday morning and talk about what's available at the library, and what the children's books are. And there are the other type of books that I am interested in. I have completed a one year certificate course in Rural Office Practice at TAFE. I am proud to say that I now do the books for our family company.

DK: So, you exercise not only your body, but your mind as well. A final question, what do you see yourself doing in ten years' time?

JT: I don't suppose I will be on the Press Council. Who knows, they might change the rules again.

DK: You never know, you might prove to be so popular that they simply won't allow you to go Judy.

JT: Flattery will get you everywhere. I see myself still interested in everything that's going on. Hopefully still living in the country, and hopefully still with access to Sydney. And a great deal of interest in my grandchildren. I will never lose my interest for life, for reading, for people. If I could ever do further mediation in Coonamble, that would be something I would be very interested in doing. So, in the main I see no reason to change anything much at all. But, I'll tell you in ten years' time.

DK: Well, I'll ask you again in 2010.

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