A Wonderful Life
Michael Binney By Melissa Walsh
W
ith a twinkle in his blue eyes, you can sense that Michael Binney has lived an interesting life and, as we sit at the Crib Point Football Club, the 68-year-old regales me with stories of his 27th season as a trainer with his beloved Magpies and life as he knows it. A well-known face around the traps, Michael has energy that even a bout of cancer couldn’t douse. His days are filled with training at the club in winter, the vice-presidency of the Balnarring Picnic Racing Club, membership of the Woolleys Road Equestrian Rescue Committee, volunteering for St Vincent de Paul, working as an independent third person for the intellectually impaired, and training racehorses. Even when organising a time for the interview, Michael had to schedule it between 5.30am horse training on Balnarring Beach and volunteering at a polling booth during the recent election. So what’s the secret of this man’s happiness and joie de vivre? Michael, who grew up one of 12 children in poverty stricken inner-city Collingwood, says his parents taught him life is not a dress rehearsal so you’d better make the most of it. “My dad sold newspapers at Flinders Street Station from 1897 right up until 1971 so I spent a lot of time in the city. I grew up around newspapers and always had an interest in reading, even though I left school at 14, to return later in life. My father would bring the newspapers home to read to us. He always told us good manners cost nothing but carry a lot of weight, which I have passed down to my children. My parents also taught us compassion. Both would bring people home who had nothing to eat or nowhere to sleep. When dad saw that someone had been left at the station at night and had nowhere to go, he would bring them home with him.”
Photo: Yanni
E ssence
96 | PENINSULA
Summer 2014/15
Michael says his attitude to life is 50 per cent religion, being raised Irish Catholic, and the other half a result of such a big family.