LIFE In Conversation
Warren - Breaking ENTSCH
the mould Wo rds by M ichelle S t ac pool e
two decades ago, when the then 26-year-old Yolonde applied for and subsequently secured the role of Entsch’s Executive Assistant.
We go back in time as he regales in stories of his youth, the cadence of his husky drawl drawing me in and painting a vivid picture of the life of a young country boy.
“I had the interview with Warren and we just hit it off straight away. I’d spent hours working on my CV and he didn’t even look at it,” she laughs.
According to Entsch, the family lived simply yet never went without. The eldest of four, he recalls plucking chickens for the family meals among his childhood chores, and claims to have not worn shoes until he started high school.
Both had recently separated from their respective spouses, and within months were dating. While they parted ways six years later, they were never far from each other’s thoughts, finally reconnecting in 2012.
He talks about his dad regularly returning on his pushbike from hunting trips with ducks draped over one handlebar and a bucket of fish on the other, and of not realising until he was much older that ducks are usually cooked and served minus shotgun pellets. From his early years as a “railway brat” in Mareeba and Cloncurry to his first real job in the Bank of New South Wales, where as a skinny 16-year-old kid with Bermuda shorts and long white socks he ran security on utefulls of cash from Mareeba to Cairns, his sense of adventure and knock about personality shine through. Citing his late father George, a former cattle train driver, as his single greatest influence, Entsch grew up with a strong sense of family values and the desire to work hard. “I absolutely loved my dad. Even today, nineteen years later I still can see him, I can feel him and hear him. I miss him and I like to think that I have a lot of his character,” says Entsch, his voice trailing off. An unlikely politician, Entsch was straight off cattle and crocodile farms and, by his own volition, “a duck out of water” when he first contested – and won - the seat of Leichhardt in 1996. As a reward to himself he purchased his now infamous British Green1995 Heritage Soft Tail Harley Davidson motorbike. “I’ve always had bikes as long as I can remember in my adult life, but to me the Harley was the Holy Grail. When I first saw it in the showroom I had to be careful I didn’t drool over the seat,” he laughs. These days however he doesn’t get many opportunities to ride. In addition to his work in politics, Entsch also dedicates his
“When I saw her again I said to her I’m not going to let you go, and we were married about eight months later. She’s heaven on a stick,” says Entsch. Warren and Yolonde Entsch
time to a range of social issues, including the tuberculosis challenge in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea, a cause close to his heart after his mother suffered with the illness during Entsch’s teen years. Considering His Holiness the Dalai Lama amongst his friends, Entsch is also the Chair of the Australian Tibetan Group.
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Warren’s compassion for people is amazing. He loves people and people energize him. His energy levels are like that of a teenager, says his wife Yolonde.
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Sharing Entsch’s passion for humanitarian work, Yolonde is the Community Ambassador for YWAM Medical Ship, Australia’s only Training and Medical ship in Papua New Guinea. She also manages Thiaki Creek Farm, the couple’s two hundred acre cattle property at Jaggan, near Malanda, where she has been working on developing an elite Brangus herd. The Entsch’s have been married for three years, however their initial meeting was nearly
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When not on parliamentary duties in Canberra, the Entsch’s divide their time between their residence in Whitfield and the farm, where, along with cattle, Entsch breeds South American Macaw Parrots and White Peacocks. Sharing the same values around family, life and humanity, the Entsch’s have successfully blended Warren’s adult children and grandchildren with Yolonde’s nine-year-old daughter. While Yolonde believes that Entsch’s personality, charisma and determination are amongst his best qualities, she is surprised at his popularity with his colleagues in Canberra, given that he doesn’t fit the mould of a sophisticated, suit-wearing politician. “Because he is not a career politician he has never been afraid to speak his mind or speak against his own leader. We’ve seen him do it time and time again when he passionately believes in something,” she says. “I enjoy the work that I do here. It doesn’t matter who people are or where people come from, if they have a need for my assistance I will give it my best shot,” adds Entsch. For the residents of Leichhardt, the fact that 66-year-old Entsch will be around for at least the next three years is reassuring. Afterall, if Warren Entsch is your voice, then it’s guaranteed that you will be heard.