Chapter 3

When the crew had packed everything in the van, and Bernie had put his cameras in my car, Matthew opened an ice box and we all sat on the sand and talked about the day. Matthew proposed a toast.

“To Carol and the insights that she has brought to us.”

We clinked bottles.

“Today has been interesting. We’ll edit the show to the twenty-five minutes as a look at one of the quirks of history. I’ll show Ultimo the rest of that interview and it may lead to another show, starting with historical footage of the Melbourne and then leading onto the effect that it’s removal has had on the navy. Not being around in the sixties, I can’t say that I could appreciate what has been said about the morale at that time, but it does seem to be at a low ebb these days.”

I drove back to Nowra and Bernie stayed with us as Randall came home with Pauline. I had called him, and he had a big bag of fish and chips that we ate, sitting around on the patio. Randall wanted to know how the day had been. Bernie laughed.

“What did you expect, Randall? It was all sweetness and light, and will look that way on the show, but, in the end we have another hook for story that has political ramifications. Carol asked the navy boss a few questions that opened a can of worms. I realised that I already knew many of the facts but would have never asked them in a way to get a hardened navy man to talk the way he did.”

“What does that mean for Carol?”

“It means that we do a series of interviews with retired officers to consolidate what we were told, then Matthew will put together a show which will start being historical, with Carol doing the voice-over. We then cut, hopefully, to the interviews that we have in the can, followed by Carol interviewing a highly placed government or military official, asking them the leading question that nobody else has asked.”

“Will it be dangerous?”

“Probably not, but you may have to support her when the press come around. As she’s ABC, we have first call on any TV of her.”

Before he left, Bernie gave Pauline the poster that he had made for her, as well as another that he had made from pictures that he had taken when we did the test shots. It was Pauline and me, standing with the bay behind us while we thought he was getting ready.

Monday morning, I had a call from Emily to attend a meeting in Ultimo. I flew up and took a taxi to the ABC building. The meeting was between the two of us and Sir Edward, with Hugo taking notes. When we had settled, Sir Edward smiled.

“I have to say, young Carol, that when we recruited you we didn’t expect to get so much work to do in such a short time. In the time since your segment on the Nowra base, there has been much discussion in high places. We have been advised that the Minister of Defence will be flying to Nowra next week to make a major announcement. He wants you to interview him. He is amenable to any suggestion that you may have about a location.”

“If we could, it could take place inside the museum. They have a nice Grumman Tracker that we could have as a backdrop. I could ask him why we don’t have a carrier group like other countries.”

“Yes. I’ve seen the outtakes from that interview. It’s certainly a lead to follow. Surely, though, we can’t ask them to take the blame for something that happened fifty years ago.”

“Why not? Politicians are always blaming the previous governments for things that are patently their own doing. I’ve looked at old clips of the time, and I concluded that the PM of the time was a clown who thought that he was a legend. I don’t have a political bias. I dislike all politicians in equal measure. Most have no life skills, no real job history, and most have a drinking problem.”

“Well said, but not relevant at the moment. Look, I have no idea what this announcement will be. It may be the closing of the base to all public, so shutting the airline down. It may even be a backflip on their plan before the original plan gets any public airing. Next Wednesday, at Albatross, in front of the terminal. You and your crew with an OB van sending the signal to here. They’ve timed it for three in the afternoon, which will be a half an hour earlier in the centre and before lunchtime in WA, so prime time for daytime viewers and plenty of time for us to set up a panel to discuss things on the news channel.”

“Sounds good. I’ll make sure that Steve has the museum spick and span, so the Minister doesn’t get his suit dirty. If there’s transport on the ground for him, he can leave the announcement by car, across the base where nobody else is allowed to go. That will separate him from the other channels, so we could meet at the museum later, say around four?”

“I’ll pass that on to his office. Matthew will give you a question sheet that we would like answers to. We’ll monitor the output and send any others to the OB van for you to have. We’ll run your story on Jervis Bay on the weekend, as a history show after the news, and advertise it in the digital media as also available for streaming. In the meantime, you need to talk to your contacts and get things set up in the way you want. Remember, you will be the reporter on the spot. You’ll need to talk about things in a way that shows that you’re informative, rather than pushy. Matthew will expect you in his office on Friday to go over the coverage. Now, I’ll leave you and call the Ministers’ office.”

He left us and Emily sighed.

“This one isn’t what we hired you for, Carol. It’s really something that an experienced journalist should be covering, but it was your work that took the lid off the can and the boss is giving you the chance to make a real splash. For me, it’s a point in time where we can start to rely on our regional reporters more. We’ve spent a fortune flying the favoured few around the country and it’s time that they were kept back for big city stories.”

“That’s OK, Emily. It’s going to be rather exciting. If he takes questions at the announcement, I’ll have to get a few that would cover either outcome.”

“Yes. Be prepared for anything. I’ve no doubt there’ll be other stations and print media with you. They will be reacting to what they hear, while we know better. Matthew will set you up so that you’re not shoved out of the way. He’ll be there early enough to be in the prime position and will set up a second unit in the museum, if that’s accepted. Good idea about that, being inside. It makes for better sound and will tend to relax the Minister. See if you can get your contact to set up a table and chairs in the morning, with refreshments on hand. I’ll call you as soon as we have confirmation.”

I had lunch in Sydney and flew back to Nowra. In the terminal, I managed to talk to the airline manager to let him know about the announcement next week. He had already been notified that there would be a restriction on flight movements between two and four and was already adjusting their timetable to suit. After that, I went to see Steve in the museum. Before I went home, I went to see Bernie.

“Hi, Bernie. I’m on my way home from a meeting and I thought that you should know about an event coming up.”

“What would that be?”

“We, my friend, will be at an announcement by the Minister of Defence at Albatross on Wednesday afternoon of next week. Following that, we’re setting up an interview with him. Location being decided but I’ve asked for it to be in the museum.”

“Good choice. Inside and quiet. Sit him in front of their Grumman. His grandfather was a navy pilot on the Melbourne. That would be a nice setting for other questions. I’ll set up a remote on you, another on him, and have a big camera to record the interview. I’ll make a show of turning off and then you can ask him the personal questions.”

“We’ll be going live with an OB van for the announcement. It may be that we’ll be sending the interview directly to Sydney.”

“What! We’re going out live! That’s almost unheard of for Nowra, such a sleepy little backwater. You’ll need a good outfit for that. Talk to one of the better shops in town and let them take a picture of you in something bright and classy. They’ll give you a good discount if one of their creations is on national TV. We’ll set up in the morning, when it’s normal, and film an opening with you looking good. That can be the beginning of the broadcast and then we’ll cut to the live events as he arrives. Being a politician, I’m sure he has something dramatic in mind.”

On Tuesday, I did research into the Minister. He had been an air force pilot, retiring after his twenty years to go into politics. His father had been in the air force before him, but his grandfather, now deceased, had flown the Grumman Trackers from the Melbourne in the late seventies and into the eighties, after the two collisions, but before the decommissioning. His father had flown the F-111 fighter bombers that had been scrapped many years ago, while the Minister had flown FA-18 Hornets, then based in Williamstown, before being replaced by the F-35.

Fighter pilots don’t have the long service life that pilots of larger planes enjoy. I think that it’s all to do with reflexes. They either move into admin or retire to become airline pilots. The Ministers’ father had become a Qantas pilot, but his son had gone on to stand for election as a fresh face with a career already behind him. His problem, as I saw it, was that when he was elected, he found himself in a party that was mainly university graduates with delusions of grandeur and jobs as political advisors. I was rather impressed by the way he persevered.

On Tuesday, I went into Nowra and walked into the best dress shop in town. Violet was a grandmother who I had met at the school when she was there with her granddaughter.

“Carol, nice to see you. What can I do for you.”

“We have an important story to cover, next week. It’s likely to be going live and I need something that stands out but not overpowering.”

“Come on through to the dressing rooms. I’ll sort out a few outfits for you. Will there be any other reporters there?”

“Quite likely. It will be the Minister of Defence.”

“Did that story of yours light a fire under them?”

“Sounds like it.”

“The commercial stations have women who usually wear straight cocktail length dresses, in a dark red or similar. If you want to stand out, you’ll need to be in white, yellow or orange. I’ll get some dresses that show off your good legs.”

Two hours later, I had two dresses for the price of one, plus two pairs of shoes from her friend next door. I had been photographed in both outfits and she would get them made as poster size, to put one in the window after the announcement, ‘as seen on TV’.

Wednesday and Thursday, I did more research and made lots of notes. I wanted to be prepared for whatever happened. I had told Randall about the announcement, and he was aware before they had an official notice to provide support on the base. He knew about the museum idea, so would be able to cover that when we had confirmation.

On Friday, I was in Wollongong being shown the lists of questions that the station would like answers to. We had confirmation that the museum was acceptable for the questions . Matthew assured me that I may only get a chance to ask one at the terminal, as other stations would be there. A point in our favour was that we could set up in the morning. Other stations that would normally arrive by helicopter, would not be allowed access to the base, so would have to drive down from Sydney.

On the weekend, Bernie and I spoke to Steve at the museum. There was quite a reasonable space next to their Grumman, with a display of the optical landing system that had been on the carriers, with banks of lights of different colours, which would tell a pilot if he was too high, too low, or just right. Landing on the Melbourne was very tight for the Grumman, with less than ten feet between the superstructure and the wingtip. Steve would set up a good table from their meeting room, with some chairs. Bernie put chalk marks on the floor to let Steve know where the cameras would be sited.

On Monday and Tuesday, I did two things. One was to start worrying about what was coming up, and the other was to spend Tuesday afternoon in the beauty salon, being turned into someone who could pass as a national news hound, at a pinch. I had to organise someone who could pick up Pauline from school as I didn’t know when Randall or I would be winding up at the base. She would be going to the home of a friend until I went to pick her up.

On Wednesday morning, Randall had to go early as he was in charge of some of the security. Pauline set the TV recorder to start at two and just keep recording. We had a light breakfast. She was too excited at having her mother on national TV and I was, as well, because of the same reason, with the excitement tinged with fear. I dressed in the orange outfit that had been deemed to stand out as well as make me look good. I said orange, but Violet had called it papaya.

I dropped Pauline off at school and carried on to the airline terminal, where Bernie and the crew would be meeting me. Now actually here, I felt settled enough to have another light breakfast in the terminal café, looking out onto the tarmac and watching some workers set up an area surrounded by bunting. They obviously had a plan to work to and had it set out fairly quickly. After I had finished my meal and been to the toilet to freshen up, I went outside to have a look. It was just a simple square but set so that someone standing in it would have the airport name and airline logo behind them. To me, that looked positive.

When Bernie and the crew arrived, they checked it out and thought the same, so we pitched the introduction in a positive light. I was checked for make-up, Bernie set up the camera and we had the lighting to accentuate the morning sun. I was given a cordless microphone to talk into and we did our intro.

“This is Carol Chivers at the HMAS Albatross base. Behind me is the airline terminal which may well be receiving good news today. This afternoon, the Minister for Defence will be standing on this spot to make a major announcement. Tune in at half-past two for our live coverage.”

That was sent to Ultimo and got the tick of approval. Matthew laid out some markers with ‘Reserved for the ABC’ on them and then we went off to the museum to set out our interview space. We set it out so that he was sitting with his back to the Grumman, with me not quite opposite, There was a remote behind me and Matthew sat in the Ministers’ chair while Bernie got the focus and general view. Then there was a remote, set up in the walkway, focussed on me. The main camera would be to the left of the remote, so that Bernie could get the view of the plane, with the Minister off to the side. The crew would be well back and the feed from the microphones and the cameras was sent to a box in radio contact with the OB van that would be parked outside.

We did a test transmission to Ultimo and got the OK back, so left the remotes, lighting and mics where they were, with Steve roping off the area. We went back to the terminal in time for an early lunch after setting up the one camera and mics to capture the Ministers’ speech. There were other stations setting up beside us and it was quite a party atmosphere. We all sat in one area for lunch and the techs, who had all met before, chatted away. The other reporters talked among themselves, ignoring me. Perhaps they thought that I was the make-up girl, and our reporter would be here later.

At half-past two, we were all outside and ready to go. There was a huddle of suited guys, and I recognised our local Federal member of parliament. I went over to him.

“Excuse me, sir. I’m Carol Chivers from the ABC. I wonder if you could give us a few minutes while we wait for the Minister.”

“I certainly can, Carol, seeing it was your segment that has brought this about, whatever the result is.”

“If you’re here sir, I guess it’s going to be positive.”

He laughed and followed me back to the team. Matthew was quickly getting the OB link going to Ultimo and Bernie was already with his camera. We placed the MP so that we were filming the base behind him, and I started the interview, introducing him.

“The Member has graciously offered a few minutes of his time while we wait for the Minister to arrive. Sir, have you used the airline between here and Canberra?”

“Many times, Carol. Hundreds, over the years that I’ve been a member. I was shown your segment about the possible closure of the service and immediately requested a meeting with the PM and other Cabinet Members. The idea that such an important service may be closed by the Government was a shock.”

“What did they have to say?”

“They hadn’t known about it. It was something dreamed up by bean counters in Treasury, so I’ve been told. I believe that the Minister is coming to clear the air. The scandal of shutting this base down would be enough for the State Government to lose the next election. It would be a free kick for our opposition. Federally, it would send the wrong message, just as selling off a lot of military land did, some ten years ago. We have six states and two territories. Sorry, three territories as your show on Sunday evening told me. We need six major army camps, six major air force bases and as many navy bases as we can get ships into.”

“You don’t expect any danger would be purely from the north.”

“No. Having Chinese warships circling the country while conducting live-fire exercises was a wake-up. Danger can come from anywhere.”

I could hear the sound of a helicopter in the distance.

“Thank you for your views, sir. I think I hear the Minister arriving. You have time to get back to the welcoming line. I would like to talk to you in the future, if possible.”

“Anytime, Carol. It’s a pleasure to talk to you. I’ll give your producer my card.”

He went to Matthew, who was smiling, while Bernie turned the camera on me. I held the microphone up again. The rotor sounds were getting louder.

“We’re waiting for the Minister of Defence, and I believe that this approaching helicopter will be him. Other flight activity was shut down at two, to give us an uninterrupted chance to hear his speech.”

Bernie focussed on the RAAF helicopter as it came into land, just twenty metres from the waiting group. The rotors spooled down as the door opened and a set of steps allowed the Minister to step out to the ground. A group of suits went over and there was shaking of hands before they all walked towards the roped off area. When they had cleared the rotors, they were spooled up again and the helicopter lifted about thirty feet and headed off to the other side of the base. In the comparative quiet, we all got ready for the speech.

I put a bud in my ear so that I could hear the feed and did a voice-over, pointing out the Minister and other dignitaries, including the local airline manager. The group stood behind the Minister as he took out some notes. I said that we were about to hear the Minister of Defence, the Right Honourable Algernon Wallace as he looked around and drew breath.

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the media, and my esteemed colleagues behind me. I have come to Nowra to explain something that will put your minds at rest. There was a rumour that extensive building works were going to shut down this terminal and close HMAS Albatross to the public. I have to admit to not being aware of the works that had been proposed and apologise for the lack of proper communication that created the scare which the ABC highlighted a couple of weeks ago.”

He looked directly at me and smiled.

“There will be building works, true, but it will be carried out by the second airline that will join Rex in operating from this airfield. It will be whichever one offers my government a business plan to create a new terminal, linked to this one, which will be able to handle flights to and from the rest of the country and New Zealand. There are a few airlines who are interested, and the chosen one may not be an Australian airline.”

There were a few shouted questions and he held up a hand.

“The Navy operations will be cut back and relocated to new hardstands and buildings to be put at the old airfield in the Jervis Bay Territory, where they will be able to be integrated into the Naval Officer Training College, HMAS Creswell. Much of the administration will continue here but won’t disturb the airline operations. The flight control will revert from the Navy to Air Services Australia. Navy helicopter movements will be timed to not interfere with airline movements.”

I stood back as the other stations and the print media tried to get more detail, asking a lot of the questions on the list I’d been given. Finally, the others faded, and I got my chance. I held up my hand and he looked at me.

“Minister, I’m Carol Chivers from the ABC. It was my segment on the Seven-Thirty Report that highlighted the rumour. I was told, at that time, that it was the Air Force that had been inspecting the runway, something I had left out of my story. Can you tell us anything about that inspection?”

I could see that he was shocked but recovered quickly.

“Miss Chivers, the Air Force did inspect the runway. It was done to prove that it was suitable for jet movements. Modern jets that can travel overseas are a lot better than the old 747s of days gone by. They need less runway to take off and land and are a lot quieter. The fact that this base had been home to Skyhawks and Sea Vixens is a positive, and, after so many years of helicopter use, we needed to verify that major works were not needed. There will be some input from the government with up-to-date landing systems and radar for the new flight controllers.”

“Thank you, sir.”

I did my sign off for Ultimo as the crowd dispersed and the official group got into some cars that had pulled up, then were taken across the airfield to the Navy side. We packed up our things with Matthew unable to stop grinning. I took out the bud as I could hear Sydney reverting to normal broadcasting and put the microphone in its case. We took our time as we needed to repack the OB van and move to the museum. I looked at my watch and saw that it was nearly half-past three. Where had the time gone.

I went to my car and got in. Randall appeared beside me.

“That last bit. My policeman sense told me that it was complete BS.”

“It was BS, love. I’m going to interview him at the museum in twenty minutes. Perhaps you and your team need to be there to provide some security.”

“See you there, love.”

Marianne Gregory © 2026