10 powerful minutes with John Kennedy

Standing well over six feet in the old scale, with his bald head and large frame, John Kennedy is no shrinking violet - even in a little town like Korumburra.

He’s known for his passions and opinions, and now that he has been elected to the South Gippsland Shire Council, thought he’d share some thoughts with Korumburra Staying Strong.

Interviewer: What is it about sitting on a council here in Korumburra that's really important to you?

John: I moved here, I don’t know, 12 years ago. I moved here to get away from Melbourne. And I moved here to get off the grid. You know, the bills—I saw they were going to get expensive. The council thing ... one of the reasons I got into it was the fines.

They've got these new by-laws. This lady got a $1,920 fine for not mowing her lawn. I keep nagging about this, but, um, you know, we've got to do something about it.

I’ve asked other people to step up and join the council, but no one’s interested. I live here, and I want to stay here. So, I just figured I should do it. And that wasn’t the only reason.

I’ve been battling for the senior citizens. I didn’t want them to lose a hall. About 18 months ago, I was following this issue, and five or six years ago, they actually approached me and said they didn’t want to move into the new hub.

I didn’t think I was going to be a councillor back then. I was just trying to help them, you know, maybe get their hall back. But I think things can be run more efficiently. And I’d like to oversee a few things there and try to make a difference, I guess.

Interviewer: What is it about Korumburra? You said you’ve been here 12 years now?

John: I live in Kardella.

Interviewer: And you work in Korumburra.

John: Yeah.

Interviewer: What do you think is really special about this little town?

John: To me, it’s healthier because it’s got the highest rainfall in Australia. That’s why I picked this spot. There are two blue dot areas in Australia—here and northern Tasmania.

John: Here in Victoria and Tasmania, there’s the two blue dots. And so, water’s number one. I learned years ago, during a farming course, that water’s number one.

I look at the town, and it’s untouched. It doesn’t have McDonald’s or anything like that here. And the property I bought ... I was looking for a certain shape of land. It just ended up being Kardella.

I’m off the grid a bit. I don’t have a heating bill, hot water bill, or electricity bill—I got rid of all that.

I realised it was going to get expensive to live in years to come.

Interviewer: What about the friendships and other relationships you’ve formed here? How are they different from the city?

John: I know a lot of people, but I wouldn’t say I have a lot of visitors at my house.

I guess I’m a bit of a loner in a funny way, you know what I mean? But I do have a lot of friends.

You can walk down the street, and everyone knows you. You can say hello to everyone.

In Melbourne, that doesn’t happen. If you said hello to someone there, they’d look at you strangely, like, “Why is he talking to me?” Here, it’s different.

There aren’t many places like this town or this area.

Interviewer: What’s important to you at this time in your life?

John: Staying healthy.

John: I’ve never seen so many deaths as I have in the last three years.

I’ve lost 11 personal friends.

Just yesterday, a schoolmate dropped dead. Another one died last week. We were in the same class.

So, I’ve always valued health. And, you know, health comes at a price.

Interviewer: When you go out to eat in town, where do you go? What do you choose?

John: Anywhere that will make me something (laughs).

It’s funny—the Indian restaurant here in town. I had Indian food about 15 or 20 years ago, and I didn’t like it. The restaurant wasn’t clean.

Then I saw the movie Slumdog Millionaire, and I thought, “I’ll never eat Indian again.”

But this Indian restaurant here? It’s fantastic. Have you been there?

Interviewer: Diva’s?

John: Yes, it’s the best.

The food’s great, and the owner’s lovely.

We lack a lot of restaurants here, but there’s not a big enough population.

In Melbourne, I used to go to Italian restaurants. I’m glad we have Japanese here—that’s fantastic.

Interviewer: Are you a good cook?

John: No, I’m useless.

My wife left three or four years ago, so I was always the bloke who had his clothes washed and dinner made for him.

Interviewer: In terms of Korumburra itself, what do you think the priorities should be for progress?

John: I’d fix all the town assets.

I was very vocal about the Hub. I didn’t think it should have been built. The $10 million spent there could have fixed every asset in this town.

The swimming pool, for example—you could’ve put a roof on it for $900,000. Add a sauna, spa, or thermal pools, and maybe spend $2 million in total.

The botanical gardens could have been improved with barbecue areas and more plants. The caravan park is fantastic, but it could’ve been cleaned up and had a dozen log cabins added.

Coal Creek? The little train should still be running. That’s like a Sovereign Hill-type attraction. It should’ve been handed to private enterprise to keep it running.

The streetscape project hasn’t delivered. They spent $800,000, but it’s incomplete.

Interviewer: Are you happy?

John: I’m happy within myself, and I’m staying here.

I don’t want to see rates skyrocket. They’re going up too fast. Australia’s lost its manufacturing base; we’re ranked so low globally now.

There’s a lot of work to do.

Thank you John all the best

New South Gippsland Councillor John Kennedy.