‘Final message to my little friend’: Bob Carr farewells wife Helena
Any lingering animus was soon forgotten on Tuesday morning as former prime ministers, premiers and ministers from both sides of the political divide gathered at St Mary’s Cathedral to farewell a humble woman who detested the spotlight but was universally remembered as a great peacemaker: Helena Carr.
Paul Keating and his former wife Annita van Iersel arrived together, warmly greeted by Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull. Alan Jones turned up on a walking stick, spotted deep in conversation with former Labor powerbroker Graham Richardson hanging onto his trusty walker. An agile Leo Schofield sailed by, clearly buoyant following a recent hip replacement.
More than a fortnight after Helena Carr collapsed and died aged 77 in Vienna, more than 600 mourners gathered at the cathedral to pay their respects, and hear her husband, the former NSW premier Bob Carr eulogise the woman he simply referred to as “H”, who had shared half a century with him, much of it in the constant glare of public life.
He told the pews brimming with a sea of silver hair that he wanted to deliver a “final message to my little friend”.
“Some are surprised at me doing this,” a stoic Carr said. “What happened on October 26 is still very raw. But in a city where I have raised my voice in so many causes, over so many years, I could not say no to this one. Even if there is some risk.
“We farewell a Chinese-Indian girl from this idyllic tropical town. Educated by Irish nuns, drawn to Australia, recruited improbably to Australian public life while she ran a business creating jobs in Australian manufacturing. Her very spirit lives today. The eyes, the smile we recall so easily, urges us to joyfulness, in a happy cosmos.
“H, we gifted one another that lovely last day (at opera) in Vienna on October 26. At peace in a 50-year partnership. Accepting time would not be ours for ever, happy just to see the other one happy. That was where our long journey had taken us, to this calmness and wisdom. And where it ended so suddenly, cut off so cruelly.”
“As your co-conspirator in this half century collaboration: I thank you … thank you, my lucky star … … farewell, my little friend … and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!”
The full requiem mass was led by Father Frank Brennan, assisted by Father Ed Campion, who married the Carrs in 1973, and by Father Tony Doherty.
A floral display of buttercup yellow roses, dahlias and peonies adorned the urn holding Helena Carr’s ashes. On either side portraits from throughout the various stages of her life showcased a love of travel, theatre and the occasional political commitment.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was represented by Federal Education Minister Jason Clare, a former senior staff member of Carr’s office when he was Premier of NSW.
NSW Premier Chris Minns, and Deputy Premier Prue Car sat in the front pews, nearby a phalanx of former premiers from across Australia included Barrie Unsworth, Morris Iemma, Geoff Gallop and Steve Bracks, along with former federal ALP leader Kim Beazley and Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek.
Helena Carr arrived in Australia in 1965 to attend Our Lady of Mercy College at Parramatta from her home in Taiping, Malaysia.
According to her former economics teacher, Sister Germaine, she was an excellent pupil. She went on to graduate in economics from Sydney University and forged her own career running a printing company employing over a thousand people largely in the shadows of her husband’s political aspirations.
And yet, her modesty meant she often hid her achievements from her husband, like when she became director of the company.
“Here was a young Chinese-Indian woman appointed to the board of a serious Australian company in a highly competitive sector. But at the same time, her husband was getting elected to the Wran Cabinet to become Minister for Planning and Environment,” Carr shared.
“Here’s the story though: she waited till the day I was sworn in as minister to shyly tell me about this stunning elevation to the board of a public company. She hadn’t wanted to take the gloss off my own initial climb up the greasy pole of politics.”
