Col’s Chat – Locals through my Lens
Ross McKinnon AM
Wayward pigs mentioned in Hansard; barrels of saki, hula-hula dancers and stinky plant life. These are just some of the things that come up during my sit-down chat with Ross McKinnon AM. And they weren’t even the most interesting!
Ross – who worked at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens for forty-two years; the last thirty-one years as the Curator-in-Charge – is one of those men you could talk to all day and still feel there’s so much more to know. Multi-award winner, ambassador, judge, media personality and global ‘influencer’, long before that word meant something else. It has been though, as he is keen to point out, ‘all a massive team effort’.
Born on the outskirts of Adelaide, Ross grew up surrounded by nature and began his professional training in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, as one of four successful trainees from 212 applicants.
“This was a wonderfully practical course over four years and set the path for my career ahead. When I got a job opportunity to move to Brisbane, I seized it. I was also told that the Curator-in-Charge’s role would be mine when the current Curator retired in ten years’ time. What job today offers this sort of career guarantee?”
The Brisbane role was to build a new Botanic Garden in the City. “Every day was just so much fun. We all knew where we were going and how we were going to get there, and that we were building something really substantial. I often call it my second love, but there are so many firsts: the first cultivated Jacaranda in Aust [from South America], and the native Macadamia and Bunya Pine are all firsts for the City Botanic Gardens (planted in the mid 1800’s). In addition, at the Brisbane Botanic Garden at Mt Coot-tha, we put together the world’s largest collection of Australian native rainforest plants.”
Once the Botanic Gardens at suburban Mount Coot-tha began to take shape, Ross had two distinct projects.
“Deane Miller and I worked on designing the layout of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens (as distinct from the City Botanic Gardens), and this is now the City’s second largest tourist attraction after the combined activities available at South Bank Parklands.”
Growing up in a rural family, Ross knew the importance of food and with current global affairs highlighting concerns about food stock availability and transportation, Ross was way ahead of the game.
“Kids have no idea where sweet corn grows, or wheat, or coconuts. So, we started a program of education in the Gardens with six education officers hosting subsidised classes. We had between 14-20 thousand young people a year go through our lessons. A program that still exists.”
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Ross was beginning a media career with his own Gardening Queensland program, which morphed into the Gardening Australia we know today. Weekly radio shows on the ABC and 4BC and five gardening pages a week in all the regional newspapers. Inspired by his time working at Expo 88, he introduced Volunteer Guides at the Botanic Gardens and there are now 120 Volunteers at the Gardens.
“Whilst working with media at Expo, Sallyanne Atkinson AO, the then Mayor, told Ross that the spectacular Japanese gardens were going to be taken apart at the end. The cost was prohibitive, but Sallyanne spoke to the Japanese ambassador to see if they would go halves, and a deal was struck. Six Japanese Gardeners moved the Japanese Gardens surrounding the Japan Pavilion at Expo to the Gardens at Mt Coot-tha.”
For his efforts with the Gardens and the Japanese community over his curatorship, he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Japan’s most Prestigious award for non-citizens.
But despite being a member of 32 horticultural associations, recipient of the Paul Harris Fellowship, the Vitae Lampada (The Burning Torch of Life) Medal, Fellow of the Linnean Society in London, BCC Employee of the Year, and board member of Open Gardens Australian and Men of the Trees, it is those simple connections with nature that hit home.
“The parents of a young man with asbestosis came to me and said that for the last two years of his life, the only way to calm him was to take him into the Japanese Gardens. It provided the peace and tranquillity he needed. I went and chatted to him one day and, as well as being one of the most poignant moments of my life, it reminded me how important it is for all people who need time out to share in the peacefulness of these places.”
Ross travelled all over the world. “I ran garden projects around the world, from Shenzhen, China; Rodrigues in the Southern Indian Ocean; Samoa, Marshall Islands. Also, I judged garden competitions including the Chelsea Flower Show and Belgium’s Ghent Floralies.”
“Also, I started my own travel company to continue my explorations and Brisbane City Council (BCC) supported this, because I brought back knowledge and ideas from all over the world. In fact, BCC were the greatest people to work for.”
Ross is also passionate about making our public places free. “Many places, like London’s Kew Gardens for example, charge almost AUD40 for entry. That limits access to only wealthier people and that’s not right. That’s one reason why it’s so great being Australian.”
Retirement for Ross, after forty-two years in the service of the Botanic Gardens does not appear to have slowed him down.
“In 2014, my good friend, Alan Sherlock, co-opted me on to the Management Committee of Shed Happens. It’s where blokes can be honest and talk about the good, bad, happy or sad rather than bottling it up and hardening hearts.”
But above all else, Ross is now a happy half-acre gardener. “I cannot imagine a day without gardening.” I think we’ve covered it all… Hang on, Ross spent a decade in Opera Queensland productions! Really?
We may have to come back for a part two of his story.
Shed Happens:
www.shedhappensformen.com.au or call 0417 736 899.
Brisbane’s Botanic Gardens:
www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/parks-and-recreation/botanic-gardens
Author and photographer: Colin Bushell / Colin Bushell Photography
