Malcolm Gardiner   

I have lived in the Otway Ranges area since 1959 and at Kawarren since 1972. I started teaching in Colac in 1967 with work in Special Education and the Primary School system. I retired fully in 2018 after having semi retired in 2002.  I have regarded the environment with some respect since I was a small child, being able to play and seek adventure in open spaces going back many years.  Living in the Otway Ranges has been a highlight of my life and being able to raise three, free ranging children with my wife Kay in such an environment has been a pleasure.

The desire to leave this world in a better shape than it has been found has been my major driving force.  A lack of truth, honesty and integrity from those authorities left with the task of looking after the world of the future has also been a driving force behind trying to look after at least one small area of the planet.

Our property has been drought proof since European settlement and the desire to keep it so is extremely strong. To achieve this a great deal of work has to be accomplished in regard to the wider region of the Otway Ranges. To achieve this end our family has contributed much time, effort and thought.  www.otwaywater.com.au/

My contribution with this exhibition is my books and my story which I will tell with a voice recording.

 

Text edited by Zahidah Zeytoun Millie – Curator