I was an only child, and my mother died of bowel cancer in October 1957. She was only 39, and I was 13. After a couple of years, my father decided to remarry, and I wasn’t comfortable with his new wife, basically, so I decided to move out. I wasn’t getting any support, so I had to live independently.
I got my first job at the ATO in 1961, as a clerical assistant grade 1. I didn’t do any accountancy there, I was happy doing tasks of a repetitive nature. Many years later, when they offered voluntary redundancy packages for folks who didn’t take on computer skills and stuff like that, I took one. That was in June of 1995.
I bought a house outright with the redundancy package, but then I was targeted by an overseas scam and I ended up losing my house. By then I was 51, and I couldn’t get another mortgage, so I had to start renting. From that point on, I thought the only way I could probably recover the money I lost would be to get involved with a direct sales company in order to try and get exponential income, rather than a fixed income.
A couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas. I had an operation to remove part of my pancreas, and I’ve been consistently seeing an oncologist to check whether the cancer has spread in any way.
I’m 80 now, and I’d like to do something about increasing my assets. I’m in a nursing home, and so the money I’m paying for the nursing home is 85 per cent of my pension. There’s definitely a big gap in regards to my disposable income at the moment. I’m lucky I’ve still got my mobility and can sell The Big Issue.
I’ve been at my pitch near Darling Harbour for 11 years, and I like being in the CBD, where you get a lot of foot traffic. Especially now that I’m in a nursing home, I do enjoy the interaction with the general public.
Two of the people that are visiting me in the nursing home are my Big Issue customers. Amazing friends. One of them was single like myself, and then she decided to get married, and recently she had a baby: it’s made me feel so good. It’s brought a kind of comfort, not having a family of my own, that this girl has shared with me all her milestones in life. She’s even brought the baby along to visit. Next month we’re going to have dinner at an RSL with her husband and child.
Selling The Big Issue is like having a mini business. Sometimes it’s challenging, like all business, especially when the weather is bad. But it also shows people that I’m consistent and have a strong work ethic. But it’s more than that, too. It’s not only that you’re getting the income and meeting people, but sometimes people want someone to talk to, and you’re giving them the benefit of coming up and talking to you as well. It’s like a second family.
Gary sells The Big Issue on the corner of Market and Kent Streets, Sydney.
Interview by Mel Fulton
Photo by Michael Quelch
Published in ed#734