THE RICH PROCESS of life is all about the acquisition and application of knowledge. How we manage our life attests to our own abilities and character as reinforced and nourished from our home environments, the reliability and quality of our formal education and the ways in which we are enabled to manage and grow from those experiences. I am the product of a public school education: West Ryde Infants, West Ryde Primary and Marsden State High School. I remember my teachers well: Mrs Reneike in kindy; Mrs McGrath and Mrs Anderson in first and second class. These women encouraged me not to be shy about my curiosity. To them I owe my devotion to and love of reading. The gruff old Mr Maloney in third class, the brilliant Mrs Conway in fourth, the cane-devoted Mr Pollock in fifth and the rather tired old warrior Mr Heard in sixth, a man who seemed to me to be simply seeing his days out.

Secondary school was entirely different – lots of teachers and a host of new experiences. Many, I realise for better or worse, have impacted on my view of the world. People like Mr Clarke in science, Miss McCauley in Latin, Mr Raskall and Mr Hawkins in mathematics, and Mr Townsend and Mr Botham in history provided settings that have been central to my thinking ever since; so too Andy Watson in economics, Pam Kidd in visual arts and Francis Spillane in English and drama, who were all amongst the first adults who relaxed with me using their first names in private. Above all there was my music tutor, Richard Gill, and the head of physical education, Maureen Fryer, both of whom remain close friends and to whom I owe so much.