SIMON Schanknecht was born in the coastal town of East London, South Africa and migrated to Australia with his family 25 years ago.
After 12 years in Melbourne and 12 years living overseas, he settled in Beechworth about two years ago.
“We came to Beechworth to visit family for ten years and are thrilled to finally settle here," he said.
"I really enjoy the social connections from working at the Beechworth Men’s Shed, playing walking football and more recently having a hit with the pickleball team.”
What do you do workwise?
Latest Stories
I am happily retired from the water treatment and oil and gas industries, which I joined in 1989.
I worked in Papua New Guinea for three years, West Africa for five years as a fly-in-fly-out worker living in Auckland, and more recently for three years in Brunei on the island of Borneo.
As technical manager, I especially enjoyed mentoring my young team of scientists and engineers and hopefully inspired and enabled them.
What brought you to your role/career?
As a high school kid, I developed an early interest in science in general and specifically chemistry and the environment.
I was highly motivated to learn more and do something positive about the impact of industry on the world.
What do you love about being retired?
Being retired means I meet people from the many social circles in Beechworth, often because of a shared love of dogs.
We have a mixed breed dog who came from Brunei with us, and she has given us many introductions to the good people in the region.
What do you do in the community?
I am on the board of the Quercus Beechworth Neighbourhood House, having previously volunteered in the Quercus community garden.
It’s very rewarding to be part of something greater, and the team spirit is especially fun.
Is there an important community issue that you think needs addressing?
It’s been sad to see that, although Australia is a wealthy country, there is poverty in the region.
What would you do to solve, change or improve that situation?
While there’s no quick-fix, reducing poverty will need state and federal investment in education from kindergarten to TAFE, funding all types of housing, improving social services and supporting local industry to help create jobs.
What do you see as one of the most important current world issues?
One of my great concerns is the rise and increasing acceptance of neo-fascism and dictatorships.
The promotion of their divisive messages permeates the other great issues of climate change, intolerance and environmental damage.
Their existence sadly gives agency to like-minded hardliners to act the same way.
If the person you would most like to meet or knew, came to Indigo Shire or was already here, who would that be, what would you show them, and why?
I would bring my brother Andrew to Beechworth – he lives in Namibia – and show him the rail trails and our cultural heritage.
Andrew is passionate about the steam engine era and would enjoy seeing our local chapter of history.
What book are you reading?
“How Life Works” by British science writer Philip Ball, in which he explains the inner workings of cells and how heredity works.
I was inspired to read it by my daughter who is studying biotechnology – we like to chat about our respective interests and study directions.
