Helen Milne

Story

Helen Milne (nee Micallef) was born in Alexandria, Egypt on 7 April 1945 to Charles & Melita Micallef. She is the eldest of their four children.

At the age of seven months and after the Second World War ended her parents moved with her to Malta which was her father\’s homeland. Here she grew up in her grandparents\’ home until she and her mother migrated to Australia on 11 July 1950.

They travelled on board the Greek migrant ship SS Cyrenia which arrived in Fremantle, WA on 5 August and then sailed on to Melbourne, Victoria. It was night and as the lights of Melbourne got closer everyone on board came out on deck prepared to disembark. Helen was five years old and she could not remember ever having seen so many bright lights everywhere Ð on the dockland and beyond, on the many moored vessels, and all the reflected lights in the water. Even the sky was lit up that night with a big moon and lots of stars. Her father had already migrated to Australia the previous year with his two brothers, Joseph and Emanuel, and so was there to meet her and her mother when they disembarked. A final train trip to Queanbeyan, NSW completed their journey.

Home was at Kinkora Place in Queanbeyan where her father had built a house with the help of his brother Joseph. Her uncle Joseph and his family were already living in the house when she and her mother arrived. Her mother\’s sister was Uncle Joseph\’s wife and Helen had two first cousins to play with Ð Stella aged six and Alfred aged three. Two years later her cousins\’ family moved out because they had been allocated a government house in Narrabundah, ACT. Despite their move Helen still spent many happy weekends with her cousins in their new home.

She attended St Gregory\’s Catholic School in Queanbeyan which only went to intermediate level, then attended a secretarial course at the then Technical College in Kingston, ACT. Upon completion she worked first for the Commonwealth Bank and later for the then Government Tariff Board in Barton, ACT. It was at this time that she met Peter Milne who eight months later was conscripted for National Service in

February 1968. Fortunately he was assigned to the Psychology Corps at Albert Park Barracks in Melbourne for the duration of the Vietnam War. For this reason Helen also moved to Melbourne and found work there in a public accountant\’s office. In July 1969 they became engaged. She returned to Canberra in October to find a job and specifically avoid having to compete with the school leavers. She found employment with an insurance company. Peter was discharged from the Army in February 1970, having completed his two years\’ service. He returned to Canberra and resumed work at the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

On 4 April 1970 Helen and Peter were married − they were both 23 years old. On

14 December 1970 their daughter Natalie was born, by which time Helen had given up work. Seven months later they were allocated a government home in Rivett, ACT. Peter undertook part-time studies at the Australian National University (ANU) and on 17 April 1973 their son Derek was born. Ten months later with the help of her parents Helen was able to return to part-time work at the Soil Conservation Office in Queanbeyan for the next year and a half. By this time Peter had achieved a Bachelor of Arts degree from ANU which, added to his electrical engineering diploma assisted his work at CSIRO. Then in 1978 he was seconded to Stanford University in California for nine months and Helen and the children moved with him.

When both her children were in primary school Helen enrolled in a part-time refresher course of shorthand theory and speed at the Technical & Further Education College (TAFE) in Woden, ACT. Having achieved a good result she re-entered the workforce in December 1984 by joining the Commonwealth Department of Health. Here she remained for almost 16 years gaining three promotions along the way. During these years both her parents died Ð her mother in 1987 and father in 1989. She retired in April 2000 followed by Peter who retired a year later.

Her children are both now married and she has two grandchildren who she adores Ð Orlando aged four and Lily aged two. Perhaps it is because she is an immigrant that she so enjoys accommodating visiting academics and visiting other countries. To date she and Peter have visited many countries − Alaska, USA, Canada, England, France, Holland, Italy, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, Scotland, Singapore, Switzerland and will next month be adding South Korea to their list.

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