The Australian Women's Weekly

welcome!

There’s something in the air at The Weekly offices this spring, as two of our longtime team members enter their final trimester of pregnancy. Style Director Mattie and Style Editor Bec are bumping along in spectacular fashion as they continue to expertly direct style pages and celebrity shoots across the country (see some of their work below). And this month they had the pleasure of dressing another stylish mum-to-be, actress Jolene Anderson (see page 92). After serious health issues had her facing the very real possibility of never being able to have a baby of her own, her pregnancy at 39 has her brimming with joy. There’s nothing quite like those happy and nervous final weeks before bringing a child into the word – an arrival which will change your life in…

open line

LETTER of the MONTH I loved the article on Dame Quentin Bryce (right) and her work with the Aboriginal community (Fighting for Lockhart’s children, AWW, September). I think it is wonderful that such an educated and caring person is highlighting the important issues facing our Indigenous Australians. She certainly is a credit to the nation and did her duty well during her service as Governor-General of Australia. I also think it’s great that her daughter Chloe has followed in her mother’s footsteps by campaigning for human rights, in particular domestic violence prevention and equal opportunity. A. Morrissey, Eaglehawk, Vic. HEART AND SOUL Congratulations on the brilliant “Celebrating Country Australia” issue (AWW, September). Your coverage of the drought, Country Women’s Association (CWA) and the issues facing our country folk will hopefully help city readers understand…

in brief

Fit for a Queen AMID RUMOURS Dame Helen Mirren will revive her partnership with The Queen writer Peter Morgan and play Elizabeth II in The Crown, which Peter also wrote, she’s pictured looking radiant as Catherine the Great (above, right) in the forthcoming series of the same name, which also stars Richard Roxburgh. A dress fit for a princess FASHION sustainability warrior Princess Mary has shown you can be climate and fashion conscious at the same time, as she re-wore this elegant recycled dress from the H&M Conscious Collection. Princess Mary first debuted the dress at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit in May, pairing it with a black blazer (right). The dress made an apperance again at an event held to teach children about the UN’s sustainability goals (far right). Bombshells The tense teaser trailer for…

little town, big hearts

AROUND BILOELA, everyone has a story about Priya and Nades. “If someone did something kind for them, Priya thanked them with gifts of food. She randomly took beautiful curries up to the local hospital,” says friend Angela Fredericks. In 2012, the tiny Queensland town welcomed the Tamil asylum seekers with open arms. They’d fled Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war by boat and gratefully threw themselves into the community, especially after the birth of daughters Kopika, four, and Tharunicaa, two. Nades worked at the local abattoir, Priya volunteered at the church, kindergarten and craft group. “Priya always said her life began the day she arrived in Biloela,” Angela says. Sadly though, the couple’s application for permanent residency was rejected and in March 2018 when their bridging visas expired, Border Force officials raided their Biloela…

in brief

Brazil As fire raged through the Amazon, one man worked tirelessly to protect local wildlife trapped in the inferno. Vet Jerjes Suarez saved armadillos from the ashy remains of the forest. Australia Sailors have discovered a raft of floating pumice stone as large as 20,00 football fields floating towards Australia. The phenomenon is the result of an underwater volcanic eruption. Iceland Iceland’s Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdóttir was among 100 people who attended a funeral for a glacier that was declared an ex-glacier. Girl we love Sweet relief A promise of freshly-baked biscuits has enticed a GP to a country town that hasn’t had a doctor in 18 months. Edie Rayner’s plea was heard by Dr Graham Fleming, who will work three days a week in Kimba, South Australia. GETTY IMAGES. JULIA DUNIN. COURTESY OF THE ABC.JOSHUA STEVENS NASA EARTH…

“i’ve been blessed”

In the beginning, there were seven other women in the Sydney breast cancer clinic with Valerie Taylor. They endured fear and pain side by side, swapped stories, shared secrets and encouraged each other through the awful side effects of chemotherapy. As time passed, they continued to meet for lunch or coffee while their numbers gradually, inexorably dwindled. Ultimately, only two of them were left. And then, sadly, Valerie became the sole survivor of their friendship group. Aged 50, the vibrant Australian diver renowned for swimming with sharks had taken on humanity’s most pitiless predator – cancer – and lived to tell the tale, despite the direst of medical predictions. “I was told I had only a 25 per cent chance of surviving,” says Valerie, now 83 and revealing her cancer struggle for…