Photos: Andrew is pictured at a winter camp (left) and interviewing Christine Carolan of the 1968 'Jahrgang' at the SAGSE 50th anniversary gala dinner in 2017.
This month's publication offers a look back to our 50th anniversary Gala Dinner in 2017 at the MCG, where Andrew Holden was one of our MCs. At the time he was living in Melbourne, where he was Editor-in-Chief of The Age. Currently Andrew lives in New Zealand, and whilst in lockdown recently he dug up some old photos of GASS Australia camps in 1984 and answered our interview questions.
An Interview with Andrew
Year of exchange:
1977/1978
School: Carey Grammar, Melbourne
Sponsor: VDO Instruments
Town / city of exchange in Germany: Wunstorf (near Hannover)
A memory from your exchange: Going for a training run in the snow around a nearby golf course and having a deer run in front of me; the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie
Studies on return from exchange: None!
Career path since then: Cadetship at the Sun News-Pictorial, worked through a range of suburban papers (Melbourne), edited LAM Magazine in London, Sunday Age and The Age, then The Press in Christchurch, finishing journalism career as Editor of The Press and Editor-in-Chief of The Age.
What are you doing now? Director of Communications for New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, Wellington, NZ's trade and investment agency (similar to Austrade).
How did the SAGSE exchange experience influence your life's journey?
It gave me the confidence to believe that I could be a part of the global community and experience that in many different ways (have lived in five countries, including Germany and Austria). And explain to people why Germany is so important to the world, never more important now as a leader in the world economy, sustainability and democracy and ethics.
Further comments: It was a real delight to be on the SAGSE Committee for many years, especially as Travel Chairman in the 1990s. I realised I was getting old when I started filling out travel plans for fellow Victorians who hadn't been born when I was a a stipi!