Latest / Salt of the Earth / Ep 117: Lisa Millar _ Part C

Transcript

Ep 117: Lisa Millar _ Part C · Salt of the Earth

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: What I see when I go out there are communities that are focused on helping each other, that face adversity, that have challenges, but in a localized way, they are finding the path to making life better for those around them.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: We're back with Gold Logie nominee Lisa Miller.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: After years reporting from around the world, Lisa returns home thinking life might finally calm down.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Or so she thought.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Next thing she knows, she's hosting three hours of live television every morning on ABC News Breakfast.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: We go behind the scenes of live TV.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: We talk about interviewing childhood heroes, and we dive into her book Daring to Fly.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: An honest, funny, deeply personal look at her remarkable life.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever the question is, the answer is so often found in regional Australia.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: I reckon she's onto something.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Australia was calling Lisa Miller back.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: And how good was it to land back in this country after that tumultuous period?
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: Mum and dad had died at this point, but I knew I was coming back into the arms of my loving family, and I needed, I definitely needed some reset time.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I thought I was going to hang out in Queensland, go to the beach, see my nieces and nephews and their children.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: The family had gotten bigger and bigger, and I ended up in Melbourne hosting ABC News Breakfast.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: And we're so glad you did.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: Six years I did that.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Six years.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Six years.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: Can you believe it?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me a bit about ABC Breakfast.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: What time would you get up?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: 3 a.m.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: But sometimes I would be awake well before that because you'd start panicking if you knew you were going to be interviewing the Prime Minister.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: So a couple of things about that period.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: A, I did not realize that I was kind of already starting to move from being a journalist writing everyone else's stories to being part of the story.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: I wasn't prepared for that because that was not something I had longed for.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: I wasn't, I didn't want to be the star.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't, you know, I thought I was just doing another job, and I didn't realise, oh, this is a different kind of job.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: And that had its benefits and it definitely had its drawbacks.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: But with everything that I have done, I have tried to find the goodness in it and where the silver lining has come about.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now if I hadn't gone through that six years.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: And there were some incredible highlights.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I got to interview people that I had adored as a teenager, the lead singer of Spandel Ballet.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: I loved Tony Hadley.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: I had his poster on my walls, right?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so there we are sitting down on the couch.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: Jason Donovan, my first teenage crush.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: There you go.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, got to interview him.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: So there were lots of fun moments and I learned so much.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: I kind of wished I knew a bit more and was better prepared for what was going to come when I started.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: I was a bit blindsided.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a bit kind of naive with things like that, a bit gullible, probably.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think I'm terribly sophisticated with the thinking of what was ahead.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: I want to know, like this is three hours of live TV, the ABC Breakfast Show.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: How much is planned and how much just happens?
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: So a bit of both.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: The night before, you would get the briefs, so you would know you had maybe 10 or 12 live interviews that would be done, and we would work out who was going to do which interview.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: So you could kind of research and prep for what might be coming.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: But anything could happen overnight in the world, and you would wake up and it would be a completely different scenario.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: And suddenly you've got a lead story from somewhere in the world on a topic that you have never spoken about before in your life.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so you had to sort of become an instant expert, which you can never be.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: And then suddenly there'd be rolling pictures.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: They'd just say, okay, we're gonna go live to wherever, and you just have to talk over these pictures.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so I learned no scripts.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, no.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I learned a lot from the people I was working with, and also David Spears was a great mentor in that regard.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: He is very good at live coverage and to be able to keep talking when you feel like I have nothing more to say.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love quite a bit from him.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: But you'd be even getting ready for the next interview and it's four minutes out, and things could change then, couldn't they?
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Something comes in.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, totally.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: And you would have to adapt so quickly.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: Can I tell you one of the interviews that really threw me, which I still have a bit of a giggle about, um, was with Elmo from Sesame Street.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because we had to sign this non-disclosure, which I'm probably breaking now, but you know, sorry, Sesame Street, that Elmo, um, we couldn't reveal that Elmo was actually a puppet, and Elmo was coming into the studio in a suitcase, right?
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, because Elmo believes Elmo's real.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm doing this interview with Elmo at the desk, and there are two people underneath my feet who are controlling Elmo and his friend, Abby Kadabi or whatever her name was, and another puppet, except they don't believe they're puppets, they believe they're real.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so at the end of the interview, I'm thinking, God, how do I end this interview with Elmo?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and I said, Does Elmo, does Elmo want to read the next intro of the auto cue?
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: And Elmo, who looks at me and goes, Oh, Elmo can't read.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I realise, of course, the people controlling him are underneath my feet.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: So of course Elmo can't read the next intro.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, Tony Armstrong was on the couch at that time, and so Tony could see that I'd got myself into a right pickle with this interview.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: And Tony then said, How about I read the next intro?
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, Oh, thank you, Tony.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, you've got to laugh at things like that.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: There were so many funny things that happened.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think he got into Elmo's character and you were living it for him.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's fantastic.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Are there any other behind-the-scenes things that us viewers wouldn't know about?
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Oh gosh, all the time.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we had a little toilet just behind the studio, so you could duck out to go to the toilet.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I knew I was so such an expert at knowing I could do a power we in 60 seconds, right?
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I would do, I would move my hand in front of my throat to say, cut the microphone so there was nothing that would go live.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then I'd say, I gotta do a wee.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, Well, you've only got a minute and a half.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I can do this.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, you know, as I kind of blow air on my nails and go, I've got this, got this.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: Just little things like that, the logistics of how it all actually works.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: For 90 seconds, you could paint the toilet back sitting on microphone off.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Ready to go.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: I tell you, power weighing.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: I know that's not on my CV, but it should be.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: Really.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Did you learn this in the trauma class or not?
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: Well, do you know what?
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: You that is funny you should raise that because the other thing about all the overseas work I did is that you often never knew where you were going to be able to go to the toilet.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you are, you know, covering stories where there's terrorists and all the rest of it, it's like you can't just find public toilets anywhere and wander off when you've got police and military and all the rest of it.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, there'd be times where I just wouldn't drink anything for ages because you'd think, well, how how do I even go to the toilet?
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Which is such Which is a time when you do need lots of food because it's stressed.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: But um behind the scenes at breakfast, oh look, you know, we used to always have a bit of a laugh in the makeup room.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: And my we had a beautiful floor manager called Joe, who's now retired.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: But in that last two minutes before we'd go to air, we'd be standing in front of the cameras.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: We've done a rehearsal, so we know that the first 60 seconds of the program is going to be fantastic, except what it wasn't.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and then Joe and I would start having a little sing along, you know.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: And it used to kind of warm up our voice, my voice as well.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: So we'd sing one perfect day, we'll go out walking, or we'd sing, um, what else would we sing?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, um, why do birds suddenly appear?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: So then we go, you know, and then the music starts and good morning, today, da-da-da, you know, and you'd go straight into it.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: But I remember this one time that there was a problem with the computers, and instead of the opening story, which was a really important, serious story on screen, all we had was a picture of a chicken, and we couldn't get rid of the chicken, and the producer is madly in my ear, going, There's something wrong, we're gonna have to shut down the system.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: We can't get rid of the chicken.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm trying to talk about you know, Donald Trump and what's happening with overseas news, and all that any viewer is seeing is this chicken, and you've just got to laugh.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: You've just got to laugh about things like that.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: I don't like the fact that you're singing a few seconds beforehand.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's good.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: I did thousands of news bulletins as a floor manager with Dennis Walter.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: And at three seconds to go, I'd be counting him down, and he'd be still hooking into me about some story or whatever.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Dennis, shut up! Two, one, snap, right into that story away you go.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: I don't I wouldn't I wouldn't want to cause stress to other people by doing that.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: So we would definitely be quiet for the last 10 seconds, but yeah, you've got to kind of just loosen up the neck and the vocal cords and stuff like that.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: And then the minute you're off air at 9 a.m., oh, it's such a relief.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: Because it is it's a high wire act for three hours of live television.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: You when you start at 6 a.m., it's like you're getting on a train and there's no stopping it.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like it finishes at nine and you are there for the line.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: No, Lisa, Daring to Fly.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Congratulations.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: This is your fun memoir.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not a big book reader, I'm sorry, but I've purchased the Audible book and I've loved it.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I have to say now it's the best book I've ever read or listened to.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: That's very common.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's a it's a powerful story.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I really recommend people to jump onto that.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: They can purchase it online.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: Get it from the library?
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: Or get it from the library?
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I was telling one of our friends, the dear Mary Brewer, about your book, who you've interviewed recently.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: She's 95-year-old Mary.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: I was telling her about the book, and she's gone off to the library to get your book.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, good old.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: She can't wait.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_02: Oh.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Lisa, I've got one small problem with the book.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: Oh what?
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: I was listening to it, and I had six hours to drive across from Northeast Victoria to Western Victoria.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I got so entrenched in your story.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: I missed a turn.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: Oh no.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: Not by one minute or 200 metres down the road, 20 minutes.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, sorry.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's how good your story was.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Oh well, that's very kind, but I'm very sorry because also fuel is expensive.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I have added to the cost of your day by adding kilometres to your travel.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I have to be honest, six hours turned into about 30 minutes.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: It was a really good trip.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: Oh wow.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: I recommend how do people purchase it?
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's available online, they can go to anywhere.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: Bookstores still have it.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, look, I wrote it when we were all in lockdown during COVID, and Hashet publishers asked if I would start writing.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: That actually asked me previously, but I said I didn't have any time.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so when COVID happened and I was by myself in an apartment in Melbourne, they said, Well, you've got time, so get writing.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm really glad I did.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: It was quite a cathartic experience.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: I treated it like a journalist because I just didn't trust my own memories of things.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: I interviewed everyone.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: I interviewed the camera crews that I worked with on all these big stories.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: I interviewed my siblings.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: I went back to my emails and photos to make sure that what I remembered was actually what had happened.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: And gosh, it really proved to me that we are very inconsistent narrators of our own lives because things that I would have sworn black and blue had happened at a particular time or it had a particular impact on me.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: Then when I'm doing the actual fact-checking, I've got it wrong.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm so glad you voiced it for the audible book because it is your real true story, and I loved it.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Lisa, I had a day with you recently at the amazing Judy Brooks farm.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I saw a little bit about what you're up to these days.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: You're interviewing people every few minutes, you were doing pieces to camera, you were looking after overlay, you were meeting people like me, you wanted to know about all these other people around.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: The day was hectic.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: What I saw.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Us and the crew, your crew and yourself were sitting on the veranda at the end of the day.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I said to you, Lisa, these are big days.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: How do you feel?
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: You must be exhausted at the end of it.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll never remember what you said, but it gave me this smile and this look, which left me intrigued.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: And for a month went on, and I was listening to your book in the car, and I got to about chapter 25 when all this chaos was going on over the world, not knowing where you were going to sleep, where you were going to go to the toilet, what was happening, who you were crossing to, and the penny dropped.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I've worked it out.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: But that day on the farm, that was perfect.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: That was beautiful.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: That was planned, it was all organised.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's what I do every day.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: I was in one small little country community, whereas chapter 25, it was chaotic.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: Everything is a walk in the park these days, and it's a lovely walk in the park because with back roads and mustard dogs, I'm on the road for about 125 days of the year away from my home.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: But I have my schedule for the next 12 months.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I know where I'm going.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: My flights have been booked.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: I know that next April I am staying in X hotel in X City.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like, wow, this is more planned than I could ever imagine.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: So yes, how insightful of you to think that looked like chaos, but actually, compared to what I've been doing, it was it's a breeze.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: And the other thing that I just want to say is that when I'm out and about interviewing and spending a day like we did on the farm, I am just so full of joy.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: My cup is filled with the people that I'm meeting because what has happened in the years that I've been doing back roads is that I am seeing people just quietly getting on with inspirational things who are doing making the world a better place, who are doing kind things, and I feel like that then makes me feel so much better.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: So selfishly, I'm getting a lot out of this.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: And we were in the Huan Valley in Tasmania recently with the crew for Back Roads, and it was all about how do you have a meaningful life?
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: And every day I was interviewing people who have found ways to have a meaningful life.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought, man, you know, whatever the question is, the answer is so often found in regional Australia.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: And with mustard dogs, what I'm seeing there are people who, no matter how long they've been in the industry, no matter how experienced they are, they are happy to be lifelong learners.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: They are curious, they want to have new ideas, they're open to new ideas.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel like for me, and I do get on a bit of a high horse about this because I've been and am a country kid, but I have lived in the biggest cities around the world, and I feel like the perception sometimes of what's happening in the country is a poor perception and an incorrect perception because what I see when I go out there are communities that are focused on helping each other, that face adversity, that have challenges, but in a localized way, they are finding the path to making life better for those around them.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I see that again and again.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: And that is why I'm so proud of the work we do with backroads and mustards.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: And you have this incredible way of getting those stories out of people.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: I've seen it, and and all their listeners and viewers will have seen that too.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think we can have another chat in a week or two just on backroads and mustard dogs?
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: Why not?
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: Let's park that one because I've got some really cool questions coming up that I do want to get to.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: Now, just going back to your interviewing style, do you think it's more about listening than asking questions?
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: I think that silence is an incredibly powerful thing as an interviewer to just stay quiet, to ask a question and not be then trying to add words or suggest, oh, but hang on, I meant this, or have you thought about that?
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: Jumping in, just sit there and let it percolate for people how they want to answer.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, I still feel like I'm learning all the time how to be a good interviewer.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: I do also think there's nothing wrong with actually just prodding a bit further than maybe someone might feel comfortable being prodded.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm thinking about the interview that I did with this gorgeous guy who they call kind of the unofficial mayor of Candelow in New South Wales.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: And Candelow is our first backroads for the winter series, so you'll be able to find it on ABC IV now when you're listening to this.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: But Barry Moffat from Candelow is a big tough bloke who kind of runs the town.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: But deep inside him is a vulnerability that I saw a glimpse of, which he wasn't going to show me on camera.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: But I thought, you know what?
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: I think I think he'll feel good if we show this on camera.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so I did just prod a little bit more, a little bit more, and I think we both shed a tear by the end of the interview.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: But I was really proud of it.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I guess the point is I'm learning all the time still about how to be a good interviewer.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think your country upbringing has helped this?
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, every uh my country upbringing has helped everything about who I am and how I see the world and what's important.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Easily, easily.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I can't put my finger exactly on what is it about the country upbringing.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, was it the beautiful librarian who, you know, would help me find the books as a seven-year-old in Kilkeevan to read?
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: Was it mum and dad's influence?
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's so many elements of it that it's very difficult to single anything out in particular.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: Was it watching people go through hardship, losing stock, dealing with the weather, but getting through it, you know?
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's what I mean about facing adversity and having people in the community who are there to help you.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: Lisa, you've had your fair share of losses in your life so far.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: We talked about your parents.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: We've talked about your close cameran friend John.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, in that horrific accident.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the helicopter accident over Lake Air.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so John was one of, I was gonna mention John because he was one of my friends who I flattered with in Canberra.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: And when I talk about the awesome relationships and friendships that I have forever, it was like I still had that friendship with John, even though it's now, you know, more than a decade, a decade, a decade and a half since he died.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: And only weeks before he died, he gave me a fridge magnet.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: And on the fridge magnet, it said, friends are like stars, you can't always see them, but they're always there.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I just couldn't believe that that was what he'd chosen to give me just weeks before he died.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so I feel like John is often still there looking out for me.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: And he was out shooting a story on Lake Air with Paul Lockheed.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, with Paul Lockier and the helicopter pilot who was a longtime employee of the ABC as well.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: And their chopper crashed and all three of them were killed.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: And a mentor of yours died so suddenly Richard Carlton.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: In Tasmania.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, when he was covering the two men who were caught in the mine down there as well.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: And then one of the losses that we all feel at the ABC is Mark Colvin's death, who was the presenter of PM, because he was such an incredible supporter of younger colleagues.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, he he was unwell for a long time.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so we knew we were going to lose him.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: But when it eventually came, we still Lee Sales and I, she's my best mate, and we often say, God, I wonder what Colvin would say about this.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: Or this is the kind of time that I'd love to be having a Yarn to Colvin about it.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: But I've just got to think, well, how lucky are we that we had him at all in our lives and that we were we had that time with him?
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Because there'll be other reporters who never had a Colvin, never had someone like that looking out for them.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what I want to sit with and dwell on.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: How fortunate I was that I had people like that in my life to start with.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: You talked about your close friend, Lee Sales, an incredible person.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: She's all that.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: Well, my next question is who helps you stay grounded when things get a little intense?
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's a good question.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, at the moment, definitely Simon, my fiance, uh, who was a longtime friend.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: We'd known each other for a long, long time before we got together romantically just a couple of years ago.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: So that's been a lovely bonus of my 50s that I was not expecting.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: And Salesy is the kind of friend who will give me the hard words, even though they might be hard to accept.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: We're very truthful with each other.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: And we went over as correspondents to Washington in 2001, and we were good friends before that, but then that absolutely solidified our friendship.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: And so we've always been there for each other.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes we have to say, mate, you are on the wrong track here.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: You're making a bad decision, or we question how each other thinks we have similar morals and ethics about things.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: So we often say, we'll ring to say, oh, what do you think I've been asked to do?
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: Blah, blah, blah.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: And we know that if we're asking the question, we know what the answer is, right?
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know that the answer is don't do it.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: If you're asking for a second opinion, you know your gut says you shouldn't be doing it, whatever it might be.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so, but you know, she's a great sounding board and absolutely keeps me grounded, as do my sisters who make me realise there's nothing special about me and the family.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone's doing amazing things, they're all good people, and yeah, they're fantastic supporters of mine.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: But I do, yeah, sometimes when people talk about Lisa Miller, the gold logi nominee, I wonder who they're talking about.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like I'm looking down on all of this and thinking this is so weird.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: I still feel like that dorky little kid from Kilkeven.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's how I feel.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: This is Lisa Miller just reminding the listeners, the big life that she's living, nominated for a gold logi.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Lisa Miller, are you up for these little quirky questions?
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: They're the off-the-wall questions.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: If your early farm self met newsroom Lisa today, what would she say?
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: Just be prepared for an amazing ride.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: Do not worry about making mistakes.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: You are going to get through this okay.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: What's your most accidental chaos newsroom moment?
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: I like living on the edge, right?
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I had to have a colonoscopy, and you know how you have to take all the material beforehand to completely empty your bowels?
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: I thought, well, I can do it while doing live television.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I did.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, really?
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: I did three hours of live television while taking all of that liquid to have a colonoscopy.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I got through it.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: And Lee Sales said, Miller, you are an idiot.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I went, Oh, come on, it'll be fun.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: No way.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: The makeup artists were very worried about what might happen.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: But it was all good, no accidents.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: I locked myself in my home for two days.
• 26:44
  unknown: No.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: No, there you go.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: Now that is a big secret that I've just told.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: But your listeners are welcome.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry to put that thought in their head.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't think you were going to go there, but right.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: Well, talking a little bit about that, coffee or adrenaline, what actually runs ABC Breakfast?
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: Coffee.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: Does it?
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever completely blanked someone's name out live on TV?
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yes.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: But it was when I first was taking over News Breakfast or co-hosting News Breakfast and taking over from Virginia.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: And someone was walking towards us to sit down on the couch for me to do an interview with them.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't know who they were because I was so kind of confused with what was happening.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I had to say to Michael, who's this?
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: And it was Joel Creasy, the comedian.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I tell I told Joel about this years later.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: I said, Wow, when you sat down on that couch next to me, I actually didn't know who you were.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't that I'd forgotten, it's just that I'd spent so long overseas that I didn't know him.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know that he was this fabulous comedian.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: And so I started the interview by going, so what's news?
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: How's life?
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: He could have made that comedy to start with.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: He would have, how cool is this girl?
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_00: Pretending to not know my name.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: No, it was a biggie.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: If Kilkeeven in Country Queensland had a statue of you, what would it be holding?
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, gorgeous.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, a gold logi.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: No, it'd be a library book.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: Really?
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it'd be absolutely a library book.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: You might have been going to say a microphone.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: A library book.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: And also, do you know how heavy those logies are?
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: They're very heavy.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: So I just think I'd rather be holding as a statue a library book.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I saw a stunning photo of you this week standing behind an extra large one.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: What's a habit from your early life that you still do today without thinking?
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: Make the bed as soon as I get out of it.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: Do you?
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: Even at three o'clock in the morning, make the bed always.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: How good are you at it?
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I do hospital corners.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, no way.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: I think if you put the duna over and can't see it, everything's fine.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: You're a Neanderthal.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: How do you face the day?
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's how you do it.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm ashamed.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm ashamed for you.
• 29:09
  unknown: No.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: And when you get in it at nighttime, you're so tired.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like, who cares?
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know who you are.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: This is mate.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: You actually are giving me hives just talking like that.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: The bed has to be made.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: It has to be made well.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: Oh look, I'm not good at it, but I do put the sheets.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, you're trying to backtrack now.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: No, you've just got to be.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: I'm definitely not.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing I'm really bad at is hanging washing out in the clothesline.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_02: Oh.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: One peg roughly gets something that's got a sleeve twisted in and out.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm really bad at that.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we're nearly at the end, so you may not talk to me after this.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: If your career was a weather forecast, what would it be?
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's a great question.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: It would be high turbulent winds with a gentle southeasterly change in the afternoon.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: Beautiful.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that would bring on our calm end of the day.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: Fantastic.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: One last question.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'm probably gonna let you down a bit here and say wherever I am, because what I have done through my entire life is find peace and contentment wherever I am.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I've lived in so many different places around the world and have arrived where I've known no one and have had to create communities and lives around me, and I can do it, and I love it.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_01: So wherever I am is where I'm happy.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: I can see that with you.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: You get the best out of every moment.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I try, I try.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: Lisa, this has been such a privilege for me to sit down and have this time with you.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: You're so kind, you're so clever, you're very authentic.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: You're making me blush.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: You're a hard worker, you're real.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: And for our listeners, Lisa Miller is the same beautiful person in real life as we see on TV.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's too stressful to try and be anything else, don't you think?
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how can you have different personalities?
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, I'll agree with you there, but all the other stuff makes me blush.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: And now I'm gonna make you pick up the Master Dog silver logie from last year, and you can see how heavy it is.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm gonna quickly run and get it.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: Let's do that.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: Listeners, I'm running across the room to get the silver logi.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god, that's the Master Dog logi.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it is heavy, isn't it?
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_01: So now we just need to try and make it a gold one.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: Fantastic.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: There's enough room on the piano over there for a gold one.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: Listeners, log on, Google TV Week Logie Awards.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: Go through, hit some favourites as you like on the way through, but right at the end, gold logie, Lisa Miller.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for the chat.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: I really enjoyed it.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what can I say?
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: What an extraordinary person, and a real privilege to sit down with her.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lisa.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_00: I've learned a lot from her about journalism, about country life, and even how to be a better person myself.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, about bed making.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to vote Lisa Miller for Gold Logie.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: Now, there's a very good chance she'll be back soon for another chat.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: This time, it's all about ABC's back roads.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: What really happens behind one of Australia's most loved television programs?
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: I can't wait for that one.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: In the meantime, keep your hands dirty and your spirit type.