On the occasion of what would have been his 84th birthday, Melbourne gathered at a state memorial service to farewell “a country kid who made it big”, as the premier put it.
“He was a dynamo,” the transport magnate Lindsay Fox said on his way into Hamer Hall, gripping this reporter by the shoulder. Mitchell gave his time, money, and food to our near neighbour Timor-Leste, even buying Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao his first suit when Timor-Leste was a country in waiting. At the service via video he called Mitchell a “belum boot”, which translates as “a great friend”.
“We have got a new local Chinese restaurant,” Mitchell senior declared.“I sponsored a family from Shanghai to come out and set one up.”