Ann Peacock – with the same disarming directness she deploys to talk about horseracing, the Liberal Party, her famous mother Lady Susan Renouf, her children, her fun Braccialini handbag with its teddy bear clasp, the time she stopped mouldy fruit being pelted at her politician dad Andrew – is telling me about her stalker.
asserted
fruit → deploy → stalker
This is not where I expected to land interviewing a Victoria Racing Club board member ahead of Melbourne Cup Week.
asserted
I → expect → Week
But life has been rich and varied and brimming with ups and downs for this former TV weather presenter, charity fundraiser, ex-Crown Casino executive, and Liberal Party blue blood who was once denied membership of the party’s blue ribbon Kooyong branch during a party spat, gallingly, as it was her father’s own electorate.
asserted
it → brim → spat
Political violence against women could not be more topical this week given the shocking events in Wangaratta, but Peacock, 61, raises the incident because I ask about a fragment in The Age archive reporting a 1999 police investigation.
uncertain
I → give → investigation
“It was a shocking thing to have to go through,” says Peacock.
asserted
Peacock → have → ?
“Michael [Kroger, her second husband and Liberal Party powerbroker] and I were engaged.
asserted
Kroger → engage → ?
And I was receiving dirty letters and threatening letters.”
asserted
I → receive → letters
They demanded Kroger end a political dispute with then premier Jeff Kennett.
asserted
Kroger → demand → Kennett
Her house was broken into and – Peacock says deliberately and pointedly – “all the female clothing was touched”.
“I don’t know if the police record says this, but the man had ejaculated on my car.
asserted
man → break → car
And he stole lots of things.
asserted
he → steal → things
So it really became very personal and dirty.”
asserted
it → become → ?
Police questioned a man, but the case was judged hard to prove for various reasons and no one was ever charged.
asserted
one → question → reasons
How does she reflect on it now?
asserted
she → reflect → it
Peacock responds that she doesn’t.
asserted
she → respond → ?
And she won’t link it to the attack this week on Helen Haines, which caused the independent MP’s legs to be amputated.
asserted
legs → link → Haines
“I don’t correlate the two.
asserted
I → correlate → two
I am on time for lunch with Peacock at Grill Americano, the Manhattan meets Melbourne Italo-steak joint on Flinders Lane in the heart of the city.
asserted
Manhattan → meet → city
It is a warm sunny day and Peacock is all stylish fun dressed in a Versace ruffled top, Pucci print trousers of many colours, shimmery silver Trussardi ankle boots and an armful of bangles.
asserted
Peacock → dress → bangles
She has already spotted and paid her respects to restaurant proprietor Chris Lucas (Society, Chin Chin), who is power lunching slap bang in the middle of the restaurant with federal Liberal MP and shadow treasurer Tim Wilson.
asserted
who → spot → Wilson
Peacock orders a non-alcoholic XPA, popular in Europe she says, reveals she doesn’t have a partner, talks about the importance of a career – “I’ve worked hard since I was 17, I enjoy the stimulation greatly” – but also embracing the home for her sons – “I love my children more than anything”.
asserted
I → order → anything
Edward, “Woody”, who has just graduated with honours from law at Monash, is still ensconced at home while his elder brother Andrew is a doctor in neurology at The Alfred.
asserted
brother → graduate → Alfred
When Edward gets a job will you kick him out, I wonder.
asserted
I → get → him
“Absolutely not,” says Peacock, who left the family home during year 6 for boarding school in the late ’70s.
asserted
who → say → 70s
Her darling mother Susan, a journalist and model who had caused outrage by advertising Sheridan sheets while Peacock’s father was minister for the army in the 1960s, fell in love with horse trainer Robert Sangster and moved to the Isle of Man and married him.
asserted
father → cause → him
During school holidays, Ann would fly with her sisters Caroline and Jane around the world to visit.
asserted
Ann → fly → world
Racing has been part of her life since 1974, when Leilani, part-owned by her parents, won the Turnbull Stakes, Toorak Handicap, and the Caulfield Cup before taking a close second in the Melbourne Cup.
“I’ve had this link to the VRC for decades.
asserted
I → own → decades
You can work out how many decades!
asserted
You → work → ?
To actually be there now, representing, the members and people that are not yet members, is an honour that I hold the highest esteem.”
asserted
I → represent → esteem
For the first time, the famous Cox Plate will run at Flemington on Saturday while its Mooney Valley racecourse is reconstructed.
asserted
racecourse → run → Saturday
Ever the PR, Peacock says young people are coming back to racing to experience a whole day’s entertainment.
asserted
people → say → entertainment
Robbie Williams will perform on Cup Day, while the Gold Coast DJ Fisher, who has 2.6 million Instagram followers, will return after performing at Stakes Day last year.
asserted
who → perform → Day
Laughing like a 13-year-old, she admits she didn’t know who the global DJ phenomenon was.
asserted
phenomenon → laugh → old
“But, of course, I got up to speed.
asserted
I → get → speed
She waves away the big news that VRC chairman Neil Wilson is stepping down, to be replaced by board member Vin Cox, as simply normal change, despite reports of board level machinations.
asserted
Wilson → wave → machinations
Peacock herself was re-elected to the board without a ballot in December for a second three-year term.
asserted
re → re → term
Peacock and her sister, British horse trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam, have two horses, Military Academy and Ambassadorial, both set to run on Cup Day in different races.
asserted
Peacock → have → races
But she laughs off press reports her sister, who trains more than 50 horses in the UK, is planning to relocate to Australia.
asserted
who → laugh → Australia
Like racing, politics threads through her life.
asserted
politics → thread → life
Her “loving, caring” father Andrew was Liberal Party leader twice before he became ambassador to Washington.
asserted
he → become → Washington
“He would get a bit agitated when he was cooking the chops on the grill.
asserted
he → get → grill
…and 59 more, not listed.
The Aporia
