Australian Women's Weekly Interview and Photo

Simon Crean - Leader of the Opposition

Interview with wife Carole

Extract - Australian Women's Weekly - May 2002

E & OE PROOF ONLY

"I've always been a nice guy," says Simon Crean. The Federal Opposition leader, whose reputation as "a snarling junkyard dog" precedes him, reveals a warm and fuzzy side in the latest issue of The Australian Women's Weekly on sale Wednesday.

In a revealing and intimate interview in his Middle Park, Melbourne home, Mr Crean acknowledges that he has an image problem to overcome, but says that as Labor leader he now has a chance to display his warmer side. Sitting on the sofa with Carole, his wife of almost 29 years, he says: "It's a pity the public only gets to see one side of me."

Mrs Crean, 51, agrees: "He's actually a very warm and loving person." The mother of the couple's two teenage daughters, she reveals that she fell in love with Simon's sense of humour and hitherto little-known penchant for hosting elaborate dinner parties.

"When Simon was about 16, he and his brothers used to hold dinner parties when Mary and Frank (his parents) were away. They would be the most lavish affairs with first and second courses and all kinds of exotic foods. It was really quite unusual but very engaging."

And, we thought the way to a man's heart was through his stomach.

Note: a full version of the interview is published in the May 2002 issue of The Australian Women's Weekly.

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Photo courtesy of The Australian Women's Weekly