The sound technician had put microphones on his lapel and even touched his ear while fitting earpiece microphones. But Health Minister Tony Abbott paid little attention to the man who often prepared him for TV interviews.
Now, Abbott has learned that Daniel O'Connor, a boom operator for the Australian Broadcasting Corp, is the son he gave up for adoption 27 years ago.
The two had been working alongside each other at Parliament House in Canberra for more than three years.
"Whoever would have thought that two people hitherto unknown to each other, but rather close to each other, could have been so connected in this way?" Abbott said on Monday.
When Abbott was 19, he and then-girlfriend, Kathy Donnelly, gave away their baby boy, the minister-to-be admitting he was not ready for fatherhood. Abbott, a Rhodes scholar, later married and now has three daughters.
Last October, O'Connor told colleagues of his lifelong desire to find his biological parents. Within weeks he had contacted a Catholic adoption agency and on Christmas Eve, he received a phone call from his birth mother, who lives in Western Australia.
It was a friendly, emotional reconnection. When Donnelly told O'Connor his father was the federal health minister there was a long silence before he said: "I know him, I know him."
Abbott says he was told of the news the next day and called his son. O'Connor's first words to him were, "thanks for having me", which Abbott said reflected how well the adoptive parents had raised his son.
"I was quite shocked really,"O'Connor told ABC Radio from London, where he is on holiday.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was