Barry Court has farming, and leadership, in his veins.
AMONG the many roles Barry Court has undertaken during his career it is clear that for him, one stands above all others.
Currently president of the Liberal Party of WA, Mr Court has also been commodore of the Nedlands Yacht Club and an inaugural board member of the Victory Life Church, which was founded by his tennis star wife, Margaret Court.
But it was his time as president of the Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA that remains Mr Court’s fondest memory – work for which he was this week honoured by being appointed a member in the general division of the order of Australia (see story, page 5).
“They were the most enjoyable years of my life; I spent eight years as the president. I met some fantastic people, who thank me for what I did, but I need to thank them for what they did for me,” Mr Court says.
He recalls the challenges that came with the role, including working with the federal government to have pastoralists and graziers acknowledge native title claims.
A more recent highlight was seeing his hard work culminate in the deregulation of Australia’s grain market shortly after he finished his term as president of the PGA.
Mr Court spent 35 years as a sheep farmer before diversifying into hay and other crops with the support of his son.
“My desire was always farming,” he says.
“Being president of all the farmers in the area, I had a very good relationship with all of them. I certainly took advice from them, some of the more successful ones anyhow.”
Having sold the farm four years ago – his son taking over some of the land – Mr Court now recognises just how special that patch of land was.
“I didn’t realise until we sold the farm and someone came to have a look at it, and it was green and they said ‘this is the most beautiful view I have seen’,” Mr Court says.
“I never saw it as a view at all, I just saw it as paddocks; I had to sow them, reap them, get the sheep out of them and work them,” he says.
It’s clear farming’s a great passion, but with a father like Sir Charles Court and a brother like Richard, leadership also comes with the territory.
“Well, my dad was (a natural born leader), Richard is and my wife, not that it is in our family, but she is certainly a leader in her tennis and now in her church activities,” Mr Court says.
Mr Court managed his wife’s tennis career after they married and says that has led to them travelling the world, seeing places they always wanted to see and meeting some of the world’s leaders – something that continues.
“There was very little money in tennis at that time; you certainly couldn’t employ masseurs and dieticians. Most players at that stage didn’t have anybody and did it all themselves,” he says.
“We have been very lucky, we visited every country in the world we wanted to and a couple we didn’t want to.
“Margaret’s tennis has enabled us to get to meet leaders of different countries. Now when we go overseas on a church level, we meet the top blokes. We went to Sri Lanka and met with the president, by going at that level you get a completely different feeling of what the country wants, it was very interesting.”
With such a diverse career, Mr Court says the biggest challenge has been managing a balanced life.
“You have to allocate time to the family – three daughters and a son. Originally Margaret did a lot of that because I was farming and that is dawn-to-dusk stuff, and now I spend more time with them,” he says.
“Family is on the back of your mind, it is always going to be hard regardless of what you are doing with anything else. It is the biggest occupier of your mind, making sure they are ok.”
And while Mr Court says spending time with his seven grandchildren could be a full-time job in itself, he is focused on completing his four-year term as president of the Liberal Party – times that he says have been diverse and demanding.
“My aim was to win a state election; my next aim was to win a federal election and we did what we could in Western Australia, but I was very disappointed with that. I won’t be happy until we have another election and we win that,” he says.
Mr Court’s third aim was to put the party on a good financial footing – something he developed with the introduction of the Sir Charles Court Foundation, which he hopes will encourage young people to enter politics.
Being president of the Liberal Party while in government has been rewarding, he says, likening the experiences to one of his other loves – sailing.
“To me, you trim the sails and the boat sails itself. If you ever use the rudder, it is to correct things; but using the rudder on a yacht slows the boat down. I have tried to keep the sails trimmed and use the rudder as little as possible,” Mr Court says.
“I guess I gave the authority to a lot of people to do their thing, and just steer the ship.”
