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In Profile
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PIE IN THE SKY A REAL SURVIVALIST

PROFILE
by Fiona Burt

May 28, 2003

HE calls himself a "pie in the sky guy." He has dreams of riding off of a Harley Davidson, of spinning a map and going where his finger lands, or of jumping aboard the Virgo as a pianist, but there is no doubt Peter Skippings has both feet planted firmly on the ground.

A real "Jack-of-all-trades" by his own admission, Peter met me at Bianchi Café in Scarborough to discuss what has made him so successful at over 10 different occupations spanning half of Western Australia in his 54 years.

Pete has successfully worked on dairy and beef cattle farms, as a logger, grader driver, bus driver, labour market co-ordinator, carpenter, in building maintenance, run a newsagency and post office, and as an access officer, to name but a few.

"I believe that if anyone desires work they'll go and find it. People are picky, you have a person like Electricians etc who can only do one job and they don't step outside that square. You should be able to broaden your horizons to have skills to be able to do that job, and if you do, say, 'What's the hold-up?'" Peter tells me.

It's just this attitude which saw him find jobs for 270 people in two years while working as an employment consultant with Employment National, and then get a job in a mine.

"At 52 I got a job in a mine. I'd never worked there before," he said.

We launch into a discussion of his present job as a grader operator at the Yarrie-Nimingarra Iron-Ore project. A true comedian, when I ask "how do you spell that" his eyes twinkle and he says "T-H-A-T".

The view of the Indian Ocean from the window is a far cry from the red, dust-covered camp, 258km south-east of Port Hedland, and his 8x8m room that is his home for three weeks in every month. Flown there and back by his contractors his only complaint is that he can't get frequent flyer points.

Jokes aside, he is deadly serious about his job as a grader operator, which involves a 12-hour day and 4am wakeup. As the mine gets bigger, roads constantly need to be made and maintained.

"You need full-on concentration. The iron-ore that comes out is pretty sharp and some tyres are worth $20, 000," he tells me.

He learnt to drive a grader when working for the Augusta Margaret River Shire, it was pretty much a 'here's the manual' sort-of way to learn. Only one person can fit in a grader.

Pete, as he is known, says the only reason people go to the mines is for money, "no-one goes there for the pure enjoyment of working in an iron-ore mine".

A high percentage of people are from broken marriages; it is a place to think, yet a place of loneliness. He relates to me the story of a mate at a previous gold-mine, "All he wanted was an address. SPQ (Single Person's Quarters) in Kambalda is not an address."

True to form, he looks on his job as a launching pad to bigger and better things. His dream is firstly to own his own home again and be debt free and secondly to find someone to spend the rest of his life with.

"I want to start enjoying what I've earned. Up to now I've had the whole goal of existing for my family; it still is for my kids. It's time to spend money on me."

And spend he is. His eyes gleamed and his face lit up as he told me prior to our interview about his recent purchase of a $9000 second-hand panel saw with which he intends to build the kitchen and bathroom bench tops and furniture in his new home, which he hopes to begin building on his Greenhead block this year.

The only reason he comes to Perth is his kids, Kirran, 24, and Brenton, 22. "I view my kids as still wanting me. I'd walk over broken glass for them," he says, though jokingly he admits he'd wear shoes.

Asked to describe his father, who lives with him one week in every month, Brenton agrees that he is definitely a "jack-of-all-trades" and says he is "very understanding, very open-minded and very supportive".

Pete sits in front of me, wearing a simple polo shirt and pants, his black sunglasses casually pushed back on top of his head. His short grey goatee compliments his features and he twists his watch and uses hand gestures as he speaks.

I ask him to describe himself, and he pauses a moment before confidently saying, "I'm a very honest person, I trust my instincts and judgment of character. I analyse people quickly."

He rates music as a large part of his social life and cooking as one of his favourite past-times. He has a pilot's license and vehicle licenses that cover almost every letter of the alphabet (ABCKF).

When I ask him about his motivation for life he says: "Survival. I have a strong survival rate," and I have no doubt what he says is true. He wants to succeed in everything he does, and he doesn't seem far off, judging from his long list of successful occupations.

"I hate to do things by halves and unfinished. I guess I'm sort-of a perfectionist."

But perfectionist or not, Pete has only one wistful thought.

"If only I could pick those six Lotto numbers."