Benalla Treasures | John Binion’s love of community shines through

John retired in 1997, but with an aptitude for accuracy and a love of community he never slowed down, lending his expertise to a number of local groups.

He has been on committees for local tennis clubs, the Benalla and District Junior Football Association, Winton Motor Raceway, the Benalla Football Netball Club through its time as the Demons and the Saints, and many more.

And he is still active with lots of these groups.

“At Winton I used to organise the gatekeepers for the V8s,” he said.

“I was asked to help out once by a couple of technicians from Telecom who were involved up there.

“I told them I’m not a rev-head, but I’d give it a go.

“I was there for 46 years.”

When he arrived in Benalla with his young family, he thought he might be around for three or four years.

“But I’m still here,” he said.

John said he’d enjoyed living in different parts of regional and rural Victoria, but Benalla was where his family was happiest.

“I was in Cobram for a while, that was my first move away from home,” he said.

“I could not have found a better spot, and I made a good friend who I’m still mates with.

“We played together in Cobram’s 1955 premiership side.”

It was his job at the post office that took him to the border, but a desire to move up the ranks led to him moving on.

“Back then, if you wanted to improve in the job, you had to learn Morse code,” he said.

“So I went down to the Postal Training School in Melbourne on Flinders Ln.

“After I passed the exams I ended up in Abbotsford, then over to Blackburn and then Kew.”

But he always had a desire to work in Benalla.

“I wanted to be a senior postal clerk,” he said.

“In those days Benalla was a grade-five office, the divisional office for the area, which was upstairs from the post office, in what is now the council buildings on Bridge St.”

John achieved several more promotions over the years, eventually becoming the postmaster in Benalla.

“I was a postmaster here for another 14 years until I retired,” he said.

John’s seen a lot in his time in the Rose City, but he said the main change was that it was no longer a ‘public service town’.

“We had the SEC, and Telecom, which employed about 120 people in Nunn St.

“We had the headquarters of Telecom and Australia Post. There were lots of government jobs, state and federal.

“A lot of those have gone now.

“The town is a bit different too. Everyone is buying things online now, and a lot of our shops are gone.

“But there are still some great things about Benalla. I’m no spring chicken, but I still like to get out and do things.

“One of my daughters and her husband run a farm. I absolutely love getting out there and firing up the chainsaw.

“But they get annoyed and say I do too much.

“Most people will tell you that I’m always out doing things.”