THE pennies spun in perfect sync as they started their slow descent back to earth.
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One landed tails up while the other rolled and wobbled for what seemed like forever, before finally toppling over and resting.
“Tails are right!” the ringer yelled. Peter Brooks made his way around the two-up ring, scooping up wads of cash as he went.
He then paused – just for a second – as he passed the losing spinner. “But are ya havin’ a good time?” he asked with a wink, flashing that trademark crooked smile. It was a typically cheeky Peter Brooks response – his catchphrase – and his timing, as usual, was impeccable. But sadly, the bloke that everyone knew simply as “Brooksy” is dead. Brooksy was enjoying semi-retirement in the Philippines with his partner, Mitchy and his extended family, when he passed away on August 11.
Born in Narrabri, Brooksy was a character, a hard worker and a visionary, and went from a plumbing apprenticeship in the 1970s to becoming the mayor of Moree 30 years later.
He was also a street-smart businessman and property developer who later in life invested in motels at Gilgandra and Gunnedah.
But most of all, Brooksy was a self-made man that never lost track of his humble beginnings and he was a man well ahead of his time.
He was a bloke with a genuine rags-to-riches story to tell, and was much more comfortable sharing a beer with knockabouts and larrikins, rather than rubbing shoulders with the well-to-do – and he did his fair share of both during a life well lived.
Brooksy left Narrabri in the late 70s and arrived in Moree unheralded. He was in his 20s and the doting dad of three young girls: Shelly, Danyel and Niomi.
He had linked up with a Tamworth air-conditioning company and the plan was to sell, and install, evaporative air-conditioners – or swampies as they were known back in the day – to the residents of Moree.
Swampies were a relatively new home improvement in 1970s north-western NSW.
But Brooksy knew that they were an affordable home-cooling system that would suit the long, hot, dry summers in his neck of the woods.
And he was that confident that swampies were here to stay, that he ventured out on his own – and out on a limb.
Using savvy foresight, he invested in the company that manufactured the air-coolers he was installing, and so the Peter Brooks rags-to-riches story began.
Once Brooks Air-Conditioning was up and running, there was no looking back for the bloke from Narrabri that dared to dream.
A former employee and good mate, Geoff Miller, said Brooksy was a generous man – and a real character to go with it. “There was a lot of good in Brooksy. He was one of the boys, but at the same time he commanded a lot of respect. Brooksy was a good man and did a lot of things for a lot of people around the district.
“During the winters he would spend hours fixing up oil heaters for the elderly and once he got them sorted out, he’d never send them a bill. “I worked for Brooksy on and off for about 10 years and once he got his own business going, there was no looking back. I can remember summers where we’d install 150 ducted units, it was unbelievable,” he said.
Brooks Air-Conditioning traversed the Newell Highway several times a week, installing swampies at Narrabri and Moree and just about every stop in between.
“I remember once when we’d just finished a job at Narrabri and the next-door neighbour came over and wanted to know the cost of installing one on his own house.”
Brooksy, well-known for his love of a dollar, told the inquisitive neighbour the price on the job just completed but added that the waiting time would be a month, maybe even longer.
“From memory the job was worth $2500 so the bloke said ‘how long will it take if I give you three-grand cash’. Brooksy looked him straight in the eye and said: ‘I’ll see you in the morning’,” he laughed.
Peter Brooks was born in 1951, the youngest of seven children to Michael and Edna Brooks. Sadly, Michael passed away when Brooksy was just seven years of age and 12 months later Edna also died.
Brooksy was raised by his older brothers and sisters and it was an upbringing that without doubt shaped his future. He entered Moree politics in the late 1990s, thankfully just before political correctness came into vogue.
A council media release said that Brooksy will be remembered as “a person larger than life”. But he was much more than that.
He liked to call a spade a shovel, and was known to dig his toes in deep when necessary. Brooksy served as a councillor from 1999-2004 and Moree Plains Shire mayor from 2001–2004.
It was one of local government’s more tumultuous times, but Brooksy dug his toes in time and time again and on more than one occasion mentioned those shovels as only he knew how. Cr Mike Montgomery said Brooksy was a councillor who worked hard for the community.
“Peter achieved a lot for the Shire, particularly in the road and transport area. He was part of the planning for the Moree Bypass, securing funding for the first stage which saw the heavy vehicles diverted out of the main street.
“He also helped develop the Rural Sealing Program, along with water and sewer infrastructure for a number of villages in the Shire.”
Brooksy’s nephew, Rod Orman, said his uncle was a role model that everyone admired.
“He was very much loved by all the family and would drop by Narrabri whenever he was in Australia, even if it meant traveling because his children and grandchildren are all over the country.
“Peter’s death was such a shock and so unexpected. He was proud of what he had achieved in life and I am ever so thankful for everything that he did for me.”
Peter is survived by daughters Shelly, Danyel and Niomi; sons-in-law Dean and Terry; grandchildren Blair, Kira, Daniel, Lockan, Bianca, Zane, Tony and Jessie as well as a great-grandson, Cohan; his partner in the Philippines Michelle (Mitchy) and her children Jolo, Pia and Abby; and siblings Glena, Margaret, Thelma, Bill, John and Frank. An informal celebration of his life will be held at 11am on Wednesday at the Beulah Park Hall on the Eulah Creek Road, Narrabri.