Well, I don’t get many days like this in my otherwise bucolic life perched on top of a mountain in a crooked little cottage in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

I was somewhat chuffed this morning to see that my letter to the editor of The Australian regarding this article had been published.  It said:

“I was floored by the breathtaking hypocrisy of Julia Gillard’s assurances to Christian leaders (“Gillard reaches out to churches”, 5/4).

Gillard, an atheist, denies her fellow Australians the right to same-sex marriage and euthanasia because of her commitment to “traditional values” but happily flouts those same “Christian values” by “living in sin” at The Lodge.

It seems our Prime Minister is happy to sell out others’ rights and freedoms to pander to Christian lobbyists, while exercising her own right to live in breach of the “values” she so righteously espouses.

Chrys Stevenson, Qld

So, after that little flurry of excitement, the day settled down to its domestic drudgery and we were just sitting down to lunch when the phone rang.  It was a lovely young lady from 3AW who said Derryn Hinch had read the letter and would I be willing to chat to him on air this evening.

I frantically wondered who I could suggest instead of me, but realized if he wanted to talk about my letter, a substitute ‘me’ probably wasn’t going to get the gig.  So I said breezily, “Sure, happy to chat!” and spent the rest of the afternoon paralysed by fear.  I did wonder briefly whether I should shower, make-up and change out of my tracky-dacks, but decided that might be taking things a little too far for a radio interview.

The phone rang just after 5pm.  Hinch did an ‘editorial piece’ about the article and my letter and then introduced me.  Luckily, as so often happens in these cases, the nerves fell away once I was on air and I just concentrated on the message I wanted to deliver.

I think the interview went pretty well (even if I do say so myself!) and you can listen to it here:

Derryn Hinch interview with Chrys Stevenson on 3AW, 6 April

Hinch was very easy to talk to and it was reassuring that he shared my views, so I knew I wasn’t going to be ambushed!

Chrys Stevenson

Further Reading:

Census – No Religion