There were many men in the running to be one of Australia’s Men of the Moment, as judged by the Women’s Weekly: Malcolm Turnbull, with his leather jacket bad-boy look; Tony Abbott, the ironman; Rob Oakeshott, the rugged country lad. But the Weekly likes to be at the cutting edge, so we did a straw poll of editors of fellow ACP magazines. There was a clear theme.
“You have got to get Greg Combet,” said one. “He could be really hot.”
Combet, of course, is also very much a man of the moment, selling the government’s carbon tax to a cautious public. He perfectly fit our criteria: topical, someone our readers want to know more about, and handsome. So we approached his office to put our case. We won support for our shoot from his staff, but right up to the day of the shoot, Combet remained wary.
We understood this. Even female politicians are wary of being “dressed up” for magazine shoots. They go into politics because they’re more interested in policy than clothes, and don’t want the public to think they’re wannabe fashion models. Their colleagues are merciless on the teasing front. And the fallout from Cheryl Kernot’s 1998 feather boa is still echoing around Parliament House.
But Combet also knew it was a good way to get his message on climate across to the Weekly‘s 2.2 million readers, so he agreed to the shoot on the condition he could wear his own clothes.
On the set, at Canberra’s Diamant Hotel, he was charming and good-natured. He cracked jokes and impressed the photographer and stylist with his sense of humour. He was slow to smile in front of the camera — that’s not unusual, being photographed as a model on a magazine shoot is even weirder than you’d imagine — but eventually, the smile came. And, in what market editor Olivia Fleming considers one of the crowning achievements of her career, Combet was convinced to take his glasses off for a photo, which he’s never done before.
When the photographic edit reached the Weekly‘s office, we were all impressed with Combet’s Mad Men good looks. We loved that he loves his mum and approved of his passion for the environment, but were a bit stumped by his love of finches. “If he ever wants to attract a woman again, maybe we shouldn’t highlight the quote about the finches,” said managing editor, Michelle Endacott.
To read more about Combet and his finches, turn to page 68 of the July issue of the Women’s Weekly.
Follow Jordan on Twitter @jordsbaker
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