October 4th, 2026Taking a peek behind the hedge at Mooltan

Have you ever wondered what’s behind Hepburn’s neatly manicured Mooltan hedge?

I set out to answer that very question and within the picturesque grounds of the grand old guest house found a refreshingly grounded woman with a formidable political portfolio and a bit of friendly advice.

Jenny Beacham wants you to step out from behind your front fence and “find an activity that allows you to meet someone outside your immediate circle”.

“It takes energy and bravery to step outside the door,” she said, before sharing the story of how doing exactly that, had taken her on a journey from her family’s farm gate in the Mallee to serving as the Victorian state secretary of the ALP.

Growing up in a small community between Birchip and Wycheproof, Jenny wanted to be a farmer but “wasn’t allowed to” because she was a girl.

Instead, when she finished school, scholarship in hand, Jenny set out as part of “an incredibly lucky generation” who were paid to go to university.

Shortly thereafter she married fellow teacher Eddie Beacham and the couple became founding members of the Victorian Secondary Teachers Association.

Carried by an upswell of political activity in the city, the couple moved from Wedderburn to Carlton in 1971.

It was there, in Carlton, somewhere between school drop-offs and pick-ups at Princes Hill Primary School, that Jenny met Joan Kirner and became best of friends with the woman who was destined to make history as Victoria’s first female premier.

“We were both part of The Parents’ Federation…we had a mothers’ club and a fathers’ club…there was a school council that did things like building an art room, you just got on and did it.”

Jenny said there was also a very active residents’ group in Carlton. “There was a whole culture, it was just ordinary people, we learnt how to organise and fix things together.

“Since then, people have become more and more lacking in their confidence to change things.”

But after taking a leading role in the rise of Daylesford’s Phoenix Cinema, Jenny is hoping the community see what a positively powerful impact they can have when they learn to work together.

“I think it’s quite remarkable, the skills that are in this community, but there’s not much crossover in connections,” Jenny said.

“Daylesford’s population is still about the same as when we came 35 years ago, but one in three houses aren’t occupied during the week, that’s really hard for community engagement.”

Jenny said while it had become harder to interact with people directly, the cinema had been a catalyst for bringing people together.

Momentum to get the cinema up and running was at an absolute low when Jules McDonald and Jenny took it upon themselves to become president and treasurer.

In a three-year period, between 2023 and the beginning of 2026, they managed to turn $13,000 in the coffers into $240,000 with the assistance of “an amazing set of people” including many who were new to town.

Today the doors are open to everyone, with Hepburn Primary School students choosing the cinema for a recent excursion and Central Highlands Rural Health involved in the screening of a film raising awareness about dementia. (See story p10.)

Jenny said while opportunities were sometimes scarce in small towns, the local neighbourhood house, sporting clubs and book groups were some of the avenues for us to meet someone who helps us see “another dimension of the community”.

“The town boundaries stretch 12 kilometres, so you’ve got 3000 people living in that area and you don’t cross paths. It’s hard to cross paths and engage with people you don’t know. But I’ve met a wonderful group of women I otherwise wouldn’t have got to know through my book group and fitness class for oldies.”

At 87 years of age, after 14-plus years’ work through Daylesford’s Neighbourhood Centre committee, continued involvement with the Hepburn Swiss Italian Festa and her name on the Heather Mutimer Women’s Honour Roll, Jenny remains modest and directs any credit towards the example her parents set.

“My parents were quite remarkable in the way they cooperated in their community; it always stuck with me, you’ll have your ups and downs, your agreements and disagreements with others but you have to take responsibility.”

But before I head out the door, I want to ask about the striking photo of Jenny and Nelson Mandela on the wall.

In that moment, the mother of four, grandmother and great-grandmother to her growing tribe, lights up and basks in the memory.

She tells me she was one of only 14 “outsiders” inside the African National Congress organisation which was Nelson Mandela’s political party in the first free elections.

In 1994, during the election campaign, Jenny had an opportunity to join a few people meeting Nelson Mandela at a small airport, and when he shook her hand she “felt the hairs stand up” on the back of her neck, before being invited to a shared morning tea with him in a small church hall.

“There were 15,000 people gathered there to meet him and the message he gave was it’s not going to get better next year or the year after, it’ll be 30 years or more before your lives will get better, your job is to go back and re-educate and I want you back at school, because a lot of them had been refusing to go to a segregated school.

“It’s a very rare politician who delivers such a tough message when they’re wanting to be re-elected or elected. It was a really remarkable speech to hear him make to this group.

“He went out and danced with these young African kids down the street, they were the equivalent of our Girl Guides, it was fantastic.”

And with that, our interview wound up. Even though strictly speaking it was too late for coffee, when Jenny and Eddie asked me to stop for a cuppa, since we’re practically neighbours, I checked my default response and then said “yes!”.

Words & images: Kate Foulds