‘A beer a day and a wonderful wife’ the secret to longevity as Port Hedland stalwart Arnold Carter turns 95

Arnold Carter, a living piece of Hedland history, celebrated his 95th birthday on November 12. Mr Carter came to Port Hedland in 1962 for no reason other than to catch a plane home to Perth. Everything changed when he was sitting at the bar of Esplanade Hotel and an American man from Mount Goldsworthy Mining Associates tapped him on the shoulder. The man explained that they had just done a deal with the State Government to mine iron ore out of Mt Goldsworthy, about 100km out of Port Hedland and they wanted Mr Carter, an accountant, on board. Although at first he did return home to Perth, he said he couldn’t stop thinking about the job. “I was home for a week and I couldn’t settle down so I rang him up and asked if the job was still going,” he said, “He said be on the plane tomorrow morning, and I’ve been here ever since.” Over the years since that fateful day in 1962, Mr Carter has held many roles in the community, including serving on the local council for more than 30 years. He said “believe it or not”, one of his happiest times in the town was getting underground power. “When Cyclone Joan hit in 1975, the town was without power for two months,” he said. “It was devastating for people and business. “It took a bloody long time to get the power underground but we did it and from then on, nobody had to panic that they were going to be cut off when a cyclone was coming.” Despite seeing huge change and growth throughout his life in Port Hedland, Mr Carter said he was sad the town had not grown more to reflect the enormity of the industry within it. “We started with 40,000 tonne of iron ore, now we’re exporting 770 million,” he said. “Why have we got the biggest exporter of iron ore in the world and a population of only 14,000 people?” Mr Carter said his secret to a long life can be summed-up in two words: live naturally. “I have my beer every day, I have a wonderful wife who I have been with for 64 years,” he said. “Companionship is important and so is having satisfaction in what you do, you have to love what you do.”