Bob Carr often referred to his late wife Helena as his ‘best friend and biggest supporter’ throughout his decades in politics and, more importantly, in their private life.
The couple did not have children, but were each other’s rocks from the day they met in 1971, followed by marriage in 1973 and through a racist slur made about her by a Liberal MP in 2005.
Mr Carr, who was the longest serving Labor Premier of NSW, announced on Saturday that Helena, 77, had lost consciousness after collapsing into his arms on Thursday night while they were on holiday in Vienna, Austria.
Helena had suffered a brain aneurysm and was declared officially dead by doctors following the incident.
When Helena, who was born in Malaysia, brought Mr Carr home to meet her family for the first time, her brother Ivan whispered to her in Chinese: ‘I see you’ve brought home a kangaroo’.
Bob Carr (left) often referred to his wife Helena (right), who has suffered a fatal aneurysm, as his ‘best friend and biggest supporter’
The couple’s deep and abiding love for each other can be seen right up until the last photo of them – a selfie – taken in Vienna hours before Ms Carr’s aneurysm.
As well as being the NSW Premier from 1995 to 2005, Mr Carr also fulfilled a lifelong ambition by served as ‘s Foreign Minister from 2012 to 2013.
Though Helena stayed out of the political spotlight, saying she kept ‘a very safe distance from centre stage’, she was always there for her husband, most notably as they strolled down a corridor in the federal parliament on the day he resigned.
The one time Ms Carr came to the attention of the wider public was in 2005, when then NSW Liberal leader John Brogden called her a mail order bride at a media function.
‘I just shrugged it off,’ Ms Carr said at the time. ‘My story has been a really happy one except for that comment from John Brogden, so let’s not dwell on it.’
Her husband was less forgiving and rejected Mr Brogden’s apology.
‘Brogden has no character, Brogden is a featherweight mediocrity who ought to be voted out of the leadership of his party this week,’ Mr Carr said.
‘How could we accept an apology for a remark that dismisses all of Helena’s achievements in this country, her validity as a person and categorises her as a mail order bride.
‘What sort of people would we be if we signed up to that apology,’ he said.
The then prime minister John Howard castigated his fellow Liberal Mr Brogden at the time, saying ‘that sort of comment was just quite wrong.
‘I know Helena Carr and she’s a very gracious person and that sort of comment should never have been made.’
Helena met her husband in Tahiti in 1972 while and the couple married a year later (pictured together in 2013)
The then NSW Premier Morris Iemma, who had succeeded Mr Carr, said Mr Brogden’s ‘racist comments’ made him unfit for office.
Mr Iemma said Ms Carr was ‘a woman who’s served this state alongside Bob Carr for nearly 20 years and someone who’s been a substantial businesswoman in her own right, carved out her own identity and is a great success story for this country.
‘At a time when we’re teaching our children respect and understanding we have the alternate premier making such appalling and inappropriate comments.’
On Saturday, Mr Carr announced that Helena lost consciousness in his arms as a result of a brain aneurysm on Thursday night and he had been told by doctors she is officially dead.
‘She was the light of my life, the little friend always there. No one ever smiled more, or with more spirit.
‘It is inconceivable I could have won office for my party and held the premiership for over 10 years without the steadiness of her companionship, her sense of fun and her lambent eyes.
‘On Thursday we walked in autumn weather through Vienna, had lunch with two n friends, walked some more and went to the opera.
‘She was full of zest and jokes as we walked back to our hotel. Within 20 minutes she referred to strange back pain, then a headache and nausea.
‘Our 50-year partnership ended in the hotel bathroom when she sunk into my arms and I broke her fall to the floor. Her eyes closed for the last time while I begged her not to leave me.
‘As a girl in Taiping, Malaysia, she had written letters to n schools and was accepted by Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta. She later studied economics at Sydney University.
‘At OLMC and Sancta Sophia College, she showed a huge gift for making friends. Every holiday was a visit with farm families who took a fondness to this sparkling beautiful girl from Malaysia.
Mr Carr said his wife had fallen into his arms in the bathroom of a hotel in Vienna they were staying at as she lost consciousness (pictured together in 2019)
Bob Carr’s wife Helena (pictured in 2021) has suffered a brain aneurysm and has been declared ‘officially dead’ by doctors
‘I met Helena on a trip back from the United States during a stopover in Tahiti in early 1971. She was an accomplished businesswoman,’ Mr Carr wrote.
His wife became an expert in security printing and later became the half-owner and manager of a print company that specialised in high quality commercial work.
‘The light has gone out of my life. I know many have faced this challenge, the loss of a life partner, the journey no one wishes.
‘One reason to trying is my sense she is there telling me to go on – for her,’ he said.