Heart of the Nation: Ballarat 3350

SHE prefers to knit and bake, but Jill Pannan stands by her man’s passion for guns.

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JILL was 17 when she started going out with Jeff Pannan, and one of their first dates was at an old quarry in Melbourne — “a big hole in the ground, basically” — that served as a pistol range, to watch him blasting targets with his .44 Magnum.

“So romantic!” she recalls with a big laugh. She didn’t feel the need to try it.

They’ve been together for 39 years now. They’ve brought up two kids, and Jeff has built a business as a firearms dealer. Jill still has no interest in guns. Sure, if something unusual comes in she’ll try it out — she had a go on a machinegun last year — but by and large, the attraction is “a complete mystery to me”. It’s a male/female thing, she reckons. Blokes love the smell of guns, but she catches a whiff of them and just thinks, yuck. Still, she’s happy to be immersed in this world. “It’s about supporting my husband and his passion,” she says.

Jill is pictured at a gun fair, knitting a jumper for Gabriella, their five-year-old granddaughter. She knits to relax — “I completely tune out; it’s just lovely to be there in my own little space” — and to satisfy her creative urge. She bakes, too: she’s made enough cakes for 800 servings at this weekend’s Melbourne Arms & Militaria Fair, an event Jeff organises. She always does it, as a kindness to the exhibitors and punters; it takes her a month and fills the freezer. And that’s on top of her full-time job as a travelling sales rep for a stone-cladding company, and weekend grandma duties with Gabriella. Talk about multi-tasking.

Jill will be behind Jeff’s stall today, knitting. If he’s called away and a customer asks about a gun, she’ll say: “Sorry, I’m blonde, I can’t possibly help you.” That always cracks them up, she says. Then she’ll offer them a slice of cake, and the charm is complete. “Fellas just love food,” she observes.