"He was my lifeline": Julie Bishop's amazing Warnie rescue story
<p>Julie Bishop has fondly reflected on a tense situation she previously found herself in while serving as Australia’s Foreign Minister.</p>
<p>She revealed how her loose connection to Shane Warne helped her negotiate with a gang in Zimbabwe.</p>
<p>Speaking on The Project, Bishop praised Warne as a “reflection of the great Aussie character” and a “loveable larrikin” who captured the hearts of millions.</p>
<p>“I remember years ago I was an electoral observer in Zimbabwe during a terrible time in their history and President Mugabe was standing for election and we were in the mountains,” she said.</p>
<p>“It was the most rural, isolated part of Zimbabwe and there were some war veterans that had taken over a commercial farm and it was pretty scary but I had to interview them about the election and the leader of this gang.</p>
<p>“They were kind of like bikies and no teeth and everything and chains around their neck and I was asking them how they would vote in the upcoming election and the leader, he was glaring at me and he said, you’re British and I thought, here is my moment and I said, no, I’m Australian, and he looked at me and the others and said, ‘Shane Warne!’”.</p>
<p>Bishop said the connection to Shane Warne eased the waters in the otherwise tense situation, admitting she “never been so relieved to hear Shane Warne‘s name as I was then”.</p>
<p>“He was my lifeline and apparently Warnie had played in Zimbabwe during the 90s and everybody there just fell in love with the great man,” he said.</p>
<p>“So his impact is way beyond Australia and I found time and time again that people would raise Shane Warne as part of the great Australian character."</p>
<p><em>Image: Getty</em></p>
