Liz and Norm couldn’t afford to retire. They bought a pub instead
A Brisbane couple who couldn’t afford to retire embarked on a last-minute career change after buying a country pub 1200 kilometres away.
Liz Murphy worked as a theatre nurse for decades, a high-pressure job she couldn’t physically keep doing in her 50s.
Liz Murphy and Norm Matau packed up their lives in Brisbane and moved to Silverton to run the local pub. Liz Murphy
She and her partner Norm Matau, a pastry chef and carpenter, wanted to retire.
But that dream was dashed when they sat down and did the math.
Along came plan B: buying a pub in a country town.
“We just physically couldn’t do our jobs any more, so after caravanning around Australia, we were looking at some other avenues,” Murphy told nine.com.au.
“Then got to Adelaide and friends of ours, a hotel broker, said he had taken on trying to sell a pub.”
That pub was the Silverton Hotel in the tiny outback town of Silverton, located about 25 kilometres away from Broken Hill in NSW’s far west.
The 142-year-old pub had been managed by the previous owners for 16 years.
Murphy and Matau had a small window of opportunity to buy it up.
A big task lay ahead: just 41 people live in Silverton, but the local pub is the heart of the community.
“I think they were vetting who they would sell to, to see if we were going to be the right candidates,” Murphy said.
“They wanted hard workers... and we are not afraid of hard work.”
The Silverton Hotel is the only pub in town. Facebook
The stars aligned, and the couple were hand-picked to take over the pub, which also has boutique accommodation.
They packed up their lives in Brisbane and moved down to Silverton in March this year.
They now live inside the hotel, their commute to work just a “walk down the hallway”.
But Silverton wasn’t too much of a sea change for either new publican.
Murphy was raised in the country and her partner migrated to Australia from New Zealand in the 1990s.
“It’s just so peaceful here,” Murphy said.
“You’ve got everything that you need.”
“I don’t miss [living in Brisbane] at all.
“We’ve had time to sit back and breathe. And even though we’re busy, we don’t have those old stresses.”
Murphy describes the past four months as “fairly easy”.
The toughest challenge has been mastering the perfect beer pour.
“The locals have been wonderful. They’ve all come back into the pub,” she said.
A donkey seen at Silverton Hotel. Facebook
For such a small town, Silverton punches above its weight.
The Silverton Hotel may be the only pub, but there is also a bakery, café, a Mad Max museum that pays homage to the classic Australian film, and art galleries.
Donkeys also roam around the pub and the town’s main street, a major tourist attraction for visitors.
The closest supermarkets are located in Broken Hill.
“We’ve had a lot of Broken Hill people come out thank us for taking over,” Murphy added.
Murphy and Matau are now preparing for Mundi Mundi Bash 2026, an outback music festival that takes place in the plains of the same name near Broken Hill.
The festival is held from August 20-22 and will see thousands of visitors pass through, wanting a meal and a pint at their pub.
“We’re just madly preparing for it,” she said.
“We will run buses from the campsite to the pub daily for those that want to come in and have lunch. It’s all happening.”
As for their retirement plans, the couple are content being Silverton publicans for the next five or so years.
“I think it’ll be a good five years before we even go on any caravan trips again,” she added.
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