Under the brim of an akubra hat, lies a story burning to be told.
It's whisper lies in the sweat stained brow, it's travelled ground on an old pulled plough.
And within this pair of old blue jeans, lies grease stains off some big machines.
There's a story found in these weathered hands, out west to the red dirt sands.
The tales from the shearing shed, the cattle that my dad has led,
our farmers have a yarn to share.
Across 7 creek crossings, down an old dirt road, lies my Great Grandparent's old farm. I remember parts of it from when I was a child- taking my first photo and driving out on the front of the tractor with my family to the mountains. But most of all I remember the love my family had for each other, the land and the animals.
During the course of the Christmas break, whispers trickled around my home town of Nabiac that the Council had closed the saleyards, without mention to the local community. As the sale, which last month saw 700 head sold, seemed to inevitably been closed, the words of Troy Cassar-Daley beat through the land and hummed through the trees- "I hate to see a small town die".
Several weeks ago, I had the privilege of joining an incredible, all Indigenous panel at the Indigenous Land Corporation's (ILC) Senior Managers Conference. Tasked with reflecting on the organisations successes over the last 20 years and projecting what the future may hold, the conference was a time to pause and to dream.
Our Australian agricultural story begins more than 40,000 years ago, with our Indigenous Brothers and Sisters sustainably farming the earth we walk on and the water that flows around us. They used sophisticated farming practices to sustain the environment in order to feed our families, our communities and our culture. They did this successfully across dramatic climate change events, including ice ages. As we approach our anthropogenic climate change challenges, we have much to learn from the ancestors of this place.
I was introduced to the world of environmental advocacy and activism just 2 years ago, an invitation to be part of the WWF Earth Hour Cookbook which has led me on the most incredible journey to share my story and the wider Indigenous and agricultural storylines to create unprecedented change in the way we work together and are publicly perceived.
As an industry, we must work together and continually discuss these changes. We must meet consumers where they stand and not dictate to them that they must purchase the items we produce. Rather, we must respectfully listen to them and work with them to produce the food that meets their ethical requirements, while being cheap, affordable and nutritious.
Our story in Australia begins more than 40,000 years ago, as our Indigenous Brothers and Sisters sustainably farmed the earth we walk on, the water that flows around us and the air we breathe. They used sophisticated farming practices to sustain and work with the environment in order to feed our families, our communities and our culture. But the knowledge of these shared, sustainable practices have faded away into the minds of our Indigenous Elders, as we instead embolden competition over land for property development, Western agricultural practices and mining.
I was driven with a desire to help people, a heart that wanted to give and a mindset triggered by an accident. It’s a mentality fired by loss and hurt, by passion and influence. In order to reconcile the events of the past, I grew up believing and being told that things happen for a reason, that each additional day was a blessing and opportunities would be presented when they were ready.
I feel the Land.
I embrace its presence.
And I thrive at the joy in farming it.
Good morning ladies and gentlemen and thank you for the opportunity to address you on behalf of our young farmers. I would like to further acknowledge that we meet on Aboriginal land today and pay my respects to the Elders both past and present.
When R.M. Williams first opened his first store in Adelaide, Sir Sidney Kidman celebrated his birthday in the heart of the city with a rodeo and Pharlap won the Melbourne Cup, 14 percent of the Australian population was employed in Australian agricultural sector. Both rural and urban communities celebrated the industry and a career in agriculture was highly valued.
