2019 Shine Awards Grace winner and finalists

Learning the ropes of cattle breeding and finding her feet at sales was an uphill battle, especially for this single young woman.

Grace winner Maree Duncombe runs Conondale Station in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Picture: David Kelly.

Maree Duncombe’s herd of beautiful Brahman cattle speak volumes about her work ethic, poise and determination.

The 38-year-old cattlewoman produces some of the most sought-after heifers and steers in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast Hinterland, but the achievement has not come easily.

Maree took a leap of faith 10 years ago when she started breeding Brahmans after the unexpected death of her father.

Cattle breeder Maree Duncombe on her Queensland station. Picture: David Kelly

She had idolised her dad, who had built Conondale Station up from scratch. So after his death, Maree decided to follow in his footsteps with cattle, despite the fact she had little experience.

Learning the ropes of breeding and finding her feet at sales was an uphill battle, especially as a single young woman, then 28.

“People used to make comments, now it doesn’t bother me,” says Maree, who proves her credentials through the form of her Brahmans, which now fetch top dollar.

She persevered with her herd and the 930-hectare station despite even more heartache.

In 2016 Maree lost her mother to a stomach aneurysm, not long after her father’s death.

“Now I am very happy with where my life is at. But, it is something I think about every day, that I have lost my parents.

“They were both very determined people … very good role models. I guess it sort of motivates me to get better.”

Maree Duncombe on her Queensland property, Conondale Station. Picture: David Kelly.

Working largely on her own, she runs about 300 cows on the property near Maleny, while also offering accommodation in a renovated cottage.

She has gone from an underwhelming first sale a decade ago, when she received an average of just $300 a calf, to now regularly taking out champion pen titles at the Gympie livestock sales.

One of her proudest moments this year was when a pen of her heifers was named Overall Champion Pen at Gympie.

“I think that’s why I’ve gone well, because I just love what I do.”

She sinks her love for her parents into her herd. “If they made $300 or $1000, it wouldn’t matter,” Maree says. “I would love them just as much if they were worth nothing.”

Maree’s resolve to carry on despite great loss, her effort to turn Conondale Station into a legacy for her parents and her confidence as a female role model in the breeding industry make her a worthy winner of the Shine Award for Grace.

The Shine Awards were launched three years ago to put the spotlight on rural women making a real difference in their communities.

Read more about the winners at The Weekly Times.

SADDLE UP TO SAVE LIVES

Robyn Neilson, of Townsville, Queensland, doesn’t consider herself a hero, despite the fact she saved her neighbour’s life 17 years ago.

In fact, she’d rather put the tragic day in the past.

However, nearly two decades on from the traumatic event not much has changed to improve emergency response for rural Australians. So the former nurse is sharing her story to raise awareness and push for change.

In 2002, the Neilson and Shann families lived 20km apart, on central Queensland cattle stations. Robyn received a panicked call from Mac Shann, pleading for Robyn to come help his wife, Gayle.

Gayle had suffered horrific injuries in a post-hole digger accident. Her arm and shoulder were torn from her body and she would have likely died had Robyn not been on the scene so quickly.

Robyn Neilson is campaigning for the development of a mobile app, Rescue 1st, that could help locate people in remote areas. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

“Some really unorthodox methods were what kept her alive,” Robyn says. “I had to go in to the wound and find the blood vessels and clamp them closed with my fingers.”

Emergency medical response did not reach the remote property for two hours. Once the doctor found the station, they did not know where Gayle was on the vast property.

“There was no mobile phone reception,” Robyn says.

Robyn knows more can be done to improve medical response to remote locations, so is taking personal responsibility to drive change.

This year, she has been a speaker at medical and ag industry conferences, urging farmers and ag workers to put emergency response plans in place. She is calling on the medical community to understand what can be done to save time in remote emergencies.

Finally, she is campaigning for funds to build a smartphone app, called Rescue 1st, which will send location coordinates directly to emergency services, even when a phone doesn’t have Wi-Fi or a mobile signal.

“The message that I’d really like to get across to people, especially in cities, is that if you really care about the food you eat, you will really care about the families who grow and deliver it.”

Gayle’s initiative made her a 2019 Shine Awards finalist.

A PASSION FOR MENTAL HEALTH

Sarah McLean is a neuropsychologist, a cattle farmer and a mum of two young children, but that is just the start of what this quiet achiever finds time for in her busy life.

She selflessly helps others, advocating for mental health and young farmers.

“There are lots of early mornings and late nights, no holidays … but if you’re doing something you enjoy it’s not really work,” she says.

The fifth-generation farmer, who lives at Hexham, near Warrnambool, and manages three cattle properties, says her life goal is “to have a farm the whole family can live off” and help fill the gap in the rural health system.

She is a representative for the National Centre for Farmer Health and deputy chair of the Victorian Young Farmers Advisory Council.

Farmer and neuropsychologist Sarah McLean balances two careers, motherhood and volunteerism to help raise awareness about mental health support in regional areas. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin.

“As a farmer and a psychologist, I believe that poor mental health is one of the biggest challenges in the agricultural industry,” she says.

“There is a large flow-on effect if a farmer is struggling. It not only affects them and their family, but it can have dire consequences for their business and their communities.”

Sarah’s interest in suicide prevention has seen her join a working group which looks at new ways to address the high rate of suicide in the Great South Coast region.

And if two jobs, two advisory committees and raising two young children wasn’t enough, Sarah is also a successful barrel racer.

“Sometimes I don’t balance it all well, that’s the truth of it but you just keep going,” she says.

Her husband, Byron O’Keefe, couldn’t speak more highly of his fellow farmer and her ability to manage all the tasks she sets her mind to, describing Sarah as “selfless” and “always happy to help out with other people”.

Sarah’s initiative made her a 2019 Shine Awards finalist.