The Australian’s Australian of the Year: last chance to choose nominees
Rural communities hit by drought, bush fires and COVID-19, have had one saving grace in mum of four Grace Brennan.
Rural communities hit hard by drought, bushfires and coronavirus in quick succession have had one saving grace — in the shape of a guardian angel.
When mum of four Grace Brennan, who farms sheep in Warren in central NSW, saw the despair around her in rural communities, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
Her online campaign #buyfromthebush propelled small regional businesses to new heights during the drought, and in October last year she turned it into a virtual marketplace that connects city customers with country-based producers like never before.
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Buy From The Bush has gone from strength to strength since its launch, enabling small rural creators to enjoy e-commerce success, with some multiplying their business many times over.
“I think an unexpected result of COVID has been that the relevance of Buy From The Bush was sustained into 2020,” she said. “We were born out of drought, and when the bushfires happened there was a renewed appetite for shopping in rural communities — and COVID has also inspired pride and interest in investing in Australian independent small businesses.”
Ms Brennan’s scope of vision and unwavering support for regional businesses over one of the most challenging years in living memory has earned her a nomination for The Australian’s Australian of the Year.
The online marketplace has led to new streams of revenue for craftmakers, more jobs, and renewed optimism in regional communities, with the campaign generating $5m in revenue in just the first four months.
“I heard from one lampshade maker in northern NSW who wrote to me saying her sales were up 200 per cent from last year, and 200 from the year before that, as a result of our campaigning,” Ms Brennan said. “And it’s a fairly common story. One nursery in Cowra in NSW, off the back of the success of the online marketplace, has gained the confidence to open a store on the main street.
“The vast majority of the businesses — 97 per cent — are run by women.”
She said the success of the platform, which now lists about 200 small business people, was about more than selling art, clothes and accessories; it sells the story of regional Australians.
“When we were going through drought, I saw in our local community the main street suffering from the flow-on effect. The media coverage was focusing on farmers in paddocks, but what I was seeing was a community in strife,” she said.
“It was about connecting businesses with city audiences, but also increasing the visibility of what we were going through. It wasn’t just about agriculture and men, it was broader.”
We encourage our readers to put in a nomination for The Australian’s Australian of the Year, which was first won in 1971 by economist HC “Nugget” Coombs. Prominent Australians can be nominated by filling out the coupon above, or sending an email to aaoty@theaustralian.com.au. Nominations close on Thursday, January 21.
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