Mum’s campaign to ‘buy from the bush’

A TOOWOOMBA businesswoman and rural property owner is on a mission to make sure there’s a little bit of cheer to be had in the bush this Christmas.

A TOOWOOMBA businesswoman and rural property owner is on a mission to make sure there's a little bit of cheer to be had in the bush this Christmas.

With much of Queensland in severe drought, Kerri Brennan is running a "Buy from the Bush" campaign in a bid to get people to do their Christmas shopping with regional and rural businesses.

Her page, Buy from the Bush Qld, has rapidly increased to more than 2000 followers in the past three weeks.

It's a free service for businesses - all they have to do is send Mrs Brennan a message and she will showcase them on her page.

"We need the public to know about it," she said.

"This is a very tangible way they can support regional and rural businesses."

While she'd like to claim credit for the idea - she can't.

She saw a Facebook page called Buy from the Bush NSW and, having lived on a property in between Clifton and Leyburn with her husband for 13 years, she could see first-hand the impact the drought was having on people.

A number of rural women are taking up what Mrs Brennan described as "side-hustles", home-based businesses that they can run when they're not working on their properties.

"That's what it takes to get through this drought for a lot of people," she said.

"And just being a farmer with a side-hustle, it seemed like a great idea (to start the Queensland page)."

She said she'd promoted maybe 100 businesses in the last month, from Winton to Goondiwindi, Pittsworth, and even larger regional centres like Warwick and Toowoomba.

"I've got my kids at school in Toowoomba and I know how much small business in Toowoomba has also suffered in the drought," she said.

"The flow-on effect is huge. The dollars have dried up because the farmers have stopped spending."

You can find the page at www.facebook.com/buyfromthebushqld.