Shine Awards 2025: Meet the winners
A NSW woman sharing with rural communities what she learned the hard way is this year’s overall winner of the Shine Awards. See all the category winners here.
A Yass woman who rewrote her life story after two fatigue-related vehicle accidents in just 45 minutes changed the course of her path forever, has been named the overall winner in a prestigious national award recognising the achievements of rural and regional women.
Samantha Longmore, 32, is a disability advocate, motivational speaker and even world champion waterskier – but it’s not the journey she anticipated she’d be on.
“I’m advocating every single day,” she says. “Whether it be in person or online, I’m trying to get other people in similar situations involved and (have them) continue to do the work that they might have done before.”
For her advocacy work, Sam has been named the overall winner of the 2025 Shine Awards. Presented by The Weekly Times and Harvey Norman, the awards cast a light on the often unsung efforts of women across regional Australia, with winners selected across seven categories from 19 finalists.
Harvey Norman chief executive Katie Page said the winners, alongside this year’s 110 nominees, joined an esteemed community of more than 1000 women whose stories had been told since the awards began in 2017.
“Together, we continue to recognise those making immense contributions,” Ms Page said.
“Our overall winner for 2025, Sam Longmore, embodies the very reason these awards exist. This is our opportunity to congratulate the finalists and winners – and as importantly, thank every woman who has been nominated for 2025.”
Herald & Weekly Times Chairman and News Corp Australia’s Community Ambassador Penny Fowler said: “These incredible women have displayed passion, courage, dedication, grace, belief and spirit, in their efforts to make their communities better places to live.
“Our company’s mission is to tell the stories that matter, reflecting our belief in creating positive change through news and advocacy and the Shine Awards recognise the incredible contribution our category winners and finalists continue to make to their communities.”
Congratulations to all the winners in this year’s Shine Awards.
BELIEF: Paula Pool and Demelza Gardem, Townsville, QLD
Paula and Demelza founded Fuel for Schools, a charity providing free breakfasts to 7000 schoolchildren at 50 schools across Townsville and North Queensland each week.
The charity started 10 years ago after the pair realised how many kids from struggling families were arriving at school without basic necessities, including food.
“These kids, through no fault of their own, are coming to school hungry, sometimes their parents are coming in for breakfast too,” Paula said.
“It feels great to be able to help but the need is huge and there’s always so much more we can do if we had the resources.”
The initiative relies entirely on local donations and volunteers.
“We couldn’t do it without the help of people in the community; our community are bloody amazing,” Paula said.
COURAGE (and overall winner): Samantha Longmore, Yass, NSW
Twelve years ago, poised to begin training at Duntroon’s elite Royal Military College, Sam suffered a spinal cord injury after two fatigue-related vehicle accidents in just 45 minutes.
A sports, motorbike and agriculture lover, Sam thought she had “lost everything that defined me”. Eventually, Sam learnt to pick herself up – starting with teaching herself to knit with one hand.
Soon, she was running knitting workshops teaching other people to do the same. Later came engagements with the National Farmers’ Federation, speaking to de-normalise exhaustion and encourage rest in the agricultural industry.
Sam also owns and runs a weed spraying business and mobile bar, and this week is competing in the World Disabled Water Ski Championships at Mulwala. She’s also written several unpublished kids’ books about disability and inclusion.
DEDICATION: Louise Martin, Tambo, QLD
Louise has spent years advocating not only for her patch in the state’s central-west, but also for rural families across Australia as the federal president of the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association.
Louise, 60, joined the local Tambo ICPA when her kids first started with School of the Air, over the years becoming a passionate voice for ensuring children in remote regions receive equitable education.
“People in the city make decisions without a real understanding of what life is like out here, but we must have a seat at the table if we want our view to be put forward – that’s what drives me,” she said.
As well as running the Macfarlane Merino stud, Louise serves on numerous committees including the Queensland Telstra Regional Advisory Council and as an AgForce Queensland director.
GRACE: Linda Widdup, Carlisle River, VIC
Linda is the founder of Aussie Hay Runners, which has delivered almost $11m worth of hay bales to drought-stricken farmers across the nation since 2019.
She was driven to act after seeing an NSW farmer on the news as drought ravaged southern Australia in 2019.
The cattle farmer and relief truck driver from Carlisle River organised a convoy of four trucks and a few utes with trailers and “we marched our bums up to Dunedoo”.
Since then, the organisation has delivered 2899 truckloads – 99,805 bales – helping 5596 farmers affected by drought, floods and fire.
PASSION: Melanie Jolley, Victor Harbor, SA
Melanie is removing one of the biggest obstacles rural people face in accessing help, travelling at least 500km a week to meet clients where they are via her mobile outreach counselling service.
“I could see a huge gap with young people especially and rural people who didn’t have the time or capacity to go sit in an office for an hour and stare at someone and put their heart on the line,” she says.
Melanie offers traditional counselling services in different locations, but also brings clients back to her farm in the Hindmarsh Valley, which she shares with partner Randall and their two kids, to partake in equine assisted therapy.
For the best part of 15 years Melanie has been supporting those around her, and not only youth, but South Australian dairy farmers and their staff, carers, domestic violence victims and more.
SPIRIT: Carlee Knight, Bairnsdale, VIC
Carlee has single-handedly raised $900,000 over seven years for anti-bullying charity Dolly’s Dream.
She was inspired to act after seeing the story of Dolly Everett, the Northern Territory teen who tragically took her own life following relentless cyber-bullying in 2018.
She contacted Dolly’s family, offering to embroider Dolly’s Dream logos onto shirts and hats for their ‘Do It For Dolly Day’ campaign. Seven years later, Carlee’s merchandise has raised an astonishing $900,000.
A percentage of proceeds goes to Dolly’s Dream with Carlee personally financing all stock.
“I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved as a community,” she says.
She has also transformed her Bairnsdale Horse Centre business into a community wellbeing hub, promoting kindness, awareness and positive mental health connections.
YOUTH: Ainslee Logan, Fitzroy Crossing, WA
Ainslee, 23, is a full-time muster pilot, a passion she discovered after taking a gap year to work at the Northern Territory’s famed Bullo River Station.
“I had never really had anything to do with helicopters before, and on that first muster I was just in awe of the fellas doing it,” she says.
“The few people I did tell tried to convince me not to, told me how hard it was, how expensive, basically that I wouldn’t and shouldn’t do it.
“So me being the stubborn person that I am said, ‘well, I’ve got to do it now’ – and so I did.”
In June this year joined Fitzroy Helicopters as a full-time mustering pilot.
