A Home in the Outback

Agfair 2024 saw the launch of the book Pubs, Publicans and People of Broken Hill and the far west by local writer Emily McInerney. I caught up with Emily at the Broken Hill Book Company Stall to talk to her about the book. All books brought to Broken Hill were sold and more are on the way to Broken Hill soon

There’s a real buzz in Broken Hill at the moment with the biennial Agfair Show which is held at the race course. There’s stalls showcasing farming and agriculture equipment, clothing, art and crafts as well as entertainment and cooking demonstrations. I went along for the good old country catch up and met Lucy Gale, from Pincally Station north of Broken Hill, who was run off selling her hand made ceramic wares, Little L's Australia. I caught up with the 20 year old to ask her about her creative business.

On Thursday 2 May, Katherine Waite facilitated a discussion at Petrichor Bar in Broken Hill with podcast guests Lori Emment, Heather Pearce and Ben Clavel in front of a live audience.

As you can imagine, live events always have the special quality of the unexpected and sometimes the audio doesn't capture the magic of the event quite like attending in person.

*During the event, I asked a question in reference to the International Women's Breakfast happening at Palace. It actually happened at The Astra. The error was completely mine.

Thanks to Petrichor and Aimee Volkofsky.

Meet Robert Williamson, the A-grouper who trained as an apprentice in Broken Hill and worked his way up to be a mining executive.

Robert is the oldest of four boys but when his mother died from breast cancer, he decided to stay in Broken Hill and help his father.

He got himself a trade at Zinc Mine and was offered training in industrial electronics which became an in-demand skill.

As a young man he travelled and worked at Bougainville Copper and overseas at a Kibbutz. When he returned he moved to the Western Australian region of Pilbara and was there maintaining dump trucks and mining equipment at iron ore mines.

When he was working at Dampier mine, he introduced a robotic systems to the way Rio Tinto managed their port system which earned him praise and accolades from the mining sector.

He was head hunted to develop and establish robotic systems all over the world, including iron ore ports in China. He went into mining consulting and among his achievements was selling US$10million dollars of technology to the large Brazilian company Vale.

More recently, Robert’s attention has returned full circle back to Broken Hill which he says is completely coincidental. With his business partner Gordon Toll, he’s currently in the process of applying for mining licenses for Lodestone Mines to develop Australia’s next big iron ore project in the Braemar Region in South Australia. The proposed mine site is just over 1.5 hours south west of Broken Hill, inland from the small South Australian town of Olary.

Robert is based in Adelaide but travels regularly to Broken Hill for business.

Meet Lori Emment, a local Broken Hill person who spent a lot of her life not being about to remember people’s faces.  

Lori spent a lot of her life being told that she was dumb, lazy and self-centred and she believed it. She could see people’s faces but never remember them.

As a child, she would focus really hard on what her parents were wearing any particular day to identify them at the shops. She never questioned she was different to other people.

As an adult, Lori discovered she had prosopagnosia after her mum watched a documentary on it. Finally Lori had a name for something she has struggled with her whole life.

Lori currently works at Willy Nilly Art helping artist Amanda Johnson behind the scene. Lori is a wonderful story teller and impersonator and this weekend she’ll be performing in the local production of Steel Magnolias at Theatre 44.

* We have deliberately chosen to blur Lori’s face so you have a glimpse of what it means to live with face blindness or prosopagnosia.

A Home in the Outback is produced by Katherine Waite, an interviewer and writer based in Broken Hill, NSW. I also produce private life stories for family history. Please get in touch if that service interests you.

Music by Aimee Volkofsky - Heart is a desert from Dust Lust.

Airlie is the daughter of a local GP in Broken Hill. Her dad trained to be a doctor as a parent and so Airlie and her siblings moved around a lot as children.

The family moved back to Broken Hill when Airlie was in Grade 7 and she has remained here since.

Unfortunately, Airlie was bullied in high school in Broken Hill and eventually dropped out altogether. However, she has a strong work ethic and remained positive and looked for opportunities to be engaged in the community and to be creative.

She has made a themed wedding dress, built her own bed, altered her own clothes, acted in films and live shows, been a tennis coach and worked at Bells’ milk bar.

Airlie is renovating a house in town with her partner and wants to create a beautiful garden. She is currently studying primary education at university.  

A Home in the Outback is produced by Katherine Waite, an interviewer and writer based in Broken Hill, NSW. I also produce private life stories for family history. Please get in touch if that service interests you.

Meet David Doyle, Barkandji/Malyangapa man who is a health worker, artist, writer and entrepreneur.

He is today’s guest on A Home in the Outback, an independent podcast about people living, working and creating in the far west of NSW.

David was born in Broken Hill but his family is from the Menindee region of the Baaka or Darling River.

For the last 20 years he’s worked as an Aboriginal health worker – particularly in chronic disease – and is currently employed by the Royal Flying Doctors Service.

He started woodworking to help with depression and is an emerging artist. In 2023 he won the Maari Ma art prize for his piece, Values.  

He also is a knowledge holder of Barkindji bush medicines and edible plants. He’s currently working on a plant catalogue of Kinchega National Park and hopes one day they’ll be a database on plants including its nutritional and medical breakdown.

David has some works in the upcoming ngaratya exhibition at the Broken Hill City Art Gallery from 4 May to 28 July 2024. ngaratya (together, us group, all in it together) is a love letter expressing the connection between Barkandji people and their Country.

David’s tourist business is called Wontanella.

For more information about David see his personal website

You can also support the work of the RFDS by making a donation or coming along to the The Royal Flying Doctor ball on Saturday 4 May 2024 at the Gary Radford Pavilion.

A Home in the Outback is produced by Katherine Waite, an interviewer and writer based in Broken Hill, NSW. I also produce private life stories for family history. Please get in touch if that service interests you.

Music by Aimee Volkofsky - Heart is a desert from Dust Lust.

Meet Ann Evers a basket weaver and arid gardener who has lived in Broken Hill for 50 years.

She is today’s guest on A Home in the Outback, an independent podcast about people living, working and creating in the far west of NSW.

Anne was born in Perth to English parents; her father was a geneticist and her mother was a biologist and artist.

Growing up the family moved overseas a lot to follow her father’s career.

Ann went to university in Canberra and met and married a Broken Hill boy called Bob.

They moved to Broken Hill to care for Bob’s mother who fell ill and Ann fell in love with the desert place immediately.  

They inherited the stone hut that Bob grew up in which has a connection to the Picinic Train Attack in 1915.

Ann learned to weave baskets from Australia’s pre-eminent basket weaver Virginia Kaiser.

Ann’s art reflects on her connections to the land, its post-colonial stories and Afghan history. She hopes her art encourages locals to value Broken Hill and the far west.

A Home in the Outback is produced by Katherine Waite, an interviewer and writer based in Broken Hill, NSW. I also produce private life stories for family history.

Music by Aimee Volkofsky - Heart is a desert from Dust Lust.

Meet Hugh Lord, a 5th generation farmer at Thackaringa Station, a property 40 km south-west of Broken Hill. He is also a commercial pilot and runs H & A air with his GP wife Dr Aliza Lord. He is honest, hard-working, humourous and grounded.

Hugh and his father, David Lord, are the farmers on the

They run both sheep and cattle but Hugh says he’ll only

Hugh says his family has been on the property since 1876,

Hugh started to learn to fly after he worked for a company

Hugh share’s his perspective on climate change, the relationship between mining and farming, the future of farming, mental health of farmers and succession planning.

A Home in the Outback is produced by Katherine Waite, an interviewer and writer based in Broken Hill, NSW.

Meet Heather Pearce, the CEO of Thrive Medical and an Occupational Therapist. She is a visionary and problem-solver who works with others to achieve outcomes for regional people.

She is today’s guest on A Home in the Outback, an independent podcast about people living, working and creating in the far west of NSW.

Heather was born in the small town of Cleve on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia and grew up on a farm.

She went to boarding school and then university in Adelaide and studied occupational therapy.

Her first job out of university was working in the return to work field which she really enjoyed.

After a brief stint working overseas, she moved to Broken Hill in 2010.

She saw there was no return to work consultants in town and set up a business.  

Over the years it's morphed and changed to respond to needs of the town.

However, after she connected with local businessman Steve Radford, she got the courage to step out and purchase an MRI machine and open Thrive Medical in 2021. 

Heather speaks to the ongoing challenges and specific needs places like Broken Hill have when it comes to providing health services and support.

Show Notes

Thrive Medical https://www.thrivemed.com.au/

A Home in the Outback is produced by Katherine Waite, an interviewer and writer based in Broken Hill, NSW.

Thanks to Foundation Broken Hill for its support in this project.

Music by Aimee Volkofsky - Heart is a desert from Dust Lust.