R.M.Williams OUTBACK

With thriving horticulture and pastoralism industries, and 2.4 million tourist visitor nights a year, the Gascoyne region is an often-forgotten powerhouse. Hear from one of its champions, Gascoyne Development Commission CEO Tim Bray.

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From her studio in regional Victoria, Becky-Jane Fortin is one of just a few milliners lovingly restoring Akubras. It was working with fur felt during her training in Germany and at a millinery master’s workshop in France, that the seed for working with Akubra was planted. In any given week there could be up to 10 hats at various stages of repair within her studio in the northern Victorian town of Shepparton. 

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Tiny Holly is one of WA's most sought after auctioneers, whether of livestock or at a corporate gig. He has helped raise more than $45 million for charity, which is so impressive by any measure. That Tiny has done this through a life with dyslexia, depression, anxiety, and type 2 diabetes resulting in the loss of both legs, is pretty incredible. These challenges led to a new purpose – speaking up about mental health in order to help others.

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The FRRR (Foundation for Rural and Regional Australia) has raised and distributed more than $180 million across the bush in Australia over the past 25 years. It is currently helping parts of Queensland and NSW recover from massive floods. FRRR CEO Natalie Egleton takes us behind the organisation, which was set up with the mission of helping to ensure the viability of Australia communities, beyond our cities.

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Beautifully windswept King Island – a flat, green oval emerging from Bass Strait about halfway between Victoria and Tasmania – is best known for 3 things: cheese, golf and beef. The owners of a new business that makes much of the place’s wide-open spaces, bracing Roaring Forties, abundant wildlife and oceanic proximity, wants to add one more: walks! We talk to Adam Hely, one of the owners of King Island Walks, about his love for his island home.

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In 2022, Longreach vets was set to close, which would have meant locals had to travel over three hours to keep their animals healthy. Enter fifth-generation cattle farmer James Walker and his family, who bought the practice, taking their business diversification to a whole new level.

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Hear from the author of the recent book Mrs and Mrs Gould about the grand story of the famous 'Birdman' John Gould and his talented wife Elizabeth, who revealed the astonishing world of Australian birds and wildlife in one of the most important naturalist expeditions in history.

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John Wright has led a fast-paced adult life of farming, shearing, tank-building, studying, truck-driving and a host of other jobs – before giving them all up to be a bush nurse. He is now a passionate advocate for remote health, teaching the next generation of outback healthcare professionals.

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The peaks and troughs of a life in leadership have prepared Mike Guerin well for his role as CEO of Queensland's AgForce where he spearheaded the case to save the Great Artesian Basin from mining interests.

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Michael Williams worked at R.M.Williams for more than 40 years, progressing from apprentice boot maker as a teenager, through to head of production and master craftsman. Now semi-retired, he takes visitors to the R.M.Williams workshop in Adelaide on a maker's tour they will never forget.

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