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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-11-30 Daily Xml
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International Day of Rural Women

Ms PRATT (Frome) (15:13): On 15 October each year we have the opportunity to mark International Day of Rural Women. Given the volume of rain and wet spring weather we have had, and the projections for this year's harvest are cautiously optimistic—$4.2 billion for our state—you can be sure that women are in the thick of this work.

I am about to embark on a recognition of some particularly shining stars in my own electorate. Time will limit me to do all of them justice, so I hope I get a chance to return to this topic again. I expect that I will be inundated with more examples of women to celebrate in this chamber going forward.

As I whizz around the electorate of Frome, hitting collections of women in different townships, I want to take this opportunity to celebrate some who, in recent months, have really been doing the heavy lifting. To kick it off there is the fabulous Ali Paulett, who is responsible for Bush de Vine at Paulett's cellar door. She has surrounded herself with an award-winning team; they have had the top gong for Best Tourism Restaurant and have won the Wine of Provenance Award, the Trip Adviser Travellers Choice Award, with many more to come.

Still in my town of Clare, there is Olivia Hoffman Barry of Jim Barry Wines who, with the introduction of the Nurse Series rosé, will help fund specialist breast care nurses in partnership with the McGrath Foundation. Ali (Chook) Meaney, of Bukirk Glamping is an innovator, an entrepreneur, a builder, an interior designer, mother to Kevin Kevi Bacon and Jett the lamb. She is just a generally good egg.

Katherine Nugent is the busiest person I know. She is a lawyer turned teacher, she volunteers with Operations Flinders, she is a mum, she is a tennis player, she is certainly a fantastic mental health advocate and, of course, she distils gin. Janet Angus deserves special mention as a nonagenarian still managing Hill River Station.

Still in Clare, I recognise Sandy Davies for winning a national award in services to mental health. Finally, just last week Dr Mel Considine, with her fantastic husband, Gerry (we will throw him a bone on this topic), were both the inaugural recipients of the Fellowship in Advanced Rural General Practice.

Up the road in Burra, the fabulous and multitalented Jenny Loftes is involved as chair of the National Trust and the CWA. She is involved in arts in a significant way, she provides tech support, she is a web designer for council initiatives, she is involved with the Open Garden festival, she is certainly a musical theatre entrepreneur and she is a historian. I also commend her for running for council recently.

Heading west over to Jamestown, there is no shortage of fabulous women working in this regional community. Ali Cooper has restored and is running The Park tourism accommodation centre in Jamestown. It is award-winning, and she is a fantastic mum, a farmer in her own right and a volunteer in town. Mel Kitschke is a remarkable woman. She is the current custodian (my words) of Bundaleer Forest Maple and Pine function centre, she is an arborist, an environmentalist and a doer of all things.

Emily Riggs just last week won the Shine Awards, recognising those who make a difference in their communities and industries. She has done that through her entrepreneurial establishment and startup business Iris and Wool. Not to be forgotten, Stephanie Lunn was a finalist in this year's PIRSA AgriFutures Rural Women's Awards, and I commend her for her initiatives.

In Kapunda, special mention goes to Katharine Crane, who is a really creative entrepreneur in the social media space, with her Crane Creative business that supports the local community event the Kapunda Makers Market. In Two Wells I want to acknowledge two separate women: Rachel Bombardieri, the genius behind the beautiful floral designs of her family business and, in the same family tree, I understand, Alana Bombardieri who, with Terry-Ann Keen and Kay Boon, were all elected to the Adelaide Plains Council.

I want to make a special mention of all the women who ran at the recent council elections. In my electorate of Frome, over 100 people participated, and 40 per cent of them were women. I commend them all for their efforts.

In every corner of my electorate of Frome there are amazing women. There are also amazing men, and children, seniors and volunteers. Our country communities are brimming with talented people, and I celebrate them all. However, today I especially recognise that women play a crucial role in ensuring the sustainability of rural workplaces and households.

The SPEAKER: The member for Flinders, on indulgence.

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