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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-08-29 Daily Xml
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Thriving Women 2024 Conference

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:47): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development regarding the Thriving Women 2024 Conference. Can the minister inform the chamber about the recent Thriving Women Conference hosted by Women Together Learning held in the Adelaide Hills Convention Centre in Hahndorf?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:48): I thank the honourable member for his question. It certainly was a pleasure to attend WoTL's Thriving Women Conference dinner recently in the beautiful Adelaide Hills. I am proud that my department, the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, sponsored this conference again in 2024. That is because the conference is a fantastic opportunity to pause, reflect on and celebrate the extensive contribution that women right around South Australia make to our agricultural sectors and to our regional communities.

The participation of women in regional businesses and communities is a critical force helping to grow our state's agribusiness sector, so I was pleased to see so many women taking advantage of the opportunity for capacity building and for development by attending the conference. The 2024 conference theme was 'Be the change'. The theme was an important call to action for women connected by agriculture to identify and harness our unique talents to influence matters that matter to us, from issues that affect the entire state through to those affecting individuals and families.

The conference program and presenters offered an array of useful tools for women to support efforts to continue to shape communities, businesses and industries. The first keynote speaker was Wendy McCarthy AO, who began her career as a secondary school teacher, moving out of the classroom and into public life in 1968 and has since become a trailblazer in women's leadership, championing for change across the public, private and community sectors.

The second keynote speaker was Olympia Yarger, ACT Australian of the Year in 2023, climate action pioneer and the founder of agtech startup Goterra. Olympia has pioneered a system that uses maggots as a waste management system to process food waste, reducing greenhouse emissions. Her system has saved more than 66,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. With such inspirational keynote speakers at the conference, I am excited to see how the women who attended put into action the knowledge and tools gained for the future evolution and growth of our state.

PIRSA also has a longstanding partnership with the conference organisers, WoTL (Women Together Learning). In collaboration, we have been able to provide leadership and development opportunities for women in agricultural and associated industries.

One of the key activities that has been supported by PIRSA for over a decade is WoTL's Stepping into Leadership Program, which offers leadership training, mentoring and coaching to emerging women leaders in agriculture in South Australia. The idea is to support them to step into leadership roles in their respective industry, community or business. It was encouraging to see so many of the current Stepping into Leadership Program cohort in attendance at the conference.

I commend WoTL and the conference team of volunteers for putting on an excellent 2024 conference to bring together women connected through agriculture. WoTL has curated a program tailored to the interests and desires of women in agriculture and regional communities and created a safe and welcoming environment for learning, sharing and growing.

The networking and connections developed through opportunities such as the Thriving Women Conference cannot be underestimated. To really thrive, it is important for women to have a good support network so that we can count on others for information and advice when we need it. I hope that by participating in the conference the attendees made some new connections or were able to deepen existing ones. I thank WoTL for their continued work in this important space and I thank all those who were involved in organising this important conference.

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