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http://www.rirdc.gov.au/pub/media_releases/3march06.html

February 10, 2006

WINNERS ANNOUNCED AT AWARDS DINNER

At a gala dinner last night hosted by Primary Industries Minister, Ian Macdonald at Parliament House in Sydney it was announced that Kate Schwager from Wee Waa (NSW) won the award.  Runnerup was Mary Howard a prawn trawler from the Hawksbury and the third winner was Catherine Ford an organic macadamia and coffee plantation farmer from the far north coast.  All three women will attend the Australian RIRDC dinner to be held in Canberra in May.  The winner and runnerup will attend the Australian Institute of Dicrectors course in Canberra in May and the winner receives a bursery of $10,000.  Catherine Ford will receive a bursery of $1,000 and a certificate to attend a Beyond Survival Westpac Business Course.  

“Kate this morning is overwhelmed by the support of her friends and colleagues who traveled so far to support her and honored to be a recipient of this prestigious award.  It will be a wonderful experience and I am looking forward to an exciting year ahead.  This will give me an opportunity to convince other rural women of the off farm income opportunity as well as supporting their community and all agricultural industries”  Kate said

Kate is a mother of three boys John and Andrew who attend St Josephs College in Hunters Hill(Sydney) and Robert who is still at home in Wee Waa.  “The boys all help mum and dad with their cotton share farming business when they are at home and we make a great team.   Billy has supported me all the way from the dreams I had 7 years ago to what I have now put together”. Kate said

Kate’s project the Rural Towns Package is based on her first website www.weewaa.com which she launched in 2004 after sourcing the package from Brazil through her contact Ruth Quigley a member of the Women’s Industry Network Cotton.  “Networking for me gave me the opportunity to find the online package that best suited me and the isolated situation most rural women face”. It can all be done online and from home. Kate said

Kate has had some great support from family and friends with some of them traveling the great distance from Wee Waa (Cotton Capital of Australia) in the states north west and Blayney in the States Central West where she was born to attend the dinner last night.

“These online websites for rural and small towns will be a great tool for industry groups to link up with and for people to really find out what happens in rural towns and what agricultural industries support them.  Income is generated from advertising by local businesses such as the local clothing shop and hardware shop.  A lot of contractors that don’t have a shop front can also have an advertising presence on the site”. Kate said

Kate is the president of the local Chamber of Commerce, Publicity Officer for Wincott and now an honored recipient of the RIRDC Rural Women’s Award for NSW she looks forward to her journey to Canberra in May.

NSW RURAL WOMEN’S AWARD FINALISTS NAMED

Three outstanding women have been selected as NSW finalists for the 2006 Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) Rural Women’s Award.

Director-General of the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI), Barry Buffier, said the women were chosen for their commitment to primary industries, the benefits their work will bring to their industries and communities, and leadership potential.

“This year’s finalists represent a broad cross section of primary industries,” Mr Buffier said.

“Mary Howard is a prawn trawl business operator, Catherine Ford runs an organic macadamia and coffee plantation, and Kate Schwager is a rural website developer and cropping share-farmer.

“Mary Howard, along with her husband, has owned and operated the family prawn trawl business at Laughtondale on the lower Hawkesbury River since the 1980’s.

“She has a long history of community activity and industry representation. Mary hopes to use the bursary to develop fishing industry promotional tools and provide up-to-date information on environmental strategies and initiatives.

“Catherine Ford runs a successful family business growing 110 acres of organic macadamia nut trees and coffee at Rosebank in the north coast region.

“She hopes to produce a guide which will help fellow macadamia and coffee growers successfully convert to sustainable practices.

“Kate Schwager and husband Billy runs a successful cotton share-farming enterprise near Wee Waa in northern NSW. Seven years ago she began to develop websites to promote her local community and to explore off-farm income opportunities.

“She has now developed a Rural Towns Package based on her original weewaa.com website and wants to share her learnings with other rural communities.”

The winner of the NSW 2006 RIRDC Rural Women’s Award will be announced in February at a dinner hosted by Primary Industries Minister, Ian Macdonald.

The annual awards are designed to recognise the outstanding contribution made by women in primary industries. The NSW awards are coordinated by the DPI’s Rural Women’s Network.

The NSW RIRDC Rural Women’s Award is supported by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, NSW Department of Primary Industries, The Australian Women’s Weekly, ABC Radio, Rural Press, NSW Department of Natural Resources, NSW Premier’s Department Office for Women and the NSW Heritage Office.

Media contact: Trudy Glasgow 0427 217 354 or Allison Priest 6391620