Speeches
Tuesday, 08 April 2025
AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award
I am pleased to join you for the presentation of the 2025 AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award.
Congratulations to AgriFutures on celebrating 25 years of this award in 2025, marking a quarter century of empowering women in our rural communities.
Gender equity is a priority for me. I have pursued the advancement of women throughout my life and in my diplomatic career, and continue to do so now as Governor.
In that role I am privileged to engage with women across South Australia including during my regular visits to the regions.
Women in country areas are often the backbone of their local communities.
They are farmers, business owners, workers, carers, educators, connectors, communicators, volunteers, entrepreneurs, wise heads and friends.
I have heard rural women speak about the considerable challenges of rural living, including isolation, lack of access to services, and gender stereotyping.
Recently, during visits to the Murray Mallee and Southern Flinders Ranges, I witnessed the extraordinary resilience of rural women in the face of protracted drought.
Across all regions of the state, I have also witnessed women’s creativity in response to a range of challenges.
Initiatives such as SheFarmer, an online community and conference for rural women entrepreneurs, and Workshop66 in Kimba on the Eyre Peninsula, a collective of nine creative, women-led businesses, demonstrate the ability of rural women to create opportunities for themselves and, in some cases, to transform the fortunes of their communities.
As patron of the Country Women’s Association and the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Societies of South Australia, I am privileged to witness what rural women achieve, especially when they work together.
Friends,
I congratulate the four finalists – Marie Ellul, Emma Gilbert, Annabelle Homer and Kelly Johnson - on reaching this stage of the award process.
As entrepreneurs and creative thinkers, you have taken the problems facing your community and your industry and have devised ways to solve them.
You have filled the gaps, providing services to growing markets and playing a role in diversifying the economic base of your communities.
You are running your own businesses while also balancing other responsibilities, such as parenthood, other caring and community roles and work on the family farm.
In all of this I see your skill, your passion, your dedication – and I thank you.
I also thank AgriFutures for growing the profile of these awards over the years, showcasing the work of finalists and inspiring rural women everywhere to put their ideas into action.
South Australia’s regions are vital to the health, prosperity and the future of their communities and of our State.
Finalists, thank you for increasing the dynamism, resilience and prosperity of those communities now and for the future.
I wish you all every success.