Angela
It was a huge thrill. Well I’m told that it was because I’ve been working in rural areas for more than 25 years, and I suppose that’s what it is. I’ve seen a lot of changes in agriculture, I’ve written books and I’ve worked in radio and in print.

Terry
Can you relate just briefly your career, in the space of a minute?

Angela
Well I started off in radio a long time ago as a copy writer, and then public relations then The Advertiser as a journalist, at university here and there, and when I was at the Advertiser I married my husband Charlie and went off to live in the country - and missed writing so much that I started writing the column which was called The Goode Life. And I am still writing the column 26 years later.

Terry
Those very early days, did you miss city life?

Angela
No I didn’t miss city life. I always had wanted to live in the country, but I missed writing, I missed the contact with the published word I think. I certainly missed the cut and thrust of journalism, but I could see when I moved to the country that there were heaps of stories outside the city. I think when you are in the city you think that is where all the action is. When I moved to the country, and I wasn’t a stranger to country life really as I had been to farms a lot before I was married, I realised there were a lot of stories which weren’t being covered and that was what occupied me. Let’s face it, there are seven million people living outside the capital cities. There are a lot of stories in regional areas that are overlooked.

Terry
You are often referred to, whether you like it or not, as a fearless crusader for today’s rural and regional communities. How does that tag sit with you?

Angela
I find that a bit heavy to carry. I think more the truth is that I work from home, I work on the farm, I look after the farm as my husband works off-farm these days, and I work in our community. I am simply reflecting on and observing what happens in my rural community around me and I travel a lot around Australia. I am simply reflecting on what I see and picking up the issues that I think are important.

Terry
If I asked you to give me a couple of the big challenges that you see for non-city dwellers today, what would come to mind?

Angela
There are many. I think one of them is the conflict in a way between corporate farming and the family farm. There are arguments for both sides. We’ve heard for years to get bigger or get out, but when margins get so tight I think that we probably can see the benefit of selling out or leasing land to be part of a bigger conglomerate with better buying power, perhaps better selling strength. Maybe that’s one of the ways which might be a help. But then it does rip the heart out of communities too, the small family farms are the backbone of rural Australia. They supply labour for the towns, they supply the players for the footie teams, they are flexible whereas the big companies are not. And so there’s a conflict. Water is obviously a huge issue. The river, lack of labour, now again it’s a two edged one because the mining companies are supplying a lot of work for people who need it in rural areas, but they are also taking a lot labour out so we’ve got seeding time now at the moment and harvest later - very, very hard to find labour. They’re just a few, and there are many more. Animal welfare is another one where we have a conflict between the city people who have no contact with farm animals and they tend to, I think some of them, look at them as though they are soft pets, you know we can pat them and carry on. And they see some of our farming practices and feel that they are cruel, well they are not at all. They are usually for our own benefit too as well as the animals’ safety and also getting the job done. They’re the issues I think brought about by the great big divide between city and rural areas.