The programs for the weeks of 8/18/19 and 8/25/19 were chosen by Ohio Pathways Rotary E-Club Member, Deanne Smith from Nilma North, Victoria, Australia. 

Deanne wrote the following in regards to the two programs that she chose: “They are both focused on sustainability and revisiting farming practices to conform to our landscape. I hope this gives people a small insight into Australia, and our family’s passion for agriculture and sustainability”. 

The Suburban Australian couple taking on the Outback

Suburban girl Frances Jones and her partner David Pollack have been carving a life out in the Aussie outback for three years now – here’s the remarkable story of her journey from suburbia to frontier-land…

Jones arrived at ‘Wooleen’ from a lush, green suburb in outer Melbourne during a gap year trip. She fell for the station and its owner and has been there ever since. Together, the pair have embarked on a radical venture to return the rangelands to good health by destocking and replicating natural ecosystems. But with drought gripping WA their beliefs are now being put to the ultimate test… but they can’t leave now. “Even if the change is slow, we can’t walk away from, you know the environmental impacts of what’s happening in the rangelands. We stay because we want to.”

(Published on Feb 6, 2015)