2011 New South Wales Winner – Karen Hutchinson

Rural change agent

Karen Hutchinson, from Hanwood, New South Wales is Executive Manager of Murrumbidgee Irrigation and an irrigated agriculture leader at a time of unprecedented change in the management of the nation’s water resources.

Karen comes from an academic background with expertise in group processes and sustainable resource management and professional experience in strategic development. 

For the past ten years Karen has lived with her family at Hanwood outside Griffith, where she has been involved in primary industries; directly at a farming level growing sultanas for dried fruit production on their irrigated property. Indirectly she has been an educator and involved in policy development for the irrigation industry.

In her current role as Murrumbidgee Irrigation Executive Manager, Karen is responsible for water distribution and customers throughout the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA).

Karen believes that with agriculture in the Murray Darling Basin facing the prospect of significant cuts to water allocations, the efficiency of water supply and its use will become absolutely critical to the survival of the Basin’s rural industries and communities.

Karen wants to see irrigated agriculture go beyond resilience, to embrace change and to demonstrate its ability to adapt and thrive in response to political and environmental change.

She believes at this time of unprecedented change, the irrigation community of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area will need strong leadership. She aims to use her academic background and qualifications, her current position, her industry knowledge and the strong links she has with industry and the farming community to provide this leadership to her community.

Her Award ambition is to research current knowledge and thinking on innovation and change, to learn from other industries that have faced change and to map out opportunities for engaging industries and communities to manage change in the MIA.  

2011 Victorian Winner – Angela Betheras

Trade negotiator

Angela Betheras is an alpaca breeder from Darnum, West Gippsland and principal of an integrated tourist enterprise ‘Nickelby by Darnum’. She is the first female to sit on the Committee of Lardner Park Events, the largest Farmworld event in the southern hemisphere and has recently retired as Chair of the West Gippsland Gourmet Country Tourism Association.

In 2005 she traded the corporate world and an 18 year career in international trade and supply chain management with some of Australia’s major retailers to pursue her passion for alpaca breeding.

The alpaca industry has established itself as a credible and profitable fibre industry, boasting a total of 100,000 breeders. But, according to Angela, it needs to find new markets for its woolen products if it is to expand and support its breeders.

China is the world’s largest consumer market boasting a rapidly increasing number of affluent middle class consumers. Beijing and Shanghai between them have a population of 32 million people and many months of below zero temperatures.

Angela’s Award ambition is to explore trade relations with China as an export market destination for exclusive Australian made alpaca garments and accessories.

Given her corporate background and her experience in facilitating trade, Angela believes she has the necessary skills and contacts and understanding of the customs and culture, to initiate new trade relations with China and establish a new market for Australian alpaca products.

2011 Queensland Winner – Barbara Grey

Rural communicator

Barbara Grey from Mungindi, Queensland, has been an irrigated cotton grower for the past 30 years. The innovative and efficient practices she and her husband have put in place on their farm has led to them being awarded the prestigious Cotton Australia ‘Innovative Grower of the Year Award’ in 2007, and consistently being placed in the top five percentile of their region’s benchmarking group for cotton growing.

Barbara is Chair of the Women’s Industry Network – Cotton and Non-executive Director of the Cotton Co-operative Research Centre. She is a graduate of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation, has just completed an Advanced Diploma in Business and is currently enrolled in a Masters of Business Administration.

Barbara is committed to strong, healthy and productive rural industries and regional communities and is deeply concerned about what she believes is a growing disconnect between rural people and government and decision makers.

Her Award ambition is to implement a pilot education program that will empower aspiring rural and regional women leaders to gain a better understanding of the political process and government decision making which will help give them a stronger and more effective voice for rural industries and regional communities.

Barbara will use the Bursary to build her skills in project facilitation to give her the competencies to deliver on this pilot program. In the longer term, she believes the pilot could be replicated and become a regular training initiative for rural and regional women.