Motherland Australia

Shianne O'Donoghue-Kent entered her first rodeo at five and by 25 had won Australian rodeo titles, spending most of her life in the saddle. What she didn't expect was becoming a stepmum to four children before 30, or facing a pregnancy that nearly left her unable to walk. At 20 weeks pregnant, Shianne could barely move. Doctors said the pain was normal, but an MRI later revealed two rupt...

Jess Reynolds lives in the Snowy Valley region of NSW, helping run her family’s Angus stud while raising four daughters with her husband. Warm, funny and incredibly jovial by nature, Jess also has a deeply reflective side that shines through in this conversation. But behind the demands of farming, motherhood and community life, she was struggling in ways she couldn’t explain. It wasn’t until her e...

At just 19, Lacey Long launched her first online clothing store—long before online shopping became the norm. A proud indigenous woman with an entrepreneurial spirit, Lacey later founded Buck Wild Country after struggling to find the kind of country clothing her husband wanted to wear. What began as an idea has grown into one of Australia’s best-known western fashion brands, with a deeply personal...

Katie Craig thought she knew what motherhood might look like. She and her husband Lachy were building a life together in Biloela, Central Queensland, and after years of worrying endometriosis might affect fertility, they were overjoyed to be expecting their little boy, Dougy. But at just 27 weeks pregnant, Katie went into labour. Dougy weighed only 1.1 kilograms at birth, and Katie was then separa...

You might know Lottie Rae from Australian Survivor. Or from Portrait Artist of the Year, where she painted Ken Done. Or maybe from the time Gigi Hadid slid into her DMs and bought one of her paintings for Bella. Perhaps you follow her art online or listen to her podcast.  But behind the art, the TV appearances and the wild stories, is a deeper side to Lottie you’ve probably never heard before. Unt...

Nikki Lyons didn’t grow up on the land. She was raised in Western Australia, and only discovered agriculture as a teenager. But by 17, she’d bought her first shearing kit and started chasing work in sheds across the country. More than 20 years later, Nikki is a mum of four living in Yass, NSW, and one of Australia’s most remarkable shearers. In 2024, she set a women’s world record by shearing 395...

Cailyn Muntelwit grew up on cattle properties across Central Queensland in a loving but emotionally unstable home, navigating school, undiagnosed neurodivergence, and a brain that never switched off. At 19, she met her partner Frank in the stock camp, and by 27 they were starting a family of their own. But motherhood hit hard. With ADHD, a child navigating ADHD and autism, and a partner working aw...

Not long ago, Alison Gossage made a decision that some rural women quietly face… but rarely talk about. She left the land. Ali is a mum of two, who was living and working on a farm in Esperance, WA, building a life in agriculture alongside her husband, raising babies in the bush, and doing everything she could to hold it all together. But behind the scenes… things were not okay. What started as th...

Ellen Fitzgerald is a mum of three living on a cattle property northwest of Longreach. Like so many rural mothers, her days are full… raising children, running a business, and building a life on the land alongside her husband. But recently, Ellen has found herself in a position she never expected… becoming an accidental advocate for rural families. Right now, Ellen’s family  (like many in remote a...

Last month, rural mum of two Courtney Moir was crowned the winner of Muster Dogs Season Four. But there’s a lot more to her story than what you saw on TV, and today she shares all of it publicly for the first time. From working in banking, to swiping right on a farmer, to moving to a remote property just weeks before becoming a mum — it was a lot of change, all at once. What followed was a period...

Rachel Bjelke-Petersen spent her childhood weekends travelling Queensland’s campdraft circuit with her dad. While horses, cattle and red dirt were always part of her, life took her in many directions — but something was always missing. After spinal surgery in her mid-20s, her goal was simple: get back on a horse… and she did exactly that. In 2022, she packed up and drove 1,100 kilometres west, whe...

Tahnee McCarthy is a paediatric physiotherapist, mum of two, and stepmum to one living outside Wagga Wagga in New South Wales. The life she’s building with her young family has been shaped by extraordinary challenges. After the traumatic birth of her first baby and undiagnosed postnatal depression, Tahnee was navigating early motherhood when her husband Aaron was involved in a catastrophic farming...

Michelle Hamilton lives on a farm in Central Queensland with her husband Pete and son Wiley. Growing up on the land, she thought she was ready for rural life — but motherhood brought challenges she never saw coming including post natal depression. But Michelle’s turning point came unexpectedly at a local agricultural show, where she encountered alpacas! What began as a simple encounter grew into s...

Vanessa Bell has lived many lives in one. Discovered at just 15, she was launched into high fashion — travelling the globe and shooting for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. But behind the glamour came grit. A chapter marked by domestic violence, sleeping in her car, and temporarily losing her sight from stress forced Vanessa to rebuild from the ground up. It was through knitting that she began to heal....

Kimberly is a psychologist and mum from Moranbah, Queensland. Five years ago, her world was shattered when she lost her 13-year-old son, Ethan, just nine weeks after a leukemia diagnosis. Ethan was a talented young footballer, signed to the Broncos’ elite development squad — strong, determined and full of life. And then, in a matter of weeks, everything changed. In this episode, Kimberly shares th...

Prue McCormack is a sixth-generation cattle farmer in the Hunter Valley, NSW, a vet, and a mum of two. When her son Jock was three, Prue and her husband began noticing developmental delays. What followed were long waitlists, countless appointments, and eventually a diagnosis of autism and ADHD. In this episode, Prue shares the shock, grief and guilt that came with that moment — along with the fier...

Laura Wilson lives in Quilpie in far western Queensland, where she and her partner Jake are raising six children under the age of ten. Yes, six! A registered nurse by background, Laura always knew she wanted to be a mum. What she maybe didn’t plan on was becoming a mother at 24, growing her family quickly, and spending long stretches solo parenting while Jake built their trucking business. She’s b...

Today I’m thrilled to bring you a bonus episode with Kylie Lindsay, Head of nbn Local in Queensland, for a powerful conversation about leadership, motherhood, mental health, and regional connectivity. Kylie shares her journey from growing up in Townsville to working in high-pressure politics, navigating anxiety, and becoming a mum to her son Archie just before turning 40. We talk about what it’s r...

Today's episode is one of the most raw and important conversations I’ve ever shared. Corrina Rawlinson is a rural mum from Esperance, WA — a businesswoman and straight shooter, bravely telling the truth about what motherhood and mental illness can look like behind closed doors. She shares growing up in small rural communities, carrying childhood trauma into adulthood, pushing through while ke...

Rachael Kirby’s version of motherhood looks nothing like it did a year ago. After growing up in rural central NSW and meeting her husband in the shearing sheds out west, she’s now raising three young kids (with a fourth on the way) while living full-time in a caravan on the shearing circuit. Her husband is a shearer, Rach is a shearer’s cook, and together they juggle work, marriage, parenting and...

Today's episode is a story of love, unimaginable loss, betrayal, and deep, hard-won hope. Belinda Viver’s daughter Adelaide tapped me on the shoulder at a Motherland event last year and said, “You need to speak to my mum.” She was right. Belinda grew up on the land, built a full life with her husband Jack, and raised three daughters until everything changed in July 2020, when Jack died sudden...

Debbie Dowden arrived in Australia by boat when she was just 3 years old. Her family were ‘10 pound poms’ in search of a sunnier life in Australia. Little did she know that life would see her raising 4 children 600kms from Perth in Outback Western Australia. Debbie was working as a theory instructor at a flight school when she decided that she actually wanted to fly the planes, not just teach peop...

Weeks before Sonja Chrystal was born, her father was in a farming accident and became a paraplegic. Months after she was born, her mother packed her bags and left her paralysed husband and two little girls, and never returned. Her dad and her grandparents raised Sonja and her sister on a cropping and grazing property in the central west of NSW before Sonja found herself living and working in Sydne...

When I say the name Liz Ellis, you probably think one of three things: One of the greatest Netballers our country has ever seen  A very funny media commentator The winner of I’m A Celebrity Get Me out of here a few years ago. What you probably don’t think of is Liz Ellis the farmer. Liz, her husband of 25 years, Matthew, and their two children live on a farm in between Lismore, Ballina and Byron B...

Phoebe White has had a lot of titles and lived in a lot of places in her 35 years. She’s been a PE Teacher in Sydney. A Fashion stylist in London. A High-profile real estate agent in Miami. But it’s the two she’s been given in the past eight years that light up her life, and have brought her home. The first is being a mum to her two daughters Camilla and Olympia, and the second, is being the custo...