The Australian Women's Register

3 sound files (ca. 250 min.) O’Brien speaks about growing up in a sugar growing region; her schooling; being a governess on a property in Mt Garnet (1967-68); Brisbane; meeting her husband; working as a sugar chemist; young people in remote communities; life on sugar cane farms; current land use and the environmental impact in sugar growing areas; her marriage; living on her husband’s family property Craig’s Pocket; the challenges of childbirth and raising children in a remote community; the radio as a lifeline; distance education; School of the Air; moving to the Northern Territory (1993); selling Craig’s Pocket; Carmor Plains; Community involvement in the NT; involvement with Landcare; move to Roper Valley District (2001); good relationships with local indigenous people; her children; winning the State award for the ABC Rural Woman of the Year Award (1996). O’Brien talks about her concern for environmental issues; Ramsar Wetlands; volunteering; the need to make rural communities attractive to families and young people; the impact of locking up land in national parks; holistic land management theories; using Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOFers) as labour; pastoralism with a conservation focus; Kakadu National Park; the lack of support for rural women; her leadership experience with ICPA, CWA, Royal Flying Doctor, Australian Women in Agriculture; building networks; participating in the Australian Rural Leadership Program (2002-3); leadership; serving as deputy mayor of the Roper Gulf Shire; writing a weekly column for Rural Press; being nominated for the national award; Australian Women in Agriculture Conference in Darwin; differences between Country Women’s Association and Australian Women in Agriculture; her daughter’s experience of life on the land compared with hers; her concerns about domestic violence, youth suicide, support for men and aged care in remote rural communities.