Latest news with #Wheatbelt
ABC News
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Farmhand Ellie Morris's camera captures rural Australian stories
On a farm in Western Australia's remote north-eastern Wheatbelt, Ellie Morris sits in a tractor with her dog Marley on her knee and a camera at her feet. While the 24-year-old's main source of income is from her work as a farmhand in Perenjori, 341 kilometres north-east of Perth, her passion is capturing the world around her with her camera. Having received her first camera as a gift for her sixth birthday, Ms Morris has built up plenty of experience. "Basically, while I'm driving tractors, I'm flying drones and taking photos of what I'm doing," she said. "I'm a pretty visual person, and I'm not great with words. I don't always have a lot to say. So with my photos, I can say a lot more." Though Ms Morris has not had formal photography training, the amount of time she has spent on the farm with her camera has helped her strengthen her creative muscle. She believes her photos carry a simple message. "Showing people who don't live here what it's like — it's not always beautiful. There are two sides to it, and I capture that." Having amassed a following of more than 11,000 people on social media has led to offers of paid work. Comments from followers praise Ms Morris's ability to make something typically unglamorous, like dust, look like art. Sheep yards, storm clouds, crops, horses, and her Jack Russell, Marley, are some of Ms Morris's favourite things to photograph. She points to Marley and laughs. "When I bought her, I was told she was half border collie," she said. Marley, dusty sheep flocks, and storm cloud photos have drawn an international following, garnering a strong following from American horse and cattle ranchers. The balance between farming and photography is a simple one for Ms Morris. The camera stays on her at all times. "People don't realise how much time you spend on your computer for photography," she said. "That can get really boring. I do some of that stuff when I'm sitting in the tractor." She is now selling prints of her photos to customers on a domestic and international scale. Ms Morris has been working on Jason King's farm for the past five years. He refers to her as the "farm celebrity" and praises her eye for photography. Ms Morris has spent her entire life on farms, including being homeschooled on one. She made her first trip to the Perth CBD last year and wants to continue her travels. When asked if he was worried about losing his farmhand to full-time photography, Mr King said: "She's very good." "You guys keep turning up, so hopefully, for her sake, it takes off."
The Age
7 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Rottnest Island school camps more affordable for WA parents under new scheme
Parents of more than 1100 West Australian school students will benefit from a new cost-of-living initiative to help make school camps at Rottnest Island more affordable. The subsidy of up to $150 per student for a three-night camp will help parents who otherwise may not have been able to give their child the chance to join in on arguably one of the more expensive school excursions. Students from across the state will benefit from the scheme – to be unveiled on Wednesday – including those from the Wheatbelt towns of Wagin and York, Mount Barker in the south and Dongara in the north. Participating schools will also receive as much as a 100 per cent subsidy on accommodation at Kingstown Barracks, bike hire from Pedal and Flipper Hire, and Rottnest Island Voluntary Guides Association educational tours. Subsidised ferry transfers are also available. The school camp subsidy will be available for overnight bookings during term 3, 2025, and is in addition to those available to all school groups throughout the year. Loading Those include a 40 per cent accommodation discount for school group bookings, discounted rates on bike hire, and waiving of the island admission fee. Education Minister Sabine Winton said it was important to make school camps more accessible for more students, as they formed a crucial part of education outside a classroom environment. 'School camps give students the opportunity to build new friendships, experience different environments, and create lasting memories,' she said.
Sydney Morning Herald
7 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Rottnest Island school camps more affordable for WA parents under new scheme
Parents of more than 1100 West Australian school students will benefit from a new cost-of-living initiative to help make school camps at Rottnest Island more affordable. The subsidy of up to $150 per student for a three-night camp will help parents who otherwise may not have been able to give their child the chance to join in on arguably one of the more expensive school excursions. Students from across the state will benefit from the scheme – to be unveiled on Wednesday – including those from the Wheatbelt towns of Wagin and York, Mount Barker in the south and Dongara in the north. Participating schools will also receive as much as a 100 per cent subsidy on accommodation at Kingstown Barracks, bike hire from Pedal and Flipper Hire, and Rottnest Island Voluntary Guides Association educational tours. Subsidised ferry transfers are also available. The school camp subsidy will be available for overnight bookings during term 3, 2025, and is in addition to those available to all school groups throughout the year. Loading Those include a 40 per cent accommodation discount for school group bookings, discounted rates on bike hire, and waiving of the island admission fee. Education Minister Sabine Winton said it was important to make school camps more accessible for more students, as they formed a crucial part of education outside a classroom environment. 'School camps give students the opportunity to build new friendships, experience different environments, and create lasting memories,' she said.
ABC News
03-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Hot air balloons draw tourists to Northam in winter
Colour and light filled the skies in Northam during Western Australia's long weekend as the Wheatbelt town marketed itself as the "ballooning capital of Australia". Hundreds woke up to foggy skies in the Avon Valley, 100 kilometres east of Perth, to admire the hot air balloons over three mornings, before 8,000 visitors flocked to see the balloons light up at night, in time to rock tunes, for the Elevate Festival. A major drawcard of the Northam long weekend line-up was the inflation of the Skywhale and Skywhalepapa hot air balloons that were designed and made by Patricia Piccinini. Piccinini's artworks are travelling around the country with Northam one of six national showings. For a hot air balloon to take flight, on-ground wind speeds must not exceed 10 kilometres per hour, and the Avon Valley largely protects the area from such wind speeds. Unfortunately, due to unfavourable weather conditions, Piccinini's balloons were unable to take flight over Northam, instead tethering and putting on a show from the ground. Shire of Northam president Chris Antonio said the town's ability to embrace the cool conditions of the Avon Valley that were ideal for hot air ballooning, and turn them into a thriving tourist economy, was vital to the growth of the region. "Leveraging our unique climate and tying it in with ballooning is more important than I probably even realised," he said. "Traditionally in WA, tourism booms through the sunny months of the year, but we've been able to make tourism work in the peak of winter — that's our busiest time of year. "We are able to position ourselves as the ballooning capital of Australia." Mr Antonio said the town, which traditionally operated as a service town for smaller Wheatbelt communities, had previously struggled to establish a strong brand with tourists, but through hot air ballooning had become competitive with other tourism regions of the state. "But when winter comes, we have the flowing Avon River and the hot air balloons. "You can't do that in other places. That is our point of difference." Speaking at the Wheatbelt Futures Forum in Northam in May, North Eastern Wheatbelt TRAVEL's Linda Vernon said there was limited data on tourism in the region as a whole, with more focus on areas such as the South West. Despite limited data, she said there had been growth in visitor numbers to the Wheatbelt over the past decade that indicated an appetite for going inland. "The tourism space in the Wheatbelt is still immature and emerging," she said. Ms Vernon said feedback from tourists indicated that drawcards were niche events allowing visitors to connect with residents.
West Australian
28-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Land developer Nigel Satterley a finalist in the West Australian of the Year awards
Land developer Nigel Satterley has been nominated in the West Australian of the Year awards, after building a property empire that has helped house one in every 10 locals. As the country's largest privately owned residential land developer, Satterley has sold 130,000 blocks of land, primarily in WA, accommodating an estimated 338,000 people, or more than 10 per cent of West Australians. The land sits within 225 master-planned communities, which have won more than 100 awards, including the United Nations World Habitat Award for the Urban Renewal. But the big figures do not impress Mr Satterley as much as the country-town feel he tries to create in each community. It is, in his view, the best thing about life in Perth. 'It's a great place to live, like a big country town,' he said. Mr Satterley grew up the Wheatbelt town of Cunderdin, learning the ropes of small business from his parents, who ran a garage and tow-truck business and Good Year tyre distributorship. He attended boarding school in Perth, but says he was an 'average' student. His teachers recommended to his parents that they finish his tuition at the end of Year 10 at Governor Stirling High. 'They told my parents they would be wasting their money if I were to go to the fourth year of high school,' he said from his Peppermint Grove mansion. 'They said he would be better off getting a job.' His first job was selling textiles. Following in the distributorship footsteps of his parents, he jumped at the opportunity to distribute Levi's jeans — a staple which he continues to wear to this day. But when taking his earnings to the Town & Country Bank, he got to know founder James McCusker, who suggested he get into property. He started Statesmen Homes, which he later expanded to include land development, with his company going on to create estates across WA, Queensland and Victoria. But his career - which led to riches of more than $500 million- has been about more than land. Mr Satterley said one of the greatest battles involved a concerted effort from key businessmen, such as himself, and the then State government, to fight the Federal government for a fairer share of the GST. He said the group of businessmen met with then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull to press WA's case, and also paid for some research to back up the fight. His latest fight is to lobby the Government to allow businesses to provide health insurance to key staff, without subjecting it to fringe benefits tax. Similar to the US system, he claims it will take a lot of pressure off the State to ensure a better healthcare system. 'I think business can afford this, and health agencies like HBF will like it,' he said. On the philanthropic front, he has been donating 5 per cent of his pre-tax income to charity for decades, including the block of land he has been donating for the Telethon home for the past 50 years. In 2023, he became only the third West Australian inducted into the Property Council Hall of Fame. Other finalists in the business category of the award are Dr Neale Fong and James Giumelli. The winner will be announced on Thursday.
