“There’s so much more to do”: Louise Martin on schooling isolated children

It’s June 2023 and Louise Martin is standing on stage in the Julia Creek Civic Centre at the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association (ICPA) Queensland State Conference. The room is packed. There are more than 200 delegates, many of them boarding school reps, and a smattering of politicians, policy makers and industry stakeholders.

As usual, Louise’s presence is formidable. Her tall frame and square shoulders command attention at the lectern as her eyes check all corners of the room. Those present are waiting for an announcement — it’s going to be a big one — and the politicians and media are restless.

To her left, Queensland Department of Education Director-General Michael De’Ath declares a significant increase in the Living Away From Home Allowance Scheme (LAFHAS) for isolated boarding families: a long-term battleground for the ICPA. Despite a flashing attempt at holding in her emotions, it’s too much for Louise.

Tears pour down her cheeks and for a moment, she’s speechless. Her left arm raised above her head, fist pumping the air in victory.

“It was a long campaign,” she says in reflection. “We worked so hard to make that happen and I’m so proud our team had built such a positive relationship with [Queensland Education] Minister Grace to get us over the line.”

At the time, Louise was the ICPA’s Queensland president and, after an exhaustive yet effective tenure, she wanted a break. Handing over the presidential baton to another ICPA stalwart in Westmar–Inglestone’s Wendy Henning, Louise insisted she was happy to enjoy a few months with her twin daughters as they finished their schooling; however, six weeks later the 59-year-old emerged from the Federal ICPA conference as the freshly minted Federal president.

“My fire was lit: there’s so much more to do. We must be there to put our voice forward and have a seat at stakeholder meetings because otherwise we’d be lost and even more forgotten.”

Her passion for education advocacy is inherited: her mother, Patricia Mitchell, is the organisation’s patron and a life member.

“My siblings and I were ICPA orphans from a young age,” Louise recalls. Her youth was spent with her two siblings on Manresa stud outside Augathella, Queensland. She has fond memories of packing saddlebags with lunch and heading into the paddock with her adored father. She soaked in every aspect of the country, flora and fauna. She cherished her rural life and couldn’t imagine being away from the bush.

It meant boarding school wasn’t exactly a happy experience and Louise was left heartbroken when the family property was sold. Her idyllic childhood was further shattered when she was 16 years old and her father died from a brain tumour. Her mother then decided to move the family to Brisbane.

“I was completely lost,” she said. “I didn’t feel at home anywhere anymore.”

After school, her devastation had a brief reprieve in the vast open country of Cloncurry in western Queensland, working for her mother’s family, the McDonalds. While she ‘loved it more than life itself’, Louise still had no real place to call home and few long-term options. She decided to follow that quintessentially Australian travel path and head overseas at 24.

It was in the UK, Louise says, that she ‘accidentally’ became the personal polo groom to none other than James Packer.

 

“My brother Howard and I met up with some other western Queensland friends, who had just done the Florida polo season and had a number to call in London for another job. They wanted to go home and so I called. It just happened to be Kerry Packer’s estate at Petersfield.”

For five years Louise worked the polo seasons with ample time to travel when not exercising horses. She describes it as a dream job on a stunning estate, but as her 30th birthday loomed, a stark realisation hit home.

“I didn’t have anything to come home to. I’m turning 30: I’ve got nothing — I’ve got no money; I’ve got no degree or education behind me.”

After spending some time getting a bookkeeping qualification in Brisbane, Louise realised what was missing. The temptation of the bush was too much and she again headed west, this time to the rocky red soil of Tambo. She landed a good job at Lansdowne station where she put her mind to use once again — this time gaining a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in agribusiness and marketing.

It was there she met Andrew, a divorcee with two children, Guy and Bettina. Literally, the man next door. After a whirlwind romance, Louise was again embarking on an adventure, but this time she wasn’t alone. She was delighted.

“We got engaged in August, married in December and welcomed the twins a few days shy of our first anniversary.”

 

Louise was 40 when Isobel and Alice arrived and admits the transition from being a fiercely independent woman to a doting mother was a difficult one, made harder by having back surgery before the girls had even turned one.

“I probably would have lived a happy life without children, but I just had that thing that women get, I think — that I need to give this a go,” she says. “We did one round of IVF and that was it. We got the twins straight up, so it was obviously meant to be. It’s an absolute privilege to have them in my life.”

Becoming a mother has given Louise Martin a different perspective. It focused a drive that was always there: ensuring regional and remote communities stay intact.

“Once people leave, they’re lost forever. I think that’s what is really driving me. We need to be able to keep our families in their communities.”

The family now call Macfarlane, a mixed operation 30 kilometres outside Tambo, home. Louise’s perfect day includes pottering around the property, checking on her beloved bovines — progeny from heifers she was given as a wedding present.

At the most recent Queensland State Conference of the ICPA, her colleagues paid tribute to her fierce authenticity. It’s mixed with a fabulous fashion sense, some self-described discombobulation, and a startling ability to have a deep conversation about cricket with random cab drivers.

But all of these attributes are only part of her story. What makes this woman so effective is that her heart remains true. That’s what drives her passion and keeps her feet on the ground. Louise Martin’s determination to leave no child behind in her pursuit of equal education means there are still many more roads to wander.

For more information about the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association, visit icpa.com.au.

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