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A grieving Penny Button steered Crossmoor Station through tough times

After losing her husband, Penny Button took the reins at Crossmoor, managing the vast property near Longreach, Queensland.

PHOTOGRAPHY ALLIE LEE

Penny Button chats with Kelly and Amie Shann at a recent Graziher shoot. Jewellery by McKinney’s, skincare by Jurlique and hats by Akubra.

When Sammie O’Brien spoke with Queensland grazier Penny Button for the current season of our Life on the Land podcast, Penny spoke candidly about the hardships and joys she faced during her time at Crossmoor Station, near Longreach. It was an incredibly moving conversation, sprinkled with wit and wisdom, and a deep gratitude for the community that has helped her through unimaginable losses. You can listen to the full episode here.  

What follows is an edited transcript, featuring highlights from this very special episode, which was made possible by McKinney’s jewellers.


 

Sammie: Talk to me about your time at Welford station. 

Penny: Well, I met Ian and we were married at Churchie. Then we went to live at Welford, which was a long way from nowhere. When we arrived, he said, “Well, kiddo, you’re standing in the middle of the door. Are you 250 kays from Quilpie, Blackall or Longreach? Take your pick.”

But I never felt remote at all. We had mail twice a week and lots of wonderful people in the district. There was the odd function like gymkhanas, races and balls, and they were always special because they weren’t in abundance up there. People appreciated everything.

Sammie: Can you describe what Welford looked like?

Penny: Welford is on the Barcoo River; we had 70 kilometres of river as the boundary. It had been in the Button family for 70 odd years, and it was a bit too good to be true. That’s why the government decided they’d have it. They resumed it for a national park, which was very sad for us after 77 years of ownership.

Sammie: How does that work? The government came in and said they’re resuming the land and you have to move?

Penny: Well, initially they sighted it through the satellite for being un-degraded country in pristine condition. There were a couple of properties neighbouring us that were for sale and I suggested them, but it was, “Oh, no, the first half-inch of top soil is gone” and that sort of thing. 

We had no say in it. It was printed that night on the front page of the paper that they had acquired Welford — we hadn’t even discussed a price.

 

We bought another property and took a lot of the stock up to Crossmoor [near Longreach, Queensland]. Crossmoor is much, much smaller. It’s better country — or has better rainfall — and it’s easier to manage, probably. It’s a good place and we re-jigged it pretty well, too.

PHOTOGRAPHY ALLIE LEE

From left: Fleur Anderson, Penny, Senator Susan McDonald, Julie McDonald and Laura Geitz.

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