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.
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After losing her husband, Penny Button took the reins at the vast property near Longreach, Queensland.
Creative director Jo Quarmby Photography Allie Lee Styling Lizzie Walsh interview Sammie O’Brien
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 Life on the Land podcast host Sammie O’Brien spoke with Queensland grazier Penny Button, 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 gratitude for a 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, 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 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.
Sammie: Along with the weather extremities of farming, you’ve also dealt with a fair bit of loss in your family. Three years after your eldest son Rodney passed, you lost your husband, Ian. How did you continue after such losses?
Penny: I don’t know. I think there’s a certain pride in it — to do your best on their behalf.
Sammie: You ran the property for several years after Ian passed. What are some of the things you realised when you took over?
Penny: Just how easily Ian did it. He never complained about anything, which was wonderful. And he paid all the bills, so I had to work out how to pay them, which is not my scene at all.
Sammie: You said in another interview that you never realised how much Ian had protected you from certain things on the farm…
Penny: Yeah, that’s very true. He wanted it all to be good. He was a wonderful husband and a wonderful father.
Sammie: It must have broken his heart to lose Welford?
Penny: Yeah, it did. He was very cross about it.
Sammie: What were some of the biggest challenges when you took the reins at Crossmoor?
Penny: I think just getting past the grief was the big challenge. And then you realise you’ve got to do other things. My daughter [Prue] decreed that we should have someone else living on the property, so they would know that I’d got home okay.
Sammie: A caretaker set-up?
Penny: Yes, a husband and a wife — they were lovely.
Sammie: Your youngest son, Hugh, runs the property now. When did you decide to move to Brisbane?
Penny: Once Hugh was old enough to be married, it was obvious that Mum should go. It’s a big thing because you’re passing over something that you’ve loved and worked very hard for.
Sammie: What sort of agricultural changes have you seen since Hugh took over?
Penny: Well, we didn’t have any agriculture; it was all livestock. But Hugh’s grown a couple of massive sorghum crops, which has been a terrific experiment for a dry climate. We had Santa Gertrudis cattle; my father-in-law and Sir James Walker were among the first to bring them to Australia. They’re beautiful cattle, not like these little Wagyus [that Hugh runs] — they’re ugly, but they’re very fertile and live on nothing. They’re amazing cattle, but all the beautiful old Santas are gone.
To hear the full conversation, click the link below.
Thank you to McKinney’s jewellers for supplying jewellery and to Jurlique for skincare products. All hats by Akubra.
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