When contacted for comment on her joining the ranks of those honoured in this year's Queens Birthday Awards Patrice Newell was busy harvesting olives on her property at Gundy east of Scone.
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Above the sound of the harvester she said it was indeed an honour to become a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) especially given she was an anti-coal campaigner.
"Not only am I that but I am also an organic farmer so it is great to see, in these challenging times, a recognition of the important work people holding these views and following this path in agriculture are trying to achieve," she said.
Although seasonal conditions are greatly improved in the Upper Hunter, like much of NSW, since the dire times of the 2017-2019 drought Dr Newell said this year's olive harvest reflects the damage inflicted from those years with the trees and really the entire ecosystem still struggling to truly recover.
Her award is for her significant service to the environment, and to sustainable farming practices.
This is a reflection of her 35 years work on the 4000 hectare property 'Elmswood' she own and manages with husband Phillip Adams.
The move to 'Elmswood' in 1986 was transformative for this former model and TV presenter. From a complete novice when it came to all things farming she, with the invaluable assistance and support of a number of skilled farm managers, labourers and mentors, has learnt and adapted the skills required to farm in an era of a climate emergency.
It has not been without its major disappointments and heartache especially the unrelenting challenges of the most recent drought whose presence is still keenly felt in the region.
Her 'Elmswood' experience and the farm's conversion to organic management practices is documented in her books including the 2019 'Who's Minding the Farm? In this climate emergency'.
And she remains committed as ever to the future and is busy working on her latest project Kwala Pty Ltd which she plans to launch next year a ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) investment fund. She is its co-founder and it brings together the themes of her life - social, environmental and financial justice.
Returning to her anti-coal stance she said like many people she had changed profession a number of times.
"Telling people they have a job for life like politicians are now doing to coal miners is a complete fantasy, its pathetic on the part of those politicians. We have to accept change is inevitable and the Hunter Valley is not all about coal - it is so much more," she said.
"We shouldn't be shy about the future and we should express openly our dissatisfaction with those political views and tell them we are against coal."
For her part Dr Newell said they grow garlic, olives and now honey on what was once a purely grazing property.
"I have had a number of professions and the farm has evolved thats what happens if you want to survive," she said.
"For me bees are now my therapy and I have just started a pod cast on the bees and other insects that I love," she said.
Dr Newell's biographical citation:
Conservation and the Environment
- President and/or Secretary, Pages River and Tributaries Water Users' Group, 1997-2014.
- President, Upper Hunter Waterkeepers' Alliance, 2006-2010.
- Co-Founder, Climate Change Coalition, 2007.
University of Newcastle
- Conjoint Fellow, School of Environment and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, current.
Publications include:
- 'Who's Minding the Farm?', 2019.
- 'Tree to Table - Cooking with Australian Olive Oil', 2008.
- 'Ten thousand Acres - A Love Story', 2006.
- 'The River', 2003.
- 'The Olive Grove', 2000.
Hunter Olives Association
- President, 2017-2020.
Scone Shire Council (now Upper Hunter Shire Council)
- Member, Rural Lands Development Committee, 1996-1998.
- Member, Agenda 21 Committee, 1999-2001.
Community - Other
- Secretary, Gundy Rural Fire Brigade, 2006-2014.