Queensland Rural Media Awards 2025

The Queensland Rural Press Club extends its deepest gratitude to the sponsors whose generous support made the 2025 Awards possible.

The Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is thanked for its ongoing commitment to recognising excellence in rural journalism and for presenting the Category Awards and Story of the Year during the luncheon.

Nutrien Ag Solutions is warmly acknowledged for its valued sponsorship of the Queensland Young Rural Journalists of the Year award, supporting the next generation of voices telling rural Australia's stories.

Winners of the Queensland Rural Story of the Year and Queensland Young Rural Journalists of the Year each receive a $5,000 travel bursary to the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists annual congress. This year's congress is being held in Croatia in October.

The University of Queensland (UQ) is sincerely thanked for its continued support of the Queensland Rural Photography Awards, celebrating the visual storytelling that brings rural life to wider audiences.

The Queensland Rural Press Club is proud to sponsor the Student Scholarship Awards, investing in emerging talent and the future of rural journalism. A $5,000 scholarship is awarded to support the winning student's studies in 2026.

A special thank you to Carolyn Martin, Awards Convenor, who coordinated judging across a record number of entrants in all categories — a remarkable achievement that reflects the growing strength and reach of these awards.

Finally, heartfelt appreciation goes to Arlie Felton-Taylor, RPC President, who served as MC during the luncheon, sharing the highlights and remarkable skills of each winner with warmth, insight and well-deserved enthusiasm.

Student Scholarship Awards
 

Sponsored by the Queensland Rural Press Club

Winner: Milly Buck — $5,000 student scholarship bursary - Milly Buck is a natural storyteller whose curiosity is evident in her story choices, using country characters and businesses to explore broader issues like the digital divide and the complexities of modern life. She has an engaging style distinguished by unforced humour and a deep loyalty to small country towns. The judges believe there is no doubt Milly will continue telling those stories for years to come.

Runner-up: Neave Duff - Neave Duff is a remarkable young rural journalist who, while studying at the University of Queensland, was also working four days a week at Queensland Country Life. She was the first reporter on the ground in Quilpie after the devastating floods of March 2025, having hitched a ride on a mustering plane. Her coverage of the disaster and the generosity of strangers in the aftermath was of an extremely high standard.

Queensland Rural Photography Awards
 

Sponsored by UQ

Landscape Photo

Winner: Fiona Lake - 'Cleanskins winding down the jump-up' - A stunning aerial image with beautiful composition that tells a story and leads you to ask questions. Remote mountains stretch to the horizon as a horse, dog and human team bring a mob down a newly cut road — a rare perspective few will ever see from the ground.

Runner-up: Mandy McKeesick - 'Burnett bites' - Beautiful light with the river and rural land telling the story of water as the lifeblood of farming. A unique aerial perspective with strong composition.

Highly commended: Linda Mantova - 'Funnel cloud forming over Clifton farmland' - A striking image with depth and a lengthy composition, capturing a fleeting moment in cloud formation.

Production Photo

Winner: Fiona Lake - 'Caught on the Dry - Bull Catching' - A dynamic and eye-catching image captured in difficult circumstances. You can feel how fast the action unfolded, yet the image is sharply rendered with all characters in their extraordinary setting.

Runner-up: Paula Heelan - 'Eidsvold cattle muster' - Captures the energy and action of graziers at work, with light shining a path across the image.

Highly commended: Mandy McKeesick - 'Droving for Charity' - Taken on horseback during the Great Australian Charity Cattle Drive, this image captures the dusty haze of a mob on the move and the camaraderie of drovers.

People Photo

Winner: Shan Goodwin - 'For the love of cows' - Perfectly timed to capture a cow licking a dairy farmer's ear at "Woodspring" near Kulpi. A well-composed photograph that captures an unexpected, joyful moment.

Runner-up: Isabella Hansen - 'Portrait of Jemma Norris' - A striking image of producer Jemma Norris with her cattle dogs at her property near Theodore. Nicely positioned and composed, making good use of the available light.

Highly commended: Judith Maizey - 'Spirit of Girlie Goody' - Great light and composition drawing the viewer in to know more about the subject, captured naturally on her cattle property "Malakoff" near Monto.

Queensland Rural Photographer of the Year
 

Sponsored by UQ - Presented by Carolyn Martin

Winner: Fiona Lake - After reviewing all 25 photo entries, the judges selected Fiona Lake's 'Caught in the Dry - Bull Catching' image as the outstanding work of the year. Fiona's three winning photographs across the categories reflect exceptional skill, range and storytelling through the lens.

Queensland Young Rural Journalists of the Year
 

Sponsored by Nutrien Ag Solutions - Prestened by Lucy Brennan

Winner: Hannah Walsh — $5,000 travel bursary to attend the IFAJ Congress in Croatia

Hannah is the great all-rounder everyone wants in their newsroom. Her creative eye for digital media elevates her stories and her proven commitment to rural journalism through living in the regions sets her apart. Hannah is a natural-born leader who is passionate about regional Australia, and the judges noted she will benefit enormously from the mentoring and training offered at the IFAJ Congress.

Runner-up: Neave Duff - A real go-getter who is determined to build her career in rural journalism. What she has achieved as a Queensland Country Life journalist before even graduating from UQ is astounding. Watch this space.

Highly commended: Josephine McKellar - A natural storyteller who has written extensively across MLA's published media platforms on topics across the red meat supply chain, able to translate complex science into plain English.

Queensland Rural Journalism Category Awards
 

Sponsored by DPI — presented by Graeme Bolton

Broadcast TV

Winner: ABC Landline team — Western Queensland Floods coverage - Executive Producer: Cathie Schnitzerling | Pip Courtney, Halina Baczkowski, Aaron Kelly, Laura Lavelle, Arianna Levy, Maddelin McCosker, Kristy Sexton-McGrath, John Taylor, Jenny Woodward | Camera: Glen Armstrong, Dean Caton, Russel Talbot, Pete Murray | Editors: Lisa Domrow, Kathy Dean, Joanne Tolsher | Graphics: Peter Mullins

ABC Landline's coverage of the 2025 Queensland floods was world-class. The team brought together elements from Landline, News and Weather to create a powerful, one-hour story told with depth and compassion — capturing the scale of the event, the human impact and the strength of the community.

Runner-up: Pip Courtney - 'Solar Livestock' and 'Solar Horticulture' - A balanced and well-researched story on whether solar farms and agricultural production can coexist — a topic that continues to spark discussion and division within rural communities.

Highly commended: Lucy Cooper - 'Great freight merry-go-round' - A compelling story about the impact of food shortages in remote communities when transport routes are cut during floods, highlighting the inequity of high grocery costs for the most vulnerable.

Radio

Winner: Lydia Burton and Eric Barker, Beef Central - 'The Week in Beef: Top trends that define 2025 — the Goldilocks years' podcast - An excellent overview of Australia's beef industry in a dynamic and engaging format, with unmatched industry expertise, strong storytelling and expert commentary from Jon Condon and James Nason. A comprehensive analysis unique to Beef Central.

Runner-up: Sophie Johnson - 'How food security was shored up in FNQ this flood season' - A comprehensive package about the impact of food shortages after natural disaster in Far North Queensland, with strong angles and compelling face-to-face recordings.

Multimedia

Winner: Eric Barker, Beef Central - 'Stressless' loading ramp applies fresh thinking to an old challenge' - A cattle-loading ramp story brought to life in an engaging and relevant way, covering a remote story with industry-wide implications for efficiency and animal welfare. The story's influence on international expert Temple Grandin's recommendations made it truly exceptional.

Runner-up: Mandy McKeesick - 'Queensland farmers hit by locust plague' - A fascinating story about Australian Plague and Spur-Throated Locusts near Muttaburra, with extraordinary vision and an intriguing element around university research into spiders as a natural control.

Highly commended: ABC team — Maddeline McCosker, Glen Armstrong and Cameron Lang - 'Outback Qld communities rebuilding five months after devastating floods' - Comprehensive coverage of flooding in Western Queensland with excellent video and photography that told the story extraordinarily well.

Content

Winner: Judith Maizey - 'Project stalls over EPBC' - A well-researched series about the EPBC Act - thoroughly provoking, well balanced and examining all angles with clarity and depth on an issue that affects the majority of rural readers.

Runner-up: Robin McConchie - 'In conversation with Roxanne Highfold' - A raw, courageous and inspiring personal story about Roxy Highfold, a proud Aboriginal woman and member of the Stolen Generation who has beaten addiction to become a pillar in her community, told with honesty, depth and compassion.

Highly commended: Lydia Burton, Beef Central - 'Mass exodus of southern cattle to Qld for greener pastures' - A well-balanced piece about the mass movement of cattle from drought-stricken Victoria to Queensland, showing how drought impacts everyone across the supply chain.

Queensland Rural Story of the Year
 

Sponsored by DPI — presented by Graeme Bolton

Winner: ABC TV Landline — Western Queensland Floods — Travel bursary to attend the IFAJ Congress in Croatia - Executive Producer: Cathie Schnitzerling | Pip Courtney, Halina Baczkowski, Aaron Kelly, Laura Lavelle, Arianna Levy, Maddelin McCosker, Kristy Sexton-McGrath, John Taylor, Jenny Woodward | Camera: Glen Armstrong, Dean Caton, Russel Talbot, Pete Murray | Editors: Lisa Domrow, Kathy Dean, Joanne Tolsher | Graphics: Peter Mullins

The judges selected ABC Landline's coverage of the 2025 Western Queensland Floods as the overall Queensland Rural Story of the Year. This package excelled by bringing together the best ABC talent from Landline, News and Weather to create a definitive, one-hour account of one of the year's most significant rural stories — told with scale, humanity and exceptional craft.

The Queensland Rural Press Club thanks all entrants, judges, sponsors and supporters for their dedication to rural journalism in 2025.