The Committee

The ACAJ is administered by an executive committee, which incorporates representatives from each affiliate and Australia's national delegate to the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists.

2010/11 Committee Members

President: Liz Harfull

Immediate past President: Gordon Collie

Vice president and NSW representative: Tim Powell

IFAJ Delegate: Leigh Radford

Treasurer: Bob Snewin

Secretary: Kim Payne

Public officer: Stuart Hutton

Rural Press Club of Qld representative: Genevieve McAulay

Rural Media of WA representative: Travis King

Rural Press Club of Victoria representative: Emily Bogue

Rural Media South Australia representative:Ian Turner

Liz Harfull
President

Originally from a farm near Mount Gambier in the South East of South Australia, Liz has 30 years' experience as a rural journalist and public relations consultant specialising in agricultural communications. She has worked as a journalist, photographer, editor and producer in print, television and radio, for regional, metropolitan and specialist rural media outlets. Her first book, The Blue Ribbon Cookbook, capturing the stories, recipes and images of South Australian country shows and show cooks, was published by Wakefield Press in September 2008 and quickly became a best seller.

Liz has won numerous awards for her work, including a Dalgety Bennetts Farmers Award for Excellence in Rural Journalism and four national Golden Target Awards for communications programs focussing on rural issues. As a Churchill Fellow, she travelled to six countries studying communication tools and strategies which encourage farmers to take up new technology and best practice. Her book was named runner-up in the Best Easy Recipe book section of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Paris in July 2009 from a field of 59 finalists.

Liz is a former director of the public relations consultancy, Porter Novelli Adelaide. Today she juggles commitments as an author, freelance journalist and consultant with voluntary roles with the ACAJ. She served as Australian delegate to the IFAJ for more than ten years until September 2001, and was editor of the IFAJ's international bi-monthly newsletter for five years, expanding the publication and moving it into the electronic era. Liz is also a staff associate of the Agricultural Communications Documentation Centre, based at the University of Illinois, which has a partnership arrangement with the IFAJ to provide professional development services.

Contact details
Mobile: 0409 674 941
Email: lizharfull@internode.on.net

Gordon Collie
Immediate Past President

Gordon Collie was president of the ACAJ for three years and his award-winning career in rural journalism spans more than 35 years.

Based in Brisbane, Gordon completed a journalism cadetship in his native New Zealand, before moving to Australia in 1974. He worked for the leading farm weekly Queensland Country Life for 11 years, including a stint as the paper's North Queensland representative based in Townsville. Gordon was then invited to become Rural Editor with Queensland's major daily The Courier Mail, a post he held until setting up his own media consultancy Agri-Prose Ltd in 1999.

A three-time winner of the Queensland Dalgety Award for Excellence in Rural Journalism, Gordon also reported extensively from South East Asia on an ASEAN scholarship.

He is a long-term supporter of the Rural Press Club of Queensland, including serving terms as treasurer and president. He attended the 2003 IFAJ Conference in The Netherlands, the 2006 Conference in Norway and the 2009 Conference in Texas.

Contact details
Phone: 07 3856 3614
Mobile: 0409 473343
Email: gordon@agriprose.com.au

Tim Powell
ACAJ vice president and NSW representative

Tim has 20 years’ experience working in journalism, politics, public affairs and marketing with a focus on agribusiness, natural resource management, financial and community sectors. He joined Cox Inall in 1996 and was appointed Managing Director in 2002.

Tim worked for the Rural Press Group for seven years as a senior writer and as a media advisor to the Hon John Fahey during his time as Premier of New South Wales. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Rural Journalism) from the Curtin University of Technology, Perth and a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Sydney.

He is currently president of NSW Farm Writers.

Contact details

Email:timp@coxinall.com.au

Leigh Radford

IFAJ Delegate

Leigh joined the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in February 1987 as a trainee rural reporter, and by his own admission "knew five-eighths of very little" about rural issues. After a baptism of fire and a very rapid learning curve, he quickly realised that rural radio was both a unique and fascinating area of broadcasting. Every day since has been a learning experience and chance to meet some of the nation's most interesting leaders, farmers and characters. Leigh worked as a rural reporter at ABC regional stations in Victoria and SA. He was the voice of the Country Hour in South Australia from the early 1990s until January 2005, and served as the State’s Executive Producer of ABC Rural programs from 1997 until being appointed National Editor of all ABC Rural programs and online content in 2005.

A multi-award winning broadcaster, he has a number of Dalgety Awards for Excellence in Rural Journalism to his credit and several Landcare awards. He was the inaugural winner of the Telstra Rural Journalist of the Year award in South Australia in 1996. He is a long serving member of Rural Media South Australia and currently vice president.

Leigh is passionate about the people and issues of rural Australia and has a great love of the environment. He lives in the Adelaide Hills, with wife Tracey, and children Luke and Sophie.

Contact details

Phone: 08 8343 4383

Mobile: 0409 678 323

Email: radford.leigh@abc.net.au

Bob Snewin
Treasurer

Based in Adelaide, Bob Snewin is the director and proprietor of Banealla Consulting, formed in 2005, which consults in marketing, event management and promotions.

Bob has been a committee member of Rural Media South Australia for eight years and its treasurer for the past seven years. He has served as Treasurer of the ACAJ since 2003.

Prior to striking out with his own business, Bob worked in the Australian dairy industry for almost 30 years. He held a series of roles, including 18 years as Regional Manager for SA, WA, Tasmania and the Northern Territory for the Australian Dairy Corporation, and its successor, Dairy Australia. Prior to this he owned his own food distribution business.

Contact details
Phone: 08 8212 9411
Mobile: 0418 531 402
Email: bsnewin@icfs.com.au

Kim Payne

Secretary

Kim started our her career as a journalist in the regional towns of Goulburn and Cooma in New South Wales before taking over as producer of the breakfast show on Canberra'sTalk Radio 1206 2CC.  After four years of getting up at 4am, Kim decided a change was called for and packed up and moved to Melbourne.

Once in Melbourne, Kim worked as the Media Relations Manager for the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, before taking on the role as a Media Adviser with the Department of Sustainability and Environment.  What Kim loves about her job is that it takes her to all corners of the state.

Contact details

Phone: 03 9637 8270

Mobile: 0400 983 471

Email: kim.payne@dse.vic.gov.au

Stuart Hutton
Public Officer

Contact details
Mobile: 0418 660 763
Email: shutton@mcgrathnicol.com

Travis King

Rural Media Association of WA representative.

email: travis.king@ruralpress.com

Emily Bogue
Rural Press Club of Victoria representative

Emily kicked off her media career at the MidWest Times in Geraldton, Western Australia. She went on to the ABC, working as a Regional Reporter in Geraldton and in Horsham, Western Victoria.

The bright lights of Melbourne were there to be sampled and Emily spent some time there as the media adviser for the Victorian Farmers Federation's United Dairyfarmers of Victoria.

After experiencing the delights of living in the big smoke, Emily has now made a compromise, by living near the regional city of Geelong in a small town, but close enough to Melbourne not to miss the big footy matches!

Emily is currently media and communications adviser with the Transport Accident Commission, based in Geelong and keeping a close eye on rural and regional media.

Contact details
Mobile: 0429 416 778

Email: emily_bogue@tac.vic.gov.au

Genevieve McAulay

Rural Press Club of Queensland representative

Genevieve grew up on a sheep property on the Western Downs in Queensland and has almost 20 years experience as a rural and regional journalist. She started her career in regional papers, before moving to rural journalism and spending the majority of her career at Rural Press in Queensland.

Genevieve has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Southern Queensland, majoring in Journalism and Literature. In 2006 she was the Queensland winner of the Australian Star Prize for Rural Writing run by the ACAJ. That same year she saw an opportunity to learn new skills and take on a fresh challenge, accepting the role of State Marketing Manager Qld/NT with Rabobank.

Genevieve is the immediate past president of the Rural Press Club in Queensland.

Contact details

Mobile: 0428 279 576

Email gen.mcaulay@rabobank.com

Ian Turner

Rural Media South Australia representative

Ian has experience in both regional and rural newspapers, and an extensive background in the livestock sector, from production to marketing. He spent eight years with Rural Press in South Australia, including three years as livestock manager at the Stock Journal, and was managing editor of The Islander newspaper on KangarooIsland for two years.

While his core business is now marketing and public relations, he has worked as a freelance journalist and photographer specialising in agribusiness since 2003, and is the publisher of a regular magazine for the Australian Stud Sheep Breeders Association.

Ian is a life member of two breed societies and has served on numerous agricultural bodies such as the SA Lamb committee and the SA Advisory Board of Agriculture. He has been a committee member of Rural Media SA since 2008.

Contact Details

Mobile: 0409 729 251
Email: i_turner@bigpond.net.au