Supporting women in leadership, protecting the environment

FISH Creek environmental champion and sustainable beef farmer Joan Liley first found her “soft-spoken” leadership style at the front of the classroom at South Gippsland Secondary College.

From these early beginnings, Joan’s voice has served her life passions: to support women in leadership and protect her beloved South Gippsland environment.

With her husband, Rob, she has led the environmental recovery of their commercial beef cattle property. The pair have fenced off major waterways, protected trees from cattle ringbarking and replanted more than 20 per cent of their property with native vegetation.

“There are so many benefits to the vegetation. It provides clean water for our livestock’ it’s part of our business. We really believe that we are custodians, not owners of this land,” Joan says.

Joan and Rob are members of the Fish Creek Landcare Group, Farmers for Climate Action and Prom Area Climate Action and part of a Victorian Government initiative for carbon sequestration on farms.

In her mid-70s, Joan now rarely engages in the physical aspects of farming life but stresses that women in agriculture needn’t get their boots dirty to contribute.

“Women should be recognised far more than they are for their input into farming business strategies…I rarely get out and do anything physical, but I have a major input in the business decisions” she says.

“And many women work solely in a voluntary capacity in the community, doing amazing things” she says, observing that our community would be a lot poorer without them.

The Yanakie-born local said her passion for the environment stems from an understanding of the country: a deep connection to place and responsibility to take care of the landscape.

“The Wilson’s Prom skyline is forever implanted in my brain,” Joan says.

After graduating with a commerce degree, Joan first worked as an economic researcher at the ANZ Bank. After that, she began farming with Rob in NSW but returned to South Gippsland to raise their two children in 1975 and to begin teaching.

“I used to tell my students you’ve got to go away, but you can come back. It gives you an appreciation of what you’re coming back to,” Joan says.

A former director of Southern Rural Water and the Gippsland Ports, former chair and director of South Gippsland Water and former director and deputy chair of West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority, Joan now chairs the South Gippsland Integrated Water Management Forum and serves as a member of the Ministerial Panel for the Central Gippsland Region Sustainable Water Strategy. She has also served on the Environmental

Sustainability and Water for Victoria Reference Groups for the Victorian Government and the Victorian Catchment Management Council.
Martin Fuller, CEO of West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority, says of her: “In relation to water and land management, she is without doubt one of the most engaging, accommodating, and helpful people I have met. She is always happy to lend a hand and provide sage advice when needed. Better still she is actively protecting and improving her local patch through real work and action. A true inspiration.”

Joan won’t call herself a “trailblazer” but was often the first woman on a board of men more concerned about calling her ‘Ms’ than what she had to say. Today she continues to mentor women engaged in leadership positions.

Sandy Bucello, member and former chair of Prom Country Aged Care Board, says of Joan’s guidance: “She challenges you to think differently, keep an open mind and not accept the status quo if a change is necessary.”

Joan joined the Food and Farming group within Just Transition South Gippsland to act as a resource and to make sure that farming will be part of the solution. Just Transition sees the need to decarbonise and aims to make this transition democratic and participatory.

Joan has long been active to make sure the South Gippsland Shire Council planning scheme prevents the breaking up of farming land and supports the long-term viability of farming.

To work effectively and achieve change, “you need to know how your community ticks” according to Joan, who loves the increasing diversity happening with successive migrations of people into the South Gippsland community.

“I would love to see more ethnic groups moving here and growing equity and inclusivity in our community,” she says.

About her own work in the community, and especially her pioneering role on boards of governance, Joan says unassumingly: “I was in the right place in the right time.”

She’s certainly been in the right place at the right time for our lucky community and we celebrate her for that.

Celebrate Her!

‘Celebrate Her!’ is a project inspired by the global celebration of International Women’s Day and aimed at bringing it right back home to South Gippsland to celebrate the women who live and work amongst us in 2022.

Over the next 12 months, Celebrate Her! will collect nominations of women you would like to see acknowledged and we will work with them respectfully to record their voices and their stories.

The end result is to be a published collection that our whole community can be proud of.

It will be launched on International Women’s Day 2023.

If you know a woman whose work amongst us, or whose advocacy, leadership and passion for issues that impact our community inspires you, please nominate her.

She deserves to be celebrated for what she does.

To fill out the nomination form, go to promrecitals.org.au/celebrate-her.

Questions include:

• Who would you like to nominate?

• Why would you like to see her celebrated?

• How is she inspiring to you?

• How can we contact you to find out more about here?