It’s not often a small shire is suddenly granted a large sum of money. And when it happened to my local area… we were horrified. We demanded it be sent back.

See, the $1 million dollars the Moyne Shire in south-west Victoria was allocated in 2019 by the Federal Government at the time, was for emergency drought relief. But our paddocks were green, our sheep were fat and the crops were tall.

I’ve been reflecting on what has drawn me to collaborating with Kirsten on the Town Criers Podcast. How did a northern suburban Melbourne boy become so enamoured with regional Australia, and small towns in particular, that he finds himself embarking on a project celebrating the heart of country life.