Voice of Real Australia Episode Two Transcript

Laura Carolina Corrigan
Updated September 16 2020 - 5:03pm, first published 4:29pm

Tom: [00:00:00] Hello, I'm Tom Melville. Welcome to Voice of Real Australia. Each episode we bring you people, places and perspectives from beyond the big cities. Now, you might have heard of the Barossa Valley, the Hunter Valley or the Yarra Valley. These are regions praised for their boutique produce and immersive agricultural tourism. But have you ever been to the Majura Valley? It runs up Canberra's eastern fringe, a pocket of primary producers, only a short drive from Parliament House and an international airport. And the farmers are eager to share it. After all, it boasts a truffle farm, a winery and other artisan delights. But the ACT leasehold system means that many farmers in the Bush capital have shaky tenure on the land, which the government can take back with just a few months notice. That makes it tough to get a loan and invest in their properties, which would help draw in the crowds. Before Canberra was Canberra. It was a farm. But there's a fear that the city's agrarian chapter might be drawing to a close. To find out about its agricultural past, where it is today and where it could wind up. I went out to the city's farms and spoke with the people who live there. You can hear the frogs. It's obviously a healthy paddock, right? No, not at all. [00:01:07][67.1]

Laura Carolina Corrigan

Canberra Times producer with a background in news and podcasts.