Eliza Spencer
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amelizajane.bsky.social
Eliza Spencer
@amelizajane.bsky.social
Journalist at The Land, Ngunnawal-Canberra via Wiradjuri-Cowra 📩 eliza.spencer@theland.com.au / amelizajane@proton.me 🌾 she/her seedisclaimer.com
Pinned
Very grateful to have been awarded the Star Prize for Rural Writing with NSW Farm Writers in Sydney last week, for my feature article "Green and Gold: how a farming community responds when miners come to town." 🧵
BIIIIIG stretch spotted in a pic from the cutting room floor today.
📍Roseville, Mullion, Yass XB circuit sale

#AusAg #AgSky
November 29, 2025 at 12:21 AM
We all know that when a story's made the paper, it's finally real! 🗞️

This week's edition is a little special, a chance to share the very exciting news that I've been awarded the National Rural Press Club's Young Journalist of the Year for 2025. 🎊
November 27, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Reposted by Eliza Spencer
The way 2025 is going, we're going to end up with an outbreak of kuru like in that X-Files episode.
"While no one was watching: Tenuous status of CDC prion unit, risk of CWD to people worry scientists"
www.cidrap.umn.edu/chronic-wast...
While no one was watching: Tenuous status of CDC prion unit, risk of CWD to people worry scientists
www.cidrap.umn.edu
November 25, 2025 at 7:21 PM
#BREAKING - Dugald Saunders has quit as NSW Nationals Leader, after promising to modernise the party of the bush back in 2023.

Full coverage coming later today 👇

www.theland.com.au/story/9113205
Dugald Saunders quits as NSW Nationals Leader in shock resignation
The Dubbo MP said now was the 'right time' for new leadership.
www.theland.com.au
November 17, 2025 at 1:22 AM
You know that gross sludge on the bottom of the water tank that makes your clothes smell whenever it rains? Just me?

That sediment has been tested and uncovered alarmingly high levels of heavy metals in rainwater harvest drinking water tanks.

www.theland.com.au/story/9111151/

#AgSky
Heavy metals 100 times higher than safe levels found in water tank sediment
High lead levels were found in 90pc of water tanks sampled in NSW.
www.theland.com.au
November 16, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Big roads story and my first (lofi) piece to camera coming up in 10min pls be hyped
November 14, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Some 200c/kg marvels at Braidwood today - not quite your usual prime sale offering but very sweet all the same.
November 7, 2025 at 10:46 AM
The Nats have officially scrapped net zero as of Sunday, so I figured, why not call seven farmers under 40 to ask them what they think about the policy shift?

Their considered and interesting answers below 👇

www.theland.com.au/story/9105049/

#AgSky #AusAg
'What do they expect us to do, not feed the world?': young farmers on net zero
Seven farmers under forty respond to the Nationals policy change.
www.theland.com.au
November 5, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Reposted by Eliza Spencer
My son was stillborn in 2020. By allowing working parents time to grieve, Baby Priya’s bill will change lives | Gemma Killen
My son was stillborn in 2020. By allowing working parents time to grieve, Baby Priya’s bill will change lives | Gemma Killen
I can hardly imagine how hard it would have been to return to a workplace that had declared that I was not a parent – and that my baby didn’t really count This week I became somewhat of a vigilante keyboard warrior, trawling posts about the passing of baby Priya’s bill to correct every commenter that wilfully misunderstood the bill or used it as an excuse to pick a fight about women’s rights. No, the bill will not put small business owners out of business by forcing them to offer unlimited paid leave. No, the bill won’t mean women’s employment numbers go down. And very importantly, no, the bill does not incentivise late-term terminations. The Australian federal parliament passed baby Priya’s bill – an amendment to the Fair Work Act – to ensure employers cannot cancel paid parental leave in the event of stillbirth or because a baby dies after birth. The change brings employer paid parental leave in line with government-funded parental leave and unpaid parental leave. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:22 AM
I'd love to see more councils hiring 'cadet' and 'entry level' roles but we need to be crystal clear about what it is.

Call it a cadet media or comms role and remove the ethical issue, train up a young person with a degree, and help shape a genuine, and ethical, career in media.
Mini rant. I got a notification that the QPRC (local council) is hiring a “cadet journalist”. Uhh…
Don’t get me wrong, this would be a great gig for a PR student. But we really can’t have local governments hiring cadet journos. And it’s a really sad state of affairs to see this happening
November 4, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Rob Lee used to get eye rolls when he mentioned the words 'climate change' in front of his fellow farmers, but a month on from the release of the National Climate Risk Assessment, the tables have certainly turned.

www.theland.com.au/story/9099996/
(Bonus pic incoming!)
#AgSky #AusAg #ClimateChange
'Dollars in the bank': farmers build for profit, climate resilience, on farm
Three farmers share why now is the time to prepare for changes.
www.theland.com.au
November 3, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Rural and remote nurses, midwives, and health staff have lost up to $20,000 in incentive payments included in their fortnightly payslips, after reclassification deemed their roles no longer 'critical' or 'hard-to-fill.

www.theland.com.au/story/9095681/

#RuralHealth #AusAg #AgSky
'Reckless': state govt slashes critical rural health wages by up to $20,000
Rural incentives have been downgraded by state government.
www.theland.com.au
October 23, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Reposted by Eliza Spencer
Excited to be able to talk about this publicly now - The Point is now up and running and from Monday, you'll find my parliament blog on it 💃

thepoint.com.au
The Point
The point.com.au
thepoint.com.au
October 23, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Psssst... big feral animal news tomorrow and me being feral about roads, all before 8am over at theland.com.au 👀
October 22, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Hey Jane, I know you said you liked good coffee too much to join the Nats and go regional, but in case you ever head over the border to NSW, there are plenty of rural roasters making a damned good brew outside of the big smoke! ☕

#AusPol #AgSky

www.theland.com.au/story/890497...
Five country coffee roasters redefining what makes a good brew
Discover why coffee is more agricultural than you may think.
www.theland.com.au
October 17, 2025 at 5:27 AM
#BREAKING - NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe confirmed that station horses were mistakenly killed in an aerial cull conducted at a Far West station.

www.theland.com.au/story/9089386/
Cull blunder: five domestic horses killed in aerial brumby operation
Govt apologises after domestic horses killed in brumby cull.
www.theland.com.au
October 15, 2025 at 4:34 AM
Screaming it from the rooftops to all my city friends: STOP BUYING PLASTIC AND GET SOME WOOL ON YA!

Processors are getting the message: woolgrowers need a solid price to continue, and the market is on an upward trend, with a few speedbumps.

www.theland.com.au/story/9087810/

#AusAg #AgSky
'Make wool profitable again': growers, brokers, bet on another market rise
See why those in wool say it's not a false start for a price rise.
www.theland.com.au
October 14, 2025 at 9:46 PM
The final boxes are unpacked and the home office is set up, and there’s finally time to take a breather and spread the news - rural reporting is alive and well in Canberra 🗞️

The lease has wrapped in Cowra, so I'm bringing some country back to the bush capital for the next 12-18 months.

(1/3)
October 13, 2025 at 5:31 AM
Reposted by Eliza Spencer
Here's what she told them fwiw www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
October 13, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Reposted by Eliza Spencer
As I wrote before the legislation even hit parliament www.theguardian.com/media/articl...
October 12, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Adult crime, adult time, doli incapax and a 'youth crime crisis' ravaging rural Australia... Plenty of people are talking about justice, but three researchers have done the work to understand it, and the results may surprise you 👀

www.theland.com.au/story/9084798/

#AusAg #YouthCrime #YouthJustice
Tough love: rural residents want harsher penalties for crime, study reveals
A new study found confidence in the justice system has dropped in the bush.
www.theland.com.au
October 12, 2025 at 10:53 PM
October is Mental Health Month and, as always, looking after your brain and body is a big topic in #AusAg.

I made the ring around to some good folks to hear more about how they look after themselves each day, to tackle the bad days and the good.

www.theland.com.au/story/908283...

#AgSky
Speak up, reach out: how Aussie farmers look after their mental health
Hear from four ag advocates on how they look after their minds on farm.
www.theland.com.au
October 8, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Baby dhalarug-wattlebird! 🐣 So confident and not at all afraid to scream at me for food
October 7, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Two years after farmers, rural advocates, Traditional Owners, environmental activists and trade unions marched on NSW Parliament, the Narrabri Gas Project is back in the headlines.

Their message is the same: no coal seam gas in Ag communities

#AusAg #AgSky

www.theland.com.au/story/9083291/
'Unconscionable cost': farmers slam Premier's renewed support for gas
NSW Farmers, Farmers for Climate Action and CWA say no to Narrabri.
www.theland.com.au
October 7, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Is this the first (successful) faba bean crop in the Southern Tablelands? 🤔

According to a fair few farmers who visited Tirranna, near Goulburn, for a Tablelands Farming Systems field day, it might be!

www.theland.com.au/story/9077793/

#AusAg #AgSky #FabaBeans
New ventures as farmers test faba, dual-purpose crops for profit and purpose
One family has transformed cropping systems to provide choices in tough times.
www.theland.com.au
October 2, 2025 at 3:21 AM