Motherland Australia

Today's episode is a story of love, unimaginable loss, betrayal, and deep, hard-won hope. Belinda Viver’s daughter Adelaide tapped me on the shoulder at a Motherland event last year and said, “You need to speak to my mum.” She was right. Belinda grew up on the land, built a full life with her husband Jack, and raised three daughters until everything changed in July 2020, when Jack died suddenly. What followed was a cascade of heartbreak: multiple family losses, shock, grief, and a betrayal that turned her world upside down and forced her to question everything she thought she knew. But this is not a story that sits in darkness. It’s about resilience, truth-telling, learning to live alongside grief, and discovering that even after immense loss, there can still be meaning, purpose and hope.
Just a quick warning today’s show does contain a brief mention of suicide. If you or anyone you know needs help, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14
For more than 100 years, Fairholme College Toowoomba has delivered an exceptional all-girls education from Kindy to Year 12. A day and boarding school, it’s a home away from home for rural and regional families, nurturing confidence, character and community. Visit fairholme.qld.edu.au. 
 If you’re thinking about having a baby (or already there) The Memo makes it easier. Thoughtfully curated by parents who know what you actually need, from hospital bags to postpartum care. Motherland listeners get 10% off with MOTHERLAND10. Ends Feb 1. Visit thememo.com.au. 

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Debbie Dowden arrived in Australia by boat when she was just 3 years old. Her family were ‘10 pound poms’ in search of a sunnier life in Australia. Little did she know that life would see her raising 4 children 600kms from Perth in Outback Western Australia. Debbie was working as a theory instructor at a flight school when she decided that she actually wanted to fly the planes, not just teach people about them. It was here that she met her husband Ash- and she approached her relationship with Ash the same way she did with learning to fly, getting out of her comfort zone. As a young single mum at the time, all of Debbie’s family lived in Perth. But when she met Ash Dowden, the owner of Challa Station in the Southern Rangelands of WA, she knew she needed to go bush. And bush she went. She packed up her life, her daughter and quit her job and arrived at Challa with limited experience. Fast forward to 2025 and she’s now running it alongside her husband. This is her story. 
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Weeks before Sonja Chrystal was born, her father was in a farming accident and became a paraplegic. Months after she was born, her mother packed her bags and left her paralysed husband and two little girls, and never returned. Her dad and her grandparents raised Sonja and her sister on a cropping and grazing property in the central west of NSW before Sonja found herself living and working in Sydney as a graphic designer. It was there that she met her fiance Jeremy, and the father of her son, Herbie, who just turned one. After her dad passed away, Sonja and her non-farmer husband decided to trade their life in Sydney’s Paddington and moved an hour from Dubbo so Sonja could run the family property. While running the property, Sonja and Jeremey decided to start trying for a baby. Things weren’t as simple as they hoped and after an operation, Sonja was diagnosed with stage 4 endometriosis. After booking in for a round of IVF, she then found out she was pregnant. Herbie was born in February 2024, but Sonja had never felt more alone. Sonja is a truly remarkable person and her story is unlike anything I’ve ever heard. From her incredibly unique upbringing, what it was like growing up without a mum, through to isolation, grief, a traumatic birth, a radiant sense of positivity, all while managing a property -  we discuss everything including the depths of her postpartum depression and anxiety that she’s been through and survived….. and how telehealth saved her life. This is Sonja Chrystal’s story.
A quick warning today’s episode discusses mental health including birth trauma and PNDA if you or anyone you know needs help, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14
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When I say the name Liz Ellis, you probably think one of three things:
One of the greatest Netballers our country has ever seen 
A very funny media commentator
The winner of I’m A Celebrity Get Me out of here a few years ago.
What you probably don’t think of is Liz Ellis the farmer. Liz, her husband of 25 years, Matthew, and their two children live on a farm in between Lismore, Ballina and Byron Bay growing beef cattle. Liz and Matthew bought the land 14 years ago when their professional sporting careers came to an end, Matthew as a former Waratahs rugby union player, and Liz as the captain of the Australian Netball team the Diamonds. Liz’s road to motherhood wasn’t as simple as she had initially thought. After falling pregnant easily with her daughter, Liz thought she’d be able to fall pregnant again with her second child. But after 3 miscarriages and IVF treatment, Liz and Matthew were ready to give up. But then, along came her son, in his own time. On this episode, Liz and I chat about it all - including farming, fertility, motherhood, and menopause. 
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Phoebe White has had a lot of titles and lived in a lot of places in her 35 years. She’s been a PE Teacher in Sydney. A Fashion stylist in London. A High-profile real estate agent in Miami. But it’s the two she’s been given in the past eight years that light up her life, and have brought her home. The first is being a mum to her two daughters Camilla and Olympia, and the second, is being the custodian of a Mountain near her family’s property outside of Scone, NSW. Phoebe’s family have been farmers for 7 generations on “Belletrees” - one of Australia’s most famous rural properties. And she is the third generation to inherit Mount Woolooma, a piece of land with an architect-designed residence her grandparents commissioned as their own private retreat in the 70s. Now, the house on Mount Woolooma, the Woolooma Glass House, offers luxury accommodation on the side of the Mountain, and Phoebe and her husband Jonathan, Elle McPherson’s former wellness coach, run it. So how do you adjust from living the high life in Miami with supermodels as friends to running a family business in rural Australia? And what’s it like inheriting a mountain while raising your two young daughters? This is Phoebe White’s story.
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