Rural fiction icon, agriculturalist, mother and lover of life.
She’s one of the biggest stars in Australian publishing, but walking around her farm in her denim and gumboots, a kelpie each side of her, Rachael Treasure looks every inch the ‘cowgirl’ she says she still is at heart.
The former journalist and broadcaster, who famously used to take her first ever working dog, Dougie, everywhere when she was a rural reporter – including into radio studios – has enjoyed an extraordinarily successful writing career since the 2002 publication of her bestselling debut novel, Jillaroo.
The story of Rebecca Saunders, whose job as a jillaroo took her into the rowdy world of B&S Balls, Bundy rum and boys, not only encouraged other writers to take their stories beyond the city lights, it sparked a rural fiction boom. Since then, Treasure has written five more novels, two short story collections and two non-fiction titles.
Combining writing with farm management and single motherhood, Treasure lives on a ‘heavenly hill’ in Tasmania, surrounded by nature, her two children, dogs, horses, tame chickens and ‘the best in country music’. She is passionate about maintaining positive attitudes and protecting herself and her family from outside influences.
‘I choose not to funnel the media’s version of the world into my home,’ she says. ‘I am very selective about what I bring into my living space and therefore into my thoughts.’
One of Treasure’s great passions is caring for the land. ‘I am an author, a mother, a regenerative agriculturist and a lover of life!’ she writes on her website. Named Tasmania’s Rural Woman of the Year in 2007, Treasure is also the State Ambassador for the Disabled and for the Big Bash cricket team, the Hobart Hurricanes.
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