Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to pay tribute to a mother from an isolated cattle property in Central Queensland who has been named in the nation's top 100 women of influence for 2014. Lynise Conaghan of Barmount Station, near Clarke Creek, about 215 kilometres north-west of Rockhampton, was announced as a winner in The Australian Financial Review and Westpac 100 Women of Influence Awards.

Mrs Conaghan was recognised for her work to advance children's education and digital services for remote families in the bush. Like many country women, Lynise is a pillar of her community, as she plays a key role in influencing better outcomes for remote Clarke Creek. Mrs Conaghan led a campaign for better access to digital coverage in the Clarke Creek area, a place that I have labelled worse than Africa when it comes to mobile phone services. Earlier this year I took the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications, Paul Fletcher, to Clarke Creek to learn more about the problem.

Lynise Conaghan has also been the driving force behind improvements to education to all rural children in Queensland in the past decade. Westpac CEO Gail Kelly said:

The breadth and calibre of our 100 Women of Influence for 2014 was remarkable.

Thank you.