International Women's Day reflections

8 March 2024

Today is International Women's Day. To mark this special day, Murray Irrigation has invited some of our people to reflect about the women in their lives who have inspired them the most...

My beautiful wife, Stephanie. She is the strongest, most caring woman I know.

My greatest honour and achievement in life is having shared her long and emotional journey in becoming a mother.

Nathan Holahan, Company Secretary and GM Corporate Services

The three most important women in my life are my wife and two daughters.

They are my rock, drive my motivation and bring me happiness every day.

Michael Pisasale, Manager Engagement & Assistant Project Manager

Grandparents have been around the block and seen quite a lot by the time we are born, making them great teachers - their stories of triumphs and mistakes teach us valuable lessons.

I remember when I was young, I used to ask my grandmother about her youth, and her answers always fascinated me. Now, my children are lucky enough to be asking her the same questions, and their curiosity is just as bright.

It's through these conversations that I began to understand that the life I took for granted wasn't always that way.

My grandmother's resilience is truly remarkable. She's faced hardships like, living through war, divorce, the loss of her second husband to cancer and battles with her own health issues. Yet, she's always shown strength and a unique perspective on life.

She would share stories of her childhood, being adopted, and her mother changing her schools every year so wouldn't be found. It was difficult for her to make and keep childhood friends, but she never let that stop her.

Her determination and resilience have been a constant source of inspiration in my life.

Many things can only be learned through decades of life experience, this abundance of life experience means that my grandmother is a great source of advice, always there to share her knowledge and insights and her (very!) honest opinion.

And let's not forget her impeccable style! My grandmother knows how to dress, always leaving the house looking perfectly put together, down to the socks and her red lipstick. Even at 90 years young, she's still a fashion icon!

But it's not just her fashion sense that inspires me. My grandmother has taught me to live life unapologetically, to chase my dreams without hesitation. I have countless cherished memories of our time together. From picking me up from school and stopping at the Stop Shop for ice cream and lollies, to teaching me how to cook, on birthdays, she would make me the most delicious chocolate cake, she's always been there for me. She would say, 'You can ring me whenever you need me, even if it's 2am, I will come and get you.' As she has got older, I'm the one ready to answer her call when she needs me. Now, we enjoy our lunch dates and make new memories. These moments are truly precious and will always hold a special place in my heart.

Shannon Bulmer, Customer Engagement Officer

When I was asked to pick a woman in my life who has inspired me the most and why, that was incredibly difficult, as I am a result of many many women making the time to invest in me becoming the version I am today!

However there is one woman who has taken up space in my heart and will forever inspire me to push myself to do more than what I think is possible, and that woman is my cousin Kylie Taig.

Kylie was my little cousin who came into this world when I was 6 years old. Looking back on those years when we growing up, I don’t remember a time when we were not together. I loved being Kylie's big cousin and I can recall on a number of occasions being reminded Ky wasn’t my personal real life doll.

I had the privilege of watching Kylie grow up and, from an early age, she had a natural inclination to worry about those around her before herself, which is something she never stopped doing even right to the end.

When I look back over the years, and in particular when she was sick, she never let her illness define her. For many of us, we did not even know how sick she was as she did not want to be known as a sick person, as she had things to do.

Her resilience and grit is somewhat super human when I think of what she was going through and it inspires me every day!

This is a woman who was undertaking various rounds of chemotherapy, while at the same time undertaking park runs, organising her children in Book Week activities, being an amazing mother, continuing to teach secondary science classes, supporting her own mother and a being a loving wife. And in addition to this, her generosity and caring for others did not stop. In her last few weeks she was still reaching out to others, including myself to make sure I was okay.

On 1 December my cousin lost her battle with cancer, but her legacy will continue in all of us who have had the privilege to know and love her. She taught us that life is precious and you have to fight for what is right.

Trisha Gorman, Board Director

I currently have four inspirational women in my life, my magnificent wife, two wonderful daughters and a brand-new daughter-in-law who is a class act. Today I will take a great risk of being accused of favouritism and talk about my youngest daughter:

She and her Canadian partner have two primary school age boys, they all currently reside in Melbourne. About nine years ago when she was a young mother of a six-month-old, on maternity leave, her partner temporarily returned to Alberta seeking work, she had planned to join him.

He tragically broke his neck in a freak accident. Determined to do it on her own, and not knowing what she was going to find, she, with the six-month-old, made the trip from Brisbane to Edmonton.

She and her son sat in the ICU ward for four weeks. She borrowed a vehicle, borrowed an apartment, managed her partner, his family, the relationship with the doctors, hospital and staff.

Ultimately, her partner started to show some responses with his limbs. She gained admission for him into the best rehabilitation hospital in western Canada, and then they moved into the basement of his father’s house.

My son-in-law has recovered to be what is described as ‘high functioning’ quadriplegic; disabled but leads a relatively normal life.

Within the period of her extended maternity leave, my daughter brought them all back to Australia. She has subsequently had a remarkable career progression.

I find her strength, resilience, individualism, drive, practicality, generosity of spirit and particularly her sense of humour, truly inspirational.

Robert Burbury, Director

My mother Carol. A kind, no nonsense and insightful woman who endured tragedy with the loss of her father at six years old, but taught her family to face adversity head on and always strive to better ourselves, and never let our feet leave the ground.

My mother doesn’t measure success in financial terms or job titles, but by questioning are we being a good human, caring and supporting family and friends and seeking to contribute.

A person that creates a positive and loving environment for children as she did, is always inspiring to me.

Ron McCalman, CEO

I was very lucky to have the same amazing Primary School teacher for three years out of seven. Mrs Reid was my teacher in Grades 2,4 and 5 and I remember her fondly as a very kind but firm leader.

Every morning at 9am after the school bell rang to enter our classroom, we stood behind our chairs and did a six-and-a-half-minute workout called “Go, You Chicken Fat, Go!” (YouTube it – it’s hilarious!). Fitness was important to her and although the whole class groaned at the thought of it, she taught us good habits in getting our brains and bodies moving and motivated for the school day ahead.

I would love to see her again all these years later and thank her for being such a great inspirational teacher and a strong stable influence in the lives of so many young children.

Nicole Young, HR Manager

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