.jpg)
Father Land
After nearly six years of sharing the stories of rural mums, national charity Motherland couldn't believe one had done the same for rural dads. Father Land is Australia’s first podcast dedicated to fathers on the land—a bold platform giving rural dads a voice.
Hosted by award-winning entrepreneur, journalist, and rural mum Stephanie Trethewey, Father Land is a space for unfiltered conversations about fatherhood, identity, and mental health in the bush.
Each episode dives into the messy, meaningful realities of life on the land—the wins, the losses, the laughs, and the moments that hit hard. With humour, heart, and honesty, we challenge outdated stoicism and celebrate the courage it takes to be honest.
Because vulnerability isn’t weakness—it’s part of being a bloody good dad.
Episodes
9 episodes
Father Land #8: AFL Legend Tom Hawkins on Grief, Footy, Farming and Fatherhood
Once upon a time, in the small farming town of Finley in southern New South Wales, there was a boy who spent his afternoons chasing footies across dusty paddocks and helping his parents on the land. That boy grew up to be one of the greatest AF...
.jpg)
Father Land #7: Facing Himself First: Dave Woods on Fatherhood & Challenging our Approach to Mental Health in the Bush
What does it really mean to do the work before becoming a dad? For today's guest, Queensland farmer Dave Woods, fatherhood wasn’t something he wanted to just stumble into. He wanted to be prepared. So, long before he and his wife Alice we...
Father Land #6: Sobriety, Vulnerability & Masculinity on the Land with Matthew Tonkin
What does it mean to be a good man in the bush? For Matthew Tonkin, the answer has transformed over time. Growing up the youngest of five on his family’s farm near the NSW–Queensland border, Matthew believed a man’s worth was in hard work and p...
Father Land #5: Piers Dumaresq — Rebuilding After Divorce and Putting Fatherhood Before Farming
12 years ago, Piers Dumaresq walked away from the high-flying world of Sydney wealth management, to return home to the family farm in Tasmania with his future wife. On paper, it looked like a tree-change success story: a 200-year-old family far...
Father Land #4: Dolly’s Dad Tick Everett Speaks on Fatherhood, Family and Fighting On
Tick Everett is a man who never imagined he’d be the face of a national movement. For decades, he worked the land, raised his daughters, and built a life around family and farming. But in January 2018, that life changed forever. At just 14, Tic...
Father Land #3: Ben Wundersitz — From Fat Farmers to Fit Fathers, A Movement Saving Rural Lives
12 years ago on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula, three farmers looked in the mirror and didn’t like what they saw. So they founded Fat Farmers, a grassroots movement now inspiring rural communities to get moving, check in on each other, and q...
.jpg)
Father Land #2: From Rock Bottom and Back — Stuart Austin on How Fatherhood Saved His Life
There was a day when Stuart Austin picked up the phone and called his wife, asking her to come home because he needed her. He wasn’t sick, and he wasn’t injured…but he was in a very dark place, and he knew he couldn’t get through it alone. Stu ...
.jpg)
Father Land #1: NFF Vice President John Hassell on his journey through depression, succession & showing up as a dad
John Hassell has spent his life farming in Western Australia, raising three kids, and now spoiling grandkids. As Vice President of the National Farmers Federation, he’s fought for fairer outcomes for farmers and sparked deeper conversations abo...
.jpg)
.jpg)