Inspiring country women

That's according to the incoming president of the organisation, Alison Mobbs, herself a city girl transplanted into country life.

Her first regional teaching post was to Benaraby, near Gladstone, which she thought would be the end of the earth, with only five other teachers.

A move to the Charleville School of Distance Education, planned as a means of getting her back to the city, was where her understanding of the bush was cemented.

"We teachers did home visits in those days and meeting families in their environment changed my world," Alison said.

"It was a whole new paradigm - I'd been told I wouldn't survive in a bush situation without night clubs or fast-food outlets - but these people showed me I could.

"They showed me the depth of opportunity available if we relied on each other for fun, rather than expecting someone else to do it."

Alison met and married Rhett Mobbs and wholeheartedly joined the fun-making ranks of her new community - CWA, dance, theatre, a councillor for the Murweh Shire - and joined QRRRWN as well.

After losing touch in the whirl of connecting with her community, she re-engaged in 2011 when she felt ready to take on a leadership role outside her own community, and could see the opportunities QRRRWN offered to influence change on a larger scale.

She also appreciated the legitimacy the group gave her.

"I was a city girl but they could see my potential as a leader for positive change. It's hard sometimes to be accepted and valued, but I hope my perspective from outside encourages new ways of thinking and new opportunities."

Alison now sees her work as building on the first 21 years of the organisation, where women have come from not being recognised as major contributors to communities or businesses, and not given many decision-making roles, to having confidence to take leadership roles on.

"This city-country thing is all part of trying to empower our women to see they have opportunities to influence decision-making.

"Lots of it happens in urban areas so that's where we need to be."

As a director and secretary of Mobbs Cattle Co, breeding beef at Bulloo Lakes south of Blackall, diversifying into earthworks, and most recently having purchased the Jumbuck Motel in Longreach, she knows all about taking a deep breath and moving into the unknown.

She hopes QRRRWN can encourage members to challenge themselves to take that step up, whether it be in their own business, community or on a broader scale.

"A lot of what I've been able to do is show people they don't need to be rocket scientists to get things done."

Outgoing QRRRWN president Georgie Somerset described Alison as a dynamic woman who had been an imperative member of the group for many years.

"I was able to work closely with her to develop some fantastic initiatives that connect and inspire women as they work to build stronger communities," she said.

Weekly webinars - "a weekly dose of inspiration" - are one of the activities planned to encourage members to step up to their own challenges.

Wednesday's networking drinks at the Iceworks in Paddington celebrated the achievements of rural women worldwide on a large scale, but they also provided a building block for new connections and inspirations to take place.