Darling Downs Subchamber rural ambassador role for Hamilton Walker

Mr Walker, 21, was announced as the Darling Downs Subchamber rural ambassador over the weekend.

He will go on to vie against representatives from across the state to be named the Marsh Queensland Rural Ambassador. 

Mr Walker said his neighbour Don McNamara, the president of the Bell Show Society, had encouraged him to get involved in the rural ambassador program. 

"It was probably one of the best things to happen to me," he said. 

"I was pretty shocked to win the Darling Downs role, my head was spinning a fair bit."

Mr Walker grew up on Allambie and then Gowan in the Blackall district, with parents Allan and Kelly moving to the Bell district six years ago. 

Their 1214ha property, Clearview, 15km out of Bell, is run as a mixed farming enterprise with a Santa Gertrudis stud and commercial herd, as well as a crop of sorghum. 

After studying through Longreach School of Distance Education up to Year 5, Mr Walker attended Toowoomba Prep before going on to board at Brisbane Boys College. 

For the past four years he has attended Ventura College in California, where he studied social and behavioral sciences, early childhood education and business management. 

He believes business in Australia is overly regulated, and agriculture is affected by that, citing tree-clearing laws as a particular example. 

"Studying in the US, I got to look at Australia from an overseas point of view," he said. 

"I believe Australia could match or even top the US in terms of output and productivity.

"Often the regulations are being made by people who have never experienced any sort of farming." 

Since returning to Australia in December, Mr Walker has been working on the family farm, doing tennis coaching and drafting and penning one day a week at the Dalby saleyards. 

He hopes to use the business management skills he learnt in the US to  to help the family operation.  

Oakey's Rebecca Meacham was the Darling Downs Subchamber Rural Ambassador runner-up.