#287 Beyond the Book: Co-Author Spotlight with Tash Johnston from Farm Angels

Yeah.

So I heard about a farmer who was trying to sell his stock in the drought back in 2013, and the trucks come to take them to market, but when they got there, the cattle were all too poor.

So this poor farmer shot all of his stock.

He shot his working dogs, and then he turned the gun on himself, and that took me back to the early '90s.

My parents had a property out at Leeburn on the Darling Downs.

Interest rates were 20%, and the banks were circling.

Mum and Dad were about to lose everything, and Mum had a massive breakdown on the kitchen floor one night and wanted to take her life.

I witnessed that, and I think it's j- it's just, it's burned into me.

I'll always remember that.

And also years later, I found out that my parents had a suicide pact if the banks did come in and take everything.

That's insane, and I've heard you share versions of that obviously in the book-

Mm-hmm

... and from the stage at the book launch.

And each time I see you say it or share the version of it, I can still feel the little bit of emotion and, and witness it in you.

Mm-hmm.

And also I feel it in myself.

That's intense.

That's a lot as a young lady.

So it was you and your sister? You've got a sister.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Saw your mum and dad go through that, and it was probably in that moment you decided that you're gonna find a way to help these people.

So fast-forward a couple of years, once they got back on their feet, what, what happened from there?

So they had property in, they had 40 acres in Brisbane.

They sold that.

Yeah.

So I heard about a farmer who was trying to sell his stock in the drought back in 2013, and the trucks come to take them to market, but when they got there, the cattle were all too poor.

So this poor farmer shot all of his stock.

He shot his working dogs, and then he turned the gun on himself, and that took me back to the early '90s.

My parents had a property out at Leeburn on the Darling Downs.

Interest rates were 20%, and the banks were circling.

Mum and Dad were about to lose everything, and Mum had a massive breakdown on the kitchen floor one night and wanted to take her life.

I witnessed that, and I think it's j- it's just, it's burned into me.

I'll always remember that.

And also years later, I found out that my parents had a suicide pact if the banks did come in and take everything.

That's insane, and I've heard you share versions of that obviously in the book-

Mm-hmm

... and from the stage at the book launch.

And each time I see you say it or share the version of it, I can still feel the little bit of emotion and, and witness it in you.

Mm-hmm.

And also I feel it in myself.

That's intense.

That's a lot as a young lady.

So it was you and your sister? You've got a sister.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Saw your mum and dad go through that, and it was probably in that moment you decided that you're gonna find a way to help these people.

So fast-forward a couple of years, once they got back on their feet, what, what happened from there?

So they had property in, they had 40 acres in Brisbane.

They sold that.