March 9, 2026 • 8 mins
Harriet Bremner looks at what winning the Zanda McDonald has meant regarding rural networking.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
That's fine, Chicken Sea, I got a fable hundred three.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Harriet Bremner joins us next now. She's worn a number
of hats over the years. She's a farmer and author
as well as being an advocate for rural health and safety.
She was a Xander McDonald Award winner in twenty twenty
three and we talked to her this afternoon while she's
up there at the Impact Summit where the naming the
new Xander McDonald recipients tonight. So Harriet, great to chat
(00:35):
once again.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Good ay, Andy, Yeah, it is thank you so much
for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Firstly, being up in christ Church before the alumni from
previous Sandy McDonald's must be pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Oh look, it's really special. I actually grow up going
to school on things in christ Church. It's lovely to
be back and it's really neat to see six fresh
new faces here at the summer, awaiting the exciting unveiling
of the news tonight, and of course catching up with
you know what we see as a family. And you know,
(01:10):
you're always reminded when you come to these things how
important it is to actually stop, take some time orf
farm and come and connect with all these wonderful people
in here about what everybody's been up to. It's one
of those pinch yourself moments that you know, it actually
happened to you, and I still still feel that way,
and just to have the privilege of being in the
same room of you know, everybody is just such a great,
(01:33):
forward thinking, innovative person and you've there's so much to learn.
You know, you've got Shane mcmanaway leading the ship, and
people like himself to be able to tap him on
the shoulder and ask questions and you know, and get
a helping hand and a listening air is just, you know,
something that money couldn't pay for. So it's very special.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Andy Harriet, what was a catalyst for you entering the awards?
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Oh, look, it was something that I'd follow for a
while and it was really you know, it was an
award that really spoke to me. It was actually my
mother in law who gave me the push and said,
you need to do this. My husband's brother was a
finalist early on in the piece when the award first started,
and I had heard how it was just such a
(02:19):
special group of people to be part of, and you know,
it's so different to other awards. It's so much more
than receiving a trophy and having a nice photo and
a trophy on your sideboard. It is about becoming part
of this family that you're a part of forever, and
the connections that you make and the mentorship that you receive,
(02:39):
and it just encompasses so many things. I'd be here
all day if I could tell you about them all.
But yeah, it's definitely something that I would say to
people if they're thinking about it, if they're interested in it,
just have a go because becoming part of the Alumni
is a life changing thing that will change your world
(03:00):
and how you move forward in it forever.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Well, I supposing to narrow it all down, The biggest
takeaway from being involved with it was just the opportunities
that arose.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Ah, absolutely, and I would say the connections and relationships
with people you know. It puts you in a position
where you can pick up the phone and wring somebody
across the ditch in Australia or anyone here in New Zealand.
They will open their doors to you, sit you down,
have a good chat, help you nut out any issues
or problems or challenges that you're facing. And also celebrate
(03:31):
the ones with you as well. So you know a
lot of us are on the lookout for great mentors
and people that we can be under their wing with
and the award just offers all of that, you know,
a big buffet of it at that I suppose.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Now this is all part of the Impact Summit where
the awards are happening tonight. What was the theme there
is such this year?
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Well, it's an extremely special theme. We're in christ Church
and d fifteen years on from the ethquakes, which speaks
to me as I was here for those from solid foundations.
We rise as our theme this year. And look, we
had an amazing afternoon yesterday with the alumni with Elizabeth McNaughton,
(04:15):
who actually four fronted and ran the relief group for
the christ Church earthquake after it happened. So she took
us through you know, disasters, how we can learn to
lead through them, how we can get through them, you know,
preparing ourselves for us another disaster arose. Are we prepared
(04:36):
for that? Do we know how to get ourselves and
our people through that? And so many amazing nuggets of
gold there and rich Green is currently talking to us
at the moment how we set up our businesses to win.
So yeah, it's going to be a jam packed couple
of days. So many wonderful people that are presenting to us,
and tonight we get to find out who this year
(04:57):
is one of us. So very exciting.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Years on from the earthquakes. You say you were in
christ Church when they occurred. What was your what's your
biggest memory about the event?
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Oh goodness, it was actually my very first day teaching
in a classroom. I had five year old students. We obviously,
like everybody else, didn't know what really was going on,
but we had children that were not picked up from
school till quite late in that evening, and a child
(05:28):
came up to me and said, excuse me, miss, My
mum and dad work in town. Do you think they're okay?
And I was, you know, twenty one years old, and
had this little face looking at me. We had only
heard what we had heard. We knew it wasn't good.
And I stood there and thought, my goodness, no one
(05:49):
has prepared me for answering this question. You know, it
was not how I first saw my first day in
classroom teaching going yeah, and then from there after graduating
with my primary teaching diploma my first job, and I
got asked if I could handle pressure, and I could
quite confidently tell them that I survived through that year
(06:12):
training to be a teacher amongst all the earthquakes and
you know, children latching onto door frames every time there
was a trema. So I felt that, yeah, I had
learned some tools by that stage to deal with pressure.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Well, that must have been pretty confronting.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yeah, look it was. And you know yesterday sitting in
that room sharing stories about the earthquake, and it's amazing
how your body and your mind can take you right
back to how you felt in those moments. We were
living on anxiety and fear and no sleep for a
long time here in christ Church. And yeah, it's really
(06:50):
quite hard to believe that it was fifteen years ago.
But it's great to come back to the city and
see what the city is a community's done to try
and rebuild, you know, and that's what we're looking at
its summit here, how we rebuild, how we move forward.
And you know, hey, you surround yourself with the right
people in life that when you come to a tricky
situation and disaster, whatever that may look like for you,
(07:13):
if you've got those right people around you, then you know,
it makes it that bit easier to put one foot
in front of the other and move forward.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Harriet, you're based at Blackmount.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
You were telling me before we had a chat that
you've had four scenes in one day.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Weather wise, nothing's been normal lately.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Look, I think it started in spring andy on my
Lemming beat worth that eight hundred odd miles of rain
in about six or seven weeks. I think that was
fairly depressing. And then we've actually had a great, a
great season summer wise. It hasn't been great boating with it,
but we haven't had time for that anyway. And you
know last week we had snow on the mountains in
(07:52):
the morning, frozen windscreen, and then it was twenty eight
degrees in the afternoon. So it's take a jacket and
pair of shorts to work at the moment, I think,
And it's feeling awfully all to me already. So I'm
not sure what you think, but we're not sure what
is in store for us this winter. Maybe another mild one,
maybe a cold one. Who knows.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Harriet Bremner, thanks very much for your time on the
must of this afternoon. It sounds like a fantastic occasion
up there of networking and just connecting with people in
the farming industry. It'll be great to see who the
winners are for the Xander McDonald Award this evening.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Thanks for your time.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Thanks Andy, you have a great day.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Harriet Bremner, farmer, author and an advocate feroral health and safety,
amongst other things as well regarding the Xander McDonald Award,
which is being announced tonight. Laurie Margraine joins us next
from Open Country
That's fine, Chicken Sea, I got a fable hundred three.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Harriet Bremner joins us next now. She's worn a number
of hats over the years. She's a farmer and author
as well as being an advocate for rural health and safety.
She was a Xander McDonald Award winner in twenty twenty
three and we talked to her this afternoon while she's
up there at the Impact Summit where the naming the
new Xander McDonald recipients tonight. So Harriet, great to chat
(00:35):
once again.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Good ay, Andy, Yeah, it is thank you so much
for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Firstly, being up in christ Church before the alumni from
previous Sandy McDonald's must be pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Oh look, it's really special. I actually grow up going
to school on things in christ Church. It's lovely to
be back and it's really neat to see six fresh
new faces here at the summer, awaiting the exciting unveiling
of the news tonight, and of course catching up with
you know what we see as a family. And you know,
(01:10):
you're always reminded when you come to these things how
important it is to actually stop, take some time orf
farm and come and connect with all these wonderful people
in here about what everybody's been up to. It's one
of those pinch yourself moments that you know, it actually
happened to you, and I still still feel that way,
and just to have the privilege of being in the
same room of you know, everybody is just such a great,
(01:33):
forward thinking, innovative person and you've there's so much to learn.
You know, you've got Shane mcmanaway leading the ship, and
people like himself to be able to tap him on
the shoulder and ask questions and you know, and get
a helping hand and a listening air is just, you know,
something that money couldn't pay for. So it's very special.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Andy Harriet, what was a catalyst for you entering the awards?
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Oh, look, it was something that I'd follow for a
while and it was really you know, it was an
award that really spoke to me. It was actually my
mother in law who gave me the push and said,
you need to do this. My husband's brother was a
finalist early on in the piece when the award first started,
and I had heard how it was just such a
(02:19):
special group of people to be part of, and you know,
it's so different to other awards. It's so much more
than receiving a trophy and having a nice photo and
a trophy on your sideboard. It is about becoming part
of this family that you're a part of forever, and
the connections that you make and the mentorship that you receive,
(02:39):
and it just encompasses so many things. I'd be here
all day if I could tell you about them all.
But yeah, it's definitely something that I would say to
people if they're thinking about it, if they're interested in it,
just have a go because becoming part of the Alumni
is a life changing thing that will change your world
(03:00):
and how you move forward in it forever.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Well, I supposing to narrow it all down, The biggest
takeaway from being involved with it was just the opportunities
that arose.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Ah, absolutely, and I would say the connections and relationships
with people you know. It puts you in a position
where you can pick up the phone and wring somebody
across the ditch in Australia or anyone here in New Zealand.
They will open their doors to you, sit you down,
have a good chat, help you nut out any issues
or problems or challenges that you're facing. And also celebrate
(03:31):
the ones with you as well. So you know a
lot of us are on the lookout for great mentors
and people that we can be under their wing with
and the award just offers all of that, you know,
a big buffet of it at that I suppose.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Now this is all part of the Impact Summit where
the awards are happening tonight. What was the theme there
is such this year?
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Well, it's an extremely special theme. We're in christ Church
and d fifteen years on from the ethquakes, which speaks
to me as I was here for those from solid foundations.
We rise as our theme this year. And look, we
had an amazing afternoon yesterday with the alumni with Elizabeth McNaughton,
(04:15):
who actually four fronted and ran the relief group for
the christ Church earthquake after it happened. So she took
us through you know, disasters, how we can learn to
lead through them, how we can get through them, you know,
preparing ourselves for us another disaster arose. Are we prepared
(04:36):
for that? Do we know how to get ourselves and
our people through that? And so many amazing nuggets of
gold there and rich Green is currently talking to us
at the moment how we set up our businesses to win.
So yeah, it's going to be a jam packed couple
of days. So many wonderful people that are presenting to us,
and tonight we get to find out who this year
(04:57):
is one of us. So very exciting.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Years on from the earthquakes. You say you were in
christ Church when they occurred. What was your what's your
biggest memory about the event?
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Oh goodness, it was actually my very first day teaching
in a classroom. I had five year old students. We obviously,
like everybody else, didn't know what really was going on,
but we had children that were not picked up from
school till quite late in that evening, and a child
(05:28):
came up to me and said, excuse me, miss, My
mum and dad work in town. Do you think they're okay?
And I was, you know, twenty one years old, and
had this little face looking at me. We had only
heard what we had heard. We knew it wasn't good.
And I stood there and thought, my goodness, no one
(05:49):
has prepared me for answering this question. You know, it
was not how I first saw my first day in
classroom teaching going yeah, and then from there after graduating
with my primary teaching diploma my first job, and I
got asked if I could handle pressure, and I could
quite confidently tell them that I survived through that year
(06:12):
training to be a teacher amongst all the earthquakes and
you know, children latching onto door frames every time there
was a trema. So I felt that, yeah, I had
learned some tools by that stage to deal with pressure.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Well, that must have been pretty confronting.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yeah, look it was. And you know yesterday sitting in
that room sharing stories about the earthquake, and it's amazing
how your body and your mind can take you right
back to how you felt in those moments. We were
living on anxiety and fear and no sleep for a
long time here in christ Church. And yeah, it's really
(06:50):
quite hard to believe that it was fifteen years ago.
But it's great to come back to the city and
see what the city is a community's done to try
and rebuild, you know, and that's what we're looking at
its summit here, how we rebuild, how we move forward.
And you know, hey, you surround yourself with the right
people in life that when you come to a tricky
situation and disaster, whatever that may look like for you,
(07:13):
if you've got those right people around you, then you know,
it makes it that bit easier to put one foot
in front of the other and move forward.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Harriet, you're based at Blackmount.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
You were telling me before we had a chat that
you've had four scenes in one day.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Weather wise, nothing's been normal lately.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Look, I think it started in spring andy on my
Lemming beat worth that eight hundred odd miles of rain
in about six or seven weeks. I think that was
fairly depressing. And then we've actually had a great, a
great season summer wise. It hasn't been great boating with it,
but we haven't had time for that anyway. And you
know last week we had snow on the mountains in
(07:52):
the morning, frozen windscreen, and then it was twenty eight
degrees in the afternoon. So it's take a jacket and
pair of shorts to work at the moment, I think,
And it's feeling awfully all to me already. So I'm
not sure what you think, but we're not sure what
is in store for us this winter. Maybe another mild one,
maybe a cold one. Who knows.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Harriet Bremner, thanks very much for your time on the
must of this afternoon. It sounds like a fantastic occasion
up there of networking and just connecting with people in
the farming industry. It'll be great to see who the
winners are for the Xander McDonald Award this evening.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Thanks for your time.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Thanks Andy, you have a great day.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Harriet Bremner, farmer, author and an advocate feroral health and safety,
amongst other things as well regarding the Xander McDonald Award,
which is being announced tonight. Laurie Margraine joins us next
from Open Country
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