- Entry type: Person
- Entry ID: AWE4482
Collins, Moira
- Occupation Environmentalist, Farmer, social activist
Summary
Described as ‘one of the great treasures of the Bega Valley Shire’, Moira Collins has been involved in a broad range of issues and interests since she arrived in the district over fifty years ago. She was a winner of the Rural Woman of the Year award in 1997 for the South East district in New South Wales.
She began her career in agriculture as a diary farmer with her husband Jim, and along the way re-instituted the Bega branch of the Australian Primary Producers’ Union in 1961. She serves as a member of the executive of the NSW Dairy Industry Conference and the Bega Dairy Farmers’ Action group.
Details
As well as being active in the politics of dairy farming for over 25 years, Moira Collins played an active role in other Bega community activities. She was on the Mumbulla Shire Council and, in the 1980s and the 90s, she campaigned strenuously to save the local forests from logging. In the 1970s, she and her husband Jim were instrumental in setting up the Tulgeen Group, an organisation that continues to provide services and opportunities for people with disabilities.
Other services to the community include many years of service to the Bega District Hospital as a member, chair and vice-chair of the hospital board and membership of various committees and action groups that culminated in the announcement of a $100 million new hospital.
She and her husband were founders of the Bega Valley Advocates for Timor Leste, with Moira continuing to serve as the secretary of that group. They have committed a great deal of time and money to this cause, selling their Bega Co-op shares to fund various projects.
In 2009, Moira Collins was awarded a Bega Shire Medal. In 2010 she was named Bega Valley Shire Citizen of the Year.
Events
- 1997 - 1997
- 2009 - 2009
- 2010 - 2010
Published resources
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Resource
- Trove: Collins, Moira, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1477538
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Resource Section
- 1997 ABC New South Wales Rural Woman of the Year Award Winners, ABC Radio, 1997, http://www.abc.net.au/rural/rwoty/nsw.htm
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Article
- Bega valley shire medal, 2009, http://www.begadistrictnews.com.au/news/local/news/general/bega-valley-shire-medall/1592614.aspx
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Site Exhibition
- Brilliant Ideas and Huge Visions: ABC Radio Australian Rural Women of the Year - 1994-1997, Australian Women's Archives Project, 2011, http://www.womenaustralia.info/exhib/rwya/rwya-home.html