Indigo Interview: A passion for community connection

JANE Murphy was born in Melbourne and grew up on 20 acres in Woodstock not far from Whittlesea, north of Melbourne. Her parents moved to Australia from Italy when they were children, with Jane growing up surrounded by a big veggie patch and eating delicious home grown, home cooked meals. With her husband and three kids, she moved to Bruarong in 2017 after the family bought 10 acres and joined the Yackandandah community in early 2019. What do you do workwise? I have been Yackandandah Community Centre’s manager since March 2023. Prior to that I was the primary home carer and coordinator - raising our kids and setting up food systems on our property. I also co-own a small business called ‘Happy Little Plants’, where we grow quality, heirloom, seasonal veg seedlings in biodegradable pots for our local community. We encourage people to grow their own food while eliminating the waste generated by plastic nursery pots. What brought you to your role/career? I have had some wonderful jobs but after having kids, my mind and heart honed in on community focused initiatives. After moving to Yack and joining a few local committees, the thought of managing a community asset and working with many local groups to deliver community development projects and programs really appealed to me. What do you love about your work? Interacting with all the local groups and connecting them to collaborations. Quite often groups have the same or similar ideas, and I like to join the dots. We are a small organisation so we like to partner with community groups to deliver community development projects. I also really enjoy working with a committee – a group of people that are passionate about our town and the people in it. What do you do in the community? My job is very community focused, but I am also on the Bruarong Community Centre committee, have memberships to many community groups and always make time to help the school run extra-curricular activities, like fundraising. Is there an important community issue that you think needs addressing? I think we could do more to repair the relationship with local Indigenous cultures. Although my ancestry is Italian, I want my children and their children to feel fully connected to the land and country we call home. What would you do to solve change, improve that situation? I would love to use my position within the community centre to start that conversation, invite and encourage the connection and engagement. What do you see as one of the most important current world issues? Apart from the climate crisis, I'd probably say poor leadership and the influence of social media. World leaders in powerful positions who are not acting in the best interest of the people and planet. Social media is scary in the way it is shaping our future and influencing vulnerable people. If the person you would most like to meet came to Indigo Shire (past or present), or was already here, who would that be? I’d have to say my Dad, who passed away in 2016. What would you show him, and why? He could hang out with my kids and we would love to take him on a summer evening walk through our property so we could eat fruit out of the orchard and observe all the beautiful natural wonders that surround us, something I fondly remember doing as a kid. What book are you reading? The light hearted fiction ‘Funny Story’ by American author Emily Henry.

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