Gabrielle Chan, President
NRPC co-founder Colin Bettles has returned to lead the organisation after Gabrielle Chan stepped down as president.
Bettles is a long-standing rural journalist who most recently led Grain Producers Australia as Its inaugural Chief Executive Officer.
The NRPC aims to bring together journalists and communication specialists based in Canberra and surrounding areas, to highlight and promote important national policy issues affecting rural and regional Australia and their effect on rural communities.
Gabrielle Chan thanked the NRPC committee for their support and the members for their ongoing belief in the club at a time when media organisations were facing extreme challenges to resource rural journalism.
Chan also thanked the club’s sponsors, which include Westpac, Croplife, Nutrien and the National Press Club.
“Rural journalists face a lot of extra challenges in covering issues across a country the size of Australia,” Chan said.
“Media companies have been stretched to fund dedicated rural journalists and it remains a challenge for rural based freelancers to get stories into metropolitan media. Meanwhile rural news outlets have declined significantly since the Covid pandemic,” said Chan.
“It has never been so important to continue to advocate on behalf of great rural journalism and to highlight examples of excellence in the profession.”
As the NRPC 2025 award winners showed, rural journalists continue to deliver, in spite of running on the smell of an oily rag, said Chan.
Bettles thanked Chan and the committee members for their voluntary contributions to the club and for giving him the opportunity to lead the organisation.
“I’m looking forward to working with everyone, especially our members, sponsors and other key partners, to help write the next chapter of the NRPC’s success story, building on this important role we play supporting rural journalism and communications.
“Please feel free to reach out and offer any feedback and ideas you may have, and ways of supporting this journey.”
