Art Cooper was almost a year into a panel-beating apprenticeship in Brisbane when he realised it wasn't the career for him.

After making a few calls, the then-18-year-old made the sudden decision to pack his belongings and drove 1,300 kilometres to Longreach to work as a rouseabout on sheep stations. These are his words.

Always had affinity for the bush

I grew up in Beaudesert and really enjoyed it. Then we moved to Brisbane when I was about 10 and everything changed suddenly for me. It was such a large adjustment, so for a lot of my teenage years, all I was really thinking about was getting back to a small town.

Dad was a beef journalist so a lot of the time — on school holidays, if he was still working — I'd go out to bull sales with him.

I remember going on road trips with dad and

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