Twenty-one years ago, Kelly began writing songs for the protection and the future of the environment and humanity. Her song, What is happening to our forests? launched the campaign in her home state of Western Australia, to save the last of the old-growth Karri forests in the world.
Through years of dedicated campaigning by Kelly, her family, and a small group of committed people, one and a half million hectares of forest have been saved and are now protected in perpetuity by new legislation.
A Whale for the Killing, protest song she wrote to stop the whaling was used by Greenpeace in 1981 in a film, The Last Whale, to encourage the world to vote for a whale sanctuary in Antarctica. https://www.youtube.com/kellynw
Her song, 'One World, One Planet' won the "Environmental Song of the Year" for Australia in 2001.
Kelly and William Newton-Wordsworth married in December 1987. Together they are the longest-running broadacre biodynamic or organic farmers in Western Australia. They commenced farming using the biodynamic farming techniques from Rudolf Steiner in 1988.
This means they have farmed almost 3,000 acres of land, successfully without using any poisons, including artificial nitrogen-based fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, GMOs, or chemical drenches for animals, for 36 years.
This stands in the face of modern conventional agriculture and the huge conglomerate chemical companies. The Newton-Wordsworth’s work was recognized with the family being awarded the Western Australian Sustainability Award in 2012. William was also awarded the Williams Landcare Award.
Kelly and William met in their first year of tertiary studies through a subject they shared, ‘Economics’. When they both succeeded with the required grades to study at the Law School for four years, together they embarked on the journey to become lawyers at the University of Western Australia.
In many ways, they came from very diverse backgrounds. Kelly was born in Toronto, Canada. Even though her parents were from Western Australia, they were living there at the time she was born. Kelly’s dad was a scientist and working in Canada when she was born. Her mum was a very loving full-time housewife who took great interest in her three daughters pursuing their passions in life.
William was born in Tasmania, Australia. His dad’s desire to farm a much larger acreage than was possible in Tasmania brought his family to Western Australia, where Esperance was the “last frontier” for farming large tracts of land that was not ‘station country’. His mum was a lawyer and a businesswoman, who was originally from Perth, Western Australia.
From the age of four, William had decided he wanted to “live on a farm and have a happy family”. It was a shattering of the life he loved when his family moved from his beloved Tasmania, where his parents were farmers on a small amount of land that he deeply loved. They moved to Esperance where they were farming 30,000 acres and living in the town, not on the land.
Kelly and William’s story together can be the subject of many books and movies. It has been a deeply spiritual “unexpected” journey that has taken them all over the world sometimes into very dangerous situations, to make the difference they have been led to make.
Some of the highlights include Kelly performing at the first “world peace” concert in the history of India, singing her own composition for the King of Thailand’s 80th birthday at his palace, the Peoples’ Alliance for Democracy, ‘Live Earth’ in Los Angeles and her thirty-concert tour in Germany and many rallies fighting for the future of people and the earth. As well as performing all over the world, Kelly’s songs have been recognised with song writing awards in Australia and internationally.
After their logging campaign, William brought the motion when he was in local government, to stop the growing of any genetically modified crops in their area of Williams. This shire was the first in Australia to have a moratorium on the growing of GM crops. Unfortunately, due to ignorance, this was turned around by the state government in 2009.
They have both been involved as ‘Freedom fighters’ with the production of Kelly’s songs and videos, Hold the Line, The Forest of the Fallen, Wake up Australia, and Exit the WHO, in more recent times.
They are both authors. Kelly’s book, This is YOUR Life has been described by one reader as the
“greatest personal growth book” they ever read. It has also been reviewed as a “paradigm
‘shatterer’.”
William’s first book will soon be available. They are presently on a tour called ‘Time to Shine Australia’.
The greatest joy in their lives comes from their spiritual life. They would call themselves “Spiritual Christians”. Their life together is a constant flow of unexpected miraculous journeys. They have three children, a son-in-law, and two grandsons who also bring them great joy, along with their extended family and friends.