“The beauty of Landline is that we get time to really delve into issues. We get to research them and take time to produce an original story. We get to show people what’s going on outside the 80km radar zone and these incredible landscapes and successful people,” Pip said.

“We have the top cameramen and reporters whose filming and reporting can take the audience on a journey they might never otherwise have seen before.

“I’m lucky to work with the best of the best. Sometimes it feels a bit like I’m in a stable full of top racehorses. I look down the stable at all those top people and think, gee this is amazing - I get to work with them on a daily basis.”

“It really is just such a great show and I couldn’t be happier with my new role.”

But Pip didn’t always dream of a career in television.

She imagined herself gallantly following her father, top journalist and highly respected previous editor of The Examiner newspaper, Michael Courtney into the print media game.

“My dad was a great newspaper man in Tasmania,” she says with admiration.

“But I fell in love with television and broadcasting. These stories are so important to tell and to tell them in the way we do. I love the collaborative nature of broadcast, when you are in a team that is working well together, it’s a great feeling.”

Landline executive producer Peter Lewis also sings Pip’s praise.

“It is great to have Pip as the new face of Landline, she has had such a long and successful connection with the program and she is a fantastic and very professional journalist,” he said.

“She is also one of our most awarded reporters, highly respected and very popular. The Landline team’s experience and expertise has always been its point of difference and why it remains one of the ABC’s most popular and respected programmes.”

We are all really looking forward to new challenges in 2012 in our 22nd year of Landline.”

Pip originally studied politics at the University of Tasmania and on graduating in 1985, joined the ABC in Hobart.

After spending several years working in radio and television news she made the natural transition into rural current affairs, taking up a position with Landline in Canberra in 1993 before working out of Melbourne and Brisbane.

“I remember my dad rang me and said, “well Pip you’ve proved yourself, I’m ready to offer you a job,” and remember thinking I wanted to draw this out as long as possible because I was able to say, “unfortunately dad, you can’t afford me”. I had a laugh because he thought I was too overpaid and wanted to ring the ABC to knock a few thousands off my salary.”

Not to be confined to an office, Pip has travelled all across the land for her stories.

From apple growers, to dairy farmers, poultry exhibitors, wine makers, politicians, miners and wool classers, she has met a host of fascinating people.

“I am so privileged to have met some of Australia’s best farmers and be able to tell people about it. Those people who’ve stayed with me; the ones that when you drive away, look at the cameramen and say, that was amazing - that family or that business that really stuck in your mind. And if they can impress the cameraman - who sees incredible sights all the time - you know you’ve met someone special.”

Pip is in the process of writing a book that features 20 of these remarkable people, their stories. and in her mind, what makes them so successful.

“Whenever I’ve been out on the road people always ask me who I’ve met, they want to know who has the best operation and who the best farmer is. This book is about what makes those people so successful.”

Pip names Queensland beef baron Graham Acton as a standout character. The Acton family hosts the annual Paradise Lagoons campdraft, the biggest and richest in the country.

“Graham is an avid campdrafter and the facilities he has built on his own property are incredible. I sat down with him and I said, “Graham, what’s your secret”. Well for one thing he gets up very early. But he just said, “I try and give 100 pc, a lot of people might give 90 or 95 pc but I give 100 pc all the time.” I just thought those words, in one sentence, were simple but profound.”

Other standout successful qualities she’s seen are people that keep going in the face of criticism and stick to their guns.

“It’s just extraordinary the stories I’ve come across. People have failed but they try again. Persistence is another common attribute I’ve seen in successful rural people. And there are a lot who are prepared to change. People’s ability to cope with change.”

Pip’s passion is obvious.

“I never get sick of travelling, I never get sick of meeting new people, I never get sick of spending the night in a new motel each night for 10 days. I love the fact there are a 100 more stories on my desk to follow up, and now with the internet there is so much more possibility – so many other outlets you can file for.”

But the shadow over Pip’s incredible career is not having her husband to share her successes with.

ABC cameraman John Bean died in a tragic helicopter accident last August along with two of his fellow colleagues while filming scenes over Lake Eyre for a documentary.

She and John met on one of her first Landline filming gigs and were married for 12 years.

The duo often hit the road together chasing leads and shooting footage.

Pip’s IFAJ award for analysis of the controversy over coal seam gas was an issue both she and John covered together.

“I am only sad my husband wasn’t there to see that, he shot some of the footage of that story. I only wish he had known about my award, and about my presenter’s role.

“We worked on the story together and it was a lengthy process. It took an eight-day shoot and then scripting and editing it all. It was a very good team who worked on ‘Pipe Dreams’ but it’s sad to know John never knew how well we did and what I’m doing now.”

She says John was her biggest fan and supporter.

“He was always encouraging me, I once filled in the presenter’s role for six months a few years back and he shot some of the footage. John was always making sure I was doing a good job, he was very helpful and encouraging and enjoyed seeing me in that position.”

If 2011 was tough for Pip Courtney then she is bravely looking to Landline as her new challenge in 2012.

“I’m really looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into presenting. We want to try and broadcast stories from different locations all around the country. I want to maintain our standard of top journalism. That’s what we strive for and we’ll just keep doing what we do, and do a really good job covering the big issues that really matter and informing people about rural Australia.”

Pip is a tough little nut but says she couldn’t have worked through the last several months without support.

“The rural community has taken me into their hearts and I have really appreciated it. The amount of cards and messages and love shown has been enormous. John was well-loved and well-known by a lot of farmers. They really appreciated his nature, the way he approached them, how he was and they knew their story was safe in his hands. This experience has shown me how loyal the ABC audience is; they have taken the show into their hearts and living rooms and taken me into their lives as well.”

“My perspective towards work hasn’t changed but you never know what’s around the corner. I just appreciate how lucky I was to have someone so wonderful like John in my life. I would have liked a lot longer, but it’s taught me the value of friendship and family. I have wonderful friends and family looking out for me but the kindness and generosity of complete strangers has been astonishing.”

John might be gone from Pip but he lives on through her work and his.

“My first job back this year is cutting and editing stories that John shot. It’s going to be a challenge but it’s important to me to do him justice and as painful as it will be to hear his voice, see him on screen and watch his filming, this is top of my list.” My focus is getting these stories done. I have some lovely memories of us on the road together, and the experiences we have shared. I’m very grateful to have met so many amazing characters and shared those times with John.”

Becoming Landline’s newest presenter in 2012 might just be Pip’s way of keeping John in the spotlight.