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From the Chairman, The Mulloon Institute
You will recognise
"Mandate" as a word used regularly during May by various people involved in a certain event that occurred on 18 May. Definitions of "mandate" include,
"an official order or commission to do something; the authority to carry out a policy", and in the case of those individuals involved in the 18 May event, "the wishes of constituents expressed to a representative, party, etc".
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"This work should be rolled out across the country" -
Deputy PM, Michael McCormack
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Fe
deral funding up
date
While I'll leave the latter definition of mandate for others to debate, in the case of
The Mulloon Institute (TMI), we received a "mandate" from the Federal Government during May with the signing of an agreement, "to carry out a policy". That policy being to
'Rehydrate Australia to Improve the Environment, Farm Productivity and Community Education and Engagement'
as represented by the title of the funding agreement and carried out as part of the
Mulloon Community Landscape Rehydration Project (MCLRP).
My
'Manna March' and
'Aureate April' updates gave details of the Federal Government's funding, but it was only in May (14th) that the agreement was signed by TMI and the
Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (DAWR). While I was assured the funding was "locked in", it was certainly a relief to have the signed agreement, and I thank the officers within DAWR for their diligence. We will commence implementing our "mandate" in July following receipt of the initial funds.
While succeeding with the grant was a great result, the most important aspect was the support of the Federal Government for our work which I'm now describing as a "mandate" from government for landscape rehydration, and I'm reminded of the
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, who said when visiting TMI,
"This work should be rolled out across the country". That sounds like a "mandate" to me!
With the election over and some changes in portfolios, there are now four key ministers TMI will be liaising with as we push forward with our work. The minister that announced our grant,
David Littleproud, now concentrates on Water, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management. There are new Ministers for Agriculture in
Bridget McKenzie and
Sussan Ley in Environment, and
Angus Taylor's portfolio of Energy and Emissions Reduction is also relevant to our work. I congratulate them all and look forward to working with each one and their departments.
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Project Coordinator Peter Hazell with students from The Scots College
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Visits to Mulloon Creek
We've had several groups visit
Mulloon Creek Natural Farms this month who are interested in our landscape rehydration works and wanted to see first-hand what we do to achieve that, and how they could apply it themselves.
The Scots College brought a group of
Year 12 Agricultural Science students along
to learn about our regenerative farming techniques, and how they could be applied to their family properties. Read more about that visit here.
Kyeamba Valley Landcare (NSW) also visited with a group of 25 people armed with questions concerning
leaky weirs and pasture and weed management,
which you can read about HERE.
And, we also hosted
international visitors from Argentina who were very interested in the step diffusion system and how it could be applied to their own low rainfall context. Read about that visit
HERE.
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Mulloon Community Landscape Rehydration Project
We are pleased to announce that
Soils for Life has featured the Mulloon Community Landscape Rehydration Project (MCLRP) in one of their Case Studies on regenerative landscape management practices around Australia.
The case study includes five video clips featuring Gary Nairn AO, Project Coordinator Peter Hazell, and landholders and managers Sue and Ulli Tuisk, Gerry Carroll and Andrew Robinson, and John West. A comprehensive assessment of the vegetation condition is also included -
VAST Report - as prepared by Dr Richard Thackway of VAST Transformations.
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Peter Hazell in the Fitzroy Basin, Queensland
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Mulloon Consulting Contracting & Certifying
Peter Hazell presented a two day workshop in Queensland this month for the
Fitzroy Basin Association.
Peter demonstrated methods of erosion control and landscape rehydration, covering a mixture of theory and practical hands-on works. To learn more about the workshop, view the
summary video or read
FBA's news blog.
Riverina Local Land Service (LLS) has also partnered with
Murrumbidgee Landcare and
MCCC to submit a
National Landcare Program: Smart farming Partnerships Round 2
(NLP2) grant application. Riverina LLS aims to restore landscape function on several Riverina proprieties, across four catchments, so they can be used as local demonstration sites for future projects. The project includes comprehensive landholder education and training. If successful, MCCC will be engaged to undertake detailed design work for the landscape rehydration works and management of the controlled activity approval applications, as well as onsite planning and construction.
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Wanted -
Landscape Rehydration Design Consultant
Mulloon Consulting Contracting and Certifying
, is seeking a
Landscape Rehydration Design Consultant who is
passionate about effecting change in regenerative, environmental and agricultural practices, with sound technical skills in hydrology for landscape rehydration.
Location: Flexible workplace - Canberra region preferred
Salary etc: Part-time or full-time
Closing date: Friday 14 June 2019
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Landscape Resilience Forum
Titled
'Landscape Resilience Forum' we had a full house with about 120 people in attendance. The day commenced with a Welcome to Country by
Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison who gave an insightful account of understanding the landscape and the crucial importance and role of plants to its functioning and to the health and well-being of us humans. TMI has developed an important partnership with Uncle Max and we strive to learn more from Indigenous Elders and their knowledge of our landscape.
Presentations throughout the day came from
Dr Steven Crimp from the
ANU Climate Change Institute (responding to the impacts of a changing climate);
Emeritus Professor Geoff Hope (past landscape development of the Mulloon over 50,000 years);
Sue Ogilvy (links between farm profitability and biodiversity);
David Marsh, Gill Sandbrook, David Watson and
Martin Royds (farmer case studies of their methodologies for resilience on their properties);
Noel Webster (indigenous connections to the land and traditional practices to protect the land); and
Peter Hazell and
Peter Andrews (Mulloon and landscape rehydration).
Science Advisory Council Chair, Emeritus Professor Stephen Dovers, was MC for the day.
With the range of highly qualified and experienced presenters the forum gave attendees very comprehensive information on just what should be occurring in Australia's degraded dehydrated landscape. Overwhelmingly the examples of the regenerative farmers (David, Gill, David and Martin) says it all given the dry periods they have experienced but the results they have achieved. David Marsh's comment that he has spent zero dollars on inputs since 1999 stuck in my mind. Attendees went away from the forum with a "mandate" to take similar actions on their own properties.
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Sustainable Development Goals
The Mulloon Institute is proud to be listed on the official Australian
Sustainable Development Goals website, which aims to provide a live and ongoing overview of actions being taken across the country to advance the SDGs.
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In the news
The Mulloon Institute's Gary Nairn and independent landscape thinker Peter Andrews have featured on the BBC recently, following an interview with Australian journalist Georgina Kenyon.
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Dates for the diary
Jillamatong Regenerative Agriculture Farm Tour
Saturday 29 June 2019
Inaugural Tony Coote AM Memorial Lecture
Monday 5 August 2019
To be delivered by our Patron and Chairman of Soils For Life, Major General Michael Jeffery AC, AO (Mil), CVO, MC (Retd), in the NSW Parliament House.
More details soon.
Mulloon Creek Field Day
Saturday 2 November 2019
To be held at Mulloon Creek Natural Farms. More details soon.
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In finishing this month's update can I remind you that the
end of the financial year is only a few weeks away and so you may be in the position to consider some financial support for TMI. While I've contacted all our supporters separately this year asking for such a consideration, you can
donate directly via our website to make a
fully tax deductible donation.
Thank you all once again for your wonderful support.
Best wishes,
Gary Nairn AO
The Mulloon Institute, Chairman
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