Friday 4 December 2015

The Last Continent


Australia is a really big country ... "No, it's a continent!" I was assured. Terry Pratchett must have concurred given his novel called ''The Last Continent" - full of allusions to a vegemite-like substance, strange animals, deserts & rough characters! 

My time in Australia was centered around two activities - & two distinct locations.
The first was gaining insight Into the south eastern commercial fishing industry, staying largely in the coastal Victoria town of Lakes Entrance. The second was attending the Australasian & Pacific Extension Network conference, in Adelaide.




Arriving in Melbourne on the day of "the race that stops the nation" I was listening to the radio as Michelle Payne made history riding Prince of Penzance to glory. Much was made of her breathless but forthright post-race interview in which she gratefully acknowledged those who had supported her in an industry that gives less opportunity to females, and she  'frankly rebuffed' the 'chauvinist others'! The interview even made it to the conference, juxtaposed against a statement by a racing spokesman that there wasn't even any gender discrimination - this all in the context of seeking greater involvement of women in wool industry events. I thought having a daughter studying politics had already honed my radar on such things - but I felt even more challenged in my own work to better make genuine space for all the parties involved in dairying!



I must make mention of the magnificent seafood my host Wayne not only shared with, but cooked for, me!

The fishing industry has undergone a lot of change in the last twenty years - from unfettered harvesting to reduced numbers of licences, managed quotas and area restrictions. Add to that the reporting requirements necessary to achieve genuine co-management; fish stocks are a resource that can be renewable if respected by all that utilise them. The industry had taken a lot of flak for the impacts they've had on some specific fish resources (eg orange roughy) and on non-target  species, such as seabirds or dolphins. It was fascinating to speak with the CEO of one of the fishery associations about their approach to getting the industry to truly value their social licence as a privilege they must actively guard. I got thinking about whether we choose to see ourselves as victims of perception - or as partners in the evolution of our industry's. Noble thoughts, I know, while I clearly see the toll that that evolution can take on people's goals and their sense of identity ("I'm a fisherman" is an identity statement, not just a business statement!).

The consequence of all the fishing industry changes is a greatly reduced number of people in the industry - for example from 28 scallop boats to 6 in the area I visited! Admittedly the 6 will be bigger than the average boat back when there were 28, but this is still a big drop in participants. Size isn't everything, but it seems generally true that the bigger businesses have a greater 'buffering' capacity when it comes to coping with constraints - often that is via having a range of personnel with the skills and time to research facets of the coming changes and make provisions to accommodate them. 
on a fisherman's porch...

Compared to our dairy industry, fishing is much more diverse and hence fragmented - given that it is also much smaller this poses a real challenge in having a voice. There are good things happening nonetheless! The South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association have recently embarked on a joint Fisheries Improvement initiative with Coles (a large Australian supermarket chain) and WWF to assure customers that the product they are buying through this partnership has been sustainably fished - which includes guarding the future of the actual target fish and the wider impacts on non-target species. Click here for SETFIA-WWF-Coles Initiative.





I loved driving around what felt like big country, but really is just a small corner of the whole! I even had to stop in a small town to get a picture of the mother and baby koala that had been holding up traffic while they crossed the road to some tasty gums in a central traffic island...
There are roos in the paddock!


Many people I met have never been to New Zealand - I guess they have a lot of diverse options without ever leaving their own country. Those who had visited had mainly been to the South Island - of course they don't know what they were missing in the north!
Among the fishing industry people I met were two that were based in Melbourne. I was fortunate to stay in a gorgeous wee terrace house in Richmond, quite near the central city, while I was there. I even took a walk to the MCG.
Cricket developed into a bit of a theme - the Aussies I met were eager to move on from the Rugby of course. During and after the APEN conference there were plenty of opportunities taken to discuss how well Australia were doing against us. The APEN dinner was held at the recently refurbished Adelaide Oval, which was a treat.
Another treat was a couple of hours wandering the Botanic Gardens in Adelaide - what an asset for the city. I'll just stick to photos to describe aspects of this!



Pointed cricket conversations peaked when I travelled a wee bit north of Adelaide and visited Derek (one of my 'tour crew' from earlier in the year) and his family near Mallala. We had dinner in the local pub, where cricket is the main topic of both conversation and decor. Australia were racking up runs in Perth as we ate...


Sadly this location has since been on the news with the recent SA bushfires. The land was full of crops ripe for harvest - and crackling dry.
 I discovered that fire is one of the big risks when lentils are harvested - with fire fighting equipment included on the harvester and the neighbour's plough borrowed (this is a no-till farm!) and on standby in case a firebreak is needed in a hurry. As yet the cause of the recent fires is unknown, but the threat of the dragon was clearly real, and warranted. Click here for mapped information on the recent fires.
Back to the big country thought - I got a sense that people that have thrived in this place of space and drought - not to mention poisonous creatures - need to be 'big' themselves... being out there I felt more empathy for their culture (if not for their cricket gloating). And vegemite is okay too...
It was wonderful to close my travel by in some way closing part of the loop - Derek and I enjoyed reflecting on our earlier trip, catching up on where else we had each been  and some of the insight we had gleaned - and looked forward to future Nuffielders crossing our paths and staying in our homes. I was first to stay there and my first has since come and gone now too!
Apologies for the delay in getting this out - as we were warned, normal life can demand all of your focus once you return home! However 'normal' now includes Nuffield visits, mentoring a new Nuffield scholar, including bits and pieces of my experiences in conversations both at work and at home (without overdoing it of course), and thinking more widely about everything... my new normal has begun!

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