March 15, 2013

A new advisory group which will guide Queensland’s agricultural workforce development met for the first time this week.

Agriculture Minister John McVeigh hosted the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Skills Industry Advisory Group meeting on Wednesday and said it would ensure the future workforce needs of Queensland’s primary industries were being met.

“This group will give me the best advice on key issues facing agriculture workforce development in Queensland,” Mr McVeigh said.

“We need to identify and address barriers to, and seek opportunities for, the successful attraction and retention of skilled workers in the agri-sector.

“Attracting young, skilled workers has been a challenge in the past. One solution is to build the capacity of our school, vocational education and tertiary systems to better understand agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors so they can deliver relevant training that meets industry needs.

“This will be a huge help in encouraging young people in particular to seek careers in the industry.”

Independent chair Dr John Taylor said the meeting had started work on mapping out a program for the year ahead.

“This includes industry and training/education initiatives, identifying ‘best practice’ and working on better co-ordination and collaboration across our primary industries,” Dr Taylor said.

“The opportunities for growth of Queensland’s primary industries are huge, but our ability to seize these opportunities is limited by the size and capacity of the workforce in rural and remote areas.

“Finding solutions to this will be the main focus of this group.”

Members of the group have been selected for their experience and success in Queensland agricultural workforce development and to provide sectoral and geographic diversity.

The group is expected to meet at least four times a year.

Members are:

  • Dr John Taylor: Tertiary Education Sector, Independent Chair and representing the tertiary education sector
  • Wendy Allen: AgForce Queensland Partnership Director representing grazing and cropping industries
  • Elke Watson: Councillor for the Queensland Dairyfarmers Organisation representing the dairy industry
  • Donna Mogg: Commercial Services Manager, Growcom representing horticulture
  • Ron Mullins: Chief Executive Officer, CANEGROWERS representing sugar cane
  • Arthur Raptis: Representing Raptis and Sons Pty Ltd representing seafood
  • Michael Lee: Manager, Agribusiness Commodities and Productivity, Australian Country Choice, representing food processing
  • Mick Hewitt: Principal of Hewitt Cattle Company representing beef
  • Michael Murray: Cotton Australia, Policy Manager representing cotton
  • Bruce Harle: Timber Queensland representing timber