CEO Update – 14 April 2022

By Joanna Cave, CEO GIA
 

I had the great pleasure of attending the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show (MIFGS) recently. It was a wonderful occasion in every respect: the displays were magnificent; the exhibitors were brimming with optimism and the visitors were radiant with joy.

I spoke to many garden lovers, ranging from people who were attending for the first time through to stalwarts of the event who were delighted to see it return after a two-year COVID-hiatus. Perhaps my most poignant encounter was with an elderly lady who told me she originated from Ukraine. Holding her phone up the displays, on the other end of the video call were the smiling faces of her family, gathered in a shelter in Kyiv. “I am showing them the beautiful plants to give them some relief” she told me. Surely there could be no better endorsement of the power of greenlife?

MIFGS was a great credit to our colleagues at Nursery & Garden Industry Victoria (NGIV) and I salute Craig Taberner and his team for their hard work and achievement. Later in the year, I am looking forward to also attending the flagship events of our other NGI state associations, including the Awards of Excellence Gala Dinner in Adelaide, hosted by NGISA on 4 June; the Green Expo on the Gold Coast, hosted by NGIQ on 26-27 July and the Perth Garden Festival which has been postponed to 27-30 October. A little bird tells me that our friends at NGINA are planning something spectacular for their special anniversary this year, so I am looking forward to that too.

Turning to matters political, as we must do now that the general election has been called for Saturday 21 May, I was in Canberra this week attending the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) conference which had a sustainability theme. Along with 20 other peak bodies and commodity groups, Greenlife Industry Australia (GIA) is a member of the NFF’s Horticulture Council.  My purpose in attending the conference was two-fold: 1) to look at a conference of quality and scale to see what we might learn and emulate for GIA’s future conference plans and 2) to meet with leaders and policy makers in Australian horticulture.

There is lots to admire about the execution of the NFF event: great venue, interesting content and good food (an important detail!). NFF’s political influence was on display, with keynote addresses delivered not only from the Minister for Agriculture, David Littleproud and his Opposition shadow Julie Collins but also from the Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Leader of the Opposition, Anthony Albanese. Who would we like to imagine addressing a future GIA conference, I wonder? I would love to hear your suggestions.

Whilst horticulture and agriculture are different in many respects, there are some things GIA’s greenlife community appears to have in common with farmers: evolving business practices in the face of climate change, implementing sustainable production methods and finding ways of attracting more people to work in the industry are current themes.

Meanwhile, please continue to enjoy the political opinion pieces from greenlife thought leaders we are publishing in the lead up to the election. In this issue you will hear from Hamish Mitchell from Speciality Trees who shares his thoughts about how greenlife needs to become an integral component in the response to our climate emergency.

Please do keep sending in your feedback, suggestions and messages to me at jo.cave@greenlifeindustry.com.au. I love to hear from you, the people we are here to serve.

Finally, I would like to wish you and your families a very Happy Easter. It has been such a busy start to the year, and for some of you this will hopefully be a very busy weekend in your nursery. I do hope you are able to pause and take a few moments for yourself. Stay safe and take care.

Regards,
Jo Cave
CEO – Greenlife Industry Australia