Farewell, but not goodbye, to Matthew Lunn

By Joanna Cave, Chief Executive Officer 

Earlier this month, I had the great pleasure of attending the Perth Garden & Outdoor Living Festival. This event, which is brilliantly organised by our very own Nursery & Garden Industry Western Australia (NGIWA), has been running for many years and is a much-anticipated fixture in the horticultural calendar of WA. 

As with so many events returning after a pandemic enforced break, the enthusiasm from attendees was palpable: gardeners arriving with trolleys showing they meant business, stall holders beaming with pride at their breathtaking displays and cars snaking far into the distance in the parking queue.

As I chatted to the exhibitors, it was clear that everyone welcomed the return of the festival. Growers of Australian natives were particularly happy with the timing this year which coincided perfectly with their products looking their absolute best. The customers staggering back to their cars with armfuls of plants clearly agreed.

This picture of joy contrasts sharply with the news that NGIWA’s Executive Officer, Matthew Lunn is departing that organisation after six years in the post. Matt has developed NGIWA into a professional and well supported state association. During his tenure, Matt significantly increased members, sponsorship and events for both growers and retailers as well as elevating the standard of the Perth Garden Festival.  The delivery of the annual Members’ Breakfast was an example of Matt’s drive to bring the organisation together as a celebration of the people who make the WA nursery industry.

Matt will be sorely missed. However, happily for us, Matt remains within the greenlife family as he will taking up the role of CEO with Turf Australia.

Matt said “It has been a real journey with NGIWA in so many aspects and whilst it was a difficult decision to step down, life is about opportunities and this new chapter in my horticultural career of over 35 years provides another test of my ability to drive an organisation forward not at a state level but national. Of course, I have a huge amount of thanks to give to the NGIWA board in allowing me to take the association into a new era but just as importantly it is the people of the organisation I have met, worked with, and become good friends with that has made the last six years some of the happiest in my career.”

I look forward to working with Matt at Turf Australia and with his successor at NGIWA, once appointed.

Figures 1- 4: Jo Cave, GIA CEO, catching up with some industry locals during her recent visit to Western Australia for the Perth Garden & Outdoor Living Festival

I close this update with a few friendly reminders, respectfully made in the knowledge that this is a busy time of year for you all!

Please do consider participating in this year’s Nursery Industry Statistics Project survey. It is your input into this levy funded project that enables Greenlife Industry Australia (GIA) to continue building the Nursery Industry Business Benchmarking Tool. I know from my conversations with many of you how valuable you find this tool. However, for this tool to remain relevant and useful, we need your input! If you have yet to receive a phone call or an email requesting your involvement and would like to participate, please do get in touch with Gabrielle Stannus, GIA’s Communications Coordinator via e-mail: Gabrielle.Stannus@greenlifeindustry.com.au or mobile: 0400 431 277.

Finally, the Spring Blueming campaign comes to fruition next week as nurseries all over Australia take some time out of their busy days to ask their staff how they are and to celebrate their steadfastness during the extraordinary working conditions dictated by the pandemic. On 14 November, GIA is taking time out for a ‘virtual’ morning tea and a chat with our wonderful team across the country, and I hope you will do the same with your colleagues. Your staff will appreciate it, you will feel good about it and our friends at Beyond Blue will be so grateful for your support. It is not too late to sign up to host a Spring Blueming event. For details on how you can participate, please visit ICL’s Spring Blueming events page.

And please do remember that I am only a phone call or email away! If anything in this update piqued your interest, in whatever way, please do get in touch and let me know what is on your mind. You can reach me via e-mail: Jo.Cave@greenlifeindustry.com.au or mobile: 0468 368 961.

Regards,

Jo Cave

CEO – Greenlife Industry Australia