He was close to the end of his tour when he joined dairy farmers at the GippsDairy AGM on October 16 at Traralgon, Victoria.
“I’m three months into this new role and coming close to the end of a listening tour around Australia’s dairy regions,” he said.
“The best part of my role [as CEO] is coming and talking to people like you tonight.
“I like talking to people one-on-one or in small groups.
“I’ve been trying to hear from farmers about what their concerns are, what keeps them awake at night, what they view the future as.
“I want them to tell me what they think Dairy Australia does well and what we don’t do well.”
There was one more region to visit, in Western Australia, before he had finished his ‘listening tour’.
Matt said there were themes he had identified through the conversations.
“Employment, succession planning and farm business skills comes up a fair bit. Those are some of the big ticket items that are concerning people,” he said.
“In various regions, farmers are concerned about some of the regulations that are coming in that are quite region-specific, that could affect right to farm or land use planning.
“Effluent management is one of the issues that I keep hearing a bit about.
“So it’s been quite interesting to see what farmers are talking about and what concerns them and what we can do to help.
“Some things we can’t do anything to help, and we have to be clear about that too.”
Matt said he would be embarking on another tour of all dairy regions after Dairy Australia releases its new strategic plan at the national organisation’s AGM in November, to be held at Wollongong, NSW.
He will be responsible for shaping the future direction of Dairy Australia to align it with a five-year strategy that was developed under the leadership of his predecessor.
“Dairy Australia needs to work in a better way and be more integrated with our farmers,” Matt told the gathering at the GippsDairy AGM.
“That’s the core of what I told the Dairy Australia board [when he was interviewed for the CEO’s role] and that’s the core of how I want to work.”
He iterated that his primary focus would be Australia’s dairy farmers.
“I want to make sure I can hear farmers, that people can talk to me whenever they want to talk to me, pick up the phone,” Matt said.
“I like hearing what folks have to say, whether it’s good news, bad news, or indifferent.
“Even if it’s not always easy to hear, I’m always willing to hear it.
“We just need to have those conversations.
“I also need to spend time with the DA staff to make sure that that all works well.”
In answer to a question from the floor about supporting young dairy farmers, Matt’s response was to collaborate on finding out what the issues and solutions were and how to apply those solutions.
“That’s my philosophy with all farmers,” he said.
“I’m not here to dictate what you should do.
“I expect to listen to what you want and maybe provide a bit of advice.
“It’s more about how Dairy Australia can help farmers to make decisions and meet them where they are.”
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