The Woka and Walla day follows the Welcome to Country session to uphold the values and respect for our environment in alignment with and inclusive of indigenous views.
The first session of the day introduced the Fairley cohort to the links between water, land, economy, environment and people.
Held along the Goulburn River in Shepparton, Carl Walters, 2002 Fairley Fellow graduate and sustainable irrigation manager of the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority (GBCMA), educated the group on local river systems.
“Carl set the day up perfectly with the work of the GBCMA,” Fairley participant Lindy Leyonhjelm said.
“He shared with us the work they are doing with farmers along with leadership learnings’ explained.”
The Fairley Leadership cohort was then informed of water treatment procedures and methods of sustainable water usage.
Hosted by Goulburn Valley Water at its Water Treatment Plant, Mark Putman, 2004 Fairley Fellow graduate and manager at Goulburn Valley Water, provided a tour of the facility while enlightening the cohort on its responsibilities as community leaders.
Fairley participant Matt Trevaskis said there were so many take-away messages from the day and he was impressed with the sophisticated operation at Plunkett Orchards and Andrew Plunkett’s leadership style.
“He is so generous with his time and so calm in his manner,” Mr Trevaskis said.
Plunkett Orchards then hosted the Fairley Leadership cohort for perspective on agricultural water usage.
A tour of the orchard in Ardmona was followed by an address from Andrew Plunkett, owner of the fourth-generation family business, who educated the cohort on the techniques they employed for the evolving necessity and changing availability of water.
The final information session for the day was hosted by Goulburn Murray Water and water resource management expert Mark Bailey and Kilter Rural’s Matthew Bryant.
