Andrew McLachlan
The Hon. Andrew McLachlan CSC CStJ was elected to the Legislative Council of the South Australian Parliament in March 2014.
Prior to his election to Parliament, Andrew held national senior leadership and executive positions in the financial services industry. This included being a senior executive of one of Australia’s leading financial service companies as well as the Director of the International Centre for Financial Services at the University of Adelaide. He has served on the national executive of the Trustee Corporations Association of Australia and on the compliance and investment boards of the Financial Services Council.
Andrew first commenced practice as a lawyer in Adelaide. He then moved to Port Augusta to provide legal services to the people living and working in the north of South Australia. Upon returning to Adelaide he specialised in superannuation, banking and finance law. This lead to his subsequent career in financial services.
He is a Fellow of the Taxation Institute of Australia and the Financial Services Institute of Australasia. He holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Adelaide, a Master of Laws from the University of Edinburgh and a Master of Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management (University of Sydney and University of New South Wales).
Andrew is a Colonel in the Australian Army Reserve and has seen service in Afghanistan. In 2007 he was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross for his services to the Army. Andrew’s service in the Army inspired him to become a legatee of Legacy.
He is also a member of St John Ambulance. He has served on its State and National Boards. In 2014 he was made a Commander in The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem. He was elected as President of the Legislative Council by his colleagues on 3 May 2018.
Malcolm May
Malcolm May is one of the founding members of Balco Australia, which is now one of the country’s leading hay processors and exporters and previous Chair of Bowmans Rail which runs the largest inland intermodal based outside of Balaklava. He has been chairman of the Government Export Council, previous industry representative to the Grain and Plant Products Export Industry Consultative Committee in Canberra, and a member of the Lifecare board for 7 years. He is also a councillor on the Wakefield Regional Council and Board Member of Regional Development Australia Yorke and Mid North.
Rowan Ramsey MP
First elected to the Parliament in 2007 Rowan represents the electorate of Grey which covers 92% of SA.
Rowan came to political life after living and farming on the Eyre Peninsula and seeing firsthand what can be achieved when people work together for the good of the community.
His grass roots involvement with agricultural research, Apex, the CFS, sporting clubs and leadership in health organisations gave him a good grounding to gauge community needs and take on leadership roles.
He is the Government Whip and serves on The Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture and Water Resources, the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Standing Committee on Appropriations and Administration, Joint House Committee and the Select Committee Intergenerational Welfare Dependence Committee.
He is also an advocate for the sealing of the Strzelecki Track and the storage of low-level nuclear waste in regional SA.
Wade Dabinett
Wade Dabinett was first appointed to Grain Producers SA’s board in May 2014 and was subsequently elected for a two year term as Chairman in 2016. South Australia’s longstanding GM moratorium is what first inspired Wade to join the GPSA board, and he is now serving his second term as GPSA Chairman.
Wade is passionate about supply chain efficiency and would like to see a greater role for growers in this important aspect of their business. His areas of interest have expanded since he was first elected to the board. Over the next 2 years, Wade would like to see SA’s urban population exposed to more elements of agriculture to help raise career awareness, as well as to expand the agricultural industry’s social license. Financial literacy programs are also central to his vision for the continued growth of South Australian agriculture. Growers must have the necessary skills to successfully manage all aspects of their business.
Wade is involved in a family owned and managed mixed-farming enterprise based around Parilla growing grain, potatoes and livestock. He is an independent director of Duxton Broadacre Farms which is based in Forbes, NSW. Wade also represents regional Australia on the ABC Advisory Committee.
Belinda Cay
Belinda Cay is a science communicator and educator with a passion for primary production. She has 15 years’ experience in using colour, fun and credibility to communicate science to non-scientific audiences – and has received national accolades for her work.
Belinda’s previous industry positions include FarmBis Program Leader and Youth Development Leader with Primary Industries and Regions SA and Education and Communication Officer with the Primary Industries Centre for Science Education. She spent five years as Communications and Education Manager for the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics where she developed Get into Genes, an education program which has reached more than 30,000 students.
Belinda has received two Next Generation Scholarships from the Royal Agricultural & Horticultural Society of SA (RA&HS) to represent South Australia at the international Royal Agricultural Society Conference in Scotland and New Zealand.
Belinda is a RA&HS Board Member and Vice Chair of the RA&HS Education Foundation, an Executive Member of the Royal Adelaide Show and Councillor of its Grains and Fodder Committee.
Simon Jackson
Dr Simon Jackson is a practicing rural General Practitioner and Obstetrician in the Mid North of South Australia. He is one of the practice owners of Goydersline Medical which provides medical services to Jamestown, Peterborough and Orroroo.
He is a fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and is a certified provider of Focused Psychological Strategies. He has previously worked with the Northern Adelaide Community and Emergency Mental Health Service.
Simon is passionate about reducing the prevalence of mental health conditions in rural South Australia, and improving access to treatment for mental health. He speaks at community events to increase awareness of mental health and wellbeing.
He is a member of the Mid North Suicide Prevention Network and the medical officer representative for the Mid North Hospital Advisory Council. He also represents local GPs as the Yorke and Northern representative for the statewide GP Regional Delegates Committee, regularly meeting with the Chief Medical Advisor for country South Australia.
Simon values the importance of physical activity and social interaction, playing football for the Jamestown Peterborough Magpies. He also plays and coaches basketball. He loves country life with his wife who is a local dentist and their two young sons.
Chantel McAlister
Originally from Brisbane, Chantel McAlister has made it her mission to share what the Australian wool industry is really like through her photographs.
Chantel began her love affair with wool as a novice woolhandler, and has devoted her life to it for the past 11 years to become a respected masterclasser.
She credits finding her love for wool with meeting her partner Jason Murray, a shearer, who got her into the industry.
In 2017, Chantel began her Truth About Wool National Tour to tell the stories from behind the farm gates in the hope of continuing to shed light on the industry to those on the outside.
Chantel also hopes the tour will dispel misconceptions about the sheep industry.
MC: Jordy Kitschke
Jordy Kitschke is a fourth-generation farmer, born and bred in Jamestown.
With a long-held passion for technology and agriculture, Jordy began working with rapid commercialisation company Availer.
Here he worked on everything from blockchain traceability of mangoes to computer vision weed detection, before being appointed as the CEO of MEQ Probe.
Jordy now works closely with the Red Meat industry; producers, processors and retailers, to bring an objective measure of eating quality to the marketplace.
MEQ’s goal is to create value for the Red Meat Industry, by providing a great eating experience to every person that purchases Australian Red Meat.
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