2023 Minutes

Minutes of a meeting of the OAFS held at 12 noon on 14th December 2023 at University House.

Chair and Minute Taker – Brian Leury

  1. Present: OAFS Beard, Lee Dow, Falvey, Larkins, Leury, Taylor, Barlow, Reeves, Roush

OAF Roush welcomed to the meeting.

Apologies: OAFS Egan, Cousens, Tjia, McColl, Hickey, Topp, White

  • Minutes of the previous meeting held on 9th November 2023 (revised version attached with Agenda)
  • Matters Arising
    • OAFS Fund – OAF Hickey has advised that the current balance is now $688.  
    • OAFS Travel Award – OAF Leury reported that he had been in contact with Tanya Wilding, Donor Relations Manager (Advancement Office), curtesy of an introduction by Jenneifer Henry. He has also contacted Antony Walker, key contact for SAFES Awards. Timing of the OAFs Travel Award will be brought into line with the main round of awarding in the first half of the year, commencing 2024. Updates on the new recipients of the Agricultural Fellows Travel Award will be provide to the OAFs following the decision of the FS Awards Committee.
    • Fundraising for the School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences – additional follow up from presentation by Jennifer Henry at the last meeting (9th November) – Summary of a discussion following Jennifer Henry’s presentation at the November meeting: There is a need to ensure that any bequests/funds/scholarships with an agriculture focus are used/awarded for the purposes that they were intended and to identify further opportunities for sourcing funds; Frank suggested that the OAFS should support an ‘OAFS Oration’, possibly along the lines of the Leeper Lecture – this would require engagement with Faculty of Science and SAFES; Lindsay suggested that we would need to raise funds or find a sponsor such as we did for the AgriFood Award.
  • Fellows’ Activities since last meeting (“1 point in 2 minutes”)

OAF Falvey

  • Busy with his current project on collecting information for the book on Charan’s life.

OAF Taylor

  • A proposal for a postgraduate project to train a plant pathologist is in development. This follows on from work in Fiji through a Melbourne Oceania Institute Engagement Grant and training workshop (IAEC) in Fiji in August 2023.

OAF Lee Dow

  • Will meet with high achieving year 10 students from select Victorian and border region (NSW, SA) as part of the Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars Program in Jan.
  • Students selected into the program take part in events and activities during Y11 and Y12 academic and personal qualities/abilities; gives a sense of what University life is like which is important for low sec country. Guaranteed University entry provided they get modest ATAR.

OAF Leury

  • Presented to Dookie 56 reunion gathering at Naughtons Hotel
  • Finalising last PhD student’s thesis as Principal Supervisor for submission in January
  • Has accepted an invitation to join a new national awards committee for the Australian Association of Animal Sciences to assist the federal council in establishing guidelines and managing current and new awards.

OAF Barlow

  • Winsome turned 80. A modest party of 100 was held to celebrate a wonderful event.
  • First granddaughter graduated from the University of Sydney with 1st class honours in conservation science.

OAF Beard

  • Board work continues.
  • Mentoring 2 staff members in the Faculty of Education.
  • Marked a major capstone subject for a master’s degree.

OAF Roush

  • Grateful to be welcomed to the OAFs.
  • He could not have imagined such a group when he was still here as dean of MSLE.
  • Briefly described some of his activities over the last few years

OAF Larkins

  • Latest ABS data showed that Yea and surrounding regions have one of the lowest participation rates of students in tertiary education. Development of grant submission by Murrindindi Shire Council for a tertiary education hub (resource centre) based Yea with the aim of providing current/mature age students with information/resources to assist in making decisions about applying for university and TAGE courses – aim is to participation rates.
  • Potential opportunity for OAFs to participate.

OAF Reeves

  • Busy with post-retirement administration
  • Involved in Crawford Fund Conference (supported by ACIAR in part) for a food secure world in Canberra with 300 attendees; more than 50 were young scholars and each one was assigned a mentor for the duration of the conference. Theme for next year’s conference is ‘Co-design and Co-governance’ for food security.
  • Any Other Business
  • OAFs thanked Teresa for organising the Christmas lunch and meeting.
  • Meeting schedule for 2024: 2nd Thursday of each month.
  • In March, the OAFs will celebrate a 10-year anniversary.
  • Selection of Agenda-maker/ Chair / Minute Secretary for the next meeting

OAF Reeves agreed to take on the role for next meeting.

  • Next Meeting February 25th

OAFs agreed to hold the next meeting on Sunday February 25th to coincide with Yea Picnic Races as OAF Larkins’ suggestion, with all subsequent meetings being on the second Thursday of each month (usually) – hence Thursday, March 14 when the 10th Anniversary of the Society of Old Agriculture Fellows (OAFS).

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Minutes of a meeting of the OAFS, 12 noon on Thursday 9 November 2023 at University House

Chair and Minute Taker – Janet Beard

Present: OAFs Beard, Egan, Lee Dow, Falvey, Larkins (arrived 1.30pm), Leury, Taylor (left 1.00pm), White. OAF Egan was welcomed to the meeting.

Apologies: OAFs Barlow, Cousens, Tjia

Minutes of the previous meeting held 21 September 2023: Accepted. It was noted that the revised minutes of the previous meeting that were attached to the agenda needed a further adjustment to reflect a correction that OAF Taylor had requested. OAF Falvey will make the change and upload the adjusted minutes to the website.

Matters Arising

  • Fundraising for the School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences [This item was discussed at the end of the meeting].

OAF Larkins had arranged for Dr Jennifer Henry, Senior Gifts in Wills Manager, Advancement Office, to join the meeting at 1.30 pm to discuss her role, especially in relation to agricultural bequests.

Jennifer was welcomed to the meeting. Jennifer had studied agricultural science and been taught by several of the OAFs. She described her career leading to her current role, and her current role. She described how there is a program to raise funds to support students at Dookie and there was a discussion about how the OAFs could assist personally and with their networks in raising funds for a targeted fundraising activity like that.  OAF Larkins described a very successful wetlands fundraising program example that Ian Marshman and he had been involved with at Yea with cattle farmers that filled a significant gap in Government funding.

OAF Falvey explained to Jennifer the origin of the OAFS Travel Fund and how it is now being used to fund travel scholarships for postgraduate students.  The students have attended lunches of the OAFS after their travels and the awards appeared to have been successful. It has been difficult to find out information about the account with changes in the Institute/Faculty/School of Agriculture but Jennifer will see what she can find out and touch base with OAF Leury and vice versa.

Jennifer briefed the OAFs on bequests and advised she would find out more information about current priorities in agriculture (education and research) and report back to the OAFS.

Fellows’ Activities since last meeting (“3 points in 2 minutes”)

OAF Lindsay

  • Canberra meetings: Commission for International Ag Res & Crawford Conference.
  • Strasbourg for a month to attend a wedding that we missed as Simone caught COVID.
  • He is laboriously gathering information for the book on Charan’s life.

OAF Taylor

  • OAF Taylor and his colleague, Dr Niloofar Vaghefi (plant pathologists in SAFES) were awarded a Melbourne Oceania Institute Engagement Grant to enable two early career scientists from the Ministry of Agriculture in Fiji to visit the Plant Pathology laboratories at UoM, to i) train in fungal pathogen identification and ii) develop a collaborative project proposal for submission to ACIAR. 
  • The aim of these internal grants are to undertake activities that grow the capacity of researchers, students, and professionals in Pacific Island Countries, and Pacifika communities in Australia.
  • This outcome resulted from the training workshop he ran in August 2023 in Fiji for the IAEA.

OAF Lee Dow

  • Carotid artery surgery went well (its purpose was to reduce the risk of stroke).
  • He has just come from a scholarships award event of the Australian Multicultural Foundation. As chair of the Board he has formal roles at such events.
  • Following recovery from the surgery he is only now getting back to a regular meeting schedule.

OAF Leury

  • Editing papers .
  • His ARC grant has kicked off (involving the Meredith Dairy).
  • He has been finding it difficult to find PhD examiners.
  • He is still painting the house after several years of neglect due to the focus on his work.
  • He aims to do more paper writing.

OAF White

  • Continues to monitor the state of the carbon market especially soil carbon projects.
  • Finds them to be of mostly dubious value.
  • Lot of expectation in carbon projects providing offsets to carbon polluters but the reality is it’s not true.
  • He talks to Richard Eckardt and they may publish a paper.
  • On the personal front he looks after his wife and continues to play bridge.

OAF Egan

  • Family business – eg setting up powers of attorney etc.
  • Personal memoir just completed; case history of dementia from a carer’s perspective for Alzheimers Australia.
  • Monograph unfolding of ruminant physiology 1920-2020 with Jim Hogan.
  • Submission to WA Sci and Tech Plan – STEM Education in WA eg how far can you use AI in planning and real time.
  • Annual reunion of High School coming up which he really enjoys. The Steering Group comprises the prefects of which he was one. 2024 will be the 70 year reunion.  The original class was approximately 120 students (50/50). There were 12 prefects.

OAF Beard

  • Board work – especially difficult governance issue she is needing to manage at the moment.
  • Her honorary fellow position with CSHE has been renewed so need to reinvigorate activity with paper writing (been a bit quiet lately); But HE Stats has released 2022 staff data recently finally which means we can update earlier research and validate/confirm conclusions.
  • Babysitting.

Other Business:

University House Newsletter

OAF Falvey suggested the UniHouse Weekly Newsletter should publish an item celebrating the OAFS ten year anniversary next year and that he was willing to pursue the matter with University House.

Faculty of Science Newsletter

OAF Falvey suggested the Faculty of Science could do something similar and further that it would be nice if the OAFs were invited to the Faculty’s Christmas party.

In contrast to the Faculty of Science’s treatment of honoraries and emeritus professors etc, OAF Beard commented that the Faculty of Education and CSHE invited her as one of their honoraries to their respective Christmas parties and other functions throughout the year.

Selection of Agenda-maker/ Chair / Minute Secretary for the next meeting: OAF Leury agreed to take on the role for the December meeting.

Next Meeting 14 December 2023 – who is able to attend (for booking purposes)?

Attend: Kwong, Paul, Brian, Lindsay, Snow, Frank, Bob, Teresa, Janet

Apologies: Malcolm, Adrian, Jeff

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OAFS Meeting at University House, Thursday 21 September 2023 at 12 noon

Chair and Minute Taker: Snow Barlow

Attendees: Janet Beard, Kwong Lee Dow, Snow Barlow, Brian Leury, Paul Taylor and Bob White

Minutes of Meeting held 10 August 2023: Accepted

Apologies: Roger Cousens, Adrian Egan, Tim Reeves, Teresa Tjia, John Fazakerley, Jeff Topp, Lyn McColl, Lindsay Falvey, Nigel Wood, Frank Larkins and Malcolm Hickey

Outstanding Matters:

OAFs Hickey and White to send email to all members requesting a voluntary donation of $50. FORMAL REQUEST TO BE CIRCULATED [Secretarial Note: A notice went out on 13 September 2023 and a good response was received and each contributor was thanked. The OAFS fund now has a balance of $638. Malcolm will report the balance for each meeting in the future.]

Brian Leury to follow up availability and access to the OAFS Travel Award – BRIAN TO REPORT TO OCTOBER MEETING [Secretarial Note: The October meeting was cancelled given the delay in the September meeting and Brian will report at the 9 November 2023 meeting]

Proposal to invite Dr Jennifer Henry, Senior Gifts and Wills Manager to discuss her role especially in relation to agricultural bequests. – ACTION UNKNOWN AS FL NOT PRESENT [Secretarial Note: Dr Henry has been invited to attend the 9 November 2023 meeting]

Fellows’ Activities:

Ian Marshman joined us for lunch prior to the OAFS ‘meeting’.

JB, reported a hectic period with babysitting, Board chairing, presenting paper and part of organising committee of  CSHE Conference on 14 and 15 September for Students, staff and the future human face of education which was very successful. Taken possession of a new EV (an MG). There was some discussion on the merits of her choice.

KLD, current responsibilities continuing and preparing for elective surgery to correct carotid artery function.

RW, bridge, caring responsibilities, reviewing papers for journals and continuing to make expert comment on the methodology for soil carbon measurement to generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) under the ERF.

BL continuing to undertake significant funded research along with colleagues particularly on linkage grants with Meredith Goat Dairy a major producer of fetta cheese from goat milk.

PT recently delivered a short course at the South Pacific Community station in Suva, Fiji on ‘Capability building for screening for anthracnose resistance in yam and chili in Fiji’.  The training program was funded by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

SB chairing ATSE committee to provide comments to Gov on their proposed amendments  to the gov requirements to generate ACCUs following the Chubb review of ACCU integrity. Hopeful of vineyards drying to enable viticultural operations. Renovations continuing !

Other Business:

Next meeting scheduled for 12 noon 12 October 2023, refer Janet’s invitations to meetings for remainder of 2023. [Secretarial note: The October meeting was cancelled given the delay with the September meeting so the next meeting became 9 November 2023 at 12 noon University House. Janet Beard agreed to be the Chair and minute taker]

Meeting concluded at 1.50 pm.

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Minutes OAFS Meeting at University House, Thursday 10 August 2023 at 12 noon

Chair and Minute Taker Frank Larkins

Attendees

Lindsay Falvey, Frank Larkins, Janet Beard, Kwong Lee Dow, Snow Barlow, Nigel Wood

Minutes of Meeting July 13

Accepted

Apologies

Roger Cousens, Adrian Egan, Tim Reeves, Teresa Tjia, John Fazakerley, Jeff Topp, Lyn McColl, Brian Leury, Bob White, Paul Taylor.

Matters Arising and Actions

OAFs Hickey and White to send email to all members requesting a voluntary donation of $50. ACTION REMAINS TO BE TAKEN

Brian Leury to follow up availability and access to the OAFS Travel Award – ACTION UNKNOWN

Proposal to invite Dr Jennifer Henry, Senior Gifts and Wills Manager to discuss her role especially in relation to agricultural bequests. – FPL TO FOLLOW UP FOR POSSIBLE NOVEMBER MEETING

Invitation to Rich Roush to join on his return to Australia. ACTION NOW TAKEN BY LF

OAFs’ Summaries of Activities since last Meeting

LF –  Travelled to Singapore for son’s Muslim wedding;  Presented a keynote paper for Thaksin University on Sustainable Development Goals in Thailand; hosted an ILRI delegation at the Faculty/School; writing a book on the life of international animal scientist Charan Chantalakhana.

SB – Reappointed as a Commissioner to NSW Independent Planning Board reviewing 94 renewable projects in various stages of development. Presented lecture to farmers group on the impact of climate change and coal seam gas on the Darling Downs.  Enjoying! the challenges of house renovations.

NW – Generously provided truffles to all present. Writing a book on Truffles in Australia, Planning for a truffles festival for next year. Undertaking R&D study on truffle products.  Nigel’s farm awarded accolade as 2023 truffle farm of the year in Australia.  Congratulation Nigel

JB – Serving on two private higher education start-up boards. Preparing an occasional paper for CSHE with colleagues. A member of CSHE Conference steering committee – theme – ‘Student, Staff and the Future Human Face of Education’. BMW car was stolen in Brunswick and not found – Now written off by insurance company. Refining baby sitting skills.

KLD – Chairing Multicultural Board. Delivering talk to East Doncaster University of the Third Age on Universities and Higher Education. Contributing to a book produced by the Network of Higher Education Providers.

FL – Has published two papers, one on the 2022 financial performances of Australia’s five leading universities and the other on the 2022 financial outcomes for Victorian Universities.  Active as a member of the Yea and St Pats Racing Club. The Yea Wetlands are finally open again to the public after severe flooding.

Other Business

Lindsay drew attention to the Pair Tree App that is expected to be of considerable benefit to farmers.

Snow raised the integrity of internet connections in rural Australia and the benefits of Elon Musk’s Starlink technology.

Kwong kindly sponsored coffee for all present. Thank you Kwong

Next Meeting

Scheduled for 12 noon 14 September 2023, refer Janet’s invitations to meetings for remainder of 2023. Chair and Minute Taker will be Snow Barlow

Meeting concluded at 1.45 pm

Distribution

Snow Barlow, Janet Beard, Roger Cousens, Adrian Egan, Lindsay Falvey, John Fazakerley, Malcolm Hickey, Kwong Lee Dow, Frank Larkins, Brian Leury, Lyn McColl, Tim Reeves, Paul Taylor, Teresa Tjia, Jeff Topp, Bob White, Nigel Wood

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Minutes OAFS Meeting held at University House, Thursday 1 Jul 2023 at 12 noon

Chair and Minutes: Paul Taylor

Attendees:  Janet Beard, Lindsay Falvey, Frank Larkins, Brian Leury, Paul Taylor and Bob White.

Minutes of Meeting June 8: Accepted

Apologies: Roger Cousens, Adrian Egan, Malcolm Hickey, Kwong Lee Dow, Tim Reeves, Teresa Tjia, Nigel Wood, Snow Barlow, John Fazakerley, Jeff Topp, Lyn McColl

1. Matters Arising and Actions

-Rick Roush to be invited to become an OAFS member on his return to Australia.

-OAFS’ role in influencing environmental actions and policy was again discussed. The group generally agreed that OAFS would have limited influence on Faculty and University policies as a lobby group but would best be served as a highly experienced advisory group.

2. OAFs’ Summaries of Activities since last Meeting

-Lindsay Falvey reported that the public announcement of the new CEO of ACIAR was imminent. He has been to Timor Leste as an ACIAR commissioner and attended the funeral in Bangkok of his close friend and colleague Professor Charan Chantalakhana, known to the Faculty and internationally.

-Brian Leury reported on his new venture as Chief Editor of a new journal on Ruminants under the MDPI publishers. He also finished teaching, ad honorem, in Nutrition and Feed Science and preparing lectures on Diary Physiology. Brian’s PhD student submitted their PhD thesis for examination.

-Bob White reported on his on-going involvement in the academia of Soil Carbon credits and human rehabilitation of soils.

-Frank Larkins reported on a visit with ATSE to Darwin where he was involved in a study of rehabilitation of mines and visited the international space station and a Barramundi farm. He also had a family visit to Ballina.

-Janet Beard reported on joining a new board of a higher education provider; and lamenting her bad luck with motor vehicles in that one had been stolen and another damaged near her place of residence.

-Paul Taylor reported on the successful completion of another PhD student who had their thesis accepted by the examiners. He also reported on his preparations for delivering a 2-week training workshop in Fiji in August funded by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on screening germplasm of yam and chili for disease resistance to anthracnose which is a major disease in the Pacific region. He also attended a plant pathology meeting for the pyrethrum industry in Burney, Tasmania, followed by the next day visiting field trial sites on pyrethrum farms in northern Tasmania.

3. Other Business

-Several OAFS (White, Falvey, Leury, Larkins, McColl and Taylor) attended the farewell of OAF Fazakerley where he was presented with the inaugural OAF Outstanding Services Award medal. John and Anne will be taking a well-earned holiday via Darwin before heading back to England. Photo below.

-OAFS members would be asked to contribute $50 pa to cover operating expenses such as for coffee at monthly meetings, website maintenance and medals and awards. Action: OAFS Hickey and White to send Email to all members requesting a voluntary donation.

-OAFS Travel Award: Discussion concerned the Award since the merging into the new school, SAFES. Action: Brian Leury to follow up on availability and access to the OAFS Travel Award

– It was agreed to invite Dr Jennifer Henry, Senior Gifts in Wills Manager and a UM agriculture alumnus to a future meeting to discuss her role and knowledge of agriculture bequests.

4. Next Meeting: 10 August 2023, see Janet’s invitations for 2023. Chair Frank Larkins.    Minutes tbc

Minutes OAFS Meeting at University House, Thursday 8 June 2023 at 12 noon

Chair Jeff Topp

Attendees

Snow Barlow, John Fazakerley, Malcolm Hickey, Brian Leury, Paul Taylor, Jeff Topp and Bob White. Special welcome to new member Lyn McColl.

Minutes of Meeting May 11

Accepted Minutes Today Malcolm Hickey Apologies

Janet Beard, Roger Cousens, Adrian Egan, Lindsay Falvey, Kwong Lee Dow, Frank Larkins, Tim Reeves, Teresa Tjia, Nigel Wood

Acknowledgement

Professor John Fazakerley will return to the UK following an outstanding contribution as Dean of FVAS for 7 years. OAFs will be invited to a farewell function in July with John and Ann.

Matters Arising and Actions

  • OAFs Hickey and White have agreed to handover to a new account and the current BoM account closed with the balance ($185.22) to be transferred.
  • Progress on conversations with prospective new OAFs ongoing.
  • OAFs’ potential role in influencing environmental actions and policy was discussed.

The various opportunities to influence environmental issues include the ATSE (Snow Barlow outlined that the ‘broad church’ of the Academy makes influence on such an issue difficult). Lyn McColl indicated that major corporates apply a 1 % levy which they transfer to a ‘Development Trust’ which then seeks projects to fund. Many could have an interest in environment related projects and would have the funds to contribute at an appropriate level. There was also discussion of The University of Melbourne interests in Climate Change, Climate Futures, and the Biodiversity Institute. John Fazakerley suggested

that structured lunch engagements might be a way to raise further awareness within our group and provide avenues of support.

It was agreed this will be an ongoing discussion for future meetings.

OAFs’ Summaries of Activities since last Meeting

Paul Taylor reported on his ongoing activities with the Crawford Fund. In particular the Agriculture Leadership programme and the inclusion of the Dookie campus. There is an ongoing opportunity for projects. His own research continues to wind down as his overseas interests increase.

John Fazakerley reported that he is in the final stages of returning to the UK and is looking forward to an extended vacation break in Australia (Northern Territory and Western Australia) and South East Asia (Viet Nam and Cambodia) before returning home.

Lyn McColl reported that State Gov and UoM will build 85 ensuite rooms at Dookie to be completed 2024 ($21m). See https://www.unimelb.edu.au/newsroom/news/2023/march/$2m-facilities-upgrade-complete,- further-$21m-residential-works-announced-at-dookie-campus . Lyn also reported that the Melbourne Vet School has finally started to utilize the Dookie campus for teaching and research purposes. A cohort of 150 DVM students spent several days at Dookie to complete large animal handling workshops. See https://www.sheppadviser.com.au/learning-to-handle-large-animals/ . With respect to the Melbourne Climate Futures group Richard Eckard is involved. Also, to note that Bachelor of Ag admissions are down considerably on pre COVID numbers. Admissions are 110 thus far for 2023 with a few more expected mid year.

Brian Leury reported on his ongoing research and ongoing commitments to both research supervision and teaching.

Bob White reported on very novel research avenues being opened by the USDA in an effort to push the boundaries. He also expressed some concern over the quality of some scientific journals moving forward and how to manage that. His interest in Bridge continues.

Snow Barlow reported on the limited wine vintage on the farm this year due to poor rainfall. He is now focussed on home renovations in North Melbourne and is facing the delays of regulation. He is also reviewing an ARC Centre for Education which is extensive and time consuming.

Malcolm Hickey reported on his travels (Canada, Western Australia, New Zealand, Queensland) and home renovations and gardening. He has also joined the East Geelong Croquet Club.

Jeff Topp reported his ongoing role in fundraising and the yearly cycle of high donations pre -end of financial year.

Lindsay Falvey submitted a written report Indicating he is continuing his Australia road trip and arrived in Darwin for ACIAR meetings there and in Timor Leste. His plans have been disrupted by the passing of his close friend and colleague Professor Charan Chantalakhana who is well known to many of us and very highly regarded internationally. Lindsay will go to Bangkok for the funeral services. More information to follow.

Other

Vale Michael Taylor

We acknowledged the passing of Michael Taylor AO. There was enthusiastic discussion of his contributions and leadership to agriculture and Australia. A very untimely passing and a great loss.

Next Meeting

12 noon 13 July 2023, refer Janet’s invitations to meetings for remainder of 2023. Chair Malcolm Hickey

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  Attendees:Minutes of meeting of OAFS held at University House on May 11 at 12 noon

Janet Beard, Roger Cousens, Lindsay Falvey, John Fazakerley, Frank Larkins, Brian Leury, Kwong Lee Dow, Paul Taylor, Jeffrey Topp, Bob White.
Apologies:Snow Barlow, Adrian Egan, Malcolm Hickey, Tim Reeves, Teresa Tjia,Nigel Wood
 Welcome: Janet chaired the meeting and welcomed attendees and noted apologies. She reminded those present about the agreed new practice of having a rotating chair and minute taker. The minute taker being responsible for the preparation of the agenda, the taking of notes and distribution of minutes, and the chairing of the next meeting. OAF Jeff Topp volunteered to write the minutes.
 Meeting dates: Janet had circulated calendar invitations for meetings for the remainder of 2023. She particularly mentioned the OAFs Christmas lunch on 14 December.
 Bank account: Bob reported that he and Malcolm would get together and resolve the OAFS bank account.
 Portfolios: Brian accepted the nomination as OAF Awards/ Invitations Co-Ordinator and said he would determine the upcoming key dates. Janet reported that Teresa had accepted the role of Social Management.
 New OAFs: There was discussion about expanding the group. It had been agreed to invite Adrian Egan at the previous meeting and is the OAF delegate from WA. It was agreed that the former Faculty Executive Director, Lyn McColl, should be invited to join and there was discussion about the return to Australia of former Dean, Rick Roush, and also inviting him.
 Activities since last meeting: Janet reminded those present to send a brief summary to the minute taker of what they were about to report to make it easier for that person in preparing the minutes. Bob will be reviewing applications for the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research in California. He proposed that the OAFs (via the Academy) bring pressure to bear to influence policy of environmental issues such as greenhouse gas emissions and extinctions. Members agreed to discuss this further at the next meeting. Jeff reported on fundraising at St Vincent’s, especially the Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery and the expansion of the Private Hospital. Kwong reported on recent William Angliss College activities and that he would be addressing the Independent Tertiary Education Colleges of Australia next week. Frank commented that universities were currently reporting on their finances and that he had written a piece on the WA universities. The press had picked up the losses reported by the Victorian universities. He had attended David Penington’s funeral where he spoke to Margaret Gardner (Vice Chancellor of Monash) who praised his paper on university finances. He reported similar positive feedback from the Deakin Vice Chancellor. He commented on the general lack of knowledge of what universities report in their Annual Reports and the role he plays in correcting/ commenting on the writing of education journalists. Lindsay has been involved with the Crawford Fund and the proposed collaboration between the University of Melbourne, La Trobe University, AgriBio and AgVic, and that he has written a piece for the Academy on this proposal. John has also been involved in this and he commended Lindsay’s recent radio interview on the topic. He had recently been in the UK at a microbiology conference and reported that he and Ann would be leaving Australia in July, to first holiday and then to re-settle in the UK. Brian is still completing tasks associated with his former role – supervising postgraduate students and editing papers. He reported on the upcoming Asian Australian Animal Production conference and the possible bid for Australia to host the World Congress (held every five years). Paul reported on the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) workshop in Fiji. And, like Brian, he still had responsibility for postgraduate students, one of whom had submitted their PhD thesis. He referred to European funds available for agricultural research. Roger reported on international environmental/ ecological workshops to be held in Chile. He commented on the ambitious goal of NZ to be predator animal free by 2050 and his soon to be released book – “Effective Ecology”. Janet reported on Board meetings of the start-up higher education provider based in Sydney with which she is involved. She had attended Vyrna Beilharz’s funeral, which undoubtedly involved alumni from Vyrna’s year (she started at the UofM and finished with Rolf at the University of Sydney).
 Other business: Lindsay presented Frank with the OAFish TrOAFy for his long and esteemed contribution ton higher education. Photo below.
 Next meeting: 12 noon 8 June 2023, University House, with future meetings: 13 July, 10 August, 14 September, 12 October, 9 November and 14 December.

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Minutes of meeting of OAFS held at University House on April 2023 at 12 noon

1. Present. OAFs Barlow, Beard, Falvey, Lee Dow, Taylor and White.

2. Selection of a Minute-taker/Agenda-maker for the meeting: OAF Falvey volunteered this time.

3. Apologies: OAFs Cousens, Fazakerely, Larkins, Leury, Hickey, Reeves, Tjia, Topp, Wood

4. Minutes of the meeting of 23 March 2023 (agreed and published)

5. Matters arising

A proposal that had been advanced by OAFs Beard and Hickey with the aim of spreading very light responsibilities among OAFs was discussed. It was agreed that:

– Meetings: a nominated target date, such as the 2nd Tuesday each month was agreed in principle.

Action: OAF Beard is to finalise the actual day and then circulate a diary invitation for 2023.

– Treasurer: OAF Hickey volunteered.

Action: OAFs Hickey and White will coordinate the handover noting the suggestion that a new account be opened and the current BoM account closed with a the balance ($290.14) transferred.

– Awards and Invitations coordination: OAF Leury was suggested.

Action: OAF Leury for Awards and Invitations to be confirmed next meeting.

– Web Manager: OAF Falvey agreed to continue.

– Minutes and Next Agenda: It will be agreed at the start who will assume the role for the meeting and circulate minutes and an agenda for the subsequent meeting.

– Social Manager: OAF Tija was suggested; OAF Taylor offered support for University House.

Action: OAF Tija for Social Management to be confirmed next meeting.

6. OAFs’ Summaries of Activities Since Last Meeting

OAF Beard: Published, with OAF Tija & Liz Baré, on the impact of COVID on casual staff in universities – to be linked on oafs.live; submitted a proposal to ATEM accord; welcomed a new grandchild.

OAF Barlow: A wet year and mild summer delayed harvest of high-quality wine from modest yields; a mysterious hack resulting in erroneous billings and receipts is frustrating with banks and officials.

OAF Lee Dow: “Keeping on doing what I do, nothing exciting or new”

OAF Taylor: Reviewing for the Romanian National Recovery Business Plan; visited De La Salle and Chiang Mai universities in The Philippines and Thailand; pollution and marijuana filled Thai air.

OAF White: “Like Kwong”; Given up on soil carbon funds as commercial rather than science interests dominate the discussion; playing bridge twice a week.

OAF Falvey: ACIAR CEO interviews; viewed the well-maintained Glen Ormiston campus; commented a merger option for Kilmore hospital.

7. Other Business:

– The meeting expressed general satisfaction with the name: School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, and discussed the future of the BAg, BSc(Ag) & BAgrSc degrees.

– It was agreed that Adrian Egan was an OAF and should receive minutes of meetings.

– Other new OAFs:

Action: to be raised next meeting.

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Minutes of the meeting of the OAFS held on 23 March 2023 at Uni House

1. Present. OAFs Beard, Falvey, Hickey, Kwong Lee Dow, Taylor and White. A warm welcome was extended to our guest Professor Moira O’Bryan, Dean of Science.

2. Apologies. OAFs Barlow, Cousens, Larkins, Leury, Reeves and Topp.

3. Minutes of the meeting on 28 February were accepted with no matters arising.

4. Discussion with the Dean of Science

A wide-ranging discussion was held of matters relevant to science, agriculture and related disciplines in the University and beyond. Some of the matters raised concerned student numbers at the undergraduate and postgraduate level, and it was gratifying to learn that numbers in the B.Ag had improved. The University is learning how better to communicate the opportunities in this course to rural and regional communities. Other matters concerned the discussions being held between La Trobe University, Melbourne and Agriculture Victoria about the possibilities for closer collaboration in teaching and in particularr post-graduate and research areas in a coordinated approach to agriculture and related industries; the establishment of a biodiversity institute within the University; the selection of a new name for the grouping of Agriculture staff within the Faculty of Science; infrastructure upgrades for Science Faculty buildings; the future of Creswick as a regional campus, and the revamping of the environment degree in the University. During these discussions the Dean was assured of the goodwill of the OAFS, members of whom offered their services to assist wherever possible in promoting opportunities in agriculture within the Faculty’s broader responsibilities.

5. Other business

The Secretary announced his intention to stand down from his position, having served since the inaugural meeting in March 2014. On behalf of the OAFs, OAF Falvey presented OAF White with a handsome momento of his service, which was very much appreciated. OAF White would like to say how much he appreciated the fellowship of the OAFS and that he looked forward to continuing to enjoy that. OAF Falvey also kindly provided a cake to celebrate the 9th anniversary of the Society.

Minutes of the meeting of the OAFS held on 28 February 2023 at Uni House

1. Present. OAFs Barlow, Beard, Falvey, Fazakerley, Hickey, Kwong Lee Dow, Larkins, Leury, Reeves and White. A warm welcome was extended to the new members Professors Fazakerley and Reeves.

2. Apologies. OAFs Cousens, Taylor and Tjia.

3. Minutes of the meeting on 15 December 2022 were accepted with no matters arising.

4. Activities since the last meeting

OAF Falvey reported that he and Simone had enjoyed a vacation in New Zealand where they met up with Prof David Chapman, a former member of the Agriculture Faculty. OAF Falvey paid a visit to Bangladesh on behalf of the ACIAR Commission. He has also been involved in discussions about possible linkages between the Victorian Department of Agriculture (sic), La Trobe University and the University of Melbourne.

OAF Fazakerley was adjusting to his new position in the University and he thanked the OAFS for the letter of support they sent to the Vice Chancellor. He holds a professorial position in the Peter Doherty Institute where he is pursuing his research. He and his wife are looking forward to their vacation in July.

OAF Barlow and Winsome enjoyed a holiday in the Kimberly. He coordinated an ATSE submission to the recent Chubb Review of the Australian government’s ERF and noted that two of their recommendations had been included in the final report.

OAF Leury has been busy with teaching and research in the School of Agriculture and Food and he recently was successful in being awarded an ARC Linkage project.

OAF Larkins reported that whereas late last year the Yea Wetlands had suffered serious flooding, now they were in drought and suffering a bushfire. His recent HES article reviewing university finances for 2020-21 had received a mixed response from the university sector, since it revealed that the sector as a whole now had total assets of more than $100 billion, in spite of the loss of income from overseas students during the pandemic.

OAF Lee Dow related his experience appearing before a select committee of the Legislative Council of the Tasmanian parliament that is inquiring into to the Council and governance of the University and the University of Tasmania Act 1992. He noted that the complex issues facing the University reminded him of the issues facing the University of Melbourne with respect to the disbanding of FVAS and the incorporation of its parts into the Faculty of Science.

OAF Reeves has stood down as Professor-in-Residence at Dookie Campus, but continues to be involved in the Victorian Drought Hub based there. On the social front, he attended the annual Australia Day celebrations at Tony Gregson’s Warracknabeal farm. The gathering included some outstanding academics and scientists as well as farmers and community leaders from the district. On the work front, he is helping the UM School of Agriculture and Food to develop a scientific agreement with ICAR India.

OAF Hickey had booked to go on a cruise around New Zealand, but the cruise ship was not allowed into that country for biosecurity reasons so he and Suzanne were taken on a cruise to Cairns instead.

OAF Beard has been busy moving to an apartment in Brunswick. A new grandchild is due in April. She continues to write articles with Liz Baré and Teresa Tija on casual employment in universities.

OAF White reported he had been struggling for some time with the after-effects of a bad bout of Covid contracted in early January.

5. Other business

Members are reminded that we have invited Professor Moira O’Bryan to lunch with us on Thursday, 23 March. We have booked the Karagheusian Room, which takes a minimum of 13 people. If there are fewer we shall go to another room so I would be pleased to have an early indication of who can attend.

OAF Fazakerley, who will not be attending that lunch, made some suggestions of issues affecting agriculture that we could ask the Dean of Science for her responses. Other such matters were the future of the AgriFood awards, the OAFS-sponsored travel grants for students, and student scholarship money.