Farewell to Our Founder, Tony Coote AM

Portrait of Tony Coote AM, February 2018.   (CRJO / Adam McGrath)

It is with a very heavy heart that I inform our many supporters our Founder, Tony Coote AM, passed peacefully away on Wednesday 8th August. We have lost a great man. Australia has lost a great man. Our Earth has lost a great man.

The Mulloon Institute was Tony and his wife Toni’s creation, after having realised how rehydrating part of the landscape on their Mulloon Creek Natural Farms’ ‘Home Farm’ resulted in not only the repair of the creek but also increased carrying capacity. Tony wanted a mechanism to inform and help others to do similar work and thus The Mulloon Institute (TMI), a not-for-profit charity with Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status, was born. Through TMI Tony wanted the rest of Australia and the world to know what could be achieved and how to achieve it.

Tony’s Natural Sequence Farming pilot project on three kilometres of Mulloon Creek on the 'Home Farm' has grown to become the Mulloon Community Landscape Rehydration Project (MCLRP), covering 50kms of creek and 23,000ha of land, all with the support of the twenty landholders within the catchment. A project subsequently recognised by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network as one of only five global examples demonstrating environmental repair to achieve productive and resilient agriculture.

When most people would have been putting their feet up and enjoying retirement Tony was working hard, by way of practical example, on repairing and rehydrating Australia’s degraded landscapes. His vision, his passion, his knowledge learned by doing, his leadership and his sheer determination has ensured the wonderful legacy he has created will continue to grow and be a pre-eminent demonstration of just what is possible in Australia’s ancient landscape.

I’m sure I speak for all the staff and supporters of The Mulloon Institute in passing our condolences on to Tony’s wife Toni, and all the family on their loss of a wonderful husband, father and grandfather.

Tony Coote AM may have passed on to another place but he will live forever in the rehydrated landscapes that The Mulloon Institute will restore into the future.

Gary Nairn AO,
The Mulloon Institute, Chairman

Peter's Pond still hydrating the landscape during the current drought.