A Message from Matt Egerton-Warburton to our Members, Donors and Supporters

25 January 2024

I am happy and humbled to accept the position of Chair of the Mulloon Institute.

On behalf of the board, we acknowledge the fantastic service that Gary has provided as Chair since 2016 and we hope this new era for the Mulloon Institute will be as successful and transformative.

While we will miss Gary’s leadership, we are grateful that he has chosen to continue to serve as a director so we can continue to access his experience, knowledge and networks.

We welcome Wilfred Finn as a new director. I have known Wilf for over 20 years and he has the right temperament, experience and knowledge for our organisation. Wilf comes from illustrious stock – his mother Justice Mary Finn (retired) was a leading Judge on the Family Court of Australia for 26 years and his father, the Honourable Paul Finn, was a significant federal court Justice, author, academic and scholar. Since 2019, Wilf has been providing the Mulloon Law Committee with expert legal counsel in environmental regulation and governance. We will benefit from his counsel and his large government, academic and corporate networks.

The new board is committed and excited at the opportunity we now have to make a significant contribution to helping regenerate and rehydrate Australia. The late Tony Coote and Gary Nairn have provided us with a well organised, efficient organisation ready to grow.

Our priorities in 2024 are to:

provide significant funds to Carolyn and our excellent research, education and media teams so we can continue to prove the science, improve our techniques and educate and work with schools, communities, government and other organisations on environmental issues with our proven solutions;
lobby governments across Australia to make significant regulatory change to facilitate the rapid implementation of our interventions into Australia’s waterways;
support Jono Forrest and Mulloon Consulting to work with landholders across Australia to slow the flow of water on their land, and protect, revitalise and regenerate their landscapes;
support Jim Steele and the operations of the Mulloon Creek Natural Farms as it provides first rate, nutritional eggs and beef to the public;
finalise and publish our strategic plan for the next five years (which is being expertly managed by Rob Langtry); and
grow our membership, corporate sponsorship and philanthropy programs.

To our members, donors, clients and staff – please re-double your efforts to support us at this time. The Mulloon Institute is uniquely placed with a transformative solution to a significant environmental and productivity problem. Let’s band together, work hard, have fun and increase our efforts, energy and focus to rehydrate and regenerate Australia.

On a personal note, I would like to thank John Nerurker and the partners of Mills Oakley for supporting me in this role. While lawyers and law firms consistently receive (some deserved) criticism, many lawyers and law firms provide hundreds of pro bono hours of service and take seriously their oaths to faithfully serve their community. I hope that I am playing a small part in this great tradition.

Regards,

Matt Egerton-Warburton
Chair, Mulloon Institute