Paul is the first Queenslander to take on the role since inaugural chair Pat Rowley who served from 2003-06.
“I’m a proud Queenslander, but it’s about the Australian dairy industry and that will always be the focus,” he said after his election following this week’s annual general meeting.
As the new chair, Paul will be striving for stability, a united voice and ensuring every farmer feels they are getting value for their levy.
He also wants to protect every dairying region.
“Every state and every region where we have dairy now is vitally important in the jigsaw,” he said.
“We need all the regions to be thriving; we don’t want to have less dairy. From northern Queensland down to Hobart, we need all the dairy that we’ve got. Stability is our aim.
“The markets are near where we’ve got the milk now, and we want that to remain.”
Paul said the industry was enjoying a relatively stable period, locally in Queensland and more broadly across the nation.
“Young people are coming into dairy, which is encouraging,” he said.
“We lost a generation around my age in my 40s because of deregulation, the millennium drought, water issues and some of the supermarket tactics.
“But a better work-life balance attracts young people, and we’re now seeing some stability and small growth.
“I’m really hopeful that the industry across Australia can be stable.
“It’s not easy, but a stable industry can work towards a little bit of growth, if the settings are right and the seasons are right.”
Paul said Dairy Australia had a limited influence over the milk pool, but tried to provide the settings for the individual farm businesses to “be the best they can be”.
“That’s the priority for Dairy Australia, and if that leads to stability or growth, fantastic,” he said.
“We think with a bit of positivity, that can happen.”
While suggesting corporates could continue expanding their investment in the Australian industry, Paul said the engine room of Australian dairy remained the family farm.
It was on his family farm at Harrisville in south-east Queensland where Paul was first exposed to R&D.
“Our farm was next to a research station so we were involved in a lot of research projects, and I saw where new technologies and ideas can get you as a farmer,” he said.
“We had a group of farmers who fed off each other when it came to innovation and there was a lot of support from DPI and I wanted to be involved in it.
“Once you get involved with local groups, you see it’s bigger than your own little patch. I’m always a believer in getting involved and thought I could offer something at a national level.”
Paul encourages all farmers to take an active interest in how their levy is spent.
“If you’re involved, you can make a difference in how the levy is spent,” he said.
“I reckon I’ve got a reasonable handle after 30 years about what makes farmers tick and, hopefully, we can invest that money wisely.
“I would love to see that every farmer feels they get the best value out of the levy that they can.
“That’s a challenge because we have vastly different farm systems, but we want to help the profitability and sustainability of Australian dairy farmers and implement practical ways to bring science and innovation to dairy farms.”
Paul said DA was trying to get closer to farmers and offer a more tailored service.
“We want to meet farmers where they are at in their business. Hopefully, farmers then feel they receive good value from their levy.”
He also hopes to see a more unified industry.
“You get better outcomes in all parts of the world by working together and trying to have your issues resolved before going to your stakeholders,” he said.
“It’s an amazing power to talk as an industry with one voice.
“Think back to 2000 when Pat Rowley led the industry and he and a united board negotiated a restructure package around deregulation that softened the blow of what could have been a huge crisis in our industry.
“I’m not sure that would happen today if we don’t speak to governments with one voice.”
Paul, who replaces James Mann who retired after four years as chair, was first appointed to the Dairy Australia Board in November 2020.
He has operated his family dairy farm with wife Linda and parents David and Gwen at Harrisville, south-east Queensland for the past 30 years.
He was previously chair of Subtropical Dairy and had a role in setting up the Young Dairy Network Queensland, a director on Premium Milk Ltd for 11 years, is a Australian Dairy Conference Board member and a current EastAUSmilk district councillor.
At the AGM, two vacancies for the Dairy Australia Board of directors with milk producer skills were filled by Euberta dairy farmer Simone Jolliffe and Taree dairy farmer James Neal. Both directors were elected unopposed.
DA to consider CEO option
Dairy Australia’s next corporate leader could be a chief executive officer rather than a managing director.
The Dairy Australia AGM at Warrnambool on November 27 endorsed a resolution developed in conjunction with Australian Dairy Farmers to amend its constitution to provide an option for the board to appoint either a managing director or a CEO.
Dairy Australia’s constitution currently stipulates the board must appoint a managing director.
Outgoing chair James Mann said the change would give DA greater flexibility to get the best person for the position.
Responding to questions about the potential higher cost of a CEO, James said DA needed to be competitive in the market place.
“The proposal will modernise the constitution in line with contemporary practice,” he said.
“We thank Australian Dairy Farmers for raising this item.”
James said DA did not propose to change its current arrangement with managing director David Nation.
He said that by virtue of their appointment, a managing director became a member of the board, while a chief executive officer may or may not be a member of the board at the board’s discretion.
The resolution was passed after receiving support from more than 75 per cent of votes cast.
Directors to share bigger fee pool
Dairy Australia’s eight non-executive directors will share up to $100,000 more in fees over the next five years.
The Dairy Australia AGM in Warrnambool on November 27 approved increasing the maximum aggregate pool for fees from $490,000 to $590,000.
Outgoing chair James Mann said the bigger pool was needed to cover costs incurred by directors and to attract good quality candidates to the positions.
But James added that the increase didn’t mean the directors would immediately be spending the bigger pool.
The last increase in the directors’ pool was in 2020 and contributed to increases of between zero and four per cent over the past four years.
The most recent increase in directors’ fees was 2.5 per cent for 2024-25.
“This proposal would equate to 3.5 per cent annual increases for the next five years,” James said.
“Any increase in fees enables Dairy Australia to attract high-quality directors, covers time commitments expected of directors, and other factors such as increases in compulsory super contributions in July 2025.”
While the increase is expected to accommodate any changes in fees for the next five years, James said this could be as short as three years or as long as eight years depending on industry conditions.
He said the increased pool was in line with industry benchmarking and would maintain the “real level” of directors’ fees.
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