CEO COMMENT By Dan Galligan, CEO CANEGROWERS
PULL IN THE SAME DIRECTION OR WE ALL PULL APART In March this year, as the uncertainty of a global pandemic gripped the world, Australian policymakers grappled with understanding the situation, crafting policy, and assessing the risks before taking action. This needed to be done at a national scale, with the State and Commonwealth pulling together. Over recent weeks and months, we've seen just how challenging it is, in the face of politics and parochialism, to maintain momentum around a spirit of 'We're are all in this together'. As an industry we haven't been all that different over the years - needing to pull together to achieve the best outcomes for all but allowing our differences to cause rifts that divide us to the detriment of the industry. Now, a change could be on the horizon. At least, I sincerely hope we are seeing the dawn of a renewed vigour for industry-wide collaboration. During the early part of September, CANEGROWERS was pleased to jointly host an industry leadership forum with Sugar Research Australia and the Australian Sugar Milling Council, with the valuable contribution of the Australian Cane Farmers' Association. The forum involved directors and executives of each company. This is a relatively small number of people, and at the outset it should be noted that all involved know that there are many, many more leaders within the industry. This was just one important group of leaders amongst many. The objective of the day was to come together and share the strengths and challenges of the industry and commit to developing a working or plausible 2030 vision. This group of leaders contributed strongly, sharing their optimism for a dynamic and evolving future for the industry. It is clear that you can be positive about the future and yet not be ignorant of the challenges. A rewarding outcome was a desire to reconvene as a group before the end of the year and to prioritise the things that need to be done to move towards a new vision for the industry. Between now and then, the individual organisations are charged with starting this conversation within our respective structures. For CANEGROWERS, this will initially be done via our grower-led Policy Council. CANEGROWERS will continue to drive this process. We see a vision with growers at the heart of a positive future for the industry. This future will need to be shared and owned by us all, but a critical first step has been the energy and commitment shown by this group of leaders towards a process of working together. The process does not bind or contain us, it enables and empowers the industry to pull towards a common 'light on the hill'. There will certainly be challenges to navigate and debates to be had about the exact course we should take. But I see momentum behind this vision and we will encourage all growers to participate with us over coming months to share in the shape that vision should take. ď Ž
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