Dougal Gordon

Have undertaken consulting projects across the industry/ Government interface. Such projects include for example a review of the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) - the research institute between the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and the University of Queensland; the commercial upscaling in Australia of Biocube (a start-up company building local biodiesel refinery plant solutions); and applications for agricultural companies seeking Commonwealth Government grants for major infrastructure upgrades.

Managed a team of 154 staff and a budget of $24 million to deliver research and development along with policy outcomes in the extensive and intensive livestock along with pasture areas in the state. This also included teams involved in the implementation of mandatory individual identification in the NSW sheep and goat sector as well as the varroa mite transition to management program. Major achievements • Led a team that delivered at any one point in time $100M+ in project value through 50 R&D projects • Led and/ or chaired major initiatives including: $50M Livestock Productivity Partnership, $100m National Livestock Genetics Consortium, Mandatory electronic identification implementation for sheep & goats in NSW, and the Varroa mite transition to management program • Led the NSW DPIRD crisis responses for drought (2023/24), floods (2021/22), and COVID (2019/20) • Led a major reform process to materially improve the customer centricity and commercial focus of the organisations involved in the sheep and cattle genetics service delivery area; • Led the AJ Bush rendering plant crisis response, supporting 1,052 affected businesses • Led & delivered a Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting framework across DPIRD Agriculture • Instituted a range of measures to encourage and celebrate staff performance excellence • Consistently rated among the top-performing leaders in annual NSW DPIRD staff surveys

Chaired the Taskforce that oversaw the expenditure of $100m on cattle and sheep genetics research, development and extension programs and projects. The aim of the consortia is to double the rate of genetic gain in the red meat and livestock sector and in doing so add $400m to the supply chain.

Led and managed the peak industry body for the cattle feedlot sector in Australia. ALFA’s role is to 1) represent the industry to Government, industry, the community & other interested stakeholders, 2) allocate grain fed cattle levies for research, marketing, animal health, & residue management matters, 3) undertake industry development activities to improve industry standards, practices, leadership & skills; & 4) provide valued services to the industry. Major achievements - Member of the Government/ industry team that negotiated free trade agreements with China, Japan, South Korea & the EU - Delivered a suite of activities to improve industry standards, training, leadership, transparency, management practices and monitoring to enhance industry credibility and reduce social license risk - Introduced regular meetings with Coles, Woolworths and the RSPCA to preserve grain-fed beef market access and social license - Successfully advocated against ethanol subsidies and protection, protecting grain affordability for lot feeders - Delivered 200% improvement in ALFA profits and reserves - Led international trade missions (US, UK, Russia, UAE, EU) to secure improved market access

- Responsible for the high level management of research, development, implementation and communication of cropping policy to Government, industry, media and broader community; - The strategic management of 6 Committee's, 4 staff and budgets covering such issues as single desk marketing, trade, water, biotechnology, market power, transport, codes of conduct, chemicals, land use planning and exotic diseases; - The development and implementation of strategic operational and implementation plans, policy and budgetary advice as well as representing the organisation at various levels to Government and other industry stakeholders.

- Responsible for the management of research, development, implementation and communication of intensive industry policy to Government, industry, media and the broader community; - Managed 6 staff and budgets approching $1million per annum.

Responsible for policy research, advice and support on behalf of the Cattle and Sheepmeats Committees. This included the development, drafting, implementation and representation of sheep and cattle policy issues to key decision making bodies, the media and wider community.

Responsible for policy research, advice and support on behalf of the Pork, Egg, Goat and Oyster Committees in NSW.

In a between employment role, I was responsible for a project surrounding the management, consultation and analysis associated with a socio-economic impact assessment of proposed water entitlement reductions in the Barwon Darling River system on behalf of the then Department of Land & Water Conservation.

In my time at the company I experienced cross training in 3 separate divisions. Assistant Manager, Refrigerated Commodity sales Responsible for over 50 of the largest meat export clients in NSW including Sanger Australia, Cargill (now Teys), Fletchers and Nippon Meat Packers. I was required to oversee all aspects of export shipments, liaison and handling of client inquiries/complaints and budget setting/forecasting. Logistics Coordinator Managed and co-ordinated all logistical procedures associated with container imports in NSW. This included arranging transport, fumigation’s, liaising with container depots/transport companies/clients and maintaining the database of container movements throughout Australia. Also controlled the inventory of containers and their export release to clients within NSW. Client Services representative Coordination/implementation of all aspects of export/ import documentation and client liaison.

Responsible for developing and managing all formal research contracts for three programs; the beef tenderness guarantee program ‘Meat Standards Australia’, the Beef and Sheep Market Access and Development program; and the FACTS to facilitate change program. The role involved contract negotiation/preparation and implementation, internal management of all contractual parties and handling industry/media inquiries.