THE new Local Land Services boss is on deck and he says the model is right - though there is room for tinkering.
Former Paraway Pastoral general manager Tim de Mestre starts today as the chairman of the board of the 11 regional LLS chairs.
The 46-year-old from Bungendore was unveiled in January after the nIne-month recruitment drive that followed the resignation of John MacArthur Stanham.
Mr de Mestre said in LLS he had been handed a working model that he hoped to fine-tune.
It’s not broken - it just needs tinkering.
- LLS chair of chairs Tim de Mestre
“I think my job will be about making it a healthier organisation, giving it integrity,” he said.
“Because there are a lot of good people and a lot of good things going on.
“It’s not broken - it just needs tinkering.”
Mr de Mestre has worked with Cargill grain traders, Clyde Agriculture, and Twynam Agriculture, and was previously based in Cambodia with the AusAID-funded Agricultural Quality Improvement program.
He also helps manage the family farm near Canberra, which runs 6000 sheep and 300 cattle.
It is nearly three years since LLS was born from merging the government’s Livestock Health and Pest Authorities (LHPA), Catchment Management Authorities (CMA) and some Department of Primary Industries (DPI) agriculture advisory services.
Despite mixed feedback from farmers Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair has remained stoic in his defence of the LLS model and is confident in its future.
Mr de Mestre is similarly-minded.
“It’s an enormous thing to amalgamate these services, and like anything, it’s going to take some time to bed it down,” Mr de Mestre said.
“With the limited resources - and there are always limited resources - I think we’ve had some good wins.”
Mr de Mestre said he had already introduced himself to the other regional chairs and hoped to meet with staff soon.
