Power player: Richard Norton

The organisation’s managing director is now into his third year in the role where he bridges red meat producers, processors, retailers, marketers and seemingly everyone in between.  

“I leave home on a Monday and get back on a Friday to pack as much travel as I can in between,” said Mr Norton, who calls Melbourne home. 

He joined MLA in June 2014 following a brief stint at Ruralco. 

“At the time I was recruited one didn’t have to be a particularly intelligent observer to see that MLA needed some level of refocusing,” he said.

That was an opinion he didn’t leave at the door when he interviewed for the role.

“I couldn’t help myself when I was meeting with the board – I told them I wanted to make changes and if they didn’t want me to do that then so be it,” he said.

“I thought I’d blown it but I had a phone call later that day to say the job was mine to take.” 

He stuck to his word and when in office he moved quickly to enact change. By August he had announced a budget cut of $6 million, or 10 per cent of operating costs. By the end of his first year he had met 4000 levy payers.  

“It’s important to understand what producers think and explain to them we do so much more than just manage their levy.”

He had previously worked for Coca Cola Amatil via a contract for Toll Holdings which involved managing about 3000 deliveries a day. He said the company was fiercely competitive. At MLA he saw a team who needed firing up.

“I just didn’t find a real sense of urgency at MLA. When I appointed the head of marketing I said for every $1 we spend we have to generate $3 to $4 – that is what happens in every other business I have worked in,” he said.

During Mr Norton’s time at Toll Holdings he was also contracted to Woolworths to manage 600 trucks a day. The management experience he gained would stand him in good stead for the string of leadership roles he would later take at Landmark, Ruralco and MLA. 

“It taught me you shouldn’t be afraid of complexity. Managing very large organisations with numerous staff is achievable as long as the systems and processes are in place and the staff are engaged.” 

Mr Norton is now in one of the red meat industry’s top roles but the executive began his career sweeping floors and washing cars.  

Having grown up on his family’s farm “Hazelwood”, Adaminaby, he was keen to join the livestock industry after school. 

“After I graduated I did a year jackarooing at Napperby Station in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. That cemented my love for horses and cattle. When I came home my first job was at Bill Wilkinson’s stock agency in Cooma – it was the perfect place to start.”

But it wasn’t long before he was poached by a competitor. 

“One day I was asked to go Elders to pick up some drench. While there the manager offered me twice the salary and a car – I gave him my word so took the job and that gave me a chance to work with my uncle, Bob Norton.”

It was during his stint at Elders, when he was based at the Goulburn branch, he taught himself to auctioneer. 

“At age 19 I was at the Cooma Monaro breeder sales. Our branch manager fell ill and couldn’t make the sale so that was my first day as an auctioneer. I would have sold about 7000 sheep that day,” he said.

He worked on his craft and later entered into the Young Auctioneers Competition. He was runner up in the NSW competition and again in the national competition – a result his future colleagues at Landmark would never let him forget.

He took up the green uniform in 2007 after he and his wife, Skye, downsized their interior design business in Bowral.

He began at Landmark’s Moss Vale outfit and after securing some big ticket clients (including former federal Labor minister Ros Kelly and her banker husband David Morgan) he was catapulted to the national livestock manager’s chair in Melbourne. There he worked with a small team to set up the company’s live export business.

In the first year of operation (2007) the business planned to make a $900,000 loss but it posted $9m in earnings before interest and taxes. In 2008/2009 that figure was $20m. 

“I have no doubt the dollar value AWB-Landmark was sold to Agrium for in late 2010 was in large part to what we had achieved.”

Mr Norton went onto become Landmark’s managing director in 2010. 

While much of Mr Norton’s year has been spent responding to scrutiny from government and the competition watch dog, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, he’s got plenty of gas left in the tank.

“The inquiries haven’t been stressing or straining at all. It’s time to step back and refine the systems in place,” he said.

He’s clear on the legacy he’d like to leave on MLA.

“By 2025 I want Australia’s red meat industry to be the world leader in data management.”

When he isn’t on the road he loves spending “every minute” with his three sons who span three years to 13.