Zoe McMaugh, The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper

When we say Noel Graham has dedicated a lifetime to the rice and general agricultural industry, we mean it.

He almost had no choice given his family history, but luckily, Noel is just as passionate about agriculture and rice as his forebears.

Noel was 25 when he took on his first official role in supporting the industry he loves.

But even before then, he was shadowing his father Greg at Ricegrowers Association of Australia meetings and conferences, soaking up as much information as he could.

So, it is no wonder that Noel was listed in the inaugural King’s Birthday Honours List for ‘significant service to agriculture through the rice growing industry’.

He was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM).

“My family has been farming at ‘Corunna’ for 114 years and my father was president of the RGA for a number of years,” Noel said.

“I remember when the rice mill was opened in Deniliquin (in 1970), Dad brought us all over for it. I was just a teenager.

“I had also always gone to rice conferences and meetings with Dad.

“He died in 1983 at the age of 54 after having a heart attack. In 1984, at a meeting of the Deniliquin RGA branch, Harley McAllister was stepping down as secretary, so I put my hand up.

“I was 25 years old, and that’s where it all began.”

As secretary of the Deniliquin RGA branch, Noel found a pathway to the RGA central executive, and up until his recent retirement, he’s spent every year since involved in a rice or irrigation committee role.

“On the balance, in my time, I’d like to think I have made a contribution,” he said.

“That has been my drive.

“I have always thought I had the capability to make a contribution and I have always had my own business, so had the time.

“And I have always had the support of my family too.”

Noel served as secretary of the Deniliquin RGA branch for two terms, after which he was elected vice president. 

He held that role from 1986 to 2018, the same year he was made an Honorary Councillor of the RGA.

During this time, Noel was the RGA’s representative to the Rice Marketing Board from 2001 to 2018 and a member of the Rice Research and Development Advisory Panel for 15 years.

Noel’s role with the RMB continued as a member from 2001 to 2019, during which time he served as chair from 2002 to 2009 and deputy chair from 2009 to 2017.

Concurrently, Noel also held roles within SunRice and Murray Irrigation.

He was a non-executive director of SunRice from 2009 to 2019 and was its deputy chair from 2013-2019.

He was chair of Murray Irrigation from 2009 to 2013, and previously held roles in the 1990s as chair of the Cadell Land and Water Management Plan and chair of the Deniboota Landholders Association Drainage Committee.

Other corporate sector roles listed in Noel’s citation include being a partner in N.G. and L.E. Graham (a business he shares with wife Louise) since 2000 and his 1988-2000 role as a member of the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation’s Rice Research and Development Committee.

It also notes his time as chair of SolRice (Solomon Islands) from 2006 to 2015, chair of SunFoods LLC (California) in the 2010s and director, Trukai (Papua New Guinea) from 2003-2009.

Noel says through these various roles, he was involved in some exciting and challenging times for the industry, including what he called a “great upheaval of the rice industry” to create a more unified industry.

Another big change he helped champion was the introduction of computers and technology in recording local data.

“It was when I was with rice research, aged about 27 or 28,” he said.

“Computers were not used then, but we were working on a nitrogen timing project and at a meeting, Dr Rob Williams said he needed a computer.

“He had so much information and it would allow him to keep a more reliable database to compare.

“Norm McAllister and myself were among those arguing on his behalf, but some of the older members were resistant.

“It was a pivotal moment. He got his computer, and the rest is history.

“That research and rice check lead to the rice yield doubling within the next five years.

“It moved rice research into the new world.

“It is amazing to have been included in decisions that shaped the things we do today.”

At the same time, the land and water management plans were being developed, and Noel takes great pride in his involvement in that sphere.

“The Murray LWMP would have to have been the first all encompassing environmental plan in Australia.

“It involved different irrigation districts, four different landholder groups, covered 100,000 hectares of farmland and 2,500 landholders.

“It was also the first time ever the New South Wales Government had made a funding commitment greater than three years, given these were 10-year plans.

“The most positive outcome from the plans was that every farmer started looking at the tree on their farm, the animals, the insects, the birds and the wetlands.

“The first thing we all had to do as part of the plan was to map our farms and mark where the water comes in and out, the tree corridors and everything else.

“It was the first time many really made that connection between farm and the environment.

“Ten years later, the Cadell LWMP – which I chaired – had been a success in every measure.”

Among Noel’s proudest achievements with the RGA was one of the first tasks he was entrusted with – to fundraise for the National Farmers Fighting Fund.

“All agricultural groups were asked to do some fundraising,” he said.

“I remember I was about 27 and I was coming back from a meeting in the car with Ian Douglas and Lawrie Hughes, and they said ‘that would be a good job for you, Noel’.

“It had me running all round this area, but in the end, we had raised the second highest amount in Australia – only beaten by Griffith.”

In his time with RMB, Noel says maintaining vesting was the key achievement.

Vesting is based on the proposition that providing a single statutory authority – the RMB – with the legal right to control the marketing of rice produced in NSW will yield net benefits to the NSW rice industry and to the general community. 

“There were four reviews into vesting while I was there, and all were successful,” he said.

“There is documented evidence that shows these results have put an additional $500 million into growers’ pockets in that time.

“That would not have happened without vesting, and I was always very proud of being involved with that.”

For all the wins he’s been involved with, Noel also went through his fair share of challenges.

He particularly notes his time with SunRice, which coincided with the Millenium Drought.

“We had to change from being 100 per cent reliant on Australian product into an organisation that could continue to supply our markets.

“SunRice, then and now, is the supply base of carbohydrates for the Pacific and in the drought, SunRice ran out of rice. We had to do something.

“One of the greatest achievements of all time was how we diversified to keep people fed and healthy, and grew SunRice at the same time.”

In the irrigation sphere, Noel says the National Water Initiative and the Murray-Darling Basin Plan have been the greatest challenges to overcome.

“All irrigator groups worked together during the development of the National Water Initiative, which is what ensured there would be property rights attached to water for when land and water were separated.

“This was controversial at the time, but I truly believe that if it had not been for this initiative, the Murray-Darling Basin Plan could have taken far more away from us.

“So many people worked so hard for all the right reasons against a monster that had its own path.

“I sat with (former water minister) Tony Burke before he signed off on the Basin Plan telling him exactly what I thought it would do, but it was clear the agenda was already set.

“A state that never gets challenged, that being South Australia, gets zero impact but all of the benefits, even though there are more scientists saying this is not the solution than there are scientists saying it is the solution.

“The Basin Plan has never had any regard, since day one, for any irrigator or irrigation communities in the southern basin.

“It does not matter how logical our argument is, our level of influence has always been less. That has been proven in that the Murray Valley has always been the most impacted but least recompensed.

“The Basin Plan is fundamentally flawed, but the pivotal point in history was that National Water Initiative. The upside and downside of that though was that farmers could sell their water entitlements.”

Despite retiring from his agricultural committee roles, Noel just can’t seem to step back from his commitment to community.

He now serves as a board member of Intereach – a not-for-profit organisation which supports children and families, older people, people living with disability, mental health and carers.

He was elected to the board in 2021, saying he was more than happy to offer his governance skills to the organisation.

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 15 June 2023.