RENOWNED Central Australian pastoralist Chris Nott has taken over the reins as president of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association.
Hundreds of producers and beef industry representatives are in Alice Springs today for the organisation’s annual conference.
The event kicked off yesterday with the NTCA’s annual general meeting, at which Mr Nott, Alcoota Station at Alice Springs, was unanimously endorsed.
He takes over from Tom Stockwell, Sunday Creek Station, who has led the association since 2015.
Mr Stockwell said he has enjoyed his tenure at the NTCA, during which time he steered the association through some challenging issues, including the review of the Northern Territory Onshore Gas Industry, The Northern Territory Election, The Pastoral Land Reform Bill and Review into Land Access Arrangements.
NTCA also has a relatively new chief executive officer Paul Burke.
Mr Stockwell said the new president had been a tireless and hardworking member of the NTCA’s Alice Springs Branch, where he previously served as the Branch President and the NTCA representative on Cattle Council Australia.
For his part, Mr Nott said the Northern Territory’s pastoral industry was in great shape but must remain collectively strong as it engages with upcoming legislative reforms and seek to continue to grow and support the industry.
Among the VIPs gathering in Alice today is new Federal Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, David Littleproud, who will deliver the opening address this morning.
With a theme of ‘innovation generation’, the conference has a spectacular line-up of speakers including some international visitors.