Chris Norman has been re-appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority (CMA) for another three years.
CEO Chris Norman
“We have been through an extensive advertising campaign and received some high calibre applicants,’’ Goulburn Broken CMA Chair Murray Chapman said.
“The reason for the process was to test the market place as part of best-practice and meet the Victorian Government’s new directions on gender equality and diversity requirements.
“Chris was by far the stand-out candidate and the Authority and catchment community are fortunate to have a person with such strong values, great skills in developing staff, partnering with the community and other organisations in the catchment.”
Some of the tasks Mr Norman and his team will prioritise in the region during the next 12 months include supporting community natural resource management groups to win funding from the Victorian and the Commonwealth governments, particularly in 2018 when major programs finish; and providing early guidance on sand and gravel quarrying developments before any on-ground investment is made.
“This will need the co-operation of various groups such as councils and the Earth Resources section of the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources,” Mr Chapman said.
Mr Chapman said some of the recent successful programs Mr Norman and his staff had overseen included the Beyond Soilcare program; funds for on-farm water efficiency improvement projects; successful native fish spawning in the Goulburn River; and a diverse range of smaller projects such as improving habitat for threatened species including the regent honeyeater, superb parrot and brush-tailed phascogale.
“All these projects help deliver on the Goulburn Broken Regional Catchment Strategy, which guides efforts to improve and protect the region’s land, water, biodiversity and productivity,” he said.
“Under Chris’s leadership the Goulburn Broken CMA has attracted international recognition through being asked to speak to the United Nations on resilience and just this month, the Farm Water Program team won the Commission for Irrigation and Drainage International Watsave Innovation and Technology Award. As resilience is the foundation of our Regional Catchment Strategy, the CMA’s staff are also asked to speak regularly at local, state and international resilience conferences.
“For Board members including myself, who have completed our term, we are highly confident that with Chris at the helm the organisation is in healthy hands and he will work effectively with the new Board that is due to take over next month.”