Time

Subject

Proper names

Tape 1, Side A

0:20

Born 28 October 1938; lived in Fullarton; family’s agricultural background and some quarrying; holiday experiences on farms; mother’s work on properties; father’s work experiences; Great Depression; early experiences of trams and city life; attended Miss Walker’s Kindergarten, Highgate Public School and St Peter’s College; Commonwealth scholarship to Adelaide University; Agricultural Science with Honours (1956–60); cadets in the Agriculture Department; early work in the Agriculture Department (Dairy Husbandry Officer); fellowship to Oregon State University; use of Adelaide University facilities

Hutt Street Private Hospital; Fullarton; John Pocock; Ganges; Morphett Vale; Alexander Cecil Pocock; Reynella; Anzac Highway; Glenfield Quarry; Mallee; Lameroo; Paruna, Loxton; John Dudley Radcliffe; Bexley Heath, London; Hindmarsh; Burford’s factory; Bank of Adelaide; Simpsons Agencies; Carew Simpson; Currie St; Meadow Lea; Eleanor Walker; League of Women’s Voters; Dr Keith Barley; Dr John Black; Professor Colin Donald; Oregon State University; Simpsons, Gawler Place; Waite

8:35

Research work on subterranean clover; connections with Keith Barley and his wife

Keith Barley; Anne Levy MLC; History Trust of South Australia

9:40

Boyhood farm experiences at Morphett Vale and Reynella in an extended family; typical industrial accident in agriculture; driving sheep and cattle on Main South Road; travelling to the farm

Gertrude Pocock; Greta Nellie Paget; Alfred August Paget (‘Moses’); Paruna Mallee; Reynella; Briscoe’s Bus; Morialta St; Victoria Sq.; Mack buses

12:50

Farm life, animals, machinery and equipment (tractors, headers, threshers, bag sewing), and crops

Reynella butcher; Port Adelaide; Farmers Union; Morphett Street

15:50

School holidays on the farm; different farming style in the Mallee; early examples of native revegetation; rabbit shooting and fox hunting; country sport; mother’s interest in education

Lameroo; Mallee; Adelaide Girls High School

18:00

Interest in trams; school to university; new tramway museum; interest in history and transport museums; changing interests of people and impact on rural life; working as a volunteer – specialising in agronomy and soil science; photo in Journal of Agriculture; practical farm work as a student; life at Roseworthy College, including a foreign student and laboratory work

Ballarat; North Tce; Fullarton Rd; Victoria Ave; Dequetteville Tce, Hackney Rd; Botanic Park; Sydney; St Kilda (SA); Britain; National Tramway Museum, Crich; Weapons Research Establishment, Penfield; Waite Campus; Roseworthy; Reynella; Mallee; Hamilton, Victoria

28:00

Career expectations – joining the Dairy Branch of the Agriculture Department and experimental work

Gawler Place; Oregon

31:30

Department starting to do its own research; Commonwealth Extension Services Grant

Adelaide University; Sir Allan Callaghan; A.G. Strickland; Oregon

Tape 1, Side B

0:05

Resigning from the Department

0:55

Studying farm crops (crop science), soil science and range management for a Ph.D. at a Land Grant College, Oregon – inoculation of subterranean clover, court case on seed inoculation

‘Oregon’; rhizobia; Salem; Bill McGuire; Arkansas; Lincoln College, NZ; Christchurch; Frank Crofts; Sydney University; Oregon State University

8:30

Soil science colleagues; Australians on campus

Murray Dawson; Christchurch; Eastern Oregon; Idaho; Nevada; Blue Bush; Saltbush; Artemnesia species; wormwood

10:15

Began Ph.D. in late December 1961; community life; timber industry; subterranean clover; responsibilities in management

Oregon; Corvallis; Douglas Fir Plywood Association; Bill McGuire

14:30

Marriage; American wife’s work on microbiology plating; obtained her PhD in SA; children with dual citizenship

Waite Institute; New York State

16:05

Death of his father while in USA; maintaining contact with home, including agriculture information; caring for Japanese students in recent times

San Francisco; ANU; Japan

18:40

Return to Australia via New Zealand with wife, books and a 1963 Rambler in 1964; study of American land grant colleges en route; experiences in New Zealand; paper on rhizobia at Grasslands Congress; long-standing friendships

Corvallis; Rockefeller Foundation; Kevin Sheridan; Director of Agriculture (NSW); Quebec City; Maine; Columbia, Missouri; New Zealand; Greymouth; Christchurch; Washington; Wyoming; Canberra; Auckland; Dunedin; Te Anau; Queenstown; Oriana; Canberra; Sydney

27:15

Return to South Australia; wife enrolled for a PhD; returned to dairy job in the Department of Agriculture in 1965; prophecy of later rise in the ranks; personal expectations and research work

Graham Itzerott; Waite Campus; King William Rd; Unley Library

Tape 2, Side A

0:10

Department of Agriculture developing research role; own focus on dairy area – pastures and digestibility; demonstration visits to Agriculture Bureaux; became involved in the Agricultural Produce Section (now Grain and Fodder Section) of the Show Society; Royal Show

Northfield Mental Hospital Farm; Fosters Rd; Findon High School; Gawler Pl; Northfield; Ron Perry; Alan Hehir; Itzerott; Oregon; Adelaide Hills; Northfield; Meadows; Halbury; Quincey (sheep);

8:30

Hands-on practical research; comparable research interstate; linkages and networks with scientists, and dairy farmers and manufacturers; Wagga Outlook Conference

Ellinbank, Vic.; Wollongbar, NSW; CSIRO; Perth; Agriculture Department, WA; Wagga, NSW; Lindsay Bailey; Northfield

13:25

Difficulty in travel and communications; International Dairy Congress at the Sydney Showgrounds

SA Railways; Melbourne; Sydney

14:30

Report writing and publication programs on the research; SA, Australian and overseas journals; current programs to train people in writing for English-language journals; Agriculture Department’s programs to train people in scientific writing in Australia; Research Management Committee; Research Centres Branch; Dairy Research Centre; activities at Northfield

Itzerott; Australian Journal of Dairy Technology; Journal of Agriculture; Proceedings of the Australian Society of Animal Production; Australian Journal of Agriculture Research; Journal of Dairy Science; Crawford Fund; China; University of Adelaide; Jim McColl; Nugget Hill, Cross Keys Hotel

25:30

Working area at the Northfield farm and impact from/on neighbours

Fosters Rd; Oakden; Blind School; Sudholz Rd; Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science; Northfield Hospital Farm; Strathmont Centre; Grand Junction Rd; Blacks Rd; Redwood Ave; Folland Ave; Northfield High School; Northfield Wards, Royal Adelaide Hospital; Morris Hospital; Yatala Goal; Mental Hospital; Farmers Union; Dean Brown’s father; Commission Dyers; St Marys

Tape 2, Side B

0:10

Northfield laboratories, scientific equipment and fieldwork; Commonwealth Extension Services Grant; new research scientists employed in the Public Service

Gawler Pl; Waite, Adelaide University; Wheat Research State Committee; Wheat Research Council; Marshall Irving

4:25

Commonwealth Extension Services; modern research and development funding

5:35

Attitudes of farmers to the Department; Agricultural Bureau movement

Caroline Guerin

7:45

Dealing with farmers; Agricultural Bureau talks; visits to Northfield Research Centre farm; new trend to private consultants; Department’s Economics Branch (farm management information system); farming becoming more an economic exercise than a lifestyle; changes in technology and techniques

Meadows; Northfield; John Whellams; Victor Harbour; New Zealand; Victoria

15:20

Department’s regulatory and enforcement environment

Soil Conservation Boards

17:50

Attitude to animal quarantine; quality standards issues; fruit quarantine (fruit fly); Northfield Pig Research Unit

Eyre Peninsula; Pt Lincoln; Adelaide; Perth; Northfield Pig Advisory Committee

22:40

Northfield Pig Research Unit; Pig Health Unit; Northfield Research Centre; arson attacks on hay stacks; research scientists working with farm staff

Grand Junction Rd; Fosters Rd; Paul Heap; Roseworthy College; Australian Workers Union

26:15

Seasons and mechanisation; improved techniques

28:00

Video on Northfield activities and its 20th anniversary; physical size of Northfield – about 200 ha; 8 farm staff; living at the Research Centre

Australian Workers Union; Conciliation Court; British Army Tank Corps

30:45

Returning to Adelaide; running Northfield Research Centre

Oregon; Mitcham; Waite; Northfield; England; Bill Bussell

Tape 3, Side A

0:30

Merger with the Fisheries Department; Research Management Committee; pressure to separate Fisheries from Agriculture and then merged into PIRSA; SARDI

Philip Sluczanowski; Rob Lewis; Lex Walker; McColl; Ian Kirkegaard

4:48

Management role; first development program for public and private sector managers

Australian Graduate School of Management; University of NSW; Blue Mountains; Kings Cross; McColl; Peter Trumble; SA Public Service Board; BHP, CSR, NSW Railways; North America; Britain

8:20

Principal Policy Officer; Standing Committee on Agriculture; Plant Industry Committee; Animal Health Committee; Advisory Committee for Priorities and Rural Research and Extension; control of exotic pests and diseases

McColl; Plant Health Australia; Animal Health Australia

15:47

National coordination; international treaties; sustainable development; conservation and environmental protocols; State vs Commonwealth rights; animal welfare

Japan; Australia; CSIRO; Tasmania

20:00

Role on Standing Committee of Agriculture; liaison within Department; early approach to corporate planning; the State Bank affair; changes to the agriculture sector – technology, lifestyle, politics, farmer organisations; rural adjustment schemes; risks in farming

McColl

29:55

Relationship with Director-General and the Executive; Policy Unit; economists; Ministerial enquiries; Parliamentary questions; approach as Director-General; liaison with the Minister’s Office; Ministerial meetings

McColl; Adelaide

Tape 3, Side B

0:05

Reactions from staff to the Policy Unit; quality control; managerial style; Planning Unit; review of research centres; cereal breeding review; commercialisation of activities

Don Plowman; Lewis; SARDI; Monarto Commission; Geoff McLean; Water, Land & Biodiversity Conservation Department; Gary Oborne; Roger Wickes; McColl; Northfield; Adelaide University; Roseworthy College

5:10

Economists; Ministerial liaison officers; change under McColl’s directorship; working relationship with McColl; role of the Department; international focus

Grenfell Centre; McColl; Victoria; Melbourne University; Sagric International

14:10

Rationale for having a Department of Agriculture; economic significance of agriculture; developing individual industries and advisory boards

McColl; Treasury; Public Service Board; Irving; [Tom] Playford; PIRSA; Pt Adelaide; Singapore; Germany; Hamburg

19:55

Distribution of planning documents; meetings with banks; role of banks in agriculture sector; rural assistance; 1980s meetings between Minister and banks in drought times

Advisory Board of Agriculture; National Australia Bank; Chris Shearer; Ninety-Mile Desert; Coonalpyn Downs; Hugh Robinson; Kangaroo Island; Rural Assistance Branch; Rural Adjustment Branch; Department of Lands; McColl; Eyre Peninsula; Coorabie

Tape 4, side A

0:30

Transfer of Institute of Medical and Veterinary Sciences to the Department; veterinary sciences role; transfer of Gilles Plains Field Station to the Department

Institute of Medical and Veterinary Sciences; Animal Health Branch; McColl; Barry Windle; Gilles Plains Field Station; Children’s Hospital; Glenside; Peter Bavistock; Southern Cross University, Lismore

10:35

Veterinary Sciences Division; attitudes to takeovers and mergers

Tony Davidson; Victoria; IMVS Building; Frome Rd; Social Club; Geoff Judson; Doug Reuter; Animal Health Branch

12:30

Integrating the veterinary work into the Department; review of veterinary services

Frome Rd; Gilles Plains; Royal Adelaide Hospital; IMVS; Glenside; Windle

16:15

International projects – Sagric International arising from the Department; own and staff attitudes to overseas work; significance for SA, Australia and overseas; commercial role of Sagric International; motivation for the overseas work – trade opportunities, developing countries, weaning countries off SA support undermining Australian economy

McColl; Pat Harvey; Sagric International; Hindmarsh Sq.; Iraq; Plowman; South Australian Research & Development Institute; Bob Hogarth; Glen Simpson; Coffey & Partners; Modbury Hospital; Currie St; New Guinea; North Africa; Shearers; South Australian Seed & Growers Co-operative

28:52

Benefits from the projects and for the countries; dryland agriculture

Primary Industries & Resources SA: CSIRO: SARDI; Sagric International; WA

Tape 4, Side B

0:05

Benefits from overseas projects; involvement of local staff

Iraq; Arthur Tideman

1:25

Political support for overseas work program; benefits for the Department

Brian Chatterton; Algeria; Sagric International; Hogarth; Simpson; World Bank

5:14

Competitors for overseas work; other departments in South Australia; Overseas Projects Unit

Germany, Holland; Indonesia; Education Department; TAFE colleges; Regency Park Hotel School; Japan; Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science; McColl; Tideman; Barrow; Plowman; Monarto Commission; Monarto; Sagric International

8:15

Premiers Wine Forum; Vine Pull Scheme; Wine Federation of Australia; Co-operative Research Centre for Viticulture; Wine Research Institute

John Bannon; Penfolds; United Farmers & Stockowners; Wine Federation of Australia; Waite; Department of Trade; Premier’s Department

14:34

National focus for wine rather than a State focus; cessation of the Forum; Wine Federation of Australia

Bannon; Victoria; Margaret River, WA; Swan coastal plain; Tasmania; Alice Springs; Hunter Valley; Melbourne; Sydney; Magill; Penfolds; Payneham Rd; [National] Wine Centre

18:45

Vine Pull Scheme

Rural Assistance Branch; England; Australia; Chile; South Africa

25:00

Wine Exchange; minimal pricing; indicative pricing; marketing; winery co-operatives; co-operatives and proprietary companies; fewer farmers; bigger properties; marketing; dairy co-ops; review of co-operatives

South Australian Farmers Federation; Riverina, NSW; Riverland; Anne Bunning; John Kerin; Berri; Australia; New Zealand; Standing Committee on Agriculture and the Australian Agricultural Council; New South Wales

Tape 5, Side A

0.35

Formation of South Australian Research and Development Institute; Agriculture Department transformed; appointed Chief Executive of SARDI; co-location; economic development theory; Primary Industries South Australia; research model for elsewhere in Australia; McColl review into agricultural education in Australia; concern in the rural community and politically; review of the Waite Institute; transfer of staff to SARDI; impact of the State Bank affair on the Public Service; government support of research work; external funding for SARDI, almost a semi- statutory authority; chairing the SARDI Board; SARDI as a unit in PIRSA; South Australian Primary Industries Research and Development Board

Honolulu; United States; Peter Crawford; Premier’s Department; Lynn Arnold; CSIRO; Waite campus; Chicago; California; Romer; Lewis; Grenfell Centre; Oksana Dniprowyi; Plowman; Ian Tonkin; Fisheries Department; Woods & Forests Department; Northfield; West Beach; Plant Research Centre; Hartley Grove, Urrbrae; Tasmania; Tasmanian Institute for Agricultural Research; University of Tasmania; Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (Tas.); McColl; Centre for Manufacturing; Harold Woolhouse; Jim Quirk; Waite Institute; Jim McWilliam; Jim Hallion

18:50

Choosing staff for SARDI; stress on the decision-maker; cadets; appointed director of CSIRO’s Institute of Plant Production and Processing; SARDI Board; SAPIRD Board

Jim Walkley; Turretfield; Alan Mayfield; Clare; Department of Primary Industries (Qld); Roger Wickes; Water, Land & Biodiversity Conservation Department; CSIRO; Arnold; Lewis

26:40

Ownership of research centres; joint ventures; co-location agreement; headquarters of SARDI

Ray Dundon; SARDI; Minnipa; Grains Research & Development Corporation; Eyre Peninsula; Waite campus; Grenfell Centre; Plant Research Centre; Lewis

Tape 5, Side B

0:05

Personal situation regarding transitional arrangements; review of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries research activities; chaired the selection committee of the Land and Water Resources R&D Corporations, the Egg Industry Research Council and the History Trust

Dundon; PISA; Standing Committee on Agriculture and Resource Management; Ministerial Council; Ted Henzell; CSIRO; Institute of Plant Production and Processing; Land & Water Resources; Hugh McMaster; Peter Cahalan; History Trust

3:25

Resignation from the Public Service; McKinsey review; Organisation Development Review

Institute of Plant Production and Processing, CSIRO; Crawford; Arnold; Fisheries Department

6:50

Attitude to losing Agriculture Department and transfer to SARDI; Organisation Development Review; State Bank; establishing SARDI; SARDI Board; co-location; co-operative research centre program

Lewis; Dundon; Crawford; Honolulu; Mrs Radcliffe; Arnold; Terry Groom; Waite campus; CSIRO

14:10

Joining CSIRO as Director, Institute of Plant Production and Processing; national Agricultural Research Strategy; CSIRO base in Adelaide and Canberra; personal assistant

Henzell; Jim Peacock; John Stocker; Melbourne University; Tullamarine Airport; Arnold; Lewis; Canberra; Adelaide; Mary Siggers; Waite campus

20:00

Technological changes over a decade; Water Recycling in Australia review

Mrs Radcliffe; Siggers

22:25

Role of personal assistant; style as Director-General

Siggers; McColl; Northfield; CSIRO

26.55

Management style – not a delegator; Parliamentary questions and Ministerial enquiries: Ministerial Liaison Officers; formal meetings of Directorate; notebooks; liaison with individuals; avoid secrecy; lack of diplomacy

Frank Blevins; Kym Mayes; Arnold

Tape 6, Side A

0:25

Organisation Development Review; reduced Budget; ODR team; report process and outcomes; creating SARDI and Primary Industries SA

State Bank; Rangan Srinivasan; McKinsey; Peter Gibson; Advisory Board of Agriculture; Agricultural Bureau; SARDI; Primary Industries & Resources SA; Water, Land & Biodiversity Conservation

10:05

Commercialisation notion – legumes, cotton breeding

SARDI; CSIRO

13:10

Tradition of researching for the community vs revenue

Agriculture Department; SARDI; CSIRO

14:05

The nature of public service; changes in advising farmers; making research available to all; SARDI’s root disease testing service

CSIRO; Rural Solutions (PIRSA); SARDI

17:15

Policy development and economic progress of agriculture

18:30

Organisation Development Review outcomes; budget; Department’s role; natural resource protection concept; co-location developed; rationalisation with interstate agencies; pig and poultry research; wool; government response to McKinsey Report (research centres, commercialisation, district officers, diagnostic services, administrative changes, creation of Rural Solutions); SARDI to PIRSA; impact of McKinsey Report; natural resource management

A.D. Little Report; Hawke Government; Canberra; Harold Woolhouse; Albert Rivera; Ralph Slatyer; Riverlink; Sunraysia; Merbein; McKinsey; Roseworthy; Adelaide University; SARDI; PISA; Kybybolite; Wanbi; Struan; South East; Department of Services & Supply; State Chemistry Laboratory; Waite; Rural Solutions; Natural Resources Group; Water, Land & Biodiversity Conservation Department

Tape 6, Side B

0:04

Reflections on reviews and changes; regionalisation; Research Centres Branch; regional programs and project priorities

Callaghan; Roseworthy College; Adelaide; Port Augusta; Port Lincoln; Harold Chamberlain; Mildura

7:25

Departments carrying money over; rural industry research funds and trust accounts

10:00

Autonomy to the regions and to the regional officers; Ministerial Liaison Officers

11:00

Organisational structure; chain of command; non-delegator

CSIRO

12:55

Regionalisation in South Australia

NSW; Victoria

15:25

Department intact over time; small staff could oversee SA until WWII; Department grew as work more technical (post-war schemes, dairy extension grant, Commonwealth extension services grant, research councils’ funding); university work limited size/role of the Department

PIRSA; Water, Land & Biodiversity Conservation Department; Department of Lands; Waite; SARDI

18:20

Role of Roseworthy Agricultural College

Roseworthy; Australian Grain Technologies; University of Adelaide, Grain Research & Development Corporation; SARDI

19:45

Interaction with Allan Callaghan locally, in USA and in the Department

Callaghan; Robin Callaghan; St Peters College; Adelaide Hills; Oregon; Washington; Mrs Callaghan; Northfield Research Centre; Itzerott

23:00

The Monarto exercise; proposed move of Department to Northfield; reaction to the plan; justifying research facilities; revival of proposed move to Northfield but sale of land occurred; review of research centres; possible move to Roseworthy or the Waite campus

Monarto; Whitlam Government; Department of Urban & Regional Development; Albury–Wodonga; Adelaide Hills; Irving; Northfield; Fisheries; National Parks & Fauna Conservation; Monarto Development Commission; State Administration Centre, Victoria Square; Land Commission; McColl; Roseworthy; Mayes; Waite; Barry Thistlethwaite; Quirk; Waite Institute; Public Service Association; United Farmers & Stockowners; Woolhouse; Britain; John Innes Institute