Mr BAYLEY - To continue on this line around, I guess, farmer engagement, irrigator engagement: did you just mention that the Irrigator Representative Committee - that's a sort of proposed or mooted committee? I ask this because we do get representation around accountability, and wanting, I guess, additional levels of accountability and communications with TI.
Mr KNEEBONE - Every one of our schemes, with the exception I would say now of Winnaleah, because traditionally, the WISL board would have been that body, has an irrigator representative committee that is elected or appointed by their irrigators.
Mr BAYLEY - Do you feel like they are working well for TI?
Mr KNEEBONE - Absolutely. Look, there is an issue. It is not people's full time job and we have some committees that are basically all irrigators in the scheme attend the meetings rather than just a representative committee. We have others that have a representative committee. We need to consistently work on how we improve our communication with all our irrigators. We are using written newsletters. We occasionally run, if we have issues like we have in the south-east at the moment, pub townhall meetings. All those sorts of things where we do a face to face.
Each of the schemes have their own dedicated scheme operators so they have someone on the ground that irrigators can go to if they have a particular issue. or they have my chief operating officer's number generally on speed dial.
We have recently just engaged Samantha Myers who is sitting behind us. She has joined us as our Manager Stakeholder Relations and Communication. We recognised for some time that you can never do enough in terms of communication and or stakeholder relations. It is always a moving feast. Even though we have made dramatic changes in the last four or five years improving it, it is never going to be enough. We always need to be looking at different and better ways. We are quite aware that written communication isn't always the best medium.
Mr BAYLEY - What's the level of complaint or greviance that you received from farmers? Do you log that at all? Do you keep track of that?
Mr KNEEBONE - We have a measure of complaints. I can confidently tell you its zero at the moment and has been consistently. We very rarely have complaints that would be the great expression of dissatisfaction. Sorry, we won't say its zero at the moment. There are probably one or two where we have complaints but they are in regard to pricing and they are particular issue around south-east.
