The Parliamentary Friends of Landcare SA was successfully launched at an inaugural dinner at Parliament House, Adelaide, on 26 February.

The dinner was attended by 14 parliamentarians from all sides of politics and 14 community Landcare representatives from across SA. The Hon John Dawkins MLC hosted the evening and welcomed members and guests, saying it was an honour to launch this great initiative with such strong support from parliamentarians.

The Parliamentary Friends of Landcare SA will provide an avenue for Members of Parliament to connect with and offer support to Landcare both at the state level and locally in suburbs, regional towns and farming communities. Parliamentary Friends of Landcare SA continues a longstanding tradition of multi-party support for Landcare with all political parties represented.

Several short presentations were given at the dinner to provide an overview of Landcare SA and to give examples of the work done by Landcare Groups: Sheree Bowman, Chairperson, Landcare SA; Ross Oke, Goolwa to Wellington LAP; Lisa Redman, Henley Dunes Care Group; John Chester, Aboriginal Lands Trust; and closing remarks by Gerry Butler, Committee Member, Landcare SA.

The dinner also recognised that Landcare SA is celebrating its 20th year in 2019 with a special cake cutting ceremony to mark the occasion.

Many thanks to Hon John Dawkins MLC for hosting the inaugural meeting and launch of the Parliamentary Friends of Landcare SA at Parliament House and we look forward to working closely with this group to advance the Landcare movement in SA. Thanks also to Landcare SA Committee Member, Gerry Butler, who planned and managed the event.

Pictured at the launch: the Hon John Dawkins MLC (host), Sheree Bowman (Chairperson, Landcare SA), Susan Close MP, Hon Geoff Brock MP, John Chester (General Manager, Aboriginal Lands Trust), and Gerry Butler (Committee Member, Landcare SA).