Board Members Profiles

Conrad Bolton

Chairman, Namoi Catchment Management Authority
Appointed 6 August 2012 

Conrad Bolton has lived at Wee Waa since 1970 and attended the local schools before enlisting in the Royal Australian Navy with the Fleet Air Arm for 6 years. 

He owns and run a mixed farming enterprise at Walgett consisting of irrigation, broadacre cropping and grazing.  

He owned and operated a large aviation business in the North West, and has extensive knowledge of local government processes and procedures. 

He has just been re-elected for a third term to Narrabri Shire Council.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brian Tomalin

Board Member, Namoi Catchment Management Authority
Brian has owned a grazing enterprise at Hanging Rock since 1980, prior to that managed a medium sized commercial printing business. He holds a Business Management Certificate and completed a Silviculture Course at Coombel Farm Forestry Centre.
Brian has been heavily involved in Natural Resource Management being formerly the Chair of Nundle Regional Vegetation Committee, and Chair of Native Vegetation Advisory Council Planning sub committee.

Presently he is a Director of Armidale Rural Lands Protection Board, Executive Councillor of New South Wales Farmers' Association and member of Conservation and Resource Management Committee, Chair Northern Region Feral Animal Advisory Committee and member Tamworth Region Bushfire Management Committee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Juanita Hamparsum

 
Board Member, Namoi Catchment Management Authority
Juanita Hamparsum was appointed to the Namoi CMA Board in September 2009 for a period of 2 years.

Juanita works on her family farm near Breeza producing a variety of irrigated and broadacre crops. She has a Bachelor of Business degree and is a Chartered Accountant having worked with a large accounting firm in Sydney and a merchant bank in London prior to returning to the Catchment 11 years ago.

Juanita has been extensively involved with the water reform process for groundwater across the Namoi Valley and the State and provided input into policy development of the groundwater structural adjustment program and the National Water Initiative.

Juanita is also highly regarded in the Gunnedah district following her past involvement as Secretary of the Upper Namoi Water Users Association. She is currently a community representative on the Watermark Coal Project Community Consultative Committee, a board member of the Cotton Research & Development Corporation, a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and was the 2006 Gunnedah Australia Day Citizen of the Year.

 

 

Hugh Barrett

Board Member, Namoi Catchment Management Authority
Dr Hugh Barrett is the most recent appointment to the Board of Namoi CMA; appointed in November 2008.

Hugh has had an extensive career as an irrigation design engineer. He undertook his Masters and PhD in agricultural engineering in the US, set up a consulting practice in Narrabri and worked in various countries around the world as a consulting irrigation and water resources specialist. Hugh has spent most of his professional time in Narrabri.
 
Hugh’s vast knowledge of water resource engineering and irrigation systems will bring valuable expertise to the Namoi CMA Board. Water management, including a water sharing plan for the Peel Valley, is a major priority for Hugh as well as halting the separation of land and water policy and planning, particularly as it relates to the movement of carbon around parts of the landscape.

 

 

 

 

 

Jack Warnock

Board Member, Namoi Catchment Management Authority
Jack Warnock was appointed to the Board in November 2011. Jack has pursued a life-long interest in water resource management and agronomy and commenced his involvement with the cotton industry more than 40 years ago. He has a Diploma of Agriculture from Hawkesbury Agricultural College.

Jack has lived and worked in the Narrabri district since 1972, when he accepted a position as Agronomist with Auscott Limited. Jack and wife Jacqui have been irrigation farmers in the Harparary/Maules Creek area since 1984 and their elder son Brendon is now managing the farming business.

Jack has great interest in and experience with water management in the Namoi Valley and was heavily involved in the water reform process. These reforms resulted in major reductions in entitlements for licence holders to achieve sustainable outcomes. The social and economic impacts of these changes continue to be significant for our communities.

The much anticipated expansion of coal mining and coal seam gas extraction in the Namoi Catchment provides many challenges for our community. Jack is looking forward to providing input into the protection of our natural resources, especially land and water, as these industries develop.

 

Adam Marshall

Board Member, Namoi Catchment Management Authority
Adam Marshall was appointed to the Namoi CMA board in November 2011.

Adam is serving his fourth term as Mayor of Gunnedah Shire Council, having been elected to Council in 2004.  He is the current Chairman of the NSW Country Mayors Association and Senior Vice President of the Shires Association of NSW.  Adam is also the Chairman of Northern Inland

Regional Waste (NIRW), a group comprising 13 Councils which specifically addresses waste management issues on a regional level.

With a keen interest in a wide range of local and regional community issues, Adam is a member of the NSW Government's Land and Water Advisory Panel, Essential Energy's Regional Advisory Board and a member of the Gunnedah District Hospital Advisory Board.  He is also a Trustee of the Lake Keepit State Park and a director of the Northern Inland Academy of Sport (NIAS).

Adam is a member of the NSW Country Cricket representative umpire panel, a member of the Gunnedah Lions Club and an honorary Rotarian.  

 

 

Jo Slack-Smith

Board Member, Namoi Catchment Management Authority
Jo Slack-Smith, in partnership with her husband Andrew, operate a broad acre dryland farming and grazing operation in the lower reaches of the Catchment, west of Burren Junction.

Jo has a bachelor of Agricultural Economics from the University of New England, is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds a Board position on the North West Livestock Health and Pest Authority(LHPA). 

The skills she brings to the table are in finance, audit and risk, and governance.

Jo's past roles include working as an Agricultural Consultant, establishing and running the Narrabri Rural Financial Counselling Service and assisting farmers to establish computerised book keeping systems in preparation for the introduction of the GST.

Jo is kept busy in an active role in the family business, taking responsibility for all finance, admin and work health and safety roles.  She is an active member in the Burren Junction community and is currently vice president of the Burren Junction P&C.