History made for drumMUSTER at AgQuip
Yesterday was an Historic day for the national drumMUSTER program.
The Governor-General, Major-General Michael Jeffery, who has become the "public" face of the program, has made a special presentation to Mr John Powell, a canegrower from Mackay, who delivered the 10 millionth drum in drumMUSTER's eight year history.
The presentation took place at the AgQuip Field Day in Gunnedah, New South Wales.
Mr Powell also delivers chemical use training to a wide range of agricultural groups including canegrowers throughout Queensland, and has been using the drumMUSTER program since it's inception in 1999.
Presenting a prize of an all expenses paid trip to a field day of Mr Powell's choice anywhere in Australia, the Governor-General said that drumMUSTER had been successful because it was "a wonderful example of no-nonsense, grassroots action by those who are on the ground".
"Such a co-operative, voluntary joint venture - no legislation, no government instruction - has not only seen our rural citizens disposing of these containers in a sensible way, but manufacturers finding new and innovative ways to reduce the amount of packaging at the source", Major-General Jeffery said.
Wayne Cornish, the Chair of the Industry Waste Reduction Advisory Committee, which oversees drumMUSTER, said His Excellency had become the public 'face' of drumMUSTER, through his appearances in the program's newspaper and television community announcements.
"We're delighted that the Governor-General and Mr Jeffery have signified their committment to our program by agreeing to visit the AgQuip site and to join our VIP guests for this special occasion", Mr Cornish said.
"Gunnedah is an important location for us, because the first drumMUSTER collection was launched here. The former Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson, launched the program in 1999, and we're delighted that he also joined us to mark this historic moment", he said.
"For the past few months, our Regional Consultants all over the country have been on 'red alert', to detect the deliverer of the 10 millionth drum. We're very pleased that John has been able to travel to AgQuip to receive his prize".
"The Gunnedah and wider community, as well as Rural Press Events, the organisers of AqQuip, have been strongly supportive of this event and the success of the program", Mr Cornish said.
"Achieving the 10 million drum milestone has been the result of hard work and commitment to 'spreading the word' through rural, regional and remote Australia, and we're now working towards the 20 millionth collection. This is a tremendous effort on everyone's behalf, especially considering that the drought has had enormous impace on farm operations everywhere", he said.
"drumMUSTER is an initiative of the National Farmers' Federation, CropLife Australia, the Animal Health Alliance (Australia), the Veterinary Manufacturers and Distributors Association and the Australian Local Government Association. Farmers and other chemical users pay for the program whenever they buy farm chemicals, through a 4 cents a kilo or litre levy", he said.
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