Current Directors
Lachlan McKenzie (Founding Director)
Lachie is co-founder and current managing director of one of Australia’s largest fruit and
nut propagation and supply businesses.
He is often called upon by horticultural industry bodies to deliver workshops and lectures
on both orchard establishment and produce processing.
Lachlan has a history of being involved with the establishment of both commercial and
community based projects that are to ensure the prosperity and longevity of rural and
regional communities.
Robert Atkin (Founding Director)
Robert has a breadth of active interests across the arts, tourism and agriculture with a
Diploma of Agricultural Science.
He has taken lead positions in organisations concerned with landcare and water.
His past self-employment in broad-acre primary production enterprises backgrounded his
move to new horticulture ventures prior to the millennium drought which eventually lead to
the closure of the Wimmera Irrigation Area and his ventures. In recent times he has managed
QWP’s hulling and drying facility.
Hilary Jankelson (Founding Director)
With thirty years in the health industry, Hilary brings to the QWP Board an understanding of
human motivation and its impact on production and performance.
In partnership with her husband, she owns a number of nut orchards in Victoria and southern
New South Wales and has hands on involvement in the management, processing and marketing of
the produce. As a previous chair of QWP and a current executive member of AWIA she pursues an
interest in expanding the walnut industry nationally.
A creative and innovative cook, Hilary uses her knowledge of ingredients to enhance the
appreciation of food and to refine its appeal to customers.
Russell Hilton (Independent Director)
Russell is also a director of Cramenton Pty Ltd, a company that sources, and secures all
requisite government approvals, for land suitable for large scale nut orchards.
Russell was for 23 years founding executive chairman, then chairman, of PeaCo, a growers’
co-operative formed to process and market pulses (lentils, chickpeas, faba beans, etc.) to
export and domestic markets.
In 2002 he went on the first of three study tours to the US and Europe to investigate the
propagation, orchard management, and processing of walnuts.
Russell was for 10 years on the Grains Research and Development Corporation panels where he
led program committees responsible for market intelligence, pulse processing and the assessment
of new crops for Australia. He was one of three reviewers of ‘Crop Improvement in the
Australian Grains Industry’ designed to evaluate and provide direction for plant breeding in
the Australian grains industry.
Ian Geddes (Independent Director and Chair)
Ian has extensive industry experience. He was previously Managing Director of Johnson & Johnson Indonesia, General Manager of Australia Posters (Australia’s largest outdoor media company), Managing Director of Letona Cooperative (fruit & vegetable processing).
Ian was Principal of a Corporate Advisory Firm specialising in business, marketing and strategic planning in the food & agribusiness sectors as well as a director of a major family-owned dairy company specialising in value-added products.
Jeremy Rorke
Jeremy is an owner of a local electrical business and is a pioneer in the application of solar technologies to agriculture.
Jeremy has recently established himself as a walnut grower.
He has also been instrumental in the development of the community ownership model and ongoing operation of the Lockington Hotel as well as involvement in district activities via his family.
Terrence Hehir
Terry is a multigenerational dairy farmer located in the Goulburn Valley but has recently established a walnut orchard in the Valley.
As an experienced company director in agricultural companies and agribusiness has seen him become the Founding Director and Chair of Waterpool (a not-for-profit multimillion dollar water trading business which brings transparency and accountability to the irrigation industry), Founding Director Chair of Australian Dairy Conference (ADC) and a founding member and Chair of CDDU (Dairy Australia’s Mastitis and milk quality flagship program).
Terry is also a Founding Director and was Chair of Organic Dairy farmers Cooperative until 2016.
Terry has been a Nuffield Scholar and was awarded an OAM for services to the dairy industry in 2014.
