Ralph Leutton

Ralph Leutton works in his own right as an independent advocate and facilitator in both natural resource management and the vocational training and education areas. He holds a number of contracts with peak industry and producers groups working with government to resolve areas of conflict in natural resource management and human resource availability.

Ralph held the position of Program Manager – Policy and Legislation with Cotton Australia for a period of eight years and came to the cotton industry after holding the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Queensland Dairyfarmers Organisation for a period of seven and a half years.  He holds a Masters Degree in Immuno-Parasitology and has held positions in research – in university and government departments; tertiary education – Senior Lecturer in International Marketing Skills; event organisation – Expo 88, Beef 88 and Beef 91; and in agri-political organisations.

Ralph’s key focus is the development of realistic and achievable policy positions that meet the criteria of the triple bottom line – environment, economic and social – and practical ways of implementing those policies.

He was a significant player in the negotiations held between governments and industries in the lead up to the National Water Initiative agreement of June 2004 and is currently involved in negotiations covering the National Plan for Water Security. He has also been keenly involved in the “humanising” of the national Australian Quality Training Framework and was instrumental in the development of the “Cotton Basics” Career Pathway project.

Ralph is an experienced trainer and has facilitated numerous strategic planning and group dynamics workshops in both rural and voluntary organisations both on-shore and off-shore. He has facilitated many discussions and debates that have focused on key practical issues impacting directly on primary producers.