South East Local Land Services’ Braidwood District Veterinarian Bob Templeton will retire on 18 December following 14-and-a-half years in the role which commenced with the former Rural Land Protection Board, followed by the South East Livestock Health and Pest Authority, and more recently with South East Local Land Services.
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Bob’s veterinary career started in a Mullimbimby practice in 1971. Seeking a change of pace he moved to Canberra in 1998 to take on the role of Senior Veterinary Officer with the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS).
Following two years with AQIS he found he missed ‘hands-on’ veterinary work and dealing directly with livestock producers. He was successful in securing the District Veterinarian position with the former Rural Lands Protection Board at Braidwood in 2000.
Bob arrived at Braidwood in the middle of the challenging ovine Johne’s disease (OJD) outbreak. OJD is an infectious wasting disease in sheep. The outbreak instigated the need to bring farmers together to tackle the problem and Bob conceived and formed the Lake George catchment group. This same format was later replicated in Victoria by the Department of Primary Industries.
When drought hit the region in 2005, Bob joined forces with Ann Muir, NSW Department of Primary Industries, to write a National Rural Advisory Commission (NRAC) drought declaration submission. For an area to be declared by NRAC, it had to demonstrate it was experiencing a rare and severe event (on average once every 20 to 25 years) resulting in a severe downturn in farm income over a period of more than 12 months.
Fortunately the submission was successful, because the drought was still rolling on two years later and impacting heavily on the region’s economy.
Bob was influential in extending Wormboss reporting to include whole of state coverage. He was a Veterinary Investigations Manager during the 2007 equine influenza response, has coordinated tracing and surveillance and organised district veterinarian conferences.
The greatest change he has witnessed during his career is the rise of bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) or pestivirus in cattle and the interplay between liverfluke, selenium deficiency and JD which all present similar symptoms in herds and flocks.
South East Local Land Services Chair, David Mitchell said he was grateful to Mr Templeton for his efforts and commitment to Local Land Services and its legacy organisations.
“Bob’s dedication as a District Veterinarian and his contribution to the local community during his tenure is well recognised and valued,” Mr Mitchell said.
“On behalf of South East Local Land Services I wish Bob a very long and happy retirement.”
Reflecting on the organisation he retires from, Bob said the Local Land Services model is a longway better than the former RLPB and LHPA.
“Local Land Services and the dedicated team of professional staff in the south east can, and will make a positive difference to the way agricultural advice and services are delivered to primary producers and rural communities,” he said.
“I look forward to watching Local Land Services prosper in the future.”
