HALL OF FAME AWARDS
Honours for industry leaders
Paul Martin receives his Hall of Fame award from ABA chairman Brendan Sidhu .
Congratulations to Paul Martin and Larry Cavallaro who were inducted into the Almond Board of Australia ’ s Hall of Fame in early October . A profile about Larry Cavallaro ’ s involvement in the industry can be found on pages 6-8 of In A Nutshell Winter 2024 Paul Martin is the third member of his family to receive this honour . He follows in the footsteps of his father Ross who was inducted in 2011 and brother Tom who was recognised in 2014 . Paul said it ’ s a great honour to be recognised . Now it ’ s time to wind back the clock and learn more why almond orchards were planted in Lindsay Point and the role Paul played in making the Riverland a major growing region .
PAUL Martin never expected that he ’ d get the opportunity to be a farmer . Despite his parents growing almonds at Willunga , he was the youngest of three sons . As a 19-year-old Paul worked for the stock firm Dalgety ’ s and when the opportunity came up to establish almond orchards at Lindsay Point , he jumped at the chance . He admits the early days were tough , but that experience has made him more appreciative of the things he has now . “ I lived in a shed with a dirt floor , there was no telephone , and we accessed the property via a two-wheel track ,” Paul said . Once per week on a Wednesday evening Paul would travel into Renmark to call his girlfriend from the public payphone . During winter he ’ d return to Willunga on weekends to play football . Paul arrived at Lindsay Point in 1973 , as a 20-year-old . “ I came into the industry when it was at a turning point ,” he said . The Almond Cooperative Producers Limited had just won a tariff inquiry , which found California was dumping almonds in Australia below the cost of production .
Following the decision the Co-op looked to expand , knowing that it would be difficult to fight a similar case in the future and this led to the establishment of the Lindsay Point project .
Why Lindsay Point ? The Co-op Chairman , Eric Lacey , initially looked for land in South Australia to develop more almond orchards , but at the time no new water allocations in the South Australian Riverland were being made due to the new tri-state water agreements . This meant the only other option would have been to redevelop an existing horticulture property . At a chance meeting with a land agent in Melbourne Mr Lacey learnt about the property that was for sale at Lindsay Point . Five almond orchards were established , and these were run by almond growers who each had investors assigned to them . “ Being accountable to investor partners made us take a more
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