The Details
What: John Luxton Memorial Match
Where: Campbell Park, Morrinsville
When: Saturday, September 24: netball 1.30pm, rugby 3pm
Entry: Free
Dairy farmers, sector leaders, MPs and parliamentary staff will be battling it out on the sports fields of Morrinsville on Saturday.
The rugby and netball matches are a memorial for the late John Luxton, the inaugural DairyNZ chairman and former agriculture minister, and they're shaping up to be entertaining and competitive encounters.
"DairyNZ is organising the free community event on behalf of the dairy sector to bring the community together to celebrate John's life, showcase the strength of the sector, and help forge strong relationships between the competitors," says DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle.
The event is also raising money for the John Luxton Trust, which aims to support young Māori from the local area in agricultural careers. The Luxton Family will be well represented in the match, with John's son Richard and grandchildren joining the dairy teams.
"John was a true leader of the New Zealand dairy sector, his contribution to progression and innovation in the sector was significant. John was a well-respected farmer, founding chair of DairyNZ, chair of Tatua Dairy Company and co-chair of the Waikato River Authority," says Dr Mackle.
The event has great support across the sector, with an impressive lineup of personalities set to play.
In the parliamentary teams, a strong contingent of MPs includes Mark Mitchell, Michael Woodhouse, Greg O'Connor, Meka Whaitiri, Barbara Kuriger, Louise Upston, Nicole McKee and plenty of others. They've also called in a reinforcement – former All Black Piri Weepu.
In the dairy sector rugby team, Southland farmer Tangaroa Walker is flying up to pull on the No.8 jersey – Tangaroa runs his own Farm4Life programme with how-to information for people starting out in dairy farming. Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer Award winner Quinn Morgan will be playing midfield – he takes an active role in encouraging other young people to join the sector.
"We've got a full front row from Federated Farmers – president Andrew Hoggard, vice-president Wayne Langford and dairy chair Richard McIntyre – and I'll be pulling on my boots to play on the wing," says Dr Mackle.
"For the netball, we have a really strong sector team including radio personality Rowena Duncum, Dairy Environment Leaders chair Melissa Slattery and Pouarua Farms chief executive Jenna Smith."
A key goal of the event is to attract young people to work in the sector, and there's a great cohort of Young Farmers playing in the rugby and netball teams. The event dovetails with DairyNZ's drive to showcase the many positives of working in dairy.
"The Memorial Match is shaping up to be a great family-friendly day, so I really encourage the community to get behind it and support the teams on the day," says Dr Mackle.
Former National Cabinet minister and dairy industry leader Luxton died in November, aged 75.
Born into a Waikato dairy farming family, John Luxton, CNZM, QSO, was a member of Parliament from 1987 until his retirement from politics in 2002.
As a Cabinet minister, he held many portfolios including housing, energy, commerce, industry, police, lands, forestry, food and fibre, Maori affairs, agriculture and fisheries.
At the time of his death after an illness, he had recently retired as chairman of the Asia NZ Foundation, was chairman of the large-scale dairying Pouarua Farm Partnership, and was Crown appointee as co-chairman of the Waikato River Authority.
Luxton was chairman of the dairy industry organisation DairyNZ from 2008 to 2015 and had a long association with Waikato dairy company Tatua.
A former World Bank consultant, he was a co-founder of the Open Country Cheese company, formed after dairy industry export deregulation in 2001, and which has grown to become Open Country Dairy, New Zealand's second-largest dairy processor and exporter.
Luxton followed his father, Jack Luxton, into politics after he retired as Piako and Matamata MP.
Luxton, who attended Hamilton Boys' High School and held degrees in agriculture and agricultural science and a master's degree in management, was first elected to Parliament in 1987 as the MP for Matamata.
Luxton was also a former director of Landcare Research, Wallace Corporation and the Royal NZ Ballet.
