The NSW Parliamentary Friends of Landcare (PFL) provides an avenue for Members of Parliament to connect with and offer support to Landcare both at the state level and locally in suburbs, regional towns and farming communities.

A cross-party group of NSW Members of Parliament in support of Landcare, the PFL was established in 2015 as an outcome of the Sustaining Landcare campaign prior to the 2015 State Government election.

The PFL continues a longstanding tradition of multi-party support for Landcare with all political parties represented.

We offer the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Landcare access to:

• Hardworking people, committed to the stewardship of our natural resources,
• Landcare groups that get the job done – restoring and protecting natural resources and strengthening local communities,
• A network that crosses all boundaries: local, regional and state, social, gender, age, cultural background – a lifeline to maintaining the resilience of rural communities.

Inaugural Meeting of current Parliamentary Friends of Landcare (June 2024)
Left front to rear: Geoff Provest MP (Member for Tweed), Steve Whan MP, (Member for Monaro) and Co-Chair, Roy Butler MP (Member for Barwon), Rachel Merton MLC, Right front to rear: Turlough Guerin (LNSW), Dave Layzell MP (Member for Upper Hunter), Helen Dalton MP (Member for Murray), Kellie Sloan MP (Member for Vaucluse)

Members of NSW Parliamentary Friends of Landcare

Current Office Bearers

Michael Kemp MP – PFL Co-Chair (Member for Oxley)
Steve Whan MP – PFL Co-Chair (Member for Monaro)
Roy Butler MP – PFL Co-Chair & Treasurer (Member for Barwon)

2024 Members

Geoff Provest MP (Member for Tweed)
Rachel Merton MLC
Dave Layzell MP (Member for Upper Hunter)
Helen Dalton MP (Member for Murray)
Kellie Sloan MP (Member for Vaucluse)

Past Members

Jenny Aitchison MP (Member for Maitland)
Kevin Anderson MP (Member for Tamworth)
Stephen Bromhead MP (Member for Myall Lakes)
Yasmin Catley MP (Member for Swansea)
Justin Clancy MP (Member for Albury)
Steph Cooke MP (Member for Cootamundra)
Mark Coure MP (Member for Oatley)
Tim Crakanthorp MP (Member for Newcastle)

Victor Dominello MP (Member for Ryde)
Philip Donato MP (Member for Orange)
David Elliott MP (Member for Baulkham Hills)
Justin Field MLC
Ben Franklin MLC
Jodie Harrison MP (Member for Charlestown)
Jo Haylen MP (Member for Summer Hill)
Sonia Hornery MP (Member for Wallsend)
Matt Kean MP (Member for Hornsby)
Adam Marshall MP (Member for Northern Tablelands)
Joe McGirr MP (Member for Wagga Wagga)
Fred Nile MLC
Dominic Perrottet MP (Member for Epping)
Peter Primrose MLC
Janelle Saffin MP (Member for Lismore)
Dugald Saunders MP (Member for Dubbo)
Paul Scully MP (Member for Wollongong)
Penny Sharpe MLC
Tamara Smith MP (Member for Ballina)
Wendy Tuckerman (Member for Goulburn)
Gareth Ward MP (Member for Kiama)
Kate Washington MP (Member for Port Stephens)

Michael Kemp

Member for Oxley

As stewards of this land, it is our responsibility to nurture but also understand what our natural resources and local communities need.

Becoming a Parliamentary Friend of Landcare Co-Chair provides an invaluable opportunity to work with landholders, farmers and experts across Oxley while working with our varying topography and landscape towards solutions for its individual nourishment.

As a farmer, I want to further expand my knowledge in the regenerative farming space and I am highly interested in riparian rehabilitation.

Oxley is where the land meets the sea and I want to streamline ways we can all actively care for the place we call home.

Steve Whan

Member for Monaro

As co-chair of Parliamentary Friends of Landcare, Steve Whan is a long-term committed advocate for our cause, and the work we do in protecting Australia’s natural beauty.

Steve is the Member for Monaro and was re-elected in the 2023 NSW State Election. As an avid gardener, with a yard full of native plants, Steve understands the importance of protecting and appreciating native flora.
Steve is the current minister for Skills, TAFE, and Tertiary Education in the Minns Labor Government. He has previously served as Minister for Primary Industries, Emergency Services, and Rural Affairs, and was CEO for the National Irrigators Council in his life outside of politics.

As part of their election commitments, and advocacy from Steve, NSW Labor awarded Landcare NSW with $59,000,000 to ensure we can continue to do our jobs protecting our beautiful regions for generations to come.

This money will be used to support our 60,000+ volunteers to reverse the decline of our wetlands, soil, native vegetation, estuaries, rivers, and biodiversity.

Roy Butler

Member for Barwon

Roy believes Landcare is an incredible organisation that does so much work in communities to preserve and restore landscapes. Across my electorate the projects that Landcare is involved in would simply not happen if Landcare and its volunteers did not exist.

After leaving boarding school, Roy enlisted in the Australian Army. After basic and Infantry IETs, he was posted to Brisbane with the Royal Australian Regiment, where he was in the reconnaissance sniper platoon. 

Roy then completed a Postgraduate Diploma in addiction counselling and Group Psychotherapy and lived as part of a treatment population doing one-on-one counselling. After completing his studies, he started working for Corrective Services NSW. 

After that, Roy delivered and coordinated offender management programs across the Sydney metropolitan area and in western New South Wales. Worked with the Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care as a manager of community access, and led teams of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, psychologists and case workers across western New South Wales delivering services to people with intellectual disabilities. 

Roy was then appointed as regional manager of the Western Region of the NSW Police Force. 

Completed an Executive Master of Public Administration through the Australia and New Zealand School of Government during 2012-2013 

In March 2019, Roy was elected to the NSW Parliament to represent the people of Barwon and was re-elected in 2023.