‘Gentleman’ Sandy Pate retires

Sandy Pate, Nursery Industry Development Officer (NIDO) for Western Australia, has announced his move into semi-retirement after 11 years of dedicated service as a development officer and 41 years as a member of Nursery & Garden Industry Western Australia (NGIWA).

“On behalf of the industry, we would like to thank Sandy for sharing his valuable knowledge, dedication, and hard work over the last decade,” said NGIWA CEO, John Boonzaier.

“Both professionally and socially, Sandy has made an enormous contribution to the nursery and garden industry,” said John. “He has loyally served the Association and been a valuable source of expertise and enthusiasm during a period of significant change.”

The longest serving member of the national development officer network, Sandy joined NGIWA in 1966. Sandy’s appointment to the role of NIDO 30 years later was only the second in Australia and the fourteenth across all horticultural crops.

Sandy recalls with pride the take-up of accredited nurseries during his time as WA NIDO. And after 11 years of operation, the Nursery Industry Accreditation Scheme Australia (NIASA) is thriving in WA, having experienced a fourfold increase under Sandy’s direction.

Sandy and his wife Val are renowned among Eastern state industry travellers for their genuine ‘country folk’ hospitality. Sandy was long ago dubbed the ‘gentleman’ of the NIDO network.