Mr Michael Worthington, CEO of PMA AU/NZ Australia-New Zealand, who will be retiring after devoting some 40 years of his life to the agricultural sector, was paid a tribute at the recent edition of PMA Fresh Connections in Brisbane, held between 17 and 19 May. He was praised by colleagues for his contribution to PMA and described as “someone methodical, not only in his approach towards people, but also in business,” and with an unsurpassed enthusiasm for agriculture and the horticultural business.
The tribute also praised him as a frontrunner for innovation, with an eye to see what will work and won’t work. In fact, “his staple expression, ‘not gonna happen’, inspired the PMA Australia-New Zealand Board to affectionately nickname Michael ‘NGH’.” They also described him as resilient and independent, as well as someone experienced and perfectly capable of getting the job done.
It is safe to say that “Michael’s reliability and commitment and his dedication to getting the job done are apparent every minute,” they stated. But “Michael has also shown an undeniable commitment to his family, building a close relationship with his kids when they needed him the most.
The presentation closed by describing him as “a pioneer; a man who took the reins of PMA” and “bullied industry leaders into getting them to do the things that he could see they needed to do and couldn’t see for themselves. It was about making the industry better by collaborative effort, and that’s what our association does.”