Hall of Fame honours: WA farmers Harry Whittington and Bronte Rundle recognised for their Landcare leadership

The WA Landcare Network has acknowledged two agriculturalists — the late Harry Whittington, who farmed at Brookton, and retired Katanning farmer Bronte Rundle — with both inducted into the network’s Landcarers’ Hall of Fame. In recognition of their lifetime contribution through action, leadership, research, advocacy, policy, publication and persistent hard work, both inductees, along with 10 others were honoured at the 2nd annual Landcarers’ Hall of Fame ceremony on November 4 at the Cockburn Wetlands Centre. WA Landcare Network staff, headed by the network’s chairman Mick Davis, hosted the event with MCs Keith Bradby and Louise Duxbury presenting achievement backgrounds on each inductee followed by awarding certificates to the inductees or their represented families. Each inductee or their represented family member were invited to pay tribute to the work that earned the honorary Landcarers’ Hall of Fame prestigious distinction. Acknowledging his father’s contribution, John Whittington said Harry preceded and helped build the initial growth of landcare with “deeply heartfelt appeals and efforts to tackle the increasing salinity affecting farmland”. “This was in a time when salinity was largely ignored by government — Harry pushed ahead with developing his own solutions,” he said. “By 1975, Harry published his first booklet on a 30-year battle against the spread of salt on the family farm Springhill. “By the mid-1970s, he was convinced the approach he developed was effective, and after various visits and field days with other farmers, he was asked by a number of them to design systems for their properties.” John said enthusiasm grew rapidly, and by 1978, a meeting attended by more than 270 people agreed to establish the WISALTS group (Whittington Interceptor Salt Affected Land Treatment Society). “At its height there were 43 WISALTS branches, with hundreds of field days held — the organisation decided to wind-up at its AGM in February 2025 after five decades of community science,” he said. “The research papers of Harry Whittington and WISALTS are now held in Murdoch University’s special collections, available for ongoing comprehensive research into combating the 21st century existential environmental crisis of fresh water and healthy soils. “While the Whittington method has never been well accepted officially, Harry’s dedication and energy was a pivotal factor in increasing both community and farmer awareness of salinity and its relentless spread. In 1992, Harry was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for his tireless work and contribution to the WA agricultural sector. Honouring his father’s work in agriculture landcare, Bronte Rundle’s son, Peter Rundle, who now runs the family’s Katanning farm with his wife Andrea, said after his parents took over their farm in 1975, they noticed a stream running through the farm was becoming saline. “This presented a challenge that lower lying cropped areas of the farm would become plagued with waterlogging issues in the winter months,” Peter said. “In response, Bronte implemented a whole farm plan that included 35km of constructed contoured drains along with three to four rows of tree plantings behind the drains including different eucalypts to stabilise the soil and reduce wind erosion, waterlogging and salinity.” After implementing these new practices, the farm reported increased yields and increased stocking rates and lambing percentages. The work of Bronte and Peter was published as a case study for its merit in agricultural water management. Gondwana Link chief executive Keith Bradby was inducted into the Landcarers’ Hall of Fame for his work as founder of the largest landscape scale restoration program in Australia. He was deputy chair of the National Landcare Network and co-founder chair of the WA Landcare Network.