At Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday 25 November, Soil Science Australia (SSA) was joined by the Soil CRC, Soils For Life and other event supporters, to host the 2025 World Soil Day Celebratory Networking Breakfast on behalf of the co-Chairs of the Parliamentary Friends of Soil.
The purpose of the gathering was twofold: to formally acknowledge re-establishment of the Parliamentary Friends of Soil in the 48th Parliament, and to celebrate World Soil Day.
Several current and prospective members of the friendship group attended, including the co-Chairs, the Hon Michael McCormack MP and Ms Meryl Swanson MP, who welcomed guests and opened proceedings. The Hon Julie Collins MP, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry—also a member of the friendship group—provided the keynote address.
Other guests of note included Patron of both SSA and the Soil CRC, and former National Soils Advocate, the Hon Penny Wensley AC, and the President of the National Farmers’ Federation, Mr Hamish McIntyre.
A full house at the 2025 World Soil Day Celebratory Networking Breakfast
SSA Member A/Prof Suzie Reichman from the University of Melbourne delivered an engaging feature presentation.
It is fitting that this was the first gathering of the Parliamentary Friends of Soil for 2025—an event held each year in the final week of Parliament sitting in lead up to World Soil Day and enjoyed by members and guests.
Non-partisan support for soil
The Parliamentary Friends of Soil was initially established in 2020 under the 46th Parliament and had 10 members. There are currently 24 parliamentarians in the group and membership is expected to increase over the term of parliament.
Co-Chairs of the Parliamentary Friends of Soil, Ms Meryl Swanson MP and the Hon Michael McCormack
“It is always a pleasure to join farmers, scientists and industry leaders who work every day to protect and improve one of our most valuable natural assets, our soil,” said co-Chair the Hon Michael McCormack, Member for Riverina.
“Healthy soils mean healthy communities, stronger regions and a more sustainable future for Australia,” he said.
Beyond the annual celebratory event, SSA has in the past held information sessions on topics including soil carbon and soil pollution.
“Re-establishing the Parliamentary Friends of Soil underscores our commitment to evidence-based, sustainable soil management, and strengthens the dialogue between parliamentarians and the scientists, farmers and industry leaders whose work underpins Australia’s long-term prosperity,” said co-Chair Ms Meryl Swanson, Member for Paterson.
Parliamentary Friends of Soil members and event partners
About World Soil Day
World Soil Day is an international observance day of the United Nations, held annually on 5 December, to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and its sustainable management, and to advocate for its conservation.
The purpose of World Soil Day is to raise awareness of sustainable soil management, advocate for policies that protect and restore soil health, and celebrate the vital role soil plays in human survival and wellbeing.
A focus on soils in cities and urban areas
Each year, there is a theme associated with World Soil Day. This year’s theme is “Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities”, highlighting the critical role of urban soils in supporting the growing city populations and challenges faced in urban environments, such as sealing and pollution.
A/Prof Suzie Reichman is a member of SSA, and an ecotoxicologist and soil chemist at the University of Melbourne with over 30 years of research and teaching experience.
A/Prof Reichman’s research concentrates on safeguarding the environment from the impacts of soil pollution by investigating how contaminants affect soil health and ecosystems. While some of her current research is focused on agricultural soils as well as cleaning up soil pollution in Antarctica, she has projects in urban areas. Her presentation focused on this work and highlighted the crucial role of soil ecosystems in urban environments.
“From the fascinating world of tardigrades (aka moss piglets) to the challenges of vegetable garden soil pollution, we explored how soil and its tiny inhabitants provide essential ecosystem services in our cities,” said A/Prof Reichman.
She provided a valuable contribution to the event and reinforced that sustainable management of soils is important in cities as well as in rural areas. She helped to remind guests that soil is, along with air and water, one of our planet’s most valuable natural resources.
‘Tardigrade’ by Claus Stangl
Acknowledgement of support
The Soil CRC and Soils For Life have been key event partners with SSA since inception of the event in 2020. Their support once more in 2025 is appreciated.
SSA is grateful to the Australasian Land and Groundwater Association for providing financial support to cover travel and accommodation costs for A/Prof Suzie Reichman.
SSA is also thankful to the 20 organisations that registered to support the event in 2025: Croplife; the Mulloon Institute; BeneTerra; YLAD Living Soils; Waratah Consulting; Climate Friendly; Innovative Agronomy Services; Wilchem; CSIRO; Down Under Covers Enterprises; Verterra; Fertilizer Australia; NSW Soil Knowledge Network; University of Sydney Institute of Agriculture; Soil Carbon Industry Group; Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; Aroura – Soil Security Thinktank; Griffith University; RegenWA; and the Australia New Zealand Biochar Industry Group.
This event would not be possible without support from the co-Chairs and members of the Parliamentary Friends of Soil. The co-Chairs’ offices issued invitations to parliamentarians and managed their RSVPs. SSA is grateful to both the co-Chairs and their staff, particularly to advisers Mikelli Garratt and Beth Campbell.
Building awareness of the importance of soil can be done in many ways, for example, through artwork appreciation.
A series of four paintings, created with soil and acrylic on wooden canvas, were displayed at the event.
The artworks are part of the ‘Cool Soil Critters’ series commissioned by Kellogg’s in partnership with the Cool Soil Initiative. Their idea was to create an emotional connection to soil, make people care about it, and want to learn more. The series has been graciously donated to Soil Science Australia and depicts a tardigrade, an ant, an earthworm and a strand of wheat.
The artworks were created by Claus Stangl, a visual artist born in England and based in Sydney, Australia. He was a finalist in the Archibald Portrait Prize in 2020 and won the Packing Room Prize in 2022.