Mr. Rob Lait, former Chair of CRIT for many years, retired on 30th June 2026.

A precis of Rob Lait’s involvement with Cairns River Improvement Trust

I was originally appointed as chair of the Mulgrave Shire River Improvement Trust in 1991. At that time, Rob was Manager of the Water Resources Commission office in Innisfail. It was the State Government’s policy at that time that this position would support River Improvement Trusts and Drainage Boards. This provided a close link between the department, the minister and trusts. (Rob was also appointed to the chair’s positions of Douglas Shire River Improvement Trust, Johnstone Shire River Improvement Trust and Cardwell Shire River Improvement Trust).

When I joined the Mulgrave Shire RIT there were only three Trust members (which was the usual case in those days) – the chair and two councillor members. Jeff Pezzuti was one of the councillor members at that time and Jeff and I subsequently spent many collaborative years on river trusts. Roy Mills was the Secretary of the Mulgrave Shire RIT and Tom Pyne was the Mayor. Des Chalmers was trust’s engineer. It was a real pleasure working with these three people and the councillor members, and they gave me a wonderful grounding on how trusts interacted with local government.

When Mulgrave Shire morphed into the Cairns Regional Council, the trust changed its name to The Cairns RIT. Angle Mustafa was appointed to the trust and Jeff Pezzutti continued as a councillor member. David Lawson was appointed as Secretary.

In 1997 the new government withdrew the requirement that departmental officers should support river trusts and drainage boards. In response, Cairns RIT joined the newly formed North Queensland River Trust Association (NQRTA) – the precursor to the State Council of River Trusts Queensland (SCRTQ). NQRTA included Cairns, Johnstone, Cardwell, Herbert, Burdekin, Don, Whitsunday and Pioneer Trusts and was very effective in advocating for trust funding and interaction with government.

In 1998 Rob left Queensland Government service. Cairns RIT voted to retain Rob as chair. Hence Rob became one of the first community RIT chairs in the state by default.

As a result of local government amalgamation (about 2005) Douglas Shire joined Cairns regional council. Douglas Shire RIT was dissolved one two additional councillor member (from the former Douglas Shire) joined Cairns RIT.

In about 2008, Douglas Shire once again became its own entity and chose to leave Cairns RIT. They requested a pro-rata ‘refund’ of their portion of the precept. This was subsequently agreed. At this time Des Chalmers retired and he was replaced by Peter Agar. Peter was also an excellent trust engineer. Jeff Pezutti remained on trust and he was joined by Paul Gregory. Cairns Trust went through a period of relative stability until about 2015 when one of the first (of many) reviews into river trusts was commenced.

At about this time Peter Agar resigned as trust engineer and David Lawson ceased being Trust Secretary. Fortunately, Tim Smith had returned to residence in North Queensland and was appointed to a dual role as trust secretary and engineer. Margaret Cochrane was appointed as councillor member.

One of the outcomes of this early review into trusts was the requirement for additional community membership on trusts. Trust has had excellent community members appointed ever since.

In about 2016 Councillors Brett Moller and Cathy Zeiger were appointed to Cairns RIT. Brett remains as a councillor member to the present day. Matt Tickner was appointed at councillor member in 2024.

Tim Smith resigned from trust in 2023. Rose McGovern was appointed as trust secretary and Mark Hausfeld as trust engineer.

In his time with Cairns RIT Rob has seen many changes, some good, some not so good.

Two critical aspects have not changed, however. These are the continued support for trust by Cairns Regional Council and its predecessors, and the high calibre of trust members that I have had the privilege of serving with. I cannot thank all concerned enough.

During my association with river trusts I have held the positions of Chair of NQRTA, Deputy Chair and Chair of SCRTQ, and Far Northern zone representative on SCRTQ.

I hope that I am leaving a legacy of sound river restoration as I depart this position. I know that the Trust will continue under good stewardship of its members and officers.

Rob Lait

Cairns River Improvement Trust board member

25th May 2026