Noelle Tolley managed the development of Tolley’s containerized citrus nursery and has participated in many international horticultural congresses. She was awarded the AM, Member of the Order of Australia for her services to the Australian horticultural industry, and business women.
She has a broad worldwide knowledge of the citrus industry and in 1974 organized the importation and Australia-wide distribution of the first mobile powered fruit picking ladders in Australian orchards.
Noelle imports quality hand tools for pruning, grafting, and budding, for orchardists, nurserymen and gardeners.
A free-lance journalist, historian and author, her first novel “In Looking Glass Land” provides an insight and amusing view of experiences of women in the 1880’s, arriving at the newest Irrigation Colony of Renmark, on the River Murray.
Ian Tolley is a specialist and global expert in seed production, seedling production, orchard planning establishment and management. He was awarded an OAM, Medal of the Order of Australia, for his lifelong services to development of the Australian citrus industry.
He has been involved in Australian and International consultancy over the past 45 years in USA, South Africa, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, and was formerly the Lead Consultant to GTZ a German Aid Group that worked Government to Government in Egypt and Thailand to restructure their citrus industries.
He regularly lectures on production and technical aspects of horticulture, is a prolific writer and regular ABC commentator on gardening and trees. He is widely recognized for his innovation and experience in irrigation methods and general technological and orchard mechanization innovation.
1975: Agricultural Bureau of South Australia – Award of Life Membership.
1978 IPPS (International Plant Propagators Society-Australian Region) elected National President.
1980: ISCN. The International Society of Citrus Nurserymen began at a conference at Sacremento, California. Ian was elected as one of three International Founders of the new ISCN to represent . the Australian/Pacific region. It was resolved to hold an International Congress at 3 to 4 yearly . intervals, involving countries with a major Citrus industry. Serving as one of the Society Presidents, he was voted as Patron of ISCN at the Cairo Congress of 2005.
1985: ANA (Australian Nurseryman’s Association) Award of Merit ‘for services education and propagation’.
1985: Elected World President of IPPS (International Plant Propagators Society)
1992: IPPS (International Plant Propagators Society-Australia) Award of Honour ‘For outstanding work in the Society’.
1995: The Queen’s Birthday Award: O.A.M. (Order of Australia Medal) ‘for Services to the Community, Horticulture, and particularly the Citrus Industry’.
1998: IPPS International Award of Merit. (The first award ever given to a member, outside of USA.) ‘For services in the dissemination of horticultural knowledge’
2004: TAFE Certificate 1V in Assessment and Workplace Training.
2005: Churchill Fellows Association Awarded Life Membership & Citation for long service to the Association.
2005: ISCN: Voted Patron of the institution at the Cairo Congress in 2005.
2013: Rare Fruits Society of South Australia –Awarded Life Membership for service to the Society.