Rotary Lunch 7 Oct 2026

Rotary Melbourne Lunch 7 October 2026

Speaker Maggie McDonell, Co-Founder of the Melbourne Arboretum

Topic: Developing the Melbourne Arboretum 'The Trees We Need'

Maggie McDonell is the co-founder and driving force behind the vision for The Melbourne Arboretum, an ambitious 59-hectare living landscape being created at Mernda in Melbourne’s north.

An entrepreneur as well as a committed community leader, Maggie co-founded Hamag in 1976 and, with her husband Hamish, built the classic leather goods company into a successful business serving Australian and international markets before its sale in 2022.

Her involvement in community and not-for-profit organisations has included serving as Vice President of the Women’s International Business Network, membership of the Northern Metropolitan Business Network Working Committee, Vice Chair of Equestrian Victoria and Chair of Equestrian Australia’s National Interschool Committee. She studied Indian Studies at the University of Melbourne.

Underlying these diverse interests has been a lifelong love of trees, the Australian landscape and the natural environment. That passion ultimately led Maggie and Hamish to establish The Melbourne Arboretum and to commit their land to creating an enduring community and environmental asset.

Maggie now brings that vision to a wider network of people and organisations committed to conserving plant diversity and restoring landscapes, including engagement with Botanic Gardens Australia and New Zealand and Botanic Gardens Conservation International.

Her ambition for The Melbourne Arboretum is both simple and far-reaching: to celebrate Australia’s extraordinary eucalypts, restore a living Australian landscape, deepen our understanding of the natural environment and create a place that future generations can learn from, participate in and enjoy.

Developing the Melbourne Arboretum 'The Trees We Need'