Wednesday, 02 December 2015 14:04

Council directive angers farmers – Gent

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
Former Fonterra directors Greg Gent (left), Harry Bayliss (centre), and Earl Rattray discuss matters at the annual meeting. Former Fonterra directors Greg Gent (left), Harry Bayliss (centre), and Earl Rattray discuss matters at the annual meeting.

Fonterra farmers were angry with the directive from the Shareholders Council to vote against a remit, says Greg Gent.

He says the 53.8% 'yes' vote despite the council directive sends a strong message to councillors.

"As a representative body of shareholders they failed," Gent told Rural News.

"Farmers were angered by the council directing them how they should vote."

Council chairman Duncan Coull says it has a constitutional responsibility to review all shareholder proposals, make decisions on them, and "communicate our view of them and the reasons for these decisions to our shareholders".

"However, this process will never preclude our shareholders' right to vote in the manner which they deem appropriate," he says.

Coull says it will take the views of shareholders into on-going discussions with regard to the governance and representation review. "We're looking forward to this process and to a robust consultation process with our shareholders from which we will all have the opportunity to decide the best way forward for our co-op."

Gent says the vote is also a clear sign to Fonterra's board to act now on governance and review. "But I think it sent a stronger message to the Shareholders Council."

Gent and remit co-sponsor Colin Armer held seven farmer meetings around the country to promote their remit, calling for a nine-member board.

He says they did not have a full list of Fonterra suppliers and had to rely on advertisements and media articles.

"We advertised in the local paper; the press was quite generous to us. We also emailed some farmers with our views and were surprised at how viral it went."

Gent says during the farmer meetings the message was clear: farmers wanted a smaller board.

"Not one person said to us that a smaller board is not a good idea. That was clearly reflected in the vote."

Gent admitted the remit's downsizing suggestion was a weakness.

Fonterra chairman John Wilson acknowledged farmers want a smaller board. He told the annual meeting that was the message he got from taking part in farmer meetings around the country during the director election campaign.

Wilson was re-elected for another three-year term, along with Nicola Shadbolt.

However, Blue Read was ousted after serving three years on the board.

Te Awamutu farmer and former National Foods chief executive and Ashley Waugh is the new director.

More like this

All eyes on NZ milk supply

All eyes are on milk production in New Zealand and its impact on global dairy prices in the coming months.

"Our" business?

OPINION: One particular bone the Hound has been gnawing on for years now is how the chattering classes want it both ways when it comes to the success of NZ's dairy industry.

Farmers' call

OPINION: Fonterra's $4.22 billion consumer business sale to Lactalis is ruffling a few feathers outside the dairy industry.

Wasted energy

OPINION: Finance Minister Nicola Willis could have saved her staff and MBIE time and effort over ‘buttergate’ recently by not playing politics with butter prices in the first place.

Featured

Australia develops first local mRNA FMD vaccine

Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.

NZ household food waste falls again

Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.

Editorial: No joking matter

OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.

National

Machinery & Products

Tech might take time

Agritech Unleashed – a one-day event held recently at Mystery Creek, near Hamilton – focused on technology as an ‘enabler’…

John Deere acquires GUSS Automation

John Deere has announced the full acquisition of GUSS Automation, LLC, a globally recognised leader in supervised high-value crop autonomy,…

Fencing excellence celebrated

The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards,…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

A step too far

OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…

Save us from SAFE

OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter