Winston Peters calls Fonterra vote result 'utter madness'
New Zealand First leader and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has blasted Fonterra farmers shareholders for approving the sale of iconic brands to a French company.
This year elections are being held for three shareholder-elected Directors for Fonterra's Board of Directors, two members of the Directors' Remuneration Committee, and 22 members of the Shareholders' Council.
Candidates must satisfy shareholding requirements in order to be elected and further procedural requirements are specified in the Election Rules. These include a requirement for candidates to be nominated and seconded by Fonterra shareholders.
Nomination papers and candidate handbooks are now available by phoning the Election Hotline on freephone 0508 666 446 or emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Nominations must be received by the Returning Officer, Warwick Lampp of electionz.com, by 12 noon on Friday, September 5, 2014.
Current Fonterra directors John Monaghan and David MacLeod retire by rotation in accordance with the constitution, and are eligible for re-election. There is also one vacancy on the board to be filled following the retirement of Jim van der Poel.
Candidates for the directors' election will be announced by the Returning Officer on Tuesday, September 23, 2014, following the completion of the Candidate Assessment Panel (CAP) process.
For the Directors' Remuneration Committee, Murray Holdaway and Philip Wilson are retiring by rotation and are eligible for re-election.
The Shareholders' Council's recently completed review of the cooperative's ward boundaries was undertaken to ensure all Fonterra farmers have sufficient local representation.
The review has shown a significant increase in Fonterra farm numbers in the South Island and as result the Council approved three recommendations to improve the alignment of Councillors to Farmers throughout the country:
• Number of wards to remain at 35 with one councillor in each.
• North Island representation reduced by three councillors – one less in Northland, two less in the Waikato.
• South Island representation increased by three councillors – two extra in Canterbury and one extra in Southland.
Due to these boundary changes, this year there will be elections for 19 new wards (which come into existence after the 2014 elections). Shareholders affected by boundary changes will have the opportunity to vote for their preferred representative for their new ward.
In addition, there will be elections due to retirement by rotation for Wards 19 Central Taranaki, 22 Northern Manawatu and 25 Wairarapa (as these Wards have undergone a number change only, there is no requirement for an election due to a boundary change).
2014 Shareholders' Council Elections:
Ward 1 Northern Northland Ward 2 Central Northland
Ward 3 Southern Northland Ward 5 Hauraki/Coromandel
Ward 7 Piako Ward 8 Matamata
Ward 9 Western Bay of Plenty Ward 13 Rotorua
Ward 14 Eastern Bay of Plenty Ward 15 Taupo
Ward 19 Central Taranaki Ward 22 Northern Manawatu
Ward 25 Wairarapa Ward 27 North Canterbury
Ward 28 Rakaia Ward 29 Ashburton
Ward 30 South Canterbury Ward 31 Waitaki
Ward 32 Otago Ward 33 Northern Southland
Ward 34 Southern Southland Ward 35 Western Southland
The Single Transferable Vote (STV) system will be used for all election voting by internet, fax and post.
