Wednesday, 12 October 2016 14:11

Time to move co-op forward

Written by 

Fonterra chairman John Wilson says the final vote on governance and representation reflects shareholder sentiment.

He says that the recommendations were a significant improvement and it was time to move the cooperative forward.

“Cooperatives, by their nature, need consensus on the important decisions. That is as it should be and today we have agreed on the final recommendations after a very constructive eight months of discussions and refinements,” says Wilson.

“It is a clear signal from our shareholder base that it is time to push on so the co-op can focus on our business priorities.”

Fonterra shareholders voted 85.96% in favour of the new proposal by the board.

The main effect of the changes is that a new election process for farmer directors will come into force. Under this process, candidates are selected by an Independent Selection Panel, then approved by the Nominations Committee of the Board and by the Shareholders Council before they are put forward to shareholders for their vote and support.

There is also provision for candidates to stand outside this process and self-nominate, provided they are supported by 35 other shareholders. A first past the post majority voting system will mean all director candidates now need at least 50% farmer support.

More like this

Smith V Fonterra

OPINION: To a chorus of crying greenies, and not a minute too soon, the Government has moved to put the courts back in their place through proposed amendments to the Climate Change Response Act 2002, intending to limit climate litigation claims such as Smith v Fonterra, in the interests of providing greater certainty for vital industry.

Featured

National

Machinery & Products

Look Beyond Features

Technology adoption on New Zealand dairy farms has accelerated rapidly over the past decade.

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

A Good Start

OPINION: While we're on the topic of lumberjacks, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard has no doubt used a chainsaw hundreds of…

Smith V Fonterra

OPINION: To a chorus of crying greenies, and not a minute too soon, the Government has moved to put the…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter