Wednesday, 10 March 2021 12:55

Editorial: Scrutiny needed

Written by  Staff Reporters
Beef+Lamb NZ chair Andrew Morrison. Beef+Lamb NZ chair Andrew Morrison.

OPINION: Beef+Lamb NZ and the NZ Meat Board’s annual meeting, to be held in Invercargill on March 17, is likely to be a more fiery affair than the usual.

Chair Andrew Morrison and his fellow directors will find themselves under the gun from levypayers over a resolution on the agenda to substantially increase director fees for both Beef+Lamb and the Meat Board.

As Morrison has conceded, “directors’ fees are always closely scrutinised” and you can bet it will be a hot topic of discussion at the meeting.

It can be argued, and Morrison vigorously has, that the proposed increase in director remuneration is justifiable. However, one can seriously question both the process and optics in the way the board has made its decision.

The disestablishment of the Directors Independent Remuneration Committee (DIRC), an independent body that recommends any changes in director remuneration, looks self-serving. The DIRC was established under previous chair James Parsons and was a sound move bringing Beef+Lamb NZ in line with how many other farmer-owned organisations operate – including DairyNZ and Fonterra.

Morrison claims the board decided to do away with the DIRC because the directors agreed that the best approach was for themselves to actively take ownership of remuneration recommendations.

Really?

Meanwhile, the argument that the board sought ‘independent advice’ on the fee increases also rings hollow. The board hired consultants – at what price, they refuse to say – who then proceeded to recommend a healthy pay increase for directors. It is hard to view this advice as very ‘independent’.

Then we get to the actual director fee increases themselves. The Meat Board alone sees a 38% jump in the chair’s annual remuneration and a 23% increase in all the other directors’ fees. On what planet do Morrison and company reside if they think that kind of hike is appropriate?

How many sheep and beef farmers are expecting an increase in income of 23% this year?

For Morrison to try and justify this leap in remuneration because of the ‘increase in workload’ for directors is laughable.

Directors who get voted on to organisations should know what kind the commitment they need to make. If directors on a public company claimed that ‘increased in workload’ justified them a 20%-plus pay increase, there would be blood on the floor of the annual meeting.

More like this

Ag aviation in strife

The downturn in the farming sector - especially sheep and beef - is having a detrimental impact on the agricultural aviation sector.

Celebrations at Muller Station

More than 260 people gathered at Muller Station in Marlborough recently to celebrate the 2024 Westpac + OsGro Marlborough Farmer of the Year winner.

Lamb crop drop

There's been a dramatic and larger than expected drop in the number of lambs produced in New Zealand.

Featured

‘Nanobubble’ trial trims irrigation water usage

North Canterbury dairy farmer and recently-elected deputy chair of DairyNZ, Cameron Henderson, is enjoying a huge reduction in irrigation water use after converting a pivot irrigator to drag perforated drip tubes across the ground instead of elevated sprinkler heads.

Editorial: Elusive India FTA

OPINION: Without doubt, a priority of the Government this year will be to gain traction on the elusive free trade deal with India.

Sport star to talk at expo

Rugby league legend Tawera Nikau is set to inspire, celebrate and entertain at the East Coast Farming Expo's very popular Property Broker's Evening Muster.

National

Sweet or sour deal?

Not all stakeholders involved in the proposed merger of honey industry groups - ApiNZ and Unique Manuka Factor Honey Association…

Machinery & Products

Loosening soil without fuss

Distributed in New Zealand by Carrfields, Grange Farm Machinery is based in the Holderness region of East Yorkshire – an…

JCB unveils new models

The first of the UK’s agricultural trade shows was recently held at the NEC Centre in Birmingham.

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Times have changed

OPINION: Back in the 1960s and '70s, and even into the '80s, successive National government Agriculture Ministers and Trade Ministers…

Hallelujah moment

OPINION: The new Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche has just had the hallelujah moment of the 21st century in…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter