A resolution heavily defeated at last year’s Meat & Livestock Australia annual general meeting has been resubmitted unchanged by the Australian Beef Association for consideration by members at this year’s AGM in Longreach.    

MLA members will again be asked to vote on a motion proposed by the ABA to wind-up the industry service delivery company. Last year the motion was defeated by 84.7pc of the vote.  

The only other AGM resolutions of note released in a statement by MLA this afternoon related to the election of three new MLA director nominees. Further resolutions including independent nominees to the MLA selection committee will be announced when AGM packs are distributed to members in late October.

The three new MLA Board director nominees to be voted on by MLA members are Dr Michele Allan, Queensland cattle producer Geoff Maynard and NSW sheep producer Rodney Watt.

Retiring from the board at this year’s AGM are chairman, Don Heatley, and directors Peter Boyden and Grant Burbidge.

Mr Heatley said all MLA members had the right to vote and propose resolutions at the AGM.

“I encourage all members to get involved and have a say in their company through voting either by proxy or by attending the AGM in Longreach,” he said.

“It is disappointing that our members will be asked to vote again on the same resolution that was put forward last year. However, as all members have the right to propose resolutions, it will be put to the vote again,” he said.

Today’s statement said the three new MLA board director nominees were chosen from a field of 124 candidates by the nine-person industry selection committee, based on the skills and experience that the committee was seeking.

In profiling the three board candidates, MLA’s press release said:

• Dr Michele Allan brought strong expertise in corporate governance and strategy, with a background of executive and board positions. Dr Allan is a past executive director and non-executive director of Patties Foods and was previously a non-executive director of the Dairy Research & Development Corporation. Current Board positions include director of Food Standards Australia and New Zealand and Forest and Wood Products Australia, and chair of William Angliss Institute and Go Grains Health and Nutrition.

• Geoff Maynard runs a 10,000-hectare cattle stud seedstock operation near Jambin, Central Queensland. He has 35 years’ experience in northern production systems, and has had significant involvement in collaborative research and genetics programs. He is currently the vice-chairman of the Beef Australia board and has been a member of Beef Australia since 2004. He is a past member of the Beef Cooperative Research Centre Advisory Board (Beef CRC 2).

• Rodney Watt is the owner/operator of a family farming partnership based near Cowra NSW, producing Poll Dorset and White Suffolk rams, prime lambs and crops. Mr Watt is past vice president and treasurer of Sheepmeat Council of Australia.

This year’s MLA annual meeting will be held in Longreach, Central Qld on November 17.

All MLA members are automatically allocated a single vote, however to receive their full voting entitlement members must complete and return their levies notice, or lodge their levies online by October 5. Levies notice packs were mailed to all MLA members in late July. To order a replacement notice, members can phone MLA on 1800 675 717.