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Here are the 16 new candidates who have nominated for the board of Cattle Australia

James Nason, 14/11/2022

SOME of the Australian cattle industry’s most recognised identities are among the 16 candidates who have nominated to stand for the inaugural board of Cattle Australia.

Eight nominees from the south, seven from the north and one from the west will stand for election in the online ballot  for the Cattle Australia board which opens tomorrow and runs through to December 5.

The results of the ballot will be announced at Cattle Council of Australia’s final annual general meeting on December 12.

From that date the new board of Cattle Australia is set to replace the Cattle Council of Australia as the grassfed cattle industry’s peak industry council.

Under the existing Cattle Council of Australia structure, most seats on the board of the peak council are appointed directly by State Farm Organisations.

Under the new Cattle Australia structure, commencing with this election, levy paying producers are able to nominate to stand for a seat on the board, with successful candidates decided by a vote of their fellow levy paying producers.

None of the 16 nominees standing for the new board are members of the existing Cattle Council of Australia board.

Many had privately indicated in recent months they would not be standing for Cattle Australia, citing a need to “ensure a fresh start and a clean slate” for the new organisation.

That has played out in the formal nominations confirmed this afternoon.

Cattle Council of Australia CEO John McGoverne has also confirmed he will not be  seeking a position on Cattle Australia.

The 16 nominees who are standing, confirmed by Beef Central this afternoon, are:

North Australia Beef Research Council region candidates:

The following seven candidates will fill three northern positions:

Adam Coffey, Owner/director, Coffey Cattle Co;

David Foote, Director, Tandarra Partners;

Haydn Sale, Beef producer, Mandora Cattle Co, HC&J Sale Management Co;

Lyn French, Grazier/agri-tourism , Gilberton pastoral company;

Pat Gleeson, Beef producer and agribusiness specialist consultant;

Justin Dyer, Cattle producer – APN PL;

Bryce Camm, Grazier, Camm Agricultural Group;

Southern Australia Livestock Research Council region candidates:

The following eight candidates will fill three southern positions:

George King, Managing director, The Whitney Pastoral Co and Manager, “Coombing Park”;

Fiona Conroy, Farmer, Knewleave Partnership;

Allister Watson, Pasadena Partners Ltd;

John (Mac) McArthur, Agribusiness consultant/farmer, McArthur Consulting;

Elke Cleverdon, Owner/director – Cleverdon Agriculture – Grass fed black Angus;

Robert Mackenzie, Beef producer – Mackas Australian black Angus beef;

Garry Edwards, Managing director and CEO, Maureen Pastoral Company;

Mark Horan, Cattle producer – Livestock Carrier, Jinglemoney Pastoral Partnership.

Western Australia Livestock Research Council region candidate:

James Bowie from Bridgetown, Western Australia has nominated for the western region. As the only candidate he will be automatically appointed as the elected director for the western region.

Cattle Australia members will be issued electronic ballots tomorrow (November 15) and will be able to vote until Monday, December 5.

CCA board directors not standing

All existing Cattle Council of Australia (CCA) directors will be standing aside, meaning the Cattle Australia board will have an entirely new board when announced at CCA’s final Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 12 December 2022.

The Cattle Council of Australia board will continue to act on behalf of the industry until the Cattle Australia board is elected on December 12.

Cattle Council says all memberships of the current organisation have now been transferred to Cattle Australia for the vote.

Cattle Council President, Lloyd Hick said Cattle Australia will “get a clean start, with a new board that has been democratically elected”.

“Six of the seven elected positions will be contested for the first time,” he said.

“Cattle Australia received eight nominations for the three Southern positions, and seven nominations for the three Northern positions.

“There was only one nomination for the Southwestern seat on the Board. That candidate will need to be ratified as a Board member at the AGM.”

Mr Hick said it was not too late for anyone who wants to vote and is not yet a member.

“There is no better time to sign up for Cattle Australia and membership is free in the first year.

“It’s not too late to be a member and to vote and Cattle Australia membership is free for the first year.

“I wish all candidates the very best for this important, inaugural election.

“The future of our industry will be in your hands. Don’t miss the opportunity to have your say.”

Legal challenge still to play out

Meanwhile a legal challenge by Cattle Producers Australia opposing the right of Cattle Council of Australia to form Cattle Producers is set to play out in the Supreme Court of Queensland over the next two weeks, ahead of the planned inaugural AGM of Cattle Australia on December 12.

CPA alleges CCA “illegitimately took over the reform process in its own interest” and produced a “flawed and undemocratic structure” with no secure funding plan for Cattle Australia.

CCA says CPA is “trying to derail a process that has the overwhelming support of the industry” and leading to “resources that are intended to progress producer interests being wasted on unnecessary legal actions and unfounded accusations of impropriety”.

The Supreme Court issued an order last week giving Cattle Producers Australia until tomorrow afternoon (Nov 15)  to submit a concise statement setting out the facts giving rise to the claim, the relief it is seeking from the Court and against whom, and the primary grounds for the relief it is seeking.

CCA as the respondent will then have until Friday afternoon (Nov 18) to respond.

A process of mediation is then expected to follow next week, ahead of a possible two-day trial commencing on November 29.

A statement released last week by lawyer Dan Creevey acting for Cattle Producers Australia initially stated that the Supreme Court of Queensland order would effectively prevent CCA from proceeding with the formation of Cattle Australia until the hearing on November 29, but that statement was not accurate and has since been retracted by the law firm.

To view the candidates on the Cattle Australia website click here : https://cattleaustralia.com.au/board-election-candidates/

Information on Cattle Australia membership and voting process can be found here: https://cattleaustralia.com.au/individual-membership/

 

 

 

 

 

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Comments

  1. Alice Greenup, Northern Independent Director, CCA, 16/11/2022

    An exciting chapter for the beef industry. Wonderful to see such experienced candidates nominating. It was a goose bump moment receiving our ballot papers. There is still time to join Cattle Australia and vote in this historical, inaugural election.
    Voting closes Monday 5 December, with announcement of the results at the Annual General Meeting on Monday 12 December 2022.
    http://www.cattleaustralia.com.au

  2. John Gunthorpe, 15/11/2022

    Good decision for CCA directors not to stand for the new board. We agree with Brad that processors and lot feeders should not join the board, but we are sure grass-fed producers will show them the door. Also, good to hear the CCA CEO is leaving his job and not having a role in the new organisation. Now move the office out of that rarefied atmosphere of Canberra and up to Queensland and develop a strategy to get the workers in the peak council nearer their members. They need to listen more to the bush and grow their advocacy on actions agreed by members. They are still saddled with the same faces at the Policy Council bit hopefully the new board might rectify this anomaly. Best wishes to all grass-fed producer candidates and thanks for standing.
    Australian Cattle Industry Council

    We’re assuming you are referring to David Foote and Bryce Camm, John. It’s a bit simplistic to categorise them simply as ‘processor’ or ‘lotfeeder’. Mr Camm is directly involved in his family’s large northern cattle business. Mr Foote, in his former role as head of ACC, oversaw one of the larger cattle businesses in Australia, in addition to its processing operations. And he is a cattle producer off his own bat. Plenty of skin in the grassfed game, from what we can see. Editor

    • John Gunthorpe, 16/11/2022

      Actually we were only supporting Brad’s comments that it would be inappropriate for a lot feeder or processor to be a director of a grass-fed cattle producer advocacy body. We were not referring to anyone specifically. A major concern to our members is the weak position grass-fed cattle producers have endured over the past decade. On the other hand, processors and lot feeders have strengthened their representation during this time. While we all work for the best outcomes for the beef supply chain, there are times when producers and the purchasers of their output are battling for different outcomes. While some purchasers of their livestock are other producers, in the main, these will be lot feeders and processors. You know our members are also greatly concerned by the influence these competitors have at MLA elections and voting. Grass-fed cattle producers must have control over the raising and expenditure of the mandatory transaction levies extracted from our businesses. There needs to be a company whose sole duty is this, and again this organisation needs to be directly elected by its members. This is consistent with the rights enjoyed by processors and live exporters.
      As you have raised Bryce and David’s names, let me say they are fine members of the red meat industry. Bryce gave long service in a number of roles to the lot feeders association. He is a busy man and whether he would find the time for this role is one question voters need to consider. Also, if there was a conflict between grass-fed cattle producers and lot feeders, where the decision might damage the lot feeders association members, would Bryce put aside past service and support only the best interests of grass-fed producers? The same might be asked of David and the processing industry. David was a processor and his lot feeding and backgrounding were ancillary to serving the best interests of ACC. Now we are sure David will argue otherwise. However, there are other strong candidates for the director roles whose history is not darkened by working on the wrong side of the livestock exchange. When running AMH, I assure you our feedlots were there to source cattle for certain customers but also to provide a balance in our kills. When there was a drought, AMH made profits from grass-fed cattle and lost money on feedlot cattle. But when times were tough off grass due to herd rebuilding, our feedlot kills made good profits. We wish all candidates the best in the elections. It is a rebadged Cattle Council. It will be interesting to see what level of support it receives.

      In our experience, MLA’s largest levy payers (ie processors) have routinely chosen to abstain from voting in MLA resolutions. Yet it is frequently suggested that their voting ‘power’ must be influencing results. Editor

  3. Craig Forest, 14/11/2022

    Awesome, fighting amongst ourselves… obviously no other issues challenging the industry….

  4. Brad Bellinger, 14/11/2022

    A feed lotter and a processor nominating for a grassfed representative body. This is an absolute disgrace .How could Murray Watt allow this .He is as bad as John Anderson when he set up this flawed structure.I have always said it Labour and The Nationals are the same party they put puppets in charge then label them a peak council.Rural Australia get rid of these Parties they are destroying us.

    We’re assuming you are referring to David Foote and Bryce Camm, Brad. It’s a bit simplistic to categorise them simply as ‘processor’ or ‘lotfeeder’. Mr Camm is directly involved in his family’s large northern cattle business. Mr Foote, in his former role as head of ACC, oversaw one of the larger cattle businesses in Australia, in addition to its processing operations. And he is a cattle producer off his own bat. Plenty of skin in the grassfed game, from what we can see. Editor

    • Alice Greenup, Northern Independent Director, CCA, 16/11/2022

      What a ridiculous notion that we should exclude producers with vertically integrated businesses and experience across the supply chain. Let us be grateful to those who offer themselves in service to our industry. And now we get to vote. It’s democracy.

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