Strong producer vote to retain $5 cattle levy
20/11/2009
Meat & Livestock Australia members voted to maintain the cattle transaction levy at its current rate of $5 per head at the MLA annual general meeting (AGM) in Darwin this afternoon.
MLA members voted to retain the levy with a convincing 72.5% of votes cast in favour of the resolution (grassfed producers – 70.7%; grainfed producers – 75.8%)
MLA chairman Don Heatley said he was grateful for the industry’s show of support for continued investment in MLA’s marketing activities for Australian beef and livestock.
“It is pleasing to receive such strong support from the industry and I can assure producers that MLA remains committed to continuing to work hard to deliver a return on their investment.”
Having demonstrated clear industry support for the $5 levy, the producer peak councils will now present a full report to the Federal Minister for its retention.
Mr Heatley paid tribute to the work of the Beef Marketing Funding Committee and in particular the independent chair Peter Hughes.
“The Committee conducted their review thoroughly and sought widespread industry input before making their recommendation to industry,” Mr Heatley said.
The vote was the culmination of a 12-month process including the Committee’s review and a six-month campaign to create awareness among producers and encourage them to participate.
“Over 70 forums were held across the country with more than 6,000 producers attending to hear more about the industry’s promotional activities – it is pleasing to see how many producers participated in the vote this year and I thank them for getting involved,” Mr Heatley said.
In other results, current MLA Board Director Peter Trefort was re-elected, while first-time nominees Iain Mars and Dr Greg Harper were also appointed to the Board.
The voting results for each Board Director were:
• 95.6% of votes were cast in favour of electing Peter Trefort as an MLA Board Director.
• 81.4% of votes were cast in favour of electing Iain Mars as an MLA Board Director.
• 88% of votes were cast in favour of electing Dr Greg Harper as an MLA Board Director.
MLA members also voted in support of the resolution to amend the MLA constitution to enable the company to make greater use of electronic methods to communicate information to members. 92% of votes were cast in support of the resolution. The resolution required 75 percent support to be successful.
The voting process was conducted and the results of the resolutions declared by Computershare. The entitlement process was audited in accordance with MLA’s procedures. This year Ernst & Young was requested to overview this process.
Mr Heatley thanked all MLA members for their participation in the company’s activities during the year and at the AGM and also thanked three outgoing MLA Board Directors Professor Chris Hudson, Paul Troja and Dr Bernie Bindon for their service.
“I thank the retiring Board Directors for their contributions; Professor Hudson in the field of food science, Paul Troja for providing the Board with a global perspective on meat industry matters and Dr Bernie Bindon for bringing us his expertise in animal breeding and genetics. I wish them all the very best for the future,” Mr Heatley said.
Ends
Source: MLA
