THE push to get Herefords Australia on a path more aligned with corporate governance has been boosted with an out-of-left-field regime change this week.
Five new directors, one of which has been appointed chairman, were elected to the board at the organisation’s annual general meeting in Armidale yesterday.
Alongside that, a new finance, audit and risk committee has been set up.
Bill Kee from Warringa Hereford Stud in Yarram, Victoria, will be at the helm of the new board, a man with 35 years experience as a lawyer.
He said there had been a substantial appetite from members for change and that had been exhibited by the election of the new directors.
Scott Hann, Truro Whiteface, Bellata was elected vice chairman, while the new committee will be chaired by Tony Haggarty, Tamworth.
Directors are Geoff Birchnell, Tim Burvill, Steve Crowley, Bruce Gunning, Tony Haggarty, Scott Hann, Kevin Hillsdon, Bill Kee, Hillary O’Leary, Pat Pearce, Anne Starr, and Trish Worth.
The breed society, one of the country’s most prominent, has been in internal turmoil for more than year, with attempts to oust directors brewing from a half a million dollar financial loss last financial year and the likelihood more of that was to come.
That bid, played out at an extraordinary meeting in December, failed but was quickly followed with resignations of two directors and the respected new chief executive officer Alex Ball.
Mr Kee, who has not been available this morning to speak, is generally considered not to be aligned with any faction within the organisation.
Clearly, however, he recognises there is a strong desire for a new way of thinking among many members and a need to quell the unrest that many say has reflected poorly on Hereford breeding.
His election profile said he wished to “return stability and confidence to the board, management, staff and members and to ensure that Herefords hold a strong and respected position in the beef industry.”
Those at the forefront of the push to put in place a new guard are celebrating, saying the new injection of expertise to the board will result in HA going forward in leaps and bounds.
They had argued HA was headed down a financially unsustainable path: There were no plans in place for addressing declining membership and revenues, while costs associated with the business continued to pile up.
In a statement released this morning, the new board of directors said work was now underway on implementing a new constitution to reflect the desire for change.
Eleven special resolutions to amend the constitution were put forward by a group of members at the AGM but were defeated.
The statement said: “Although there was a strong vote for the changes to the constitution, the required 75 per cent of the vote was not achieved.”