The future of embattled Australian industry body Riverina Citrus will be put to an official poll of members, following an initial vote by growers last week to disband the organisation.
The group, which represents citrus growers in Australia’s Riverina region in New South Wales (NSW), will be subject to a poll of members run by the Australian Electoral Commission on behalf of NSW Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson.
A full audit of the Riverina Citrus board’s actions will also be carried out.
Following on from the sudden resignation of Riverina Citrus CEO Dom Testoni two weeks ago – reportedly over a dispute with the board – a poll of around 200 growers conducted at a meeting last week saw a 73 per cent vote in favour of dissolving the industry body.
While the motion did not represent a large enough proportion of Riverina Citrus members to carry the motion, it was enough to require the official poll, which will need to survey at least 51 per cent of its 432 members to be valid, according to a report in the Weekly Times.
The backlash against Riverina Citrus has apparently come as a surprise to the industry body. The organisation’s chairman Frank Battistel told Asiafruit Magazine two weeks ago he did not know of any problems prior to a petition submitted prior to the vote.
“As a committee we were unaware of any grievances out there, so it came as a bit of a shock,” he said.
That contradicts comments from growers, who say they had raised their concerns with the board on numerous occasions.
The final straw for growers appears to have been committee members seen wearing their own company-branded shirts at the Riverina Citrus stand, paid for by grower levies, at Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong this September.
Riverina Citrus collects A$4.50 per tonne in mandatory levies, over A$1m a year.
