As grower-owned body Horticulture Innovation Australia (Hort Innovation) holds its first annual general meeting (AGM) on 27 November, ABC Rural has revealed that vegetable processors Simplot and McCains will hold more voting rights than many growers.
Some 400 growers, including representatives from Costa and Montague, are eligible to vote in the AGM, however, ABC Rural has reported that only 1 per cent of Australian growers were registered to vote at the AGM.
The numbers of votes granted to each grower reflects the size and value of their operations, with a maximum of 101 votes per grower, which will see some 30 to 40 per cent of Australia’s horticulture production in terms of value voting at the AGM, according to Hort Innovation CEO John Lloyd.
'So we believe we will have somewhere between 30 to 40 per cent of horticulture production voting at the AGM,' Lloyd told the ABC. 'It's entirely up to the growers whether or not they register to vote.
'Most of these research and development corporations have relatively low participation rate. So we are very pleased the high level of production represented here.'
Tension has arisen between Hort Innovation and peak industry bodies, which lost a funding stream when the former research and development body, HAL, transitioned to grower-owned Hort Innovation in November 2014 following an ACIL Allen report that found a conflict of interest between industry bodies both owning and receiving money from HAL.
This year, the Cherry Growers Association has cancelled its marketing material, supplied by Hort Innovation, due to it missing its deadline, while the marketing for apples and pears has since been temporarily taken over by industry body Apple & Pear Australia (Apal) following the departure of Hort Innovation’s second marketing manager in six months.
Addressing this issue, which could see some of the country’s peak industry bodies lobby to have levy funds withdrawn from Hort Innovation management, Lloyd said groups could join the Voice of Horticulture lobby group take their concerns and changes to the federal government.
Voice of Horticulture’s John Dollison, also CEO of Apal, said ahead of the AGM that the group would lobby for a changes of Hort Innovation’s constitution, calling for peak industry bodies to be recognised and changes to the Statutory Funding Agreement made to reflect that.
