GRAIN Growers Association (GGA) chairman John Eastburn has vowed to continue to push to lower the number of standing proxies held by board members of the association by attempting to get members to take them back.
He says the campaign to cut standing proxy numbers is working, and that already the number of standing proxy votes held by the board is not enough to influence an election result.
The perennial issue of voting of standing proxies has again reared its head as an election issue, due to the fact that both Mr Eastburn, as chairman, and directors, such as up-for-election southern director Gerry Lane, hold a number of standing proxies.
Rival candidate for the southern zone, Chris Kelly, believed it would be hard to get over the line due to the number of proxy votes that would be voted for the two southern incumbents, Mr Lane and Spencer Millear.
However, Mr Eastburn said the distinction needed to be made between ordinary proxies and standing proxies.
“Of course, anyone on the board who still has standing proxies will vote them, it is their obligation when the proxies are handed over to use them, but the actual standing proxy numbers aren’t that significant.
“Last year at the GGA annual general meeting at Narrabri, the standing proxies made no impact on the final vote.”
He said a distinction had to be made between standing proxies, which are automatically rolled over each year, and normal proxies.
“Each year, the chairman will receive a parcel of ordinary proxies to vote, but the standing proxy votes are much less.”
Standing proxies have been a controversial part of GGA elections for the last half of the decade, since the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) began a policy of attempting to accumulate a bundle of standing proxies to vote in various grain businesses and organisations, such as AWB, ABB and GrainCorp.
When GGA and GrainCorp split up, the VFF retained standing proxies in GGA, a move that was queried by other state farmer organisations, given that VFF was essentially voting in the affairs of another farming group.
Upon the normalisation of all the major grain businesses which formerly had dual share structures, the VFF last year made the decision to wind up the standing proxy policy, saying it no longer was appropriate, and is trying to get those who gave proxies to the VFF to take them back.
“Last year we abstained from voting at the GGA AGM and we are trying to get those proxies back to the individuals so they can participate themselves,” said VFF grains group president Russell Amery.
He said the VFF would again not be voting the proxies it holds at the GGA’s AGM in Albury later this month.
This has put the pressure on Mr Lane, who publicly said in the past he would not vote his standing proxies if the VFF did not use theirs.
Mr Lane refused to comment on the issue, saying all issues to do with standing proxies needed to be addressed to Mr Eastburn, in spite of the fact the inquiry related specifically to his personal standing proxies.
Mr Eastburn said the association was continuing to work to limit the influence of standing proxies.
“We’re doing our utmost, by contacting all those who hold standing proxies to see whether its worth trying to engage those who have handed over proxies to get them to take them back.
“The plan is either the proxy holders contact the members they have proxies for directly, or we do it through a letter sent through our share registry manager, Computershare.”
“We’re really trying to be proactive on this one, I personally am sick of the issue coming up every year.”
“It is definitely working; we’ve had standing proxy numbers halve over the past couple of years.”
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