Dairy Australia will hold their annual meeting (AGM) on November 28.
The AGM will be held as part of a farmer forum in Moama, New South Wales and will also be accessible online.
The forum and AGM will be interactive, providing the opportunity for farmers to engage over lunch and dinner, hear from other farmers and industry leaders on feedbase and climate, and find out more about the value that Dairy Australia delivers to farmers.
Two of the four vacant positions are for directors with milk producer skills, one is for a director with agribusiness, innovation and adoption skills, and another for a director with dairy supply chain and product promotion skills.
The terms of three directors – Roseanne Healy, Tania Luckin and Paul Roderick expire at the AGM.
Paul Roderick will stand for re-election, while Tania Luckin and Roseanne Healy will retire from the board. In addition, the term of Paul van Heerwaarden, who was appointed to fill a casual vacancy in December 2022, also expires at the AGM. Mr Roderick is standing for re-election.
Chair of Dairy Australia’s Board Selection Committee (BSC), Tania Luckin said the board had reached a recommendation.
“After a comprehensive search and interview process, four candidates are recommended by the BSC,” she said.
Paul Bennett (agribusiness, innovation and adoption skills), Paul van Heerwaarden (dairy supply chain and product promotion skills), Karen Moroney (milk producer skills) and Paul Roderick (milk producer skills).”
Paul Bennett is from Tasmania and is chair of family-owned and award winning Ashgrove Cheese. He was previously the chair of DairyTas, is a dairy and beef farmer and is involved in many community and youth organisations.
Paul van Heerwaarden’s family farming background led him to a career path in agribusiness, including six years as chief executive of Bega Cheese Ltd. He has served on a number of company and joint venture boards including for several years as a member director of Dairy Innovation Australia Ltd.
Karen Moroney is a farmer from Eskdale in north east Victoria and is a former chair of Murray Dairy. She is also a director of AgBiz Assist, a rural financial counselling service and president of the Mitta Valley Landcare Group.
Appointed in November 2020, Paul Roderick has operated his family dairy farm at Harrisville, south east Queensland for the last 30 years. He was previously chair of Subtropical Dairy and had a role in setting up the Young Dairy Network in Queensland.
Dairy Australia members will vote for directors at the AGM or in advance by proxy.
To be successfully elected to the vacant director roles, each nominee will require a majority of the votes cast. All levy payers are eligible to become members of Dairy Australia and vote at general meetings.
A hotline (1800 004 377) and email address (membership@dairyaustralia.com.au) has been set up for levy payers to become a member or check their details are correct.
