One of the farmers behind a resolution seeking to reinforce farmer control of the Fonterra dairy cooperative board has taken the Shareholders Council to task for opposing it before it goes to a vote.
The resolution calls for Fonterra's constitution to require a minimum of nine farmer-elected directors on the Fonterra board and a maximum of four appointed directors.
The Shareholders' Council is advising the co-operative's farmer owners to vote against the proposal at Fonterra's AGM in December.
Council chair Ian Brown says it would pre-empt a governance and representation review that the council and the board are already doing and could cause practical difficulties for the co-operative.
But a spokesperson for farmers, Lachlan McKenzie, says it would not get in the way of the review and the Shareholders Council is out of order for recommending farmers vote against it.
"What it does is that it ensures that the board and the Shareholders Council come back to farmer shareholders for support before they decide to reduce or increase the number of shareholder directors."
