ADF president Ben Bennett deemed ‘not suitable’ for re-election

Australian Dairy Farmers president Ben Bennett has been deemed “not suitable” for re-election by independent assessors, in a letter circulated this morning.

Independent assessors appointed to vet Australian Dairy Farmers board candidates have deemed incumbent president Ben Bennett “not suitable” for re-election, criticising his “lack of professionalism” and “casual approach”.

A one-page missive circulated Wednesday morning with an ADF letterhead outlines the assessment by its independent electoral panel of the three candidates standing for ADF business director positions.

While Tasmanian farmer Andrew Aldridge and NSW farmer Heath Cook were both assessed as “eligible and suitable,” Mr Bennett was marked as being “eligible but not suitable” for re-election.

“The majority view of the panel considered some of Ben’s responses relating to governance, strategy, risk management and financial control to less than convincing of his understanding of matters and believed some answers to be sub-optimal considering the incumbent position that he holds,” the ADF letter reads.

“Some on the panel were also concerned by the lack of professionalism demonstrated by Mr Bennett, coupled with the casual and relaxed approach that he displayed at times during the interview.”

Australian Dairy Farmers president Ben Bennett

While Mr Cook was assessed as “eligible and suitable” by the independent panel, he too received some criticism.

“A majority view of the panel was concerned that as a sitting director of the ADF board, some of (Mr Cook’s) responses relating to governance and risk management were lacking depth and did not convey a clear understanding of the requirements of a director, with consideration of his incumbent position.”

Responding to the letter, Mr Bennett said many farmers had welcomed his forthright approach to dairy advocacy.

“I’ve always been straight forward. I tell it like it is about the dairy industry and some clearly don’t like that,” the southwest Victorian farmer said.

“Speaking out is the main part of the job. If you sit there and do nothing, you are as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike. You’ve got to stand up and be counted.”

Mr Bennett said his time as president had garnered attention in the industry from a state, federal and corporate level.

“I’ve had both the state and federal agriculture ministers at my kitchen table,” he said.

“The softly-softly approach of the past 20 years speaks for itself — a milk pool in decline, thousands of farms gone.”

The letter is part of the ADF’s standard procedure ahead of board elections.

Under the ADF constitution, the independent panel “must consist of people who are both suitably qualified and independent in the reasonable opinion of the national council and must include at least one national councillor who is not a director and is not a candidate for the position of director.”