Cattle Australia: new peak body broadly accepted

Feedback received from producers about the new peak body — Cattle Australia — has been clear on one priority. See what it is.

The cattle industry is generally in support of the creation of a new national peak body for the grass-fed cattle industry.

But industry has made it clear in their feedback they want to make sure the election to the board is a democratic process.

The consultation period for feedback on the work priorities and structure of the new body — Cattle Australia — which will replace Cattle Council of Australia, ended last week.

And independent chair of the Restructure Steering Committee Andrew Macaulay said the general feedback from industry about the “plan on a page, which was agreed by the industry leaders forum” has been “broadly accepted”.

He said the structure and name have broadly been accepted and endorsed too.

“There is still some debate about the process of structure of the democratic election process. It is clear from industry that this new organisation must be democratic” Mr Macaulay said.

One of the key differences proposed in the new organisation will see the board of directors independently elected rather than nominated by state farming organisations.

The new structure will see Cattle Australia governed by a board of seven elected directors and two skills-based directors.

State farming organisations will have a seat at a policy advisory council, which will include 15 producer representatives, eight state farming organisation representatives and an independent chairman.

This is different to the current Cattle Council of Australia board which has eight members nominated by state farming organisations, two independent directors and the president.

Mr Macaulay said the steering committee was now moving into developing a concrete structure, financial model and constitution.

The full Cattle Australia package will then go back to industry for feedback and the new peak body is planned to launch on July 1.

“That will then trigger an election process for the board,” Mr Macaulay said.

While he said the official consultation period was over, it didn’t mean they weren’t still facilitating opinions and feedback.

“We encourage people to continue to engage with us.”