Victorian Farmers Federation abandons AGM vote on radical new constitution

After abandoning a vote on a controversial new constitution, the VFF has released the results of about 1000 proxy votes received.

Tallygaroopna Geoff Akers said “it’s very disruptive and I don’t understand how they can have an issue with the proxies 24 hours out from the AGM.

The Victorian Farmers Federation abandoned a vote on radical constitutional reforms ahead of its annual general meeting in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Less than 24 hours out from the AGM the VFF board emailed an alert to members stating it had withdrawn all resolutions “due to significant irregularities … due to many proxies being invalid or unable to be certified”.

At least 75 per cent of VFF members, including proxies, attending the AGM would have had to vote in favour of the constitutional changes for them to be adopted.

However once the AGM opened, it was revealed about 1000 proxies had been received, split 50-50 for and against the new constitution.

The move to abandon all resolutions at the AGM stunned some members who had gathered proxies ahead of the meeting in a bid to block constitution reforms that they said stripped members and commodity groups of power, as well as cut farmer representation on the board.

Tallygaroopna dairy farmer Geoff Akers, who had planned to attend the AGM, said: “It’s very disruptive and I don’t understand how they can have an issue with the proxies 24 hours out from the AGM”.

Mr Akers said he and other members had been bombarded with emails from Ms Germano over the past fortnight, calling on them to electronically sign a pre-filled proxy backing the constitutional reforms.

“She (Ms Germano) was still sending them to me on Saturday (February 17),” Mr Akers said, in addition to earlier pre-filled proxies landing in his inbox on February 7, 8 and 14.

The VFF also sent a second alert to attendees stating: “Only those who have pre-registered for the VFF AGM and are the primary recipient of this email will be eligible to attend on the day. The VFF asks that you do not forward this email as it intended for the recipient only”.

When asked how the VFF could stop members attending the AGM, VFF president Emma Germano said “everyone is welcome” and that the alert was incorrect.

Warracknabeal farmer and former VFF Grains Group president Ross Johns was “not surprised” the resolution on adopting a new VFF constitution had been abandoned.

“I think she (VFF president Emma Germano) has worked out she is going to lose it (the vote),” Mr Johns said.

Mr Johns said, unlike the board, he and other farmers campaigning against the constitutional changes had no access to the members list and had to phone those they knew, urging them to attend the AGM or fill in proxy forms.

Just what happens next remains uncertain, with the VFF board’s alert simply stating: “Given the importance of the resolutions, including consideration of the VFF constitution, this decision has been made to ensure all members can fairly and equitably have their say on the future of the VFF.”

“The board will advise of further steps in due course”.

The constitutional changes give the board the power to merge or dissolve commodity groups at its sole discretion and strips dairy, grains, livestock, horticulture and intensive commodity group presidents of their automatic right to a position on the board.

The number of farmers on the board will also be cut from the current seven to four (Clause 10.1.1).

The new constitution also introduces a new code of conduct, under which “the Board has the power to remove a member of the Branch Executive or Commodity Policy Council in the event of non-compliance (Clause 31.1.1)”.

The current constitution only allows a commodity group to be merged or dissolved (Clause 29.1.1) at an AGM “upon the request of any Commodity Policy Council … by a resolution passed by no fewer than three fourths majority of the Voting Members present”.