GRAINGROWERS Limited (GGL) has refused to disclose the specific amount paid to individual directors or senior management.
GGL’s 2015 annual report shows that a total amount was paid for key management - directors and CEO - of about $800,000 in 2015 and more than $1 million in 2014.
Moree family graingrower Rebecca Reardon is one of six candidates vying for the GGL director elections for two open northern panel positions, heading into the group’s September 29 AGM in Toowoomba, Queensland.
Ms Reardon and other director election candidates have already raised questions about GGL’s governance and election processes, including use of standing proxy votes.
This week Ms Reardon raised further concerns about lack of disclosure on salaries paid to individual directors and executives in GGL’s 2015 report.
“Members expect transparency and accountability in the activities undertaken and the financial reporting of our representative industry organisations,” she said.
“Directors are accountable to their members.
“It is unusual for a grains representative organisation to pay its directors.
“Hence, given GGL directors are paid, in the interests of transparency it would be reasonable to print director’s remuneration in the annual report. “
However, in a statement to Fairfax Media, GGL CEO Alicia Garden said the disclosure of executive payments published in the GGL 2015 Annual Report was in line with the Australian Accounting Standard requirements.
“And indeed disclosure provided by other similar grain and agricultural industry entities,” she said.
Incumbent GGL chair Andrew Carberry and former chair John Eastburn are both facing Ms Reardon in the election battle along with three other challengers.
Those candidates include ex-AWB director and Mullaley grower Xavier Martin; Grains Research Foundation director and Yelarbon farmer Damien Scanlan, and NSW farm consultant and Wellington grower Andy Single.
The upcoming election has sparked heightened controversy and interest, after federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce controversially appointed the grain’s industry’s Representative Organisation in July to GGL and arch rivals Grain Producers Australia (GPA).
The decision means the two warring grains’ bodies share legislative oversight of the GRDC and other industry functions which GPA has managed since 2010.
GPA has support from the grains councils of State Farming Organisations on the RO function, while the National Farmers Federation has also established a peak grains policy group that’s sought to develop a unified body, the mechanics of which GGL has not agreed to.
No pay for GPA directors
In contrast to the GGL payments, GPA chair and Victorian grain farmer Andrew Weidemann said his organisation’s directors were paid “zero”.
“The only money that gets paid to a GPA director is their out of pocket accommodation and travel costs, like flights,” he said.
“We’re just volunteer farmers trying to do the job we took on, for the industry.
“At the moment that’s something we’re going to have to address because it’s hard to attract directors without paying any money.
“Our auditor said there’s nothing to report because nothing’s being paid to any of our directors.”
Mr Weidemann said independent GPA directors - former Minerals Council of Australia CEO and Grains Council of Australia boss Mitchell Hooke and Peter Bridgman - were pro-bono.
In the 2015 report, Mr Carberry said over the last three financial years, GGL had “focused heavily on a strategy of providing a united voice for growers in the grains industry”.
He said his group was committed to working with GPA “to drive the best outcomes for all Australian grain growing levy payers”.
“To adequately fulfil our duties as RO, GrainGrowers will be working with other representative bodies and directly with members to perform the required roles in consultation, direction setting and representing members’ views on matters including appropriate use of funds, to the GRDC,” he said.
“GrainGrowers membership is central to everything we do and during the 2015 financial year, our membership grew by a further 133 growers.
“This represents growth of just under 1 per cent and remains encouraging given other representative membership across Australia continues to shrink.”
Ms Gardiner clarified that the actual GGL membership growth was 0.71pc in 2015.
GGL’s website says its board is elected by 18,500-plus members and consists of six growers and two non-grower members.
Ms Garden said an internal GRDC document - obtained by Fairfax Media - which showed GGL received more than $2m from the GRDC from 2011 to 2014 representing 74 per cent of its allocation to industry representative groups – was correct.
In contrast, GPA received about $125,000 in the same time period, or 5pc of about $2.75m paid by GRDC to those groups, including national SFOs.
Ms Garden said during 2014-2015, GGL also received about $237,000 in GRDC funding for research projects.
She said that funding and the $2m from 2011-2014 was secured through “an open, transparent and competitive tender process in which GrainGrowers was deemed as the most-suited tenderer, in terms of skills and capacity, to complete the project/s”.
“GrainGrowers will continue to tender for GRDC projects for which it considers it is well equipped to carry out,” she said.
Ms Garden said GRDC funding received by GGL from 2011-2104 was for various industry projects and programs including; Innovation Generation; The Australian Universities Crops Competition; and the publication What the World Wants From Australian Wheat.
Last week Ms Garden said GGL had about 400 standing proxies on its register and that the idea that they determine an election was "really quite far-fetched".
This week, she said about 2000 votes were tallied each year, in the past five elections, and the current levels of standing proxies are about 400.
“Standing proxies are a legitimate voting mechanism,” she said.
“However GrainGrowers strongly encourages all members to consider the candidates standing and to directly cast their vote based on their evaluation of the merits of each candidate.”