WOOL growers in three states have claimed they had not received their Australian Wool Innovation election voting papers with only days before the 2017 poll closes.
WPA today said some shareholders in Queensland, Victoria and South Australia have not received their voter information packs from AWI.
WPA president Richard Halliday said a number of WPA directors have been contacted by shareholders who have not received their voter information.
“This is unfortunate as shareholders of AWI pay a compulsory tax and should have every opportunity to make their vote count,” he said.
The peak wool grower body is reminding all AWI shareholders who have not yet voted in this year’s director elections that they have until 10am (EDST), Wednesday November 15 2017.
Mr Halliday said if wool growers have not voted in the extremely important election, there is still time to do so electronically.
Shareholders can vote electronically by entering their Shareholder Registration Number (SRN) at Link Market Services www.linkmarketservices.com.au. If they do not have their SRN, WPA is urging them to contact Link Market Services on 1300 554 474.
“In order to vote electronically you must also appoint a proxy, WPA’s recommends that you appoint someone that you trust, which maybe one of the candidates that are running for election.
“WPA also strongly urges growers to ensure that they take the time to direct their proxies as the AWI Chair receives an enormous amount of proxies and does not have to declare where he allocates undirected proxies,” Mr Halliday said.
AWI states that shareholders have the power to direct the company, so it is incumbent on wool growers that if they are not happy with the current operations of AWI to vote for change, WPA said.
Sheep Central has asked AWI some questions about the election voting pack mail-out, but received no response before this report was published. AWI has previously said the date of the mail-out was aimed for early in the week commencing Monday October 23 and it is believed this was completed by October 24.
Make that five – WA
Make that four states – Tasmania.
What is being said here is very disturbing. If stakeholders are not receiving their ballot papers this needs to be watched closely. If they had not arrived within a reasonable time before the election, the election itself \ might be invalidated. Given postal delays these days, timeliness by AWI is essential. It is not for voters to be required to fall back on to electronic voting, which may not suit many.
The statement that when a voter gives a proxy to a chairman with a clear indication how his/her/its votes should be cast, it is not only a breach of trust for such chairman to cast them otherwise; it would amount to corporate fraud which should have consequences.