AWI director Emma Weston is resigning.

AUSTRALIAN Wool Innovation needs to fill three board positions at the 2025 election, with director Emma Weston resigning, chairman Jock Laurie retiring and Michelle Humphries seeking re-election.

AWI late last week formally announced the three director positions that will be vacated ahead of this November’s Annual General Meeting.

Mr Laurie is retiring and not seeking re-election in line with the company’s 10-year limit on director terms.

No reason was given for Ms Weston’s resignation. The AgriDigital chief executive officer was elected in 2023 and brought technology transfer skills to the board.

Director Michelle Humphries is seeking re-election as part of the normal cycling of directors who have served six years. The New South Wales veterinarian was elected in 2019 on an AWI-preferred ticket with Wal Merriman and David Webster.

Mr Laurie agreed the AWI board was losing a director of great value in Ms Weston, but could not give a reason for her resignation.

“No I think she has some expertise in the digital space which is very much her forte and I think the stuff the company is doing is only just getting its head around that space, but I think that is agriculture as a whole…

“So she’s been a very good director, she’s in a position that she is very knowledgeable, she challenges the other directors which provides really good debate, which you need to have in a company to come to resolutions,” he said.

Mr Laurie said Ms Weston has tendered her resignation and will finish up at the last board meeting in November “and it will be a loss to the company, I don’t think there is any doubt about that.”

However, Mr Laurie did not think that Ms Weston’s resignation was a reaction to any conservatism of other board directors.

“No, I don’t think so, what you need to do is have people, and there are a lot of other directors that challenge issues, and you need to have that.

“I don’t think you will ever get to a resolution properly unless you can have different views …. and that’s what the board does.

“We encourage all board members to do that and they all do.”

Mr Laurie said he was not concerned about the board potentially losing diversity on the AWI board.

“There have been three women on the AWI board and 65 percent of our staff are female, and certainly through the electoral process there has certainly been an ability to bring a lot very professional women onto the board that have all played a major part in forming us.”

Mr Laurie said the board has had two skilled board members in Georgia Hack and Ms Watson, bringing completely new set of skills to those of wool growers.

“And Michelle Humphries with her scientific and research background has also brought skills that a lot of wool growers don’t possess themselves.”

He didn’t believe anyone on the company would have any issues with the election of more women to the board.

Reflecting on his 10 years on the board, Mr Laurie said his biggest disappointment for him is the current state of the wool industry, despite knowing that a lot of it is due to macroeconomic circumstances and people lacking confidence to get into the market.

“The reduction in (wool) production is a reflection of the market at the moment.

“Growers think they can’t continue carry the costs of the economic circumstances around the world; they need to make profits the same as everybody else does,” he said.