WoolProducers president Richard Halliday

PEAK wool grower body WoolProducers Australia has retained South Australian Richard Halliday as its president and elected two new directors.

At its recent annual general meeting, Western Australian grower John Hassell from WA and Jamie Rowe from New South Wales were elected to the board.

Incumbent independent director Steve Harrison, Victoria, remained on the board, but two long standing independent directors, Charlie Merriman and Max Watts, did not re-nominate. New South Wales grower Ed Storey is continuing in the position of senior vice president.

In his president’s report, Mr Halliday cited WoolProducers’ achievements on behalf of woolgrowers during 2016/17.

“The vast array of issues that WoolProducers have worked on during year have achieved many positives for woolgrowers across the country.

“Areas of focus have included national and international representation on areas as diverse as animal welfare, emergency animal disease preparedness, endemic disease surveillance, shearing industry safety and levy expenditure accountability and transparency,” he said.

“Working in the interests of wool growers is at the forefront of everything that WoolProducers does,” Mr Halliday said.

WoolProducers also unveiled its revamped website which has been modernised to better reflect the activities and policies of the organisation.

Mr Halliday acknowledged the contributions of Mr Merriman and Mr Watts.

“Both Charlie and Max have demonstrated enormous commitment to WoolProducers and the wider wool industry.

“During their time as WPA directors, the industry has seen many challenges, which they have assisted WoolProducers in navigating on behalf of growers,” he said.

“Their efforts will be missed going forward.”

Mr Halliday said the skills of Mr Hassell and Mr Rowe complement the existing skills and perspectives on the board, and the organisation looked forward to Mr Harrison’s ongoing commitment and input to WoolProducers Australia.

Source: WPA.