Moller, a former New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive and New Zealand Cricket chairman who has a career background in the dairy industry, is chairman of an independent expert panel supporting Fonterra’s effort to shepherd through a governance reform proposal in the face of opposition from farmer-owners.
For some shareholders of the co-operative, the thorniest part of the proposal is the recommendation that New Zealand’s biggest company drop its system of direct, or single transferable voting, for farmer-directors.
It would be replaced with a system where all director candidates – farmer and appointed – are nominated and selected out of the public eye and then presented, after board and farmer council input to farmer-shareholders for a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote.
Farmer critics say this public company appointment system risks diluting their voting rights and control in a co-operative in which they have multi-millions of capital invested.
But Moller said the proposed change is designed to get the «best possible people» for the Fonterra board.
«The difficulty with the current CAP (candidate assessment panel) process which I have been part of, is that it’s all very public. As a consequence that gets politicised, and furthermore a lot of good candidates in my view are not prepared to put a hand up to be a board member of Fonterra.
«I’ve seen… (in rugby and cricket).. these processes play out in exactly the same manner that I think Fonterra struggles with at the current time – the best people either not putting their hand up or if they do, not necessarily being elected.
«At New Zealand Cricket we made a change to the whole process which is virtually identical (to this) – it has a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote to it in terms of board members and I can tell you it significantly increased the quantity and quality of candidates prepared to put hands up to be considered for that board, with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote at the end.»
Moller said sporting bodies were co-operatives.
To the suggestion that sporting code director voters did not have millions of dollars invested in a company or «skin in the game», Moller said they had plenty invested.
«Boy, I can tell you people in rugby and cricket are as passionate, if not more passionate.»
Moller said they might not have money invested «but they have their whole life in it, as farmers do».
«Not everything in the world is measured by money. It’s measured by motivation of what individuals are dedicated to spending time on, as well as money. So I think the parallels are still very similar.»
Moller noted New Zealand had just voted on its flag – which he said was a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote.
«It was a very similar process. Most referenda are ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote. And there is no difference to this. So it is not undemocratic as I have heard people say, and it’s not anti-co-operative as I have heard some people say. I think it is simply getting a process to try to get the best possible people to be on that board.»
Moller said having sat on Fonterra’s current CAP process panel, «it is not working well».
«And it is certainly not, in my view, getting the right quality of candidates through that process because (a) they’re not opting in, and then even if they do opt in, then not always the right decision is made.»
Moller is chairman of SkyCity and Meridian energy companies and a director of Westpac NZ.
Source: Stuff