Ross Townshend resigned as Tatua director after it was brought to the company’s attention that he shared a social media post, which did not align with the company’s culture and values.
Ross Townshend has quit as a director of Waikato dairy company Tatua over an “inappropriate” social media post.
Tatua chair Stephen Allen said Townshend had stood down from the board with immediate effect.
“On Monday evening, it was brought to my attention that Townshend had posted highly inappropriate messaging on social media in relation to a minister of Parliament,” Allen said.
That minister was Local Government and Foreign Affairs Minister Nania Mahuta.
“Townshend’s personal views and the way he chose to express them are incompatible with Tatua’s culture and values. Therefore, his actions left me with no other course of action than to accept his resignation on behalf of the Tatua board of directors,” he said.
Allen also confirmed that he will be contacting the minister’s office to provide an explanation and personal apology.
“Over the 25 years that I have been involved as a director of Tatua, including 18 years as chairman, the company has had mutually respectful and warm relationships with ministers and government officials of all parties,” he said.
“We also have incredibly good and long-standing relationships with our community, including local iwi. An incident of such offensive disrespect is simply not who we are.”
