Faced with a field of five candidates containing considerable governance records in farming, corporate law and international business, shareholders prioritised stability and the known skills.
The three unsuccessful candidates were Cathy Quinn, a senior partner in law firm Minter Ellison Rudd Watts, Philipp Haas, a Swiss-NZ dual national with farming interests who leads international manufacturing companies, and Victor Rutherford, a Northland dairy farmer, property developer and multiple director.
In the absence of a strong protest vote after Fonterra’s massive trading losses in the 2018 and 2019 financial years it appears the new recovery path was endorsed and the need for more directorial experience acknowledged.
In an election with five candidates for two positions the two highest-polling are elected without the requirement to achieve 50% approval.
Among the farmer-directors only chairman John Monaghan has had more than four years around the board table and he has signalled a discussion about succession should precede next year’s election cycle, at the end of his fourth term.
“Having seen through the introduction of our new strategy, operating model and with our divestment and debt reduction efforts well progressed I will be working with the board in 2020 to facilitate chair succession,” Monaghan said in September.
“The time line for that succession will be agreed by the board nearer to the time,” he said.
The longest serving independent director, Singapore-based Simon Israel, first appointed in 2013, retired at this year’s annual meeting.
Smit and Macfarlane have had three and two years’ experience respectively.
