Two vacancies were filled at Dairy Australia’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday, 24 November 2006. John Doyle and Kelvin Jackson were elected to the Dairy Australia Board after a strongly contested selection and election process. 

Mr Doyle has been a director of Dairy Australia since July 2003 and has a strong commercial background with specific skills in strategic management, business planning, marketing, finance and corporate governance.

Mr Jackson is a Victorian dairy farmer from Welshpool in Gippsland and Deputy Chairman of Bonlac Supply Company. He has managed his own farm since 1981 and also runs an agricultural contracting business.

A third candidate, Ian Carkeek was unsuccessful. Dairy Australia hopes that Mr Carkeek will continue to engage with its Board and staff over those issues that he believes are important to dairy farmers.

Nomination process 

Interested people were able to apply to the Industry Selection Committee for the vacancies, and Group A members were able to nominate someone who they felt would contribute positively to the Australian dairy industry.

The industry selection committee, comprising representatives of Australian Dairy Farmers and the Australian Dairy Products Federation, received 76 applications. The committee comprises four representatives from Dairy Australia’s Group B members (Australian Dairy Farmers and the Australian Dairy Products Federation) and a representative, who chairs the committee, from Dairy Australia’s Board. The committee recommends candidates based on the skills they would bring to the Board, which needs an appropriate mix of skills to carry out the aims of Dairy Australia.