No WA farmer among three nominees for Dairy Australia board

Dairy Australia has confirmed the names of the three hand-picked nominees ahead of its annual general meeting, scheduled for November.

There are no WA farmers among this year’s recommended nominees, with two producers from Queensland and Western Victoria and the deputy chair of Australia’s biggest grains research organisation expected to join the eight-person board.

Dairy Australia announced last week there were just three nominees for the three vacancies on the board this year, which came about due to the expiry of three serving directors’ board terms.

The three vacant roles include one agribusiness and two milk producer positions.

Queensland farmer Paul Roderick and incumbent Western Victoria farmer Tania Luckin have nominated for the milk producer positions.

Grains Research Development Corporation deputy chair Roseanne Healy has put herself forward to fill the third director position for a second term after joining the board in 2018.

Mr Roderick, a first-time candidate, has operated his family farm at Harrisville for 27 years and is the chair of Dairy Australia’s Subtropical Dairy regional development program.

Mr Roderick hopes to replace South Gippsland farmer Graeme Nicoll.

Mr Nicoll will step down at the AGM on August 31 after the expiry of his second three-year term.

Ms Luckin has put her hat in the ring for a second term after joining the board in 2017.

She has operated dairy enterprises for the past 23 years and runs a family dairy farm at Heywood in South West Victoria.

Ms Healy is a former director at AgriFutures Australia and is a also a director at Airborne Research Australia Limited and Food Manufacturing and Services.