Six candidates are contesting two member directorships of rural insurance co-operative FMG in the lead-up to its annual general meeting in Napier and online on Friday, August 26.
Sitting director Sarah von Dadelszen is standing for re-election in one of the seats. The second vacancy is a result of Tatua Co-operative chair Steve Allen standing down from FMG after five years.
First elected in 2020, Von Dadelszen is also on the Ballance board and that of Centralines, and was formerly on AGMARDT, CHB Consumer Power Trust, the NZ Beef Council, NZ Young Farmers and the Fonterra Shareholders’ Council.
The five new candidates, listed alphabetically, are Gray Baldwin, Conor English, Simon Hopcroft, Paula Kearns and Kylie Leonard.
Baldwin is a dairy and cropping farmer in South Waikato, presently a director of LIC, Farmlands and Trinity Lands and a former director of Ballance. His governance experience in farming co-operatives goes back to 2009.
English is the former chief executive of Federated Farmers, an independent adviser to the Reserve Bank, executive chair of Fiber Fresh farming enterprise and a director of private and listed companies and a state-owned enterprise.
Hopcroft is a multi-farm dairy owner in Southland, former Young Farmer of the Year and former Fonterra co-operative councillor. He has a BCom (Ag) from Lincoln University and has undertaken courses on co-operative governance run by Fonterra and Farmlands.
Kearns is a chartered accountant and Northland avocado grower, a director of Landcorp Farming and the Mt Wellington Trust Hotels, and a trustee and chair of the Northland Events Centre and of Mahitahi Hauora, a Northland primary health entity.
Leonard is a dairy farmer from Central Plateau, a member of the Fonterra Co-operative Council, director of Vetora, councillor of Taupō Council and a trustee of Hillary Outdoors. She too has been through the Fonterra and Farmlands governance programmes.
The FMG board provides guidance to members of the co-operative, after advice from an external consultant, to deem which candidates are “most suitable” for the role of director.
The overriding criteria come from insurance industry legislation and the Reserve Bank, and include “governance experience with a medium-large size commercial organisation or equivalent board, or has held a senior leadership role in a commercial environment”.
Other criteria include an understanding of and belief in the principles of mutuality, the core purpose, vision and values of FMG and connectedness to the rural sector.
Von Dadelszen, Hopcroft and Kearns were assessed most suitable.
Candidates will speak at the AGM and voting closes afterwards.
Other resolutions include setting remuneration for the board chair and directors and the ratification of the special director re-appointment of Sinead Horgan, a chartered accountant.
