4 questions lodged at 2025 Fonterra hybrid AGM

Q1. How many of us Australian-based shareholders are left since you delisted from the ASX last year? How much have we saved from this move and how many of our Australian-based shareholders have exited the register as a result. Was it worth it?

Answer: The Kiwi dairy farmers who control this undemocratic government protected co-op have issued non-voting stock to non-farmers which is currently worth about $400m, but is no longer listed on the ASX because it only comprised around 4% of issued units. No insight on size of delisting cost saving from chair Mary-Jane Daly and question wrangler failed to ask the "was it worth it?" component. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q2. If this entity was to make a couple of governance normalisation reforms that didn't end the farmer gerrymander but did improve our democratic rights to influence the board, what does the chair believe they would be? How about giving us a non-binding remuneration report vote, like what happens in Australian and many other countries?

Answer: Having asked Fonterra to introduce rem voting last year, broadened the question this year to inquire about other governance reform at the non-voting fund, but the question wrangler Jackie stripped it back just to the rem question again and chair Mary-Jane Daly read a scripted response that repeated last year's lines. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q3. Bega Group is one of our biggest competitors in Australia. At the 2024 Bega AGM, long term executive chair Barry Irwin was asked about his biggest regrets running the listed former mutual for the past 25 years. He said not persuading competitors Murray Goulburn and Fonterra to withdraw late season claw backs to farmer suppliers was his biggest regret because this damaged trust with farmers. What is our response to this analysis by the most respected executive in the Australian dairy industry and what is our current approach to clawbacks?

Answer: Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell responded by saying there was a code of conduct in Australia now that prevented this from happening again. A version of this question was censored last year. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q4. Rather than spending $2 billion-plus on a capital return after the Mainland sale, could Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell and chair Peter McBride comment on whether they considered using part of the brands sale proceeds to buyback and retire this fund?

Answer: Question wrangler Jackie should have read this question out in full, even though a version of it had been asked from the floor in Auckland. Having sold their Mainland business for $NZ4.22b to French dairy giant Lactalis, am puzzled why they'd didn't retire the circa $A700m non-voting fund rather than doing a $NZ2 billion capital return to farmer shareholders. Also asked a version of this question earlier in the meeting when director Carlie Eve was up for re-election but it wasn't asked then either. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

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