Candidates For Fonterra Elections Announced

For Immediate Release Thursday 18 March 2004

Candidates For Fonterra Elections Announced

Four candidates, including the three sitting directors, will contest the 2004 Fonterra Board of Directors election.

Chairman Henry van der Heyden, Mark Townshend and Murray Flett are the sitting directors with Malcolm Bailey the fourth candidate. Each year, a third of the directors elected by the shareholders must retire by rotation. Returning Officer Warwick Lampp says voting for the Board is on the usual basis of milksolids production. Shareholders will receive one ballot paper per farm and have one vote for every 1,000 kg of milksolids. In allocating votes, production is rounded down to the nearest 1,000 kg. There is no cap on votes.

Mr Lampp also confirmed there would be elections in six wards for the Fonterra's Shareholders' Council. Shareholders in these wards will receive two votes (voting papers) per farm for the Shareholders' Council election. The six wards are:

Ward Vacancies Candidates

6 Te Awamutu 2 Kevin Ferris
Gillian Fullerton-Smith
Greg Glover

8 Rotorua 1 Campbell Shearer
Chris Sutton

9 Bay of Plenty 2 Ann Burt
Patricia Pamment
Brian Power
Gerard van Beek

16 Central Taranaki 2 Chris Condon
Murray Cross
Bill Gribble
Roger Hignett
Mark Masters

18 Manawatu 2 Ian Hopkins
Greg Maughan
Grant Rowan

24 Otago/Northern Central Southland 2 Ad Bekkers
Mike Elliot
Russell Falconer

In five other wards, there were the same number of nominees as vacancies for the Shareholders' Council. In those wards, Fonterra's Chairman will declare the nominees elected as councillors once some formalities have been completed.

The councillors-elect are:

Ward 3 - Southern Northland Auckland
Simon Couper
Allan McCracken

Ward 10 - South Waikato
Philip White

Ward 12 - Te Aroha
Stephen Silcock
Michael Spaans

Ward 15 - Coastal Taranaki
Barbara Kuriger
John Washer

Ward 21 - Tasman/Marlborough
Rod O'Bernie

Simon Couper and Philip White are new councillors. The others are sitting councillors who sought re-election when their wards were selected for election by rotation. Under the Council by-laws a third of councillors must retire every year by rotation.

The two elections will run concurrently and the Single Transferable Vote (STV) voting system will be used for both. Voting will run from 14 April to 12 May and results will be finalised and appointments made by 31 May.

Voting packs including voting papers and a video of the Board candidates will be sent to shareholders on 14 April. A series of candidate meetings will also be held to enable Fonterra shareholders to meet and question Board candidates face-to-face.

END

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