Real Test for Fonterra is Ahead
Wednesday 21 Aug 2002 Gerry Eckhoff Press Releases -- Rural
The surprise early resignation of John Roadley as chairman of Fonterra will no doubt elicit a collective sigh of relief
from suppliers that Westland and Tatua remain outside the giant co-operative, ACT Agriculture Spokesman Gerry Eckhoff
said today.
"Farmers will be relieved that they have Westland and Tatua available as benchmarks, to determine the Fonterra board's
performance.
"The problems experienced by Fonterra since its inception are - hopefully - just teething trouble. However, farmers
expected Fonterra to hit the ground running.
"The rapid expansion of the dairy industry, especially in the South Island, will bring its own problems, which the
industry must overcome quickly.
"Dairy farmers have placed enormous faith in Fonterra's capacity to meet their expectations of financial performance.
The next year will determine whether or not that faith is well-founded," Mr Eckhoff said.
For more information visit ACT online at http://www.act.org.nz or contact the ACT Parliamentary Office at
act@parliament.govt.nz.