'Backflip' foils MIE members

The chance for a unified meat industry has been carved up, says Dave McGaveston.

Meat Industry Excellence (MIE) has blamed "patch protection", farmer apathy and a rural media campaign against it for a decision to go into recess.

"It has been disheartening that meat co-operative directors, Beef + Lamb NZ, Federated Farmers, Government and the organisations farmers trust to show leadership and direction have fought to stifle all MIE's efforts to create a bright future for NZ meat farmers," MIE chairman Dave McGaveston said in a statement announcing the organisation was halting its campaign to improve meat returns.

Beef + Lamb NZ allocated $220,000 for MIE to produce its Pathways to Long Term Sustainability Report, exposing serious inefficiencies and identifying opportunities from procurement and processing.

MEI promoted the election of directors on to the Silver Fern Farms and Alliance co-operative boards with the expectation they would support MIE objectives of keeping meat processing in NZ farmers' hands.

Mr McGaveston said farmers invested in the Pathways report and should have expected to have their investment enhanced by embracing the opportunities identified.

"Sadly the anti-reform campaign prevailed, not just within farmers' very own elected organisation, Beef + Lamb NZ, but across the underbelly of vested interest groups that dominate the sector," he said.

"This was the very essence of why MIE attempted to get the processing directors sitting on the Beef + LambNZ board thrown off.

Having the 'fox in the hen house' is a recipe for disaster and yet unbelievably, this situation prevails.

"Furthermore, a large percentage of MIE-endorsed directors reneged on all their core values and pre-election promises and with no apparent conscience, did a total backflip betraying the very people who put them there."

Questioning what made farmer-elected directors spurn the principles that made them farmers in the first place, Mr McGaveston suggested they were captured by the "glam", the boardrooms and the business class airfares, with the $60-$70,000 they received for attending a dozen meetings a year "like pennies from heaven".

Passing control of New Zealand's processing/exporting sector to foreign interests would in the long term be an unmitigated disaster for NZ red meat farmers, he predicted.

"Finally, as the sun sets on MIE, we wish to thank the many who supported our campaign and can assure you all, if farmer attitudes should change, we have the knowledge, strategy and desire to lift our industry out of the current downward spiral," Mr McGaveston said.

A Northland member of the MIE executive, Bob Steed, of Tangiteroria, said the directors which MIE had backed for election to meat co-operative boards had never come back to explain why they had changed to an anti-MIE stance.

He considered those directors - particularly a Silver Fern Farms trio who had supported their co-operative's partnership with Shanghai Maling - owed MIE an explanation.