An Extraordinary General Meeting of members has been called

The brief, virtual meeting will be held in October and all current Voting Members of Hort Innovation are encouraged to take part.

What’s happening?

An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of Hort Innovation members has been called and will be held virtually on Friday 9 October 2020 at 1pm AEDST.

This meeting is taking place ahead of, and is separate to, the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in November. More on the AGM can be found at www.horticulture.com.au/agm-2020.

Why has the meeting been called?

A request for the EGM was made by Hort Innovation member Perfection Fresh, in order for voting members to consider potential changes to the Hort Innovation Constitution. These changes relate to the process of electing and appointing Directors to the Hort Innovation Board, and to the total service period of Directors.

A replacement Constitution will be put before voting members. If passed at the EGM, the changes would mean that:

• All new Directors would be elected to the Board by voting members of the company, where currently there is a mix of Directors elected by members and those appointed by sitting Directors (the exception would be the appointment of Directors by the Board to cover casual vacancies for one year or less).
  
  
• New elected Directors would have a maximum service period of two consecutive terms of three years, where currently Directors can serve three consecutive terms of three years.
  
  

How can I take part?

The EGM is for Hort Innovation members only. All members are welcome to join, however only members with current voting entitlements will be able to vote.

All members of the company will receive a formal notice of the EGM in September, via email and post. This will include details of their voting entitlement for the meeting, and instructions on how to participate.

Please note that new voting entitlements are currently being calculated ahead of the 2020 AGM – to be used for that meeting and onwards for the year – as part of this year’s Annual Levy Returns process.

On the day of the EGM:

Please see your formal notice of meeting for full details, but in brief, on the day:

• Members can join the EGM online at https://agmlive.link/HortEGM20
• Members can also participate by phone on 1800 572 288.

Members should refer to their EGM correspondence for details on the specific information needed to join via these channels.

Ahead of time:

Voting members can lodge their vote online ahead of the meeting, prior to 7 October at 1pm AEDST, using the instructions found in the formal notice of meeting.

Alternatively, voting members can appoint a proxy – which must be done by 7 October at 1pm AEDST – to participate in the virtual meeting and vote on their behalf on the day of the EGM.

Questions?

If you have questions about your voting entitlement, member number or unique member PIN, please refer to your notice of EGM (sent to you via email and post in September), or contact Link Market Services on 1800 660 083.

If you have other questions regarding the EGM, contact Hort Innovation’s Company Secretary, Matt Waring, at companysecretary@horticulture.com.au or on 02 8295 2334.