A legal challenge has delayed a key election that was set to take place at a Victorian dairy conference being held this week.
Key points:
- Ian Morris claims the VFF made moves to terminate his membership
- The VFF has declined to comment, but says members will be updated at the conference
- It’s not the only membership dispute before the courts
The case, which is before the Supreme Court of Victoria, means dairy farmers won’t be able to vote for a president for the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria (the dairy arm of the Victorian Farmers Federation) tomorrow.
The case has been brought by Ian Morris, who had nominated as a candidate in the election for the president’s job.
Mr Morris is a dairy farmer from Cobden who was a member of the VFF Corangamite branch.
He was standing for the position of president of the dairy commodity group when the VFF made moves to terminate his membership.
In court documents filed on April 6, Mr Morris claimed the VFF moved to terminate his membership erroneously.
He claimed that decision was tainted by apprehended bias, that the VFF board failed to listen to information that he wanted to bring to its attention, and that the decision lacked procedural fairness under the VFF constitution.
At a hearing on April 13 Justice Keogh ordered the VFF not to take any further steps regarding the election of a president and not to make any announcement about the appointment of a president before May 26, when the matter will next be heard in court.
The VFF has until tomorrow – the same day as the UDV conference – to serve the court any material in response to Mr Morris’s claims.
VFF president Emma Germano had originally been named as a defendant in the case, but her name has since been removed.
In a statement, the VFF said it would not comment because the matter was before the court.
It said members would be updated with more information at tomorrow’s annual meeting and conference.
It is not the only court case regarding membership at the farm lobby organisation.
The ABC is aware of another case before the courts, brought by Bruce Vallance against the VFF for terminating his membership.
The VFF, the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria and Mr Morris have all declined the ABC’s request for an interview.