The Victorian Farmers Federation board has again rejected calls for an extraordinary general meeting, to oust the president and vice president.
In a communique to members, the board described the request as "defective".
"The request proposes that the members can remove the president and vice-president and install a new president and vice-president without holding an election," the board told members.
"This is contrary to the constitutionally enshrined democratic election process under the federation's constitution."
It's the latest twist in a push to replace the president and vice-president, mounted by a group of disaffected members.
The first push to oust elected leaders and the board, led by former Grains Group presidents, began in late June.
In late July, at the VFF's annual conference, three directors resigned.
In early August, the disaffected group of members announced they were now only pushing for the removal of Ms Germano and vice president Danyel Cuccinotta, rather than the entire board and executive.
That was followed by calls from commodity group presidents for a halt to planned controversial changes to the organisation's constitution.
In the communique, the board said there was "no method" in the constitution to appoint Paul Weller and Georgina Gubbins as president and vice-president.
"Such roles are elected positions under the constitution," the communique said.
"Further, there is no provision to appoint a general director to the board outside of the roles set out in Rule 10.1.1 of the constitution.
"In the event of a vacancy in either of the roles of president or vice-president, the constitution provides, under Rule 10.8.4 for the board to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the relevant term."
The Board noted it was the second defective call for an EGM, since July 2023.
"The previous request was invalid, unconstitutional and would have put the Federation in immediate breach of the Corporations Act 2001," board members said.
The Board said it believed certain members disagreed on the "prudent and difficult" decisions being made, including retiring debt by selling the Credit Suisse managed securities portfolio, limiting unnecessary organisational spending and insisting upon financial accountability; and consulting on potential constitutional reform.
"After months of distractions and considerable resource allocations on these invalid EGM requests, the VFF is looking forward to continuing the renewal of the organisation to ensure it's placed to best meet the needs of you our members into the future," the communique said.
But the leaders of the dissatisfied group say they'll be taking further legal advice on the decision to reject the EGM.
Former VFF Grains Group president presidents, Brett Hosking, Andrew Weidemann and Ashley Fraser vowed to continue their fight.
Mr Weidemann said they would try and discuss the latest rebuttal with as many members as they could.
"It's not just grains members, there are dairy, horticulture, chicken meat and livestock members who have all been caught up in this process as well," Mr Weidemann said.
"We will firstly talk out our legal counsel and take that advice to the members and discuss the next course of action with them.
"We will look at all other options, that we can."
The group had more than 300 signatures on a petition calling for the EGM.
Mr Weidemann said there were a lot of disappointed members, who had signed up to legally sound resolutions to call for the meeting.
"The VFF's determination is really grasping at straws and it's not even stated that it has been determined on legal advice," he said.
"I think it's pretty narrow grounds - part of the disappointment around the current leadership team is the way they have chosen when to use, and not use, the constitution to suit their own ends."
Other groups, including dairy, had also expressed dissatisfaction.
"The conversation will be around where does the VFF fit in the overall advocacy space, that we are involved in, particularly in grains?" he said.
Sponsors had also been calling, talking about withdrawing their support for the VFF, he said.
"There are a lot more than just members, affected by the decisions by the current directors," he said.
Me Weidemann said over the past two or three months, the board had made decisions that had an impact on the grains industry and members.
"That is a consideration now, in taking up further legal action - there are verified things in place, such as the levy collection, which is to be used for the purpose of the grains members of Victoria," he said.
"We want advocacy in the grains space, here in Victoria
"At the moment our Grains Council has been hamstrung, by the inability for it to function without having key staff members developing policy."
Andrew Miller
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
