MLA and Cattle Council directors have continually obstructed any progress for transparency and accountability.

Hamish Munro and Nick Keatinge from the CCA attempted to block this motion — one wonders what they are wishing to hide.

MLA has spent more than $500 million on R & D but has never produced any description of the projects, or published any results — we should have a right to know which private companies receive our money and the amount.

NSW Farmers’ cattle committee chairman Richard Chamen’s comments the MLA is a company of the highest integrity are inconsistent with the ABA’s experiences.

Managing director David Palmer has continually refused to release the findings of the $81,000 Ernst and Young Report into the FarmOnline poll rort.

Without any formal benchmarking on the effectiveness of MLA lifting producers’ returns, we need to compare with other countries.

The Irish Farm Journal recently ranked Australia last out of Italy, the UK, the US and Brazil for prices farmers received for their cattle.

The US has no NLIS, no LPA and pays a $1 per head levy, but receive prices 30 to 40 per cent above our prices and retain 44 per cent of their consumer dollar, compared with our 25 per cent.

This year the Australian Beef Association will be putting formal motions at the MLA AGM in November, in an effort to bring reform to the company.

I encourage all levy payers to register for their full voting entitlements.

We need to act, otherwise regulations and our cost of production will continue to rise and our profitability fall.

— BRAD BELLINGER,

chairman Australian Beef Association