Fonterra chairman John Wilson has hit back at attempts by former directors to trim the size of the board at next month's annual meeting.
The former directors, Colin Armer and Greg Gent, said yesterday they had put forward a notice of proposal to cut Fonterra's number of directors to nine from the current 13 in a bid to lift the co-operative's performance and improve its governance.
Wilson, in a statement, said bringing a special resolution to an annual meeting on such a critical matter as governance and representation was "not the way our co-operative operates".
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He said the board and Shareholders' Council were already working together to develop a discussion document on representation and the size of the board to put before shareholders early next year, with a view to a special shareholders meeting mid-way through the year.