WITH just over two weeks until the Special General Meeting to remove Trevor Badger from the CBH Group board, the bust-up between the director and the co-operative is well and truly underway.
Late last week, all CBH members started to receive an eight-page letter from Mr Badger in which he rebukes every single one of the allegations CBH had made against him.
Just a day later, CBH released a statement from chairman Simon Stead, while on Sunday, the co-op sent an email to growers, both were in direct response to Mr Badger's letter.
In his letter, Mr Badger maintained that at no point has he ever breached his confidentiality obligations.
"The claim is petty retribution for me holding my fellow directors and the CEO to account," the letter said.
"I have been a hardworking and diligent director for over 14 years, always put the growers first.
"The board, in this time, has entrusted me (and still do notwithstanding their present action) to handle some of the biggest issues at CBH which I have done successfully."
Mr Badger goes on to discuss the process of the Governance Committee which was convened to investigate him, address each point of CBH's explanatory notes of his alleged crimes and lastly detail the co-operatives apparently disastrous financial situation.
In the email sent to members by CBH on Sunday, Mr Stead said CBH has no intention of engaging in ongoing public debate on the resolution.
"It is however incumbent on your board to correct the material inaccuracies and misrepresentations contained in Trevor's letter, not only to alleviate concerns they may generate, but also to ensure members are voting with accurate information and are able to make a properly informed judgment on the resolution," the email said.
"The content of Trevor's letter provides several more examples of the type of behaviour that drove the board to seek his removal as a director.
"Trevor further breaches his obligations of confidentiality by disclosing commercial and strategic matters in his letter."
Towards the end of his letter, Mr Badger wrote that the timing, location and ability of members to interact in the Special General Meeting is to their inconvenience.
"The short time between calling and holding this meeting may actually be illegal and contrary to 206(A)2 of the Co-operatives Act 2009 that stipulates two months' notice to hold a meeting," the letter said.
"I urge you to instruct the chairman of this meeting to allocate your proxy vote against the resolution.
"Do not allocate the chairman an open proxy, alternatively, feel free to give me your proxy (if you do so please provide me with a copy)."
In his response, Mr Stead said he was seeking the members' support to draw a line in the sand and move forward - to clear the way for the hard work of CBH members, employees and directors to deliver a co-operative that you can be proud of.
"Your directors are seeking to achieve a cohesive, trusting and professionally functioning board for the benefit of the co-operative and members," the email said.
"The future of the co-operative and its leadership is a significant decision which rests in your hands."
The Special General Meeting will be held via video conference on Friday, May 15, with growers needing to vote by submitting their proxies by the current proxy deadline of 10am on May 13.
