Winemaker Geoff Weaver has weighed into the debate about the makeup of the new Wine Australia Board.
The comments by Jane Thomson regarding the new Wine Australia Board in The Week That Was do not ring true for me.
A Board is not a body for professional Board sitters who have completed a course.
It is a place for those with real interest and commitment to the company/business and who possess the requisite skills to govern and strategically direct that body.
Notwithstanding the individual qualifications of those appointed to the newly appointed Board, I believe there is a gaping hole still present.
The shortcoming is ‘skin in the game’.
People with demonstrated commitment to wine and its future.
If ever there was an example of this is the previous Wine Australia Board who, in my mind reprehensively, have defunded the AWRI to the point of non-viability.
People who understand our industry would never have let this happen.
The AWRI is vital to wine in Australia.
I can only hope the new Board remedy this shortcoming by getting out of their comfortable boardroom and learn about the concerns of those in the heat and dust of the current battles and protect what is important.
And in future those charged with selecting the Board do not leave a hole in the range of skills and experience as I believe we have now.
– Geoff Weaver
Meanwhile another winemaker, Peter Dawson, has also written to The Week That Was about the issue…
The contribution from Jane Thomson OAM in last week’s TWTW clearly explains how the Wine Australia Board happens to be made up of six members of which, only one, is an active participant in the grape and wine sector.
A reasonable expectation of the Wine Australia Board is that it is capable of making informed decisions that best enable the wine industry to capitalise on its competitive advantages and effectively manage its challenges.
To this end, hands-on, boots-on-the ground experience in managing vineyards, understanding wine quality, production efficiency, sustainability and streetwise knowledge of the factors and conditions that are shaping the global wine market, are surely more critical skills than a knowledge of Board governance gained in a five day course with AICD or time spent on high level boards in industries that do not share the unique challenges of the wine industry.
It would be a sad thing if we were turning our backs on our brightest minds, our innovators and successful business people just because they have not ticked all of the boxes.
A lack of industry representation on the Wine Australia Board not only detracts from effective industry engagement but it deters some of our better thinkers from putting their names forward.
A balance of skill sets is required and on this occasion those charged with selecting a new Wine Australia Board, including Jane Thomson OAM, have failed.
– Peter Dawson
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