In The Age of 10 February 2006, for example, Corporate Governance International (CGI) is quoted arguing that with the AWB grain growers had all the power but investor-owners had no control.
CGI Director Sandy Easterbrook is quoted as saying that a privatised AWB was a Frankenstein loose on the stock exchange - a disaster waiting to happen.
Apart from the fictional truth that Frankenstein was the creator of the Monster he let loose, there is the real dilemma of the AWB having two classes of shareholders:
- A-class shareholders: grain growers who elect a majority of the AWB board.
- B-class shareholders: the owners who elect two of 11 directors.
The problem, however, is not grain grower control of the AWB. It is the separation of control from ownership. Instead of the CGI solution of taking control from grain growers, grain growers could have boith ownership and control and this could be achieved by restructuring the AWB as a co-operative.
