Australian growers have accused peak industry body Citrus Australia of misusing levy-payer funds for its own projects and daily operations, rather than the research and development for which it was allocated, the Weekly Times Now reports.
Complaints were put forward at a Senate inquiry in Mildura at the beginning of July, where growers stated that the industry body was out of touch with their needs and had lost sight of its responsibilities.
More seriously, claims were put forward that Citrus Australia was exploiting its dominance on the independent Citrus Advisory Committee to take control of 90 per cent of Horticulture Australia Limited funds, allocated for research and development projects.
As a result, money was not available for state or university research agencies, limiting the prospects for strategic research for the industry.
Vince DeMaria, chairman of the Sunraysia Citrus Growers (SCG), applauded the senate review and said his organisation was worried about the integrity and independence of the Citrus Advisory Committee, particularly the allocation of research and developments.
'Our concerns are shared by many growers in other states as evidenced by the large number of submissions and the views expressed at the Senate hearings,' he added.
The SCG was among the organizations and individuals who lodged a submission to the Senate inquiry.
Citrus Australia chief executive officer Judith Damiani expressed the peak industry body’s commitment to improving relationships with unhappy growers.
'We're also continuing to work on the industry priorities such as export market access, biosecurity, cost reduction and better juice labelling with government,' she said.
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