Proserpine's second Sucrogen vote draws near

 Proserpine’s co-operative sugar mill may be one step closer to being sold. A spokesperson for PCSMA confirmed the notice of meeting (for a second Sucrogen vote) has now been lodged with the registrar and the distribution of paperwork to members is expected to occur within a matter of days.

 Sucrogen’s CEO Ian Glasson will be visiting Proserpine next week, meeting with mill employees and local business owners as well as holding informal face-to-face sessions for PCSMA members at the Proserpine RSL. The sessions will be held from 9am to 11am and again from 2 to 4pm on Monday October 10, giving members the chance to ask any questions they might have about Sucrogen’s offer to buy the Proserpine mill.

 “People don’t need an appointment. They can just walk in off the street. Our offer will give Proserpine members the best outcome, so we’re keen to ensure they have all the facts,” Mr Glasson said.

 PCSMA’s electrical engineering manager Steve Ischenko, who previously worked for Sucrogen (then CSR Sugar), said there would be huge benefits to becoming part of a larger company.

 Mr Ischenko said while it was not his place to dictate how PCSMA members should vote, he thought it was good news when Sucrogen announced its interest in the mill.

 “I thought - this is great. This is just what we need,” he said.

 Mr Ischenko said whatever decision members made, the sooner they did it, the better.

 “It’s important it’s finalised before the maintenance season starts. Once the crushing’s over, we starting dipping into the profits,” he said.

Proserpine Sugar Mill compares bids

 The battle for Proserpine’s sugar mill is far from over, with major players Wilmar-backed Sucrogen and Cofco-backed Tully Sugar, now engaged in what some growers are calling a “two horse race”.

 The PCSMA’s board of directors called a meeting at the Entertainment Centre last Thursday morning to explain the co-operative’s position thus far. Prior to the meeting the board had engaged the services of former Mackay Sugar and QSL chief executive John Pollock to provide an independent assessment of what were then considered to be very different bids.

 Based on Mr Pollock’s advice the PCSMA board continued to recommend Sucrogen, saying theirs was the “superior” offer, but at 4.30am on Thursday, Cofco/Tully Sugar upped the stakes, putting in a revised bid.

 Proserpine’s acting CEO Ian McBean said the board decided to run Thursday’s meeting in spite of the new twists and turns.

 “We decided to take the opportunity to provide members with information on not only why we couldn’t accept the Tully/Cofco offer the first time around, but also to give them some insight into the detail and complexity of this and the fine line the board has to tread,” Mr McBean said.

 Mr McBean says Tully/Cofco’s revised offer means the board must go through a comparison process yet again.

 “We have an asset sale offer for $120 million from Tully/Cofco and we have an asset sale offer for $115 million from Sucrogen, but at the end of the day it’s not about the top dollar value, it’s about the actual return to the members,” he said.

 Under Proserpine’s current contractual obligations, if the Tully/Cofco offer is deemed superior, Sucrogen has five working days in which to decide whether to match the $120 million bid. As the Guardian went to press on Tuesday afternoon, a decision by the board had not yet been made, but Tony Jeppersen, like many of the members who attended Thursday’s meeting, said he looked forward to a reasonably speedy conclusion.

 “The critical thing that all members and parties bidding now seem to appreciate is that the timeline is the most crucial part of this process,” he said.

A Whitsundays conservative kid

He might be just 11 years old but this die hard conservative supporter packs quite a political punch for a sixth grader.

In a handwritten letter to Mike Brunker, which was delivered by his mother to council yesterday morning, this pint sized future politician Adam Edgar explains to the mayor how “extremely upset” he is at the closing of the information centre.

“You see, when we go camping or travelling, the first thing we do is look for the information centre. See, in case you don’t know, that is where people go to find out where to stay … play … and eat!” the letter reads.

Adam’s political passion was brewing some four years ago when the dedicated conservative was just seven years old.

“I cried when John Howard was voted out. I was just so annoyed how the Labor Party promise a better future .. but do they ever deliver?” the 11 year old said minutes before the school bell rang yesterday morning.

Had there been more time, Adam would have launched in to his opinion on the carbon tax, Julia Gillard’s promises for the future and tips for the LNP to take back the government, instead he left it with a message for the LNP candidate for the seat of Whitsunday.

“Make sure our farmers keep the land they have been farming on for generations … don’t let the mill be sold to overseas interests and re-open the information centre!”
 To read Adam's letter, double-click on the graphic below.

Politicians in the Whitsundays

Popular senator Barnaby Joyce is in the Whitsundays this week urging sugar cane growers to keep the mill in Australian hands.

Accompanied by Federal member for Dawson George Christensen and Shadow minister for regional communications, Luke Hartsuyker, the trio called into the Proserpine Sugar Mill before attending a digital TV talk at Dingo Beach on Tuesday night.

For more on this and other Whitsundays news stories, see the March 16 edition of the Whitsunday Coast Guardian, available at Coles (Cannonvale), leading newsagencies, and the Chapman Street office in Proserpine.