In the latest installment of the dramas surrounding efforts to get a new body up and running to represent the grassfed cattle producer, a legal challenge to the way the process has unfolded has been declared.
Members of the current peak body Cattle Council of Australia last week voted to move ahead with the establishment of Cattle Australia.
The affair has attracted plenty of controversy this year and now Queensland law firm Creevey Horrell Lawyers has announced it will be preparing a legal challenge.
Paul Wright and Cameron McIntyre, representing Cattle Producers Australia Limited, have instructed Creevey Horrell Lawyers to lead the legal challenge.
The legal action will aim to halt the process of establishing a new body, which is being led by Cattle Council.
However, Cattle Council president Lloyd Hick said his organisation was yet to receive any correspondence from Creevey Horrell Lawyers.
"We remain committed to a constructive relationship with all parts of the industry and it is disappointing to have received this legal threat through the press," Mr Hick said.
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NSW Farmers, which voted against forming Cattle Australia, has also flagged legal action as one of several options it may take.
President Xavier Martin said the association would hold several meetings this week before deciding on the best path forward.
Meanwhile, Cattle Council has shot down criticisms around how many producers actually took part in the yes vote.
Mr Hick said the constitution was not just passed with a vote of direct members. It also required a 75 per cent majority vote of State Farming Organisations, who represent thousands of grassfed cattle producers, he said.
"The constitution was also supported by the Northern Pastoral Group who represent 10pc of beef production in Australia," Mr Hick said.
"Cattle Council engaged producers in many ways to encourage turnout, including traditional newspaper and online advertising.
"Low individual turnout is seen in annual general meetings right across the industry and illustrates why it is so important to have a new, democratic model that producers can genuinely engage with."
As the prescribed representative of the Australian grassfed cattle industry, recognised in statutes by governments for 43 years, Cattle Council said it had a duty to undertake the process.
It says Cattle Australia will have a new constitution, and therefor cannot, in any legal term, be considered a 'rebrand'.
