Latest news with #Faulks
Otago Daily Times
01-07-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Candidates for Ravensdown board sought
North Otago farmer and Ravensdown board director Kate Faulks is encouraging people to stand in the upcoming director elections. Photo: supplied North Otago farmer Kate Faulks reflects on her path to the Ravensdown board as a call is put out for the upcoming director elections. Mrs Faulks farms 620ha in North Otago with her husband Adam, rearing and finishing 500 dairy-beef and grazing 1400 dairy stock. She is also Ravensdown's most recently elected director. She was elected to the Ravensdown board in September last year, after winning the South Island director election. In a statement, Mrs Faulks said she was intentional in her preparation for a role on the board but being open to opportunities and unrestricted by a prescribed path helped her to achieve her governance goals. "As well as developing my business acumen and governance capability, I spent time talking to other directors and people in the industry. ''For the Ravensdown directorship I did a lot of due diligence that helped me understand if I was going to be aligned to the organisation and made sure I knew if it would be the right role to go for. "Since I've joined the board, my desire to be a part of this organisation has only grown. It's been great to get to know more people across Ravensdown and get an understanding of what it takes to get product to market and on-farm. ''I've enjoyed being able to see what's under the lid and how the machine functions." She is a member of the North Otago Sustainable Land Management Group Steering Board and was the board intern of Port Otago and its subsidiary Chalmers Properties. It helped to establish an interest in governance relatively early in her career. As well as enrolling in industry funded courses, such as the ''To The Core'' programme, being open to opportunities and meeting new people, she was also very specific about tailoring her skillset. "Between raising families, running businesses and meeting off-farm commitments, Kiwi farmers tend to lead full lives, which also means we can be quite time poor. "Through necessity, I've been good at assessing opportunities and have a good drafting gate to help separate the opportunities that would help me achieve my goals. Being time poor gives clarity over priorities and where to direct focus." Juggling commitments requires a certain amount of flexibility and adaptability, but she did not compromise on her values and her purpose. "Governance roles come with a level of risk and a great deal of responsibility, which makes being really clear on why you are doing it so important. "I've come to appreciate that true leadership lies in recognising that prudent risk-taking is essential for organisational growth and resilience. ''It's easier to embrace that sort of opportunity if your values are aligned to the organisation's values and you are supported to ask questions." Although her time on the board so far had gone quite quickly, she was surprised she felt so comfortable being authentic and curious so early in the role. "That's a testament to the culture of the board and leadership team and the individual directors who all encourage me to share ideas and concepts and also challenge them." Her advice for Ravensdown shareholders thinking of standing in the director election: • Even if you do not think you have the full CV, be clear on the skills you do have. Bridge the gap with curiosity, commitment and openness to growth. • Be really clear and intentional — make sure this is the Board you want to be on and our values align with yours. • Treat it like a project. Do your due diligence, get the right team around you. Have a clear plan and break it into manageable pieces. Celebrate the wins, learn from the challenges. Stay focused on the goal. • Authenticity resonates much more than a polished campaign. It is a learning experience and it is in leaning into discomfort that we find both personal and professional growth. • If you are on the fence – step up. Having more people put their hands up signals leadership and intent to shape the industry and regardless of the outcome, you never know what opportunities may open. This year shareholders will have the opportunity to nominate and elect two directors to the board — one in the North Island and one in the South Island. Voting was expected to open late next month. — APL
Sky News AU
15-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
'Simply doesn't make sense': Nation's peak marketing body clashes with South Australia government over policy to ban junk food ads amid obesity crisis
South Australia is set to make an extraordinary move to ban all junk food advertisements from public transportation in a bid to scale back the state's rising obesity figures. The mandatory state policy is expected to kick in from July 1 and will prohibit an array of advertisements per the COAG Health Council's National interim guide to reduce children's exposure to unhealthy food and drink promotion. Businesses will soon be restricted from advertising images of lollies, dried fruits with added sugar, chocolocate, doughnuts, savoury or flavoured crisps, burgers, pizza, nachos, processed meats, kebabs and more. The government is also expected to ban promotions of meat pies and sausage rolls. "Australians are regularly exposed to unhealthy food and drink marketing which can influence nutrition knowledge, food preferences and consumption patterns, especially for children," the South Australia government wrote in a previous statement. "Unhealthy diets continue to be a leading public health risk." However, the nation's peak advertising body has clashed with the state on the drastic policy and has criticised the extensive list of restrictions. The CEO of Australian Association of National Advertisers, Josh Faulks said: "As it stands, this policy bans all processed meats, which means a simple ham salad sandwich can't be advertised.' "This simply doesn't make sense and the government should be making evidence-based decisions, not blanket bans that don't align with nutritional science.' The AANA further highlighted the economic impact the policy could have on businesses and claimed the sweeping changes would make it hard to advertise in South Australia. 'The Tasting Australia event can no longer show images of charcuterie boards or pastries in their advertising," said Faulks. 'Under this policy, businesses that have nothing to do with the food or beverage industry will find advertising in South Australia harder. "We fully support measures that encourage healthy eating, but this policy fails to distinguish between everyday foods and discretionary items, creating confusion and unfairly restricting brands that are doing the right thing from communicating with consumers." In place of the "blanket ban" the AANA is urging the state government to instead adopt the Food Standards Australia New Zealand nutrient profiling scoring criteria to determine which foods should be restricted. According to latest government figures about 63 per cent of adults and 35 per cent of children across South Australia are overweight or obese. The state policy has garnered the support of a number of organisations including Preventative Health SA and the Cancer Council. Health Minister Chris Picton took aim at AANA and accused the peak body of ''scaremongering'' the public. ''These lobbyists want to force the State Government to keep having junk food ads on our own buses amidst an obesity crisis,'' Mr Picton said. 'Advertising of unhealthy food and drinks has long been recognised as having a harmful impact on the diets of children. ''The policy applies to government-owned Adelaide Metro buses, trains and trams. It is not up to advertising industry lobbyists to tell us what can be displayed on our public transport assets.''
West Australian
07-05-2025
- Health
- West Australian
Australian Association of National Advertisers hits out at South Australian ban on unhealthy food and drink ads
Advertisements for ham salad sandwiches will soon be banned from public transportation in South Australia in a fresh push to roll back childhood and adult obesity. The ban, set to come into effect from July 1, prohibits a range of junk food items from being displayed on Adelaide's buses, trains and trams, including processed meats like ham. Chocolate, lollies, confectionary, desserts, ice creams, soft drinks and chips will all be banned from display alongside processed meats, with the measure designed to limit children's exposure to unhealthy food and drink advertising. But the Australian Association of National Advertisers is up in arms about what it calls a 'blanket ban'. 'As it stands, this policy bans all processed meats, which means a simple ham salad sandwich can't be advertised.' AANA CEO Josh Faulks said. 'This simply doesn't make sense and the government should be making evidence-based decisions, not blanket bans that don't align with nutritional science.' The peak body warns charities and businesses could be negatively impacted by the ban. 'The policy bans all advertising showing those banned food or drink items. 'For example, an ad celebrating the anniversary of a children's charity which depicts a child with a birthday cake would be banned,' Mr Faulks said. 'The Tasting Australia event can no longer show images of charcuterie boards or pastries in their advertising. 'Under this policy, businesses that have nothing to do with the food or beverage industry will find advertising in South Australia harder.' The AANA has called for a 'clearer and more practical approach'. NewsWire has written to the AANA for clarity on what that might mean. If the ban comes into effect, the AANA wants the government to adopt what it calls a 'science-based approach' by using nutrient profiling scoring criteria to determine which foods should be restricted. Some 63 per cent of adults and 35 per cent of children across South Australia are overweight or obese, government figures show. Health Minister Chris Picton previously said the ban was a 'sensible step' to a 'healthier South Australia'. 'Food habits and relationships established early in life have a lasting impact on food habits and health outcomes of adults,' he said in January. 'The rising rates of obesity are concerning, which is why we have developed an evidence-based policy to restrict the advertising of unhealthy food and drinks on state government buses and trams. 'This policy recognises that the cumulative exposure of unhealthy food and drink advertising influences a child's food preferences and intake and the associated 'pester power' children use to persuade parents.' Cancer Council SA prevention and advocacy manager Christine Morris said unhealthy food and drink items were also linked to cancer. 'We know that minimising unhealthy food and drink advertising can lead to better health outcomes for everyone,' she said. 'Our research shows that forming the foundations of positive nutrition preferences in children is a big step in overall cancer prevention. 'We heartily welcome this ban as a positive move towards a healthier community.'
