Woolgrowers are being urged from all sides to vote in the upcoming Australian Wool Innovation elections, which are being billed as a vital turning point for the divided industry.
Voter kits will be mailed out to shareholders nationally next week in the lead-up to the annual general meeting to be held on November 19 in Perth.
A total of 10 candidates have nominated this year for five vacancies on the AWI board of directors.
AWI chairman, Brian van Rooyen, has urged woolgrower shareholders to "stand up and be counted".
"The new AWI is at an historic crossroad with major challenges including a world economy besieged by uncertainty and the need for AWI to continue to manage the impact of animal rights activism on our fashion retail partners and their customers," he said.
"On the research and development front, we need to drive the progress being made today on alternative methods of flystrike control leading up to the industry's 2010 stop mulesing commitment.
"We have important retail market work underway rebuilding the value of the Woolmark brand around the world.
"We are acting also on measures designed to internally restructure the company to improve on-going productivity and efficiency."
WoolProducers Australia is encouraging growers to vote in favour of all five incumbent "proven directors": Mr van Rooyen, Chris Abell, John Keniry, Ken Boundy and Robyn Clubb.
"In April this year AWI appointed three new specialist directors in accordance with their constitution and Australian corporation’s law. Growers are now being asked to formally endorse these directors," Mr Hamblin said.
Mr Hamblin said on the basis of their skill set and performance since April 2008, WoolProducers urges AWI shareholders to endorse these three new directors and support the two existing AWI directors who are due for re-election.
"We should recognise that this poll is an opportunity to re-endorse the appointment of candidates with the required marketing, financial management and governance skills – so we can all get on with our business.
"We need to put factional, parochial and vested interests behind us. We must stop viewing the AWI director elections as a representative forum for policy debate and focus on creating an independent system that delivers quality directors."
But challenging candidate, David Webster, Dundinin, WA, argues the 2007 out of court settlement between AWI and animal activists is the fundamental reason for the irreparable division in the AWI board and the wool industry.
"The WoolProducers organisation is the political arm of AWI, both being guilty of peddling anti mulesing propaganda by virtue of this divisive out of court settlement," Mr Webster said.
"This out of court settlement has no legal or moral or social obligation over any Australian woolgrower other than those who signed off on the agreement for which they should pay the price for these destructive actions.
"In this regard, WoolProducers and AWI staff and directors have severely conflicted themselves in the mulesing debate by these actions.
"AWI needs to refocus on beneficial objectives urgently, drop the image of voodoo science (dead sheep trials) and voodoo economics (spin doctoring), otherwise levy payers and the industry will continue to diminish very quickly."
Mr Webster is one of five challengers, the others being Laurence Modiano, George Falkiner, Meredith Shiel, and Will Roberts.
Regardless of which way growers vote, Mr van Rooyen has called on all shareholders to use their vote in the up-coming election.
"In recent years, we have had a shareholder turnout of around 20-30pc for AGM votes. This compares poorly with the 50pc plus showing in the WoolPoll levy vote held every three years," he said.
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