THE future of the assets and managed investment schemes (MIS) of failed agricultural projects manager Great Southern group is now in the hands of the receiver.

Creditors voted today to wind up most of the 35 companies within the group.

A vote on winding up some of the companies within the group was deferred until December because there was no quorum of creditors to those companies present.

Creditors to the Great Southern group met in Melbourne to consider a recommendation from administrator Martin Jones of Ferrier Hodgson that the companies be wound up and placed into liquidation.

Mr Jones said each of the companies within the Great Southern group was insolvent and that there had been no acceptable proposal to continue to operate the group.

Debt-laden Great Southern went into administration on May 16, and on May 18 McGrathNicol was appointed receiver. The administrator's powers are subject to the powers of the receiver.

More than 200 people attended today's four-hour second meeting of creditors - including creditors, investor-growers and observers - who, with proxies, represented 1,025 creditors.

Mr Jones said that although the companies within the Great Southern group might be wound up, the actual agricultural projects might still be viable.

He said the responsible entity for those projects, Great Southern Managers Australia Ltd (GSMAL), just did not have the money to run them.

Mr Jones said he had not yet received most of the viability assessments being conducted by the receiver on the projects.

But he said that some projects mighjt be under "agricultural distress''.

Mr Jones said the receivers of Great Southern were in control of the daily operations and assets of Great Southern.

He said that as liquidator he would not be able to intervene in the sale of the Great Southern assets should the receivers, who were appointed by Great Southern's banks, move to realise the assets in order to recover debts.

The changeover from administrator to liquidator did not take away control of the assets from the receivers.

Mr Jones said he could not advise on what return creditors or investor-growers to Great Southern might receive from a sale of assets or how the proceeds may be divided.

One creditor said Great Southern's banks merely wanted to sell Great Southern's land and "didn't give a continental'' about anyone else.

Therefore, the meeting of creditors today was a waste of time because the banks were in total control.

Mr Jones said the banks had loaned Great Southern more than $575 million and had priority as secured creditors, which was the law.

Mr Jones told the meeting that $600 million to $800 million needed to be brought to the table to recapitalise the Great Southern group but no proposal had been received that was acceptable to the receivers and Great Southern's banks.

The administrators had also considered whether the Government could take control, but the Government would not step into the breach for commercial issues.

Several creditors and grower-investors at the meeting said they could not vote on whether to liquidate the Great Southern companies without knowing about the viability of the schemes and wanted to know why the receivers were not present.

Mr Jones said the meeting was a meeting of creditors and he could not answer many of the questions for investor-growers because they related to areas outside of his responsibility.

A majority of creditors by number voted against winding up Great Southern Managers Australia Ltd but a majority of creditors by value voted for winding up the responsible entity.

Mr Jones subsequently used his casting vote in favour of winding up GSMAL.

At the time that the administrator was appointed, the Great Southern group comprised a parent company and 34 subsidiaries and employed more than 400 people nationally.

The group had raised more than $2.2 billion in MIS sales and managed MIS assets for more than 52,000 investors who are also referred to as growers.

The administrator said in a report this week that the decline of Great Southern was linked to a big fall in annual MIS sales resulting from a range of regulatory and economic factors.

Meanwhile, Pulpwood Plantations Pty Ltd, a group established by West Australian industrialist Gordon Martin to rescue Great Southern's forestry schemes, said on Thursday that it had been contacted by thousands of investor-growers who were concerned about losing their investment in Great Southern's MIS schemes.

Pulpwood Plantations is proposing that the present responsible entity (RE) be replaced by a new, independent RE to protect growers' interests.

Pulpwood Plantations said its offer was the only rescue offer on the table.