CLAIMS of conflicts of interest have been rejected by Australian Wool Innovation directors who visited Italian processors last month.
In a statement released this week, AWI director and chairman of its Marketing & Intellectual Property Committee Chick Olsson said AWI staff who were at the meetings could verify that at no point did directors "push their own interests".
Claims of conflicts of interest were raised in a letter from the Italian processors to AWI chairman Wal Merriman.
"We were very embarrassed and disappointed at seeing people involved in clear conflicts of interest," the letter said.
While no alleged conflict was specified, The Weekly Times understands the Italian concerns related to Mr Olsson's and Dr Meredith Sheil's involvement in developing and promotion of the mulesing pain relief treatment Tri-Solfen.
The Italian processors said they were "surprised and upset by their lack of knowledge of and extreme insensitivity to the mulesing issue, which is still seriously affecting our relationship with the market."
This week Mr Olsson acknowledged the mulesing issue was a growing problem for European processors and retailers.
"It is a message the board shall endeavour to take to wool growers," said Mr Olsson.
The allegations of conflicts of interest by Mr Olsson and Dr Sheil have also triggered concerns from Victorian Liberal Senator and member of the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee, Senator Julian McGauran.
"The signed letter by some of our biggest wool customers is the last straw in what has been an ongoing saga of alleged conflicts of interest by the two directors," Senator McGauran said.
"It is better that the two directors place the reputation of the board and industry ahead of their own interests and resign."
The latest AWI statement caps off a tumultuous few weeks of divisions within the board and the resignation of chief executive Brenda McGahan.
This week, Australian Association of Stud Merino Breeders president Tom Ashby said the group would "encourage the chairman (Wal Merriman) to come forward, disclose what's going on and outline how it is being addressed."
"The board has a responsibility to growers, and if they are not prepared to oversee the execution of the clear mandate given by growers at the last AWI annual general meeting and through the WoolPoll process, then they should be asking themselves if they are the right person to accept such responsibility," he said.
