The stakes have risen in a board stoush at Murray Irrigation Ltd as the chairman threatens to resign if a vote at a general meeting goes a certain way.
Shareholders are being asked to vote on a motion to remove two independent directors.
A bitter dispute broke out after three directors threw their support behind the resolution.
Board chairman Phil Snowden, who is against the move to sack the directors, has described the vote as the most important decision by shareholders since privatisation.
And he has threatened to resign if the vote goes through. He says his deputy Lachlan Marshall will go with him.
Directors Steven Fawns, Brendan Barry and Troy Mauger are supporting the resolution to remove non-member directors Trisha Gorman and Robert Burbury.
A consultant called in to mediate in the conflict has found that in the current climate and with the imminent resignation of the chief executive officer “the risk and destabilisation to the organisation is substantial, and needs to be considered with great care”.
The consultant also referred to three harassment complaints about an unnamed director, which had been investigated
“An investigation confirmed two of the complaints, and those two complaints were admitted to by the accused, yet assurance that there would not be any further re-occurrence was not provided,” the consultant said.
The board has also been in conflict with some irrigator bodies.
MIL has cut funding to the lobby group, Southern Riverina Irrigators, following criticism of MIL by the group.
Independent director Trisha Gorman has said a cultural change is required to make MIL a safer environment.
MIL was established as a private irrigation system in 1995 and now provides water supplies to more than 740,000 hectares of farmland in the Deniliquin, Berrigan, Finley, Wakool and Bunnaloo districts.
The meeting will be held at the Deniliquin RSL club on Wednesday, April 10, at 10am.