Financial scandal rocks Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA as State and Federal elections loom

One of WA’s most powerful farming lobby groups has been plunged into crisis just months out from dual State and Federal elections after revelations it is searching for a missing $2 million bank account. The Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA went into voluntary suspension late last Thursday citing “serious financial misconduct” within the organisation. It’s understood the PGA’s problems have unravelled in recent weeks after a $1m-plus claim from the Australian Taxation Office for a long-running debt that was previously unknown to key officials. It is believed much of the bill was for unpaid interest. The PGA’s executive is due to meet on January 30 to appoint financial specialists to scour its records. It is also searching for a bank account filled with cash from the sale of the PGA’s headquarters more than a decade ago. “We had a long-term investment account with $2m and we’re still trying to track it down,” PGA president Tony Seabrook told The West Australian on Friday. “(It was) trust and faith. We all believed there was a term deposit. “We believe there’s been criminal activity and we’re in the process of trying to (work out) if that’s the case.” Mr Seabrook said he was determined the organisation would emerge from the other side, and had received plenty of “incredible support” from members. “The good will that is out there for this association is absolutely just astonishing,” he told the ABC on Friday. “I sit in a room among some of the best people you could ever associate with, giving voluntary time … and they are absolutely dedicated to providing a service to agriculture and the pastoral industry that is the best we can do.” While the news has thrown the 118-year-old group into disarray and rocked the farming sector, one of the PGA’s biggest backers, billionaire Gina Rinehart, has publicly stood by the organisation. “Our family have been pastoralists for generations and have always highly regarded the PGA and the efforts it has made over generations to stand up for those battling on the land,” Mrs Rinehart said in a statement on Sunday. “I hope its difficulties can be over soon, and it continues to provide its services to help those on the land.” Mrs Rinehart is a long-time supporter of the PGA, and attended the group’s annual conference last October. Her Hancock Prospecting empire houses PGA’s office in a West Perth building, for what is understood to be a peppercorn rent. INVESTIGATION UNDER WAY Earlier on Friday, the PGA told members it had “hit the pause button”, with staff stood down, membership fees frozen, and an investigation launched. The organisation said it was working to “develop an accurate assessment of its financial position”, citing a “financial deficit in our current modelling”. “The PGA executive and committee members have recently become aware of serious financial misconduct within its organisation,” the group’s statement said. “The PGA has taken immediate steps to address the issues.” The PGA’s most recent annual report includes no breakdown of the organisation’s financial numbers. But it’s believed top officials were confident in their status as recently as last month. Premier Roger Cook urged the association to fix the situation “as quickly as possible”. “I note from a media report there’s suspected criminal activity . . . (and) the mismanagement of those funds,” he said on Saturday. “We need the PGA to be able to rectify that situation as quickly as possible.” He said the PGA — a major opponent of his government’s ill-fated Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act in 2023 — was an important part of the State’s social and political landscape. The PGA was also fighting a swag of Federal Labor policies including the looming live sheep export ban, and a proposed biosecurity levy that would slug all producers in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, raising about $50m a year. WA Nationals Leader Shane Love called the allegations “deeply concerning” but said the scandal should not detract from the PGA’s past work. “Our concern is, of course, all the hardworking, dedicated individuals who have put in hours of time and money into the PGA over the years,” he said. “We worked very closely with that organisation to see the overturning of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act and I worked very closely with Tony Seabrook in other aspects of government, so my heart goes out to all those people that I know are dedicated to the industry and have put so much into the PGA.” Liberal MLC Peter Collier warned against rushing to judgment and said he “absolutely (did) not” regret his party’s past ties to the group. “The PGA, I’ve always regarded as a very professional unit, very professional organisation. I have had a lot to do with them, with both the Aboriginal heritage issue, but also the gun legislation,” Mr Collier said. “I have got zero understanding of what internal problems have existed from their financial perspective, and no one does. “And I think if we get to the point where we judge before the facts, we’ve lost the plot. “I won’t be doing that, and I won’t be making comments on the internal machinations of the PGA.” WAFARMERS REACTS The State’s other major agribusiness lobby group, WAFarmers, said the revelations of financial difficulties were “concerning” for the industry. “WAFarmers and PGA have developed a close working relationship in recent years, with alignment in our policies in almost all cases and, by working together on a united front, we have achieved a lot,” WAFarmers said in a statement. It said the industry was “in an ominous political environment”. “We cannot stress enough that advocacy that supports our farmers, pastoralists and graziers, with the industry under attack from all sides by activists and governments, is critical,” the statement said. “We would like to reassure our members that WAFarmers is in good financial shape with strong cash reserves sitting in the bank and no debt, with our latest full financial audit confirming our healthy financial position.”