Board of Directors

L-R Charles Wilson, Peter Wakefield, Geoff Hewitt (Chairman),
Bob Dall'Alba & Gordon Cherry (circa 2016)

Geoff Hewitt

Chairman

Born in 1962, Geoff is a third generation farmer on the Darling Downs in Queensland. He and his family run an aggregation of farms producing both grain crops and cotton, with the primary focus on high quality irrigated cotton. He has over 25 years experience representing agriculture at state and national level. He served on the board of Cotton Australia for 5 years with 2 years as Chairman. He was a Director of Queensland Farmers Federation, and Chairman of the QFF Water Committee for 4 years. He was a Director of Central Downs Irrigators for 12 years, and was appointed to the Ministerial Advisory Committee to the Queensland Government on water reform. He was a Director of listed Agricultural Company Primeag for 2 years prior to its privatisation in 2013. Geoff has been Chair of ProClass since its inception in 2004.

Tony Gietz

Managing Director - Australian Cotton at Louis Dreyfus Commodities, Brisbane, Australia

Tony has been associated with the cotton industry for approx 20 years. Initially in Agribusiness banking and then trading after joining Reinhart as Managing Director in 2001. In 2009 he moved to Beijing as Head of China for Paul Reinhart AG overseeing domestic trading and global imports. Tony moved back to Australia in 2014 and then moved to Louis Dreyfus Company as Managing Director, Australian Cotton in 2016. Tony has held various industry roles including Chairman of the Australian Cotton Shippers Association and serving on the committees of Australian Cotton Industry Forum and the Committee for International Co-operation Between Cotton Associations.

Simon Corish

Cotton Producer

Peter Wakefield

Managing Director - Wakefield Inspection Services

Peter began his long association with the cotton industry at age 19 when he became a trainee cotton controller at the Liverpool Warehousing Company, UK. Later he joined Associated Surveyors and Test Laboratories Co., Ltd in Thailand then went on to become Manager for "Edward T Robertson & Son” in their Taiwan office. In 1990 he returned to Liverpool to take up the position of European Manager for Edward T Robertson & Son, and was thus able to be at the forefront of the Company’s expansion into the former Soviet Union. In 1993, a major change happened, which resulted in the purchase of parts of “Edward T Robertson & Son”, thus forming a new company Wakefield Inspections Services, which Peter assumed the position of Managing Director.

He has held past positions on the Liverpool Cotton Association (LCA) as a Director; and the International Cotton Association (ICA) as President and Chairman of the Committee for International Cooperation between Cotton Associations. In 2007 Peter relocated to Shanghai where he now resides and works.

Bob Dall'Alba

Executive Director & Country Head - Olam Australia

Bob has worked in Agribusiness for over 40 years, including 25 years with Queensland Cotton, a subsidiary of Olam. Today, Olam Australia operates an integrated supply chain for five key products: cotton, almonds, pulses, grains and dairy, delivering these to over 500 customers worldwide.

Bob served as a Director of the Australian Cotton Shippers Association for almost 20 years until late 2014 and has been a Director of Cotton Australia since 2008.

He is a member of the Cotton Australia Corporate Governance Committee and is currently a Director of Cotton Australia.