MLT bosses on ‘frugal’ Aussie mission

Eighteen Mataura Licensing Trust management and board members jetted to Australia for a four-day ‘‘fact-finding’’ mission yesterday after reporting a ‘‘stagnant’’ trading year in 2015 and laying off four staff this month.

The trust laid off one fulltime manager and three part-time staff after it restructured the TAB side of its business at Traffers in Gore this month.

Trust general manager John Wyeth said this week’s trip, which included 11 of the management team and seven board members, plus their partners, was a ‘‘reasonably frugal’’ one.

‘‘This is something that we periodically do – we take the board and management away to look at other operations,’’ Wyeth said. ‘‘It just so happens that it has happened now.’’

Wyeth said he believed it was a good use of trust money even though it had laid off staff and reported an unaudited loss of $365,000 in the past financial year.

‘‘Yes it is, because it’s important that all our guys are abreast of what’s happening in the industry, what’s new and what’s different.’’

Wyeth said he did not know how much the trip was costing but the partners of the management team and board members were paying their own way.

‘‘I’ve been on the fringe of organising it so I haven’t paid much attention to that yet.’’

The group flew economy class to Melbourne yesterday and was being hosted by Milawa Vineyards. Wyeth said it had been four years since the last trip, and they would return to New Zealand on Thursday.

The trust’s 2015 president’s report described the trading year as ‘‘stagnant’’.