Co-operatives Victoria

1. Top Co-op Educator in Australia
   The Chief Executive  and Principal of the UK Co-operative College, Mervyn Wilson, will be visiting Australia between 26 February - 10 March 2012.
   
   Mervyn Wilson has worked in the co-operative sector for over thirty years, primarily in the field of member education, co-operative identity and governance. He has worked with co-operatives throughout the world and led the development of co-operative trust schools and their national network.  His work to secure the co-operative movement's heritage and use it as a learning resource included the development of the National Co-operative Archive and the establishment of the Co-operative Heritage Trust. Mervyn is a co-chair of the global Human Resources Committee of the International Co-operative Alliance, a Trustee of the Co-operative Heritage Trust and the Reddish Vale Trust and a Fellow of the RSA.
   
   The Co-operative College in the UK is an educational charity based in Manchester with learners and co-operatives all over the world, from schoolchildren to African worker co-operatives. The College is dedicated to the promotion of co-operative values, ideas and principles within co-operatives, communities and society.
   
   The highlights of Mervyn's visit will include presentations to:
   
   A  General Meeting of members of the SouthEast Housing Co-operative Ltd (27 February 2012)
   

   The Australian Mutual Institute Business Strategy Forum (3 - 4 March 2012).

   A National Housing Co-operative Conference ( 8 March 2012)

   Workshops on co-operative schools  (2 and 6 March 2012 )

   
   Mervyn will also be facilitating a workshop for the board of Co-operatives Australia on 29 February 2012.

    

   During his visit Mervyn will also be launching a book recently published by Manchester University Press - The Hidden Alternative: Co-operative values, past, present and future. Chapters include discussion of education, Fair trade, politics and governance, planning and sustainability and how co-operatives have coped with the global economic crisis. The book ranges beyond developments in the West to examine those in Africa and Asia, offering a genuinely global perspective on the fortunes of co-operation.

   
   
2. Murray Goulburn and IYC 2012
   The importance of the Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co Ltd to the International Year of Co-operatives is demonstrated in a recent report by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation - Foreign Investment and Australian Agriculture (November 2011)
   
   The report notes that more than half the milk produced in Australia is now processed by foreign owned firms
   

   Lion/ National Foods/Kirin (Japan) 25%
   Fonterra (New Zealand) 21%
   Parmalat (France) 7%
   
   The Australian-owned co-operative Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co Ltd is the largest dairy processor - processing about 35% of milk produced. Fonterra is a co-operative in New Zealand but in Australia's its suppliers are not members of the co-operative.
   
   The report notes: "Foreign ownership of milk processing capacity appears to have been beneficial for the industry. The three major foreign investors, Fonterra, Kirin and Parmalat, have, in common with others such as Murray Goulburn, injected funds to improve efficiency and maintain their profitability while at the same time engaging in some winding down of existing, out-of-date capacity." The Australian suppliers of these foreign owned companies do not, however, own and control the companies.

3. IYC 2012 and Australia Post

   On the 15 February 2012 there will be a launch of the Australia Post 2012 commemorative products - a stamp sheet which features co-operatives, a pre-paid envelope and the IYC 2012 coin mailer. The President of the International Co-operative Alliance, Dame Pauline Green, is flying to Australia for the launch.  
   

   The launch will be between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. Yarra Room, Melbourne Town Hall, Melbourne Central Business District. RSVP was required  before 9 February 2012 and it is expected that about 80 co-operators will be in attendance at the launch.
   
   Three Victorian co-operatives are featured on the stamp sheet - Common Equity Housing Ltd , Fitzroy and Carlton Community Credit Co-op and Hepburn Wind.
   
   The postal items can be ordered now using the attached order form. They will be available from 14 February 2012 via Australia Post e-shop and they will be on sale in some larger Australia Post outlets.
   
4. The UK's Second Largest Co-operative
   
   
   The John Lewis Partnership and Waitrose is the 2nd largest co-operative in the UK with an annual turnover of A$13 billion and over 75,000 employees. Peter Cox is visiting Australia in 2012 and he has written a book about the John Lewis Partnership and Waitrose - Spedan's Partnership: The Story of John Lewis and Waitrose (2010).  Peter joined John Lewis in 1968 and retired from Waitrose in 2003 as its IT director.
5. Victoria's Top Co-operatives
   Looking forward to the International Year of Co-operatives 2012, Co-operatives Victoria has released a list of Victoria's Top Co-operatives, Credit Unions and Mutual. Victoria's top co-operative is the Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co limited with a turnover of $2.24 million. Murray Goulburn also has 2200 employees - the highest number of emplloyees for any co-operative, credit union and mutual throughout Australia. The Victorian list is extracted from Co-operatives Australia's Top 100 Co-operatives, Credit Unions and Mutuals. Download Victoria's Top 100 Co-operatives, Credit Unions and Mutuals.