Association News

The Financial Services Providers (Pre-implementation Adjustments) Bill

Although not primarily aimed at cooperative and mutual business, the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008 could potentially be a nightmare for any cooperative or mutual which has people in the field talking with non-members and encouraging them to buy from or sell to the cooperative, if this means purchasing member shares to do so.

We are currently looking at the best ways that the Association and our members can let the Commerce Select Committee know in no uncertain terms that cooperatives and mutuals that are not involved in financial products should not have unnecessary compliance routines imposed on them. Our intention is that cooperatives and mutuals should be able to avoid these costs and the considerable management aggravation that goes with them.

Member businesses’ input is invited for a submission the Association will be putting in to ensure that cooperative and mutual reps are not unnecessarily caught by the provisions of the 2008 Act. Phone the Association office on 04 384 4595 or send an email with your questions and observations.

 

The first Co-op Networking Lunch Meeting

With room hire and lunch sponsored by Origin Agroup Ltd, twenty people turned up at The Narrows Landing at Tamahere near Hamilton on 29 January 2010 hear guest speakers Philippa Stevenson and Venetia Sherson speak on “Secrets of the media”.

Award-winning journalists, what they had to say went down well. The event was reported in the December 2009 Cooperatives News.

Clearly a well worthwhile event, the next networking lunch meeting will be taking place in Ashburton on Friday 15 May. To reserve a seat at the table, send an email.

 

UN declares 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives

Since 1959, the UN has designated International Years to draw attention to major issues and to encourage interntional action to address concerns of global importance. The proclamation of the International Year of the Cooperative was included in a resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December 2009.

“The 2012 International Year of Cooperatives is a great opportunity for New Zealanders to learn more about how cooperatives and mutuals contribute so much to our economy and our communities,” said NZCA chairperson Peter Macdougall.

Most people are unaware of the economic and social impact that co-ops and mutuals have on this country, both in rural and urban areas. The Cooperatives Association will be discussing with member businesses over the coming months what kind of programme of International Year activities could be put together to generate awareness of this contribution, and to encourage people to organise themselves into cooperatives to address their own economic and social needs.

 

2009 Annual General Meeting

More than just a formal occasion, the Association’s AGM offered a networking opportunity for those involved in cooperative business that cannot be found at any other time or in in any other place in New Zealand.

With the theme for the year being “Taking Our Cooperatives Seriously”, the meeting took place on 27 November in Wellington. Following the business part of the meeting, three speakers addressed the 50 or so cooperative directors and senior executives who were present:

The newly-elected council met in the afternoon, approving full membership applications from the following cooperatives:

The Association’s first two provisional members were approved:

Margie Scott’s application for associate membership was approved.

 

Postgrad paper on cooperative and mutual business

Starting with the 2010 intake, Massey University will be offering a paper on cooperative and mutual business as part of its MBA course.

With the title “Advanced Studies in Cooperatives”, information on the course can be downloaded here.

To find out more, write to Dr James Lockhart at the College of Business, Massey University.

 

2008 Annual General Meeting

There was a record turnout at the 2008 AGM which was held in Christchurch on 21 November with almost 50 attendees from more than half of our member businesses as well as six non-member co-ops and mutuals.

Following lunch there was a meeting of the newly-elected Council which, among other matters, approved membership applications from four cooperatives and two associate members:

The new associate members are:

Since the AGM, two further cooperatives have applied to join the Association. They are:

To find out more about the Association’s 2008 AGM, see the December 2008/January 2009 issue of Cooperatives News.

 

The Cooperative Advantage of Doing Business

A successful two-day seminar for senior executives was held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Wellington at the end of November 2007. The seminar was opened by the Minister of Commerce, Hon. Lianne Dalziel; her speech is available on the Education & training page.

Overseas presenters included cooperative senior executives from India, Republic of Korea, Japan and Singapore as well as Dr Chris Cooper of the UK Cooperative College, while from New Zealand, Chairman of Ballance Agri-Nutrients Cooperative, David Graham and Cooperatives Association Executive Director Ramsey Margolis both offered presentations. These presentations are available in the members’ area of this website.

Attendees, who came from across Asia and the Pacific rim as well as from New Zealand, visited cooperative sites on the third day, meeting with PSIS Chief Executive Girol Karacaoğlu, hearing about Orb Communications from Wellington member Dave Merrall, visiting a Fonterra-supplying dairy farm in Otaki at milking time, as well as the Otaki outlet of Farmlands Cooperative Society.

Below, seminar attendees are being shown around Maraeroa Marae in Waitangirua by seminar attendee Joe Tepania of Ngati Kahu ki Whangaroa Cooperative Society.

The seminar was organised by the International Cooperative Alliance Regional Office Asia Pacific in association with IFFCO – the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative and hosted by the New Zealand Cooperatives Association.

ICA congress in Singapore

In October 2007, the International Cooperatives Alliance held its biannual congress in Singapore. With over 1,000 delegates in attendance from around the world, New Zealand Cooperatives Association executive director Ramsey Margolis addressed the general assembly, outlining the experiences that New Zealand cooperatives have had in facing the effects of the new international accounting standards.

Ramsey Margolis’ speech is available here. Available in the members’ area are presentations from Paul Hazen, President of the US National Cooperative Business Association, and Tricia O’Malley, coordinator of the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee and former member of the International Accounting Standards Board.

Pictured below is Ramsey Margolis speaking at the general assembly session in Singapore on accounting standards. Also present are (l to r) Jean-Claude Detilleux, chairman of the International Cooperative Alliance international accounting standards working group, Tricia O'Malley and Paul Hazen.

 

Recent additions in the members’ area