Australia’s Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM) has congratulated Anthony Albanese’s new Labor government, adding it will work with ministers to bring reforms to boost he co-op sector.
BCCM CEO Melina Morrison said she looked forward to working with the new assistant treasurer and financial services minister, Daniel Mulino, to bring forward competition reforms that will unlock the potential of co-ops and mutuals.
And she thanked treasurer Jim Chalmers and assistant minister Andrew Leigh “for their continued engagement and leadership in supporting reform for member-owned businesses”.
She added: “There has never been a more timely opportunity to bring mutuals into the heart of economic and social policy.”
The AU$43bn co-op sector is already working actively with the government to provide aged care services in rural and regional Australia through the Care Together programme, she noted, while BCCM members such as Common Equity Housing Ltd (CEHL) are ”providing sustainable and equitable housing to thousands of people who are now able to secure long term accommodation while paying an agreed and reasonable rent based on their current income”.
Morrison added: “As other governments, such as the UK, move to double the size of their mutual sectors, Australia too has the chance to make co-ops and mutuals central to our inclusive growth agenda.”
The BCCM also welcomed the re-appointment of Clair O’Neil as housing minister, and the appointment of Sam Rae as aged care and seniors minister – “both crucial areas affecting the living standards of Australians and ones in which the co-op sector can make a fundamental difference”.
Morrison said the BCCM “looks forward to discussions with the Albanese government to bring co-op housing to the forefront of the affordable housing market. Our ambition is for co-op housing to be 10% of the market, up from less than 1%.”
She added: “For more than a century, co-operatives and mutuals have acted where need is greatest. As we face new economic and social challenges, the BCCM looks forward to working with the Albanese government to grow the sector and deliver on a fairer, more resilient economy.”
