Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) 2012 is the International Year of Cooperatives;

(b) there are two million more cooperative members in Australia than retail share investors;

(c) cooperatives create diversity in the Australian economy;

(d) cooperatives play an important role in delivering services to regional and rural communities; and

(e) some Australian Government industry assistance is not available to enterprises with a cooperative structure; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) support the role of cooperatives in Australian communities; and

(b) continue working with the States and Territories to implement nationally consistent laws governing the operation of cooperatives.

Cooperatives play a key role in the Australian economy but are often overlooked as a business model and not appreciated for the benefits that they bring to regional communities. 2012 is the International Year of Cooperatives and 7 July is the International Day of Cooperatives, so it is very appropriate for us to be debating this motion at this time. A cooperative is simply an alternative business structure which operates for the benefit of cooperative members, rather than for the benefit of investors or shareholders. To put it simply, a cooperative is just a group of people cooperating for their mutual benefit. Cooperatives around the world operate in accordance with seven guiding principles: firstly, voluntary and open membership; secondly, democratic member control; thirdly, member economic participation; fourthly, autonomy and independence; fifthly, education, training and information; sixthly, cooperation among cooperatives; and, finally, concern for the community. Community is a very important issue in relation to cooperatives.

There are around 1,800 cooperatives in Australia, with more than 7.5 million members. Cooperatives operate in many areas of the economy including agriculture, financial services, fishing, housing, insurance and even child care. Many people would not be aware that cooperatives have a unique top-level domain which is .coop, instead of the traditional .com. The top 100 Australian cooperatives, credit unions, and mutuals turned over $14.7 billion in 2011. Many cooperatives are well-known brands in Australia, including Cooperative Bulk Handling, or CBH, in Western Australia, which turns over $2.63 billion; Murray Goulburn Cooperative, which turns over $2.24 billion; Australian Unity, which turns over $656 million; Dairy Farmers Milk Cooperative, which turns over $497 million; and the NRMA, which turns over $456 million. Other notable cooperatives in Australia include Norco in my electorate, the RACV, RACQ, Credit Union Australia, and a range of credit unions including the Banana Coast Credit Union, or BCU as it is now known, in my electorate.

I would also like to note the Macleay Regional Cooperative and the Coffs Harbour Fishermen's Cooperative. Both are located in my electorate and both are in the top 100 cooperatives in Australia. The Macleay Regional Cooperative has been operating in the Macleay Valley since 1905. It operates and owns the Kempsey Supa IGA supermarket, Macleay 5 Star Fitness and key commercial real estate in Kempsey. The Coffs Harbour Fishermen's Cooperative has been operating since the 1950s. It is owned by 45 local professional fisherman and is a significant part of Coffs Harbour's economy, providing significant local employment opportunities. The Nambucca River Cooperative also operates in my electorate. It started in 1903 and has served the Nambucca Valley ever since. In the north of my electorate is the Clarence River Fishermen's Cooperative, which is a very important part of the Maclean community. I should also mention Oz Berries in Woolgoolga. The blueberry industry has provided a significant boost to our region with hundreds of jobs and continuing investment in the area. The cooperative allows local farmers to focus on growing and picking berries while marketing and sales are left to the cooperative.

Around the world, one billion people are cooperative members and cooperatives collectively employ 100 million people globally. The 300 largest cooperatives in the world are worth a combined value of US$1.6 trillion. Because cooperatives operate in the best interest of members, not shareholders, they are able to provide a range of services that may not be available from organisations with traditional company structures. You only have to look at the role that credit unions and building societies play in regional communities to realise the importance of cooperatives. Mutual banking institutions are accountable to their communities and can often be found serving regional communities long after the major banks have closed their branches and left town. Australian mutual banking institutions hold about $83 billion in assets and serve some 4.6 million Australians. Despite the significant size of the mutual sector, credit unions and building societies have the flexibility to meet the needs of their members because they do not answer to shareholders demanding ever-increasing profit growth. The International Year of the Cooperative secretariat explains the benefits of cooperatives by saying:

Co-operatives’ democratic structure often allows for more prudent business decisions to be made. Not being tied to the merry-go-round of short-term profits means co-operatives can invest in their businesses and their people. Co-operatives have strong links to the communities in which they operate and in which their members live. As such they promote self-reliance of communities and are of general benefit to society.

In short, cooperatives often serve a dual role as both business entities and social enterprises. For this reason, cooperatives are a significant contributor to many Australian communities and they should be recognised.

Unfortunately cooperatives do not attract the same recognition or benefits as organisations with a company structure. In the past, cooperatives have missed out on some benefits available to companies. I have been advised by some cooperatives that the federal government's Enterprise Connect program will only provide advice to organisations with a company structure; likewise, some state government industry advice programs are only available to companies. A number of other government programs, including the Social Enterprise Development and Investment Fund, do not appear to include cooperatives as eligible to receive assistance. Cooperatives are also disadvantaged by the current accounting standards, which treat members' shares in a cooperative as a liability; in contrast, a shareholder's investment in a company is seen as equity. The difference may materially impact on a cooperative's ability to raise finance.

Cooperatives have also struggled to manage the range of different state based regulatory regimes and laws. The states and territories are gradually moving towards nationally consistent cooperative laws but the process is taking some considerable time. I am pleased to note that New South Wales has recently passed new, nationally consistent cooperative laws. The law change will benefit around 680 cooperatives in New South Wales with a combined total of more than 1.5 million members. New South Wales is the lead jurisdiction for cooperative national law and it is now up to the other states and territories to get on board and pass similar laws. Once operating nationally, the new cooperatives national law will remove barriers and encourage growth in the cooperative sector. We need to have a seamless regulatory regime that does not punish cooperatives operating across state borders. I call on the states and territories to pass the new cooperative laws just as soon as possible.

Cooperatives provide diversity and opportunity in the Australian economy. It is entirely appropriate that we recognise and celebrate the contribution made by cooperatives in Australia. I will conclude my remarks with a quote from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who said:

Cooperatives are a reminder to the international community that it is possible to pursue both economic viability and social responsibility.

I call on all members of this House to support this motion.

Sharon Grierson (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Justice, Customs and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to speak on this motion. I thank the member for Cowper for putting it forward and for his contribution on the matter of cooperatives in this country. The government greatly values the social and economic contribution that cooperatives make to this nation. Cooperatives do some excellent work in our community, and the government does some great things to support them in their work. As the motion notes, the United Nations declared 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives—the IYC—in recognition of the valuable contribution made by cooperatives to global social and economic development. This is a truly valuable contribution, and it operates not only at the global level but also very much on a local and national level.

The national peak body for cooperative businesses, Co-operatives Australia, has argued that the strong performance of member owned enterprises around the world during the global financial crisis has led in Australia to renewed interest in the cooperative business model and the benefits of doing business with a member and community focus. It is a little bit surprising—though maybe it is just a sign of a more sophisticated and complex world—that we drifted away from the cooperative model and the type of business focus that cooperatives have, which is often community based. But it is good to see now that people are once again returning to the cooperative model.

The International Year of Cooperatives provides a fantastic opportunity for Australia's cooperatives to celebrate and promote their work. According to Australia's International Year of Cooperatives Steering Committee, Australia has over 2,000 cooperatives and 113 mutual banking institutions owned by more than eight million people. So there is a very strong cooperative base and a very strong cooperative community, both of which are well supported here in Australia.

Cooperatives are defined by their member-ownership and member focused way of doing business. Former federal Labor Minister for Home Affairs and former New South Wales Attorney-General and minister for cooperatives Bob Debus AM is patron and supporter of the International Year of Cooperatives and has noted that ethical investment and corporate social responsibility are at the very heart of what cooperatives do. Ethical investment and corporate social responsibility are great things, and the former minister did a very good job of promoting them. I am sure that the member for Cowper had corporate social responsibility and social investment in mind when he drafted this motion, and I am sure that he shares this government's strong commitment to promoting them.

Australia's cooperatives operate across a diverse range of industries, including book sales, clubs, cotton growing, dairy produce, fishing, fruit marketing, grain handling and marketing, labour hire, plumbing supplies, property sales, recycling, rural grocery and petrol supplies, sugar milling, taxis, tourism and wine sales. I am sure there are probably one or two others as well. Certainly cooperatives are diverse and significant, and certainly they form part of the basis of a very strong Australian economy.

The former Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer and number for Lindsay launched the International Year of Cooperatives on 22 November last year. To celebrate the role that cooperative organisations play in Australia, the government, through the Royal Australian Mint, released a commemorative one-dollar coin in January 2012. One of the goals of the International Year of Cooperatives is to 'encourage governments to establish policies, laws and regulations conducive to the formation, growth and stability of cooperatives'. I look forward to outlining some of the things that this Gillard government is doing to support cooperatives and the good work they do in our community.

The motion notes that some Australian government industry assistance is not available to enterprises with a cooperative structure. Industry assistance programs within the Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education portfolio do not explicitly exclude cooperatives from eligibility; however, program guidelines sometimes restrict eligibility to incorporated bodies or bodies that are required to pay income tax, as most people would expect. For example, the R&D tax incentive can only assist individuals or bodies which are subject to tax, as entities obviously need to have a tax liability in the first place to benefit from the program. If a particular cooperative is not incorporated or is exempt from paying income tax, it will not be able to access most industry assistance programs. I can understand that most people would think that that is fair, because organisations which are not paying income tax already receive assistance and therefore an incentive.

That said, the government recognises the valuable role that cooperatives play in the Australian economy and is working to ensure that future industry assistance programs do not unreasonably exclude from eligibility business structures of any particular type. In the meantime, the government has introduced a number of key reforms across a range of areas such as not-for-profits, banking and regulation. These reforms will go a long way to assisting cooperatives in the valuable work they do. Most cooperatives are not-for-profit entities, and the government has an ambitious not-for-profit reform agenda which implements the most significant reforms the sector has experienced over the last century.

As of September 2009, there were 1,726 cooperatives registered across Australia—three-quarters of them established as non-profit entities. As part of the 2011-12 budget, the government announced that it would establish a regulator for the not-for-profit sector, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission—the ACNC. The government released draft legislation to establish the ACNC in late 2011 and has engaged in extensive consultation with the not-for-profit sector. This has included targeted consultation meetings in Sydney and Melbourne, attending ACNC task force road shows across the country and working with the Australian Taxation Office's Clubs Consultative Committee and Charities Consultative Committee and the Not-for-profit Sector Reform Council. Try to say all that in one breath!

While initially only tax-endorsed charities will be regulated by the ACNC, the forthcoming ACNC bill establishes a regulatory framework which can be extended to all not-for-profit entities, including cooperatives, in the future. This will help to cut red tape and reduce regulatory burdens for cooperatives so that they can get on with the important work they do—and of which we are all supportive—such as delivering services to rural and regional communities.

In addition, as part of its Competitive and Sustainable Banking System package, the government is taking action to facilitate the competitive power of Australia's mutual credit unions and building societies. The government has introduced a government-guaranteed deposit symbol which informs consumers that the government guarantees deposits of up to $250,000 with any authorised deposit-taking institution—ADI—such as a credit union, a building society or a bank. Basically it means that the government guarantees that your money is safe. The seal is primarily aimed at supporting smaller institutions, like credit unions and building societies, in accessing and retaining depositor funding. The government's guaranteed deposits seal has been available from 31 January 2012. I am advised that, as of 21 June 2012, 97 ADIs have approached Treasury for information on the seal and 67 ADIs have been provided with the seal for use or display. Related to this, the Financial Claims Scheme applies to all ADIs that are incorporated in Australia and take deposits.

The FCS provides certainty to Australian depositors in credit unions and building societies that their deposits will be protected in the same manner as they would be if they were held by a bank. The government has introduced a new, permanent FCS cap of $250,000 per account holder, per ADI, which has applied since 1 February 2012. This will also help smaller institutions, like credit unions and building societies, by enabling them to demonstrate the safety of most of their deposit products.

As at 21 June 2012, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, APRA, has approved the applications of six mutuals, which are now marketing themselves as mutual banks—bankmecu, QT Mutual Bank, Defence Bank, Heritage Bank, Victorian Teachers Mutual Bank and Teachers Mutual Bank—while others are actively considering rebranding. By allowing mutual lenders to market themselves as mutual banks, the government is helping to educate consumers about the safety and competitiveness of mutual lenders. In the end, better competition means better value and better products for consumers, and that drives consumer protection as well.

Finally, I assure the member for Cowper that the government will continue working with the states and territories to implement nationally consistent laws governing the operation of cooperatives. In the past, discussion between the cooperatives sector and regulators about the need for reform of the current cooperatives legislation, including the need for improved consistency and simpler requirements for cross-border operations by cooperatives, led to the development of the Australian Uniform Cooperative Laws Agreement. We have also set up a consumer affairs forum and through that forum the states and territories have agreed also to work towards the introduction of Cooperatives National Law or alternative consistent legislation. While the Commonwealth is not a party to that particular body—we will have no regulatory role under the Cooperatives National Law—there are numerous points of interaction with Commonwealth corporations legislation for which we are responsible.

Once passed, this national legislation will greatly assist cooperatives in the work they do and in making sure they comply. This is why government is encouraging the states and territories to work together to implement this national legislation as a matter of priority. I thank all the speakers who will speak on this motion and support the good work being done by the government.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to support the motion of the member for Cowper, which notes: 2012 is the International Year of Cooperatives; there are two million more cooperative members in Australia than retail share investors; cooperatives create diversity in the Australian economy; cooperatives play an important role in delivering services to regional and rural communities; some Australian government industry assistance is not available to enterprises with cooperative structure; it calls on the government to support the role of cooperatives in Australian communities and to continue working with the states and territories to implement nationally consistent laws governing the operation of cooperatives.

My electorate of Wannon has some wonderful cooperatives in it. For instance, we have the Murray Goulburn Co-operative, which has its largest processing plant in Koroit, in my electorate of Wannon. Murray Goulburn was established in 1950. It is 100 per cent controlled by Australian dairy farmers and is our No. 1 exporter of dairy products. Its plant in Koroit, which I have visited, is state-of-the-art and enables liquid milk to come into the plant straight from a dairy farm and, within 24 hours, that milk is on a truck and on its way to the Port of Melbourne to be exported. It is a very good cooperative.

Wannon also has the Terang Co-op, which was made famous a few years ago by the two students who stood up to Julia Gillard and the Labor government and said 'you should not take our jobs away from us' after they were stopped from working after school for an hour and a half. As history has shown they fought that in court and won, and we got the employment rules changed for students working after school. It employs 110 full-time people. It creates wealth for the local region and distributes the profits it gets to local organisations and clubs. The Terang Co-op does a wonderful job.

Wannon electorate has the Casterton Community Co-operative, which is being set up, hopefully, to get the hardware store back and operating in Casterton. The Casterton hardware store closed down, sadly, a year and a half or two or three years ago now and so a group of volunteers has set up a cooperative, which they hope will get the Casterton hardware store up and operating again. It would be very beneficial to the town of Casterton.

We also have the Bendigo Community Bank operating in the electorate of Wannon. It has some cooperative branches at Avoca, Beaufort, Cobden and district, Coleraine and district, Dunkeld and district, Heywood, Maryborough, Willaura and Lake Bolac. The Avoca branch of the Bendigo Community Bank was so successful that it enabled it to expand into Maryborough. Once again these Bendigo Bank community banks do wonderful work because the profits that are made from these banks are fed back into the local communities and help strengthen these local communities. On the whole these cooperatives are operating in smaller rural and regional towns and pay money back into those communities, which is absolutely important.

I would like to commend the member for Cowper because the one thing we do need when it comes to cooperatives is for the states and territories to implement nationally consistent laws governing their operation. We also have to make sure that we do not see the current government put more red tape on this sector because, as we have seen with their work of trying to reform not-for-profit organisations and charities, it is becoming a regulatory nightmare what those organisations are being confronted with. We do not want to see this government's penchant to overregulate every part of our society also creep into this area. That would be disastrous.

I would like to commend all the cooperatives in Wannon and also commend the member for Cowper for this excellent motion.

Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am really pleased to rise to speak to this motion, and I thank the member for Cowper for moving it. I have no doubt that in moving it he is aware of the work that the federal government has been doing in this area, and again I acknowledge his commitment to the sector in moving this motion.

I doubt that there are many of us in Australia that are not involved with one cooperative or another, although we may not understand exactly what that means. This International Year of the Cooperative is a really good opportunity for us as a community to improve our understanding of how extraordinary the contribution of this sector is. If you are or ever have been a member of a credit union, you have been associated with a cooperative. If you have been a member of the RACQ or the NRMA or called roadside assistance, you have also benefitted from some of our strongest cooperatives.

There are about 1,700 cooperatives in Australia, and it is amazing how large some of them are. In the top 100, we have co-ops like Co-operative Bulking Handling Ltd (WA), which turns over more than $2.63 billion; the Murray Goulburn Co-operative, which turns over $2.24 billion; HBF, which turns over $1.1 billion; and the Royal Automobile Club of WA, which turns over $656 million. So these are very, very large cooperatives. As you go down the list you see the RACV, the automobile club for Victoria; and the New England Credit Union, which comes in at number 52.

It is really quite an impressive list in which you will see most of the credit unions, the names of which you would recognise: the Teachers Credit Union, at over $100 million, and the Police and Nurses Credit Society. It is an incredibly impressive list. It includes housing co-ops and some food co-ops. I had the pleasure of being a member of a food co-op once, many years ago, up in the Blue Mountains and I used to go up there from time to time to buy from it because it focused on local supply of very fresh organic food. Again, across almost every area where people have an interest you will find co-ops forming.

I would like to talk a little bit about the issue of regulation, because the member for Cowper has included that in his motion. I would just like to reassure the member for Cowper that the government will continue working with the states and territories to implement nationally consistent laws governing the operation of cooperatives. In the past, discussion between the cooperative sector and the regulators about the need for reform of current co-op legislation, including the need for improved consistency and simpler requirements for cross-border operations by cooperatives, led to the development of the Australian Uniform Cooperative Laws Agreement. I have said before in this place how amazed I am sometimes at the inability of a person to cross a state border without running into a whole stack of new regulation. This was and still is another area where we have that concern.

The agreement requires that all states and territories apply proposed national template legislation or pass legislation which is consistent with the national legislation for the regulation of cooperatives. New South Wales is the host jurisdiction under the agreement, and I have seen some commentary on some of the co-op sites recently about the work that the New South Wales government has done in this area. The uniform template legislation, the Cooperatives National Law and its supporting regulations, was developed by the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs. The initial legislation, the Co-operatives (Adoption of National Law) Act 2012, containing the Cooperatives National Law, was passed by New South Wales and received assent very recently, on 18 May.

I note this development was welcomed by peak body Co-operatives Australia and their state based members. Again, I have seen how much traffic there has been on the websites that are dedicated to reporting on cooperatives in the last few weeks. While the regulation of cooperatives is the responsibility of the state and territory governments, the Australian government has supported the progression of the Cooperatives National Law through the Council of Australian Governments, which we know as COAG, Legislative and Governance Forum on Consumer Affairs, and the states and territories have agreed that they will continue to work towards the introduction of the Cooperatives National Law or alternative consistent legislation. It is quite appropriate that this work is being done this year, which is the International Year of the Cooperative. It is valuable work. It is work that supports an incredibly important part of our economy, one which I hope we will see greater recognition of this year.

Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise this morning to speak in support of this motion moved by the member for Cowper. I also acknowledge the contributions made by other members. It is important to note that 2012 is the International Year of the Cooperative and that there are over two million more cooperative members in Australia than retail share investors. Cooperatives create diversity in Australia. They play an important role in delivering services to regional and rural communities. Some Australian government industry assistance is not available to enterprises with cooperatives, and we need to call on the government to support the role of cooperatives in Australian communities and to continue working with the states and territories to implement nationally consistent laws governing the operation of cooperatives.

This is the International Year of the Cooperative, and it is:

… an acknowledgement by the international community that co-operatives drive the economy, respond to social change, are resilient to the global economic crisis and are serious, successful businesses creating jobs in all sectors.

That was a quote from the website of the International Year of the Cooperative. To quote Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of the UN:

Cooperatives are a reminder to the international community that it is possible to pursue both economic viability and social responsibility.

One of the three goals identified by the UN in the International Year of the Cooperative was to encourage governments to establish policies, laws and regulations conducive to the formation, growth and stability of cooperatives. This is exactly what the member for Cowper's private member's motion calls on the government to do. There are three main areas where cooperatives have been found to have the most value: (1) poverty reduction, (2) employment generation, and (3) social integration. In my electorate, one of the largest cooperatives was established way back in 1962 at the start of the fledgling Australian cotton industry by a group of growers at Wee Waa. The Namoi Cotton Co-operative is now Australia's leading cotton processing and marketing organisation. Namoi Cotton has a mission statement to 'deliver quality products and services to our customers and members'. Namoi Cotton employs 120 full-time staff and over 300 seasonal and casual employees. In 1998 Namoi Cotton was the first entity to be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange while retaining its cooperative status. In 2010 Namoi Cotton ginned 516,000 bales and in 2011 1,058,000 bales—that is including the ones they did with joint ventures. The social engagement of Namoi Cotton extends to industry groups such as Cotton Australia, the Australian Cotton Shippers Association, the Australian Cotton Ginners Association, the Regional Cotton Growers Association, Moree Trade Show, Agquip, and water users groups. Namoi Cotton also encourages staff to participate in charity causes. I have to say that in the Namoi valley area, Namoi Cotton are very much part of the local community.

In 2011 Namoi Cotton's achievements were: effective maintenance of margins through efficient and sustainable ginning operations; extensive recruitment and retention of industry-leading cotton-ginning employees; increased throughputs and efficient turnaround times for growers despite the large volumes; successful implementation of its patented round module handling technology at a further five ginning sites, providing uninterrupted handling and seamless processing of 36 per cent of ginning bales in round cotton module form—and that will soon be up to 80 per cent and then, with the changes in technology, it will probably be up to 100 per cent before much longer. Namoi Cotton is predicting a record year in 2013 with an Australian cotton crop of 4.6 million bales—so cotton is doing very well at the moment in my electorate.

Another important role of cooperatives in my electorate is in the finance sector. The member for Parramatta mentioned some of the credit unions, and some of those that she mentioned operate in my electorate as well. One of the success stories is the Bendigo Bank. It has come into communities—the one that comes to mind is Gilgandra, where some of the mainstream financiers had left the town—and, with its community engagement, it has become very much part of the community—in that case, the Gilgandra community. The credit unions that come into communities right across my electorate are also very important.

Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Cowper for his motion and for giving us the opportunity to speak on the International Year of Cooperatives. I am pleased to be able to talk about some of the excellent work that cooperatives do in our community, and also to speak about some of the good work that the government is doing to support cooperatives. The motion correctly draws our attention to the fact that the United Nations declared 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives. This recognises the valuable social and economic contributions made by cooperatives at local, national and global levels, particularly in the area of development.

Some of the comments that I make will closely echo what others have said in this place, because we share the same sentiments and the same views about cooperatives. There is sometimes a view that cooperatives are a bit old-fashioned and that they are no longer relevant in our day and age, yet when we have a look at what they do, how many of them there are, and how many people own them and are represented by them, we see that that is just not correct. According to the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives National Steering Committee—Australia, 'Australia has over 2,000 cooperatives and 130 mutual banking institutions that are owned by more than eight million people.' That is a lot of people.

We have just heard the honourable member for Parkes speak about some of the financial institutions with reference to the contribution by the honourable member for Parramatta referring to the Bendigo Bank. That is an institution that I know well, as the Bendigo Bank also operates in my seat of Page. Not only is it providing a good financial and banking service but also it is very involved in the community and in various community initiatives.

I am sure that when the honourable member for Cowper was drafting the motion, he had in mind that it was the International Year of Cooperatives. Australia's cooperatives operate across a diverse range of industries including agriculture, services, rural grocery and petrol supplies, sugar milling—a very important industry in my area—taxis, tourism and wine sales. I also note that the Australian government through the Royal Australian Mint released a commemorative one dollar coin in January 2012.

I would like to talk about industry assistance. The honourable member for Cowper notes in his motion:

… some Australian Government industry assistance is not available to enterprises with a cooperative structure …

Industry assistance programs within the Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education portfolio do not explicitly exclude cooperatives from eligibility; however, program guidelines sometimes restrict eligibility to incorporated bodies or bodies that are required to pay income tax. If it is a question of guidelines, they can be changed. But, for example, the R&D tax incentive can only assist individuals or bodies subject to tax, as they obviously need to have a tax liability in the first place to benefit from the program. Where a particular co-operative is not incorporated or is exempt from paying income taxes, it will not be able to access most industry programs. That said, the government recognises the valuable role that cooperatives play in the Australian economy and is working to ensure that future industry assistance programs do not unreasonably exclude any particular business structure from eligibility.

I note in relation to the clean energy programs that the cooperatives in my area, Norco and Northern Co-operative Meat, are both eligible to apply for assistance under these particular programs and packages. I was involved in checking that they were eligible. So it is not restrictive across the board. In the meantime the government has introduced a number of key reforms across a range of areas.

Debate adjourned.