AFR Letters: Member ownership keeps mutuals honest

08 November 2019

BCCM CEO, Melina Morrison, had her letter to the Editor published in today’s Australian Financial Review (AFR):

The idea that mutuals are a cottage industry is amusing but passe. Far from being ‘‘the touchy-feely socialists of the corporate world’’ (‘‘Nice little earners at some warm’n’fuzzy corporate gigs, November 6), co-operatives and mutuals are robust, commercially focused businesses that pay their executives and directors commensurate with the skills required to run large, complex organisations. Unlike their listed counterparts, no co-operative or mutual was brought before Commissioner Kenneth Hayne in the banking royal commission for misconduct. Co-operatives and mutuals do not suffer from the temptation to compromise customer outcomes in service of shareholders, as they operate for the sole benefit of their member owners. The same members who decide the remuneration packages their chairpeople receive.