Residents rally to save Maleny Credit Union from merger
* Kristin Shorten
* From: The Courier-Mail
* June 24 2011
People power must prevail tomorrow if a 27-year-old “hippie bank” in the Sunshine Coast hinterland is to avoid being swallowed up by Australia’s largest credit union.
Anguish surrounding the “proposed transfer of business” of the community-centric Maleny Credit Union to banking conglomerate Credit Union Australia will come to a head when 5500 MCU members are presented with an opportunity to vote on the move.
The controversial plan has angered credit union members who found out in February that the MCU board had pitched a merger to CUA in October.
The board argues that under the complexities of compliance governance and management of a credit union MCU’s growth cannot be sustained for more than two years. The plan has led to the MCU board director Lynne Frederiksen resigning this month because she felt the changing direction compromised her values.
Friends of the Maleny Credit Union spokesman Paul Williamson said there was no consultation about merging the green ethical and locally focussed institution.
“A lot of people are really angry that the (merger) came out of nowhere and that we haven’t been asked what we wanted or what was important to us” he said.
“(MCU) lend money to people who other institutions won’t lend to and if we go with CUA – a very conservative lender – that would be the end of it.”
Concerned member Dawn Goddard said the credit union had influenced her decision to settle in Maleny 10 years ago.
“I just thought ‘wow what an intelligent community – they have their own independent ethical banking institution'” she said.
MCU chief executive officer Greg Stevens backed the board’s decision as it would give members access to a wider variety of banking products.
“If the merger doesn’t go through it just means maybe a different business direction will have to be considered” Mr Stevens said.
“As I see it it will be a win either way.”
But Mr Stevens said that some positions could be made redundant under a merger including his own and that CUA was yet to offer a credible “green strategy”.
The credit union war follows Woolworths’ triumph in opening a supermarket in middle of the town in 2006 – next to a platypus habitat – after long and loud community protest.
Local resident Paul Viet said that like the Woolworths battle the community would fight this merger “every inch of the way”.
“This is a very resilient community” he said.
If the merger proposal garners a 75 per cent “yes” vote tomorrow acquisition of the credit union will take affect on July 1.
CUA would acquire a $47 million loan book and Bunya House in the main street reportedly valued at about $1.3 million.