AGM guest speakers announced

All customer members are invited to our Annual General Meeting taking place online at 12 Noon Melbourne Time on Monday the 27^th November 2023. We are very excited to announce our guest speakers who will share exciting people-powered wins over the last year!

Click here to register for the AGM.

Derek Dent, United Workers Union Delegate.

Derek is a dairy worker at Saputo’s factory in Leongatha, Victoria, United Workers Union delegate and member of the dairy Committee. Cooperatives have traditionally played a key role in the dairy industry, with dairy factories being the lifeblood of small regional towns. Over the last decades this has changed with multi-national corporations taking over and brining a business model of shareholder profit maximization above all else. Last month Derek was one of the leaders of the largest dairy workers strike in living memory, which resulted in 1,400 dairy workers wining secure, sustainable jobs and a cost-of-living increase to keep the dairy industry as the bedrock of regional communities.  In response to the exacerbating impacts of dangerous global warming the workers also won 5 days paid emergency service leave to allow volunteers to respond to the increasing number of bushfires, floods and extreme storms impacting their communities. They also won improved working conditions around environmental sustainability.

Freja Leonard, No More Gas campaigner for Friends of the Earth Melbourne.

In 2022, CoPower customer members voted to support the No More Gas campaign and contribute $10,000 to the project.  Freja coordinates the campaign and has been the primary author of the Community Gas Retirement Roadmap and developer of the Get Off Gas pledge.  She has over 15 years’ experience in a range of portfolios including climate, energy and waste both within state Parliamentary offices as well as in the not-for-profit sector.  It has been great to see CoPower customer member get behind the No More Gas campaign.  In July this year it had a big win with the Victorian government announcing a ban on gas connections to new homes from January 2024. Freja will share more on this exciting campaign and what lies ahead to ensure a just and equitable transitions for the millions of homes who still rely on gas.