Ian McLachlan welcomes Federal Government announcement

18 Apr '07

2 min read

Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) Chairman Ian McLachlan has welcomed the decision by Federal Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran and the Federal Government, to support the integration of AWI with Australian Wool Services (AWS).

Mr McLachlan said this announcement paves the way for the integration to proceed, after two years of preparation with support from peak industry bodies, and now the Federal Government.

“This has been a long, drawn-out affair which started at the IWTO conference in Hobart, Tasmania in 2005; when AWI said integration needed to happen,” said Mr McLachlan.

“Following the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two companies, in which they decided they would integrate; an Integration Steering Committee was established and it has worked as well as any group I have worked with.

“I would especially like to thank Barry Walker, Chairman of AWS for his contribution throughout this process and also the support of the members of the Integration Steering Committee.

“As part of this process to achieve a speedy integration, the two companies agreed to cooperate rather than compete. AWS also put together a plan for the UK Pension Fund which met the needs of the Trustees, and has provided certain guarantees.

“The next step in the integration plan was to collect all the information the Government required, including valuations.

“With significant cooperation between the two companies, the Federal Government has accepted our proposal and has been persuaded to fix the matter earlier rather than later, and is to be commended for that.

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