Australian customer owned banks are proud of their record of solvency and security with relatively few examples of failure and malfeasance. Rodney Beaton, a recent interview subject in our oral history program, came to the rescue of Administrative and Clerical Officers Co-operative Credit Society (ACOA Credit Society) in Perth in the early 1970s.
An article in the Sun-Herald on 13 February 1972 reported on the financial problems of ACOA Credit Society and an investigation into its affairs from 1967. The Chair urged members to opt for continuation, not bankruptcy.
The board of ACOA Credit Society hired Rodney as the General Manager to help sail the ship to safety, which he did!
Our oral history interview with Rodney avoids the specific details of what caused ACOA’s strife, but Rodney discusses how disaster was avoided as well as how his career with ACOA (subsequently ACPS Credit Society and Auscom Credit Society) progressed. Below is a snippet from the interview where Rodney is relating ACOA’s AGM in the year that trouble arrived:
At the annual general meeting, Norm Campbell, who was an incredible guy, he went on to be the national secretary of the ACOA, but he had to stand up in front of the general meeting, and there were about 300 people there. I don't think we had 300 members, but 300 people turned up and he had to explain what had happened and I know he was extremely worried. He thought he might have had to sell his house at that stage to try and help. The annual general meeting got postponed probably five or six times over the period of that 12 months. And so, 1972 and 1973 was extremely difficult, not just for me but for all the directors
