The Democracy Principle: Farmer Co-operatives in Twentieth Century Australia is an impressive achievement by Australia's co-operative historian Gary Lewis. 

Author Lewis has largely self-funded the book and it "has been written independently of tertiary institutional support." Periodic employment and consultancy for the author enabled work on the book to proceed.

While the support of the few is generously acknowledged, The Democracy Principle has also been written despite the co-operative movement. Lewis observes: "Repeated requests made to the co-operative sector for information to assist the study yielded very few contributions, a clue to general apathy and a low priority given to education."

Empty Promises of Demutualisation

In the Foreword the Director General of the International Co-operative Alliance, Iain Macdonald, laments that Australia's co-operatives seem "to have been overcome by the empty promises of demutualisation which offers nothing except bigger salaries for the CEOs." Macdonald hopes that the book "will help encourage Australia back towards its natural home - an ethically sound and commercially successful co-operative economy."

Gary Lewis argues that there are various reasons for the establishment and development of co-operatives but that the democracy principle is truely the co-operative difference. He argues that the democracy principle is the idea held by Australian farmers that it is possible in a capitalist society to democratically own and control a business on a one-member-one-vote basis.

There are seventeen chapters:

Part 1 Dairy

• The New South Wales and Victorian Dairy Co-operative Movements to World War One
• Farmer Co-operatives in the Inter-War Years
• The Post-War Dairy Co-operative Movement

Part 11 States

• The South Australian Co-operative Movement
• The Queensland Co-operative Movement
• The Victorian Co-operative Movement 1944-2000
• New South Wales Co-operative Development 1944-1987
• New South Wales Co-operative Development 1988-2000

Part 111 National

• The Co-operative Federation of Australia 1943-1985
• Competition, Deregulation and the 'Co-operative Dilemma."
• Co-operatives Seek National Unity 1986 - 1996
• Co-operatives and the Stock Exchange in an age of Demutualisation.
• Seeking Uniform Co-operatives' Legislation 1985 - 2000

Part 1V Case Study - The Dairy Farmers' Group

• The Dairy Farmers' Co-operative to 1993
• The Dairy Farmers' Group and "partial" Demutualisation 1993-2004

Part V: Overview

Farmer Co-operatives in Twentieth Century Australia.

There are a number of recurring themes throughout The Democracy Principle:

• Divisiveness between and within co-operative sectors.
• Continuing inability and unwilingness to work together on common objectives.
• The long-term absence of nationally uniform or federal co-operatives' legislation.
• The absence of a federal farmer co-operatives extension service.
• The absence of a co-operative bank.
• An intermittent national co-operative voice e.g. Co-operative Federation of Australia and the Australian Association of Co-operatives.
• A failure to invest in co-operative education and, therefore, maintain a co-operative consciousness.
• The suppression of the democracy principle.
• The roles of managers and boards in either protecting or undermining the democracy principle.

Dairy Farmers Demutualisation

Written in 2006, the  Part 1V case study of the Dairy Farmers Group (Australian Co-operative  Foods)  in New South Wales was about a co-operative on the path to demutualisation - since demutualised.

Ranked at 242 on the International Co-operative Alliance's top 300 co-operatives throughout the world by turnover, Dairy Farmers Group was established in 1900. In 2004 it had 1800 employees and 18 processing facilities.US$ in millions for 2004 - $874 turnover and $516 total assets.

The brief case history of the Dairy Farmers Group encapsulates the recurring themes identified by Lewis. In 2008 the members of Australian Co-operative Foods voted to support demutualisation -  ownership of the processing facilities has gone to Japan with a supply co-operative remaining.

Important Co-operative History

This is an important history for several reasons. First, there are very few general co-operative histories published about  Australia's co-operative movement and Gary Lewis has consistently persisted in contributing to this history since the 1980's. He has previously contributed histories on credit unions and retail co-operatives. Second, Gary Lewis has uniquely placed on the public record a history of farmer co-operative experiences in Australia - making accessible a history and experience that would otherwise not be accessible.  Third, it is not just a history of facts. Unlike most published histories of individual co-operatives in Australia that are a recitation of dates, Lewis draws on these facts to provide an explanation for events and developments but it is an explanation that does not interfere with the facts. Finally, Lewis significantly adds to our knowledge of how co-operatives have developed in Australia and, in particular, the large farmer co-operatives and the impact and the external and internal threat of demutualisation on these co-operatives.

The book includes two appendices - Australian Co-operatives and Taxation and A Co-operative Bank. Chapters are supported by extensive reference notes over 37 pages. There is also a 14 page index.

The Democracy Principle: Farmer Co-operatives in Twentieth Century Australia is a must read for co-operators and co-operatives. Co-operatives should be purchasing copies for every board member. While the focus is farmer co-operatives, the experiences and lessons are applicable to all co-operatives.

The Democracy Principle: Farmer Co-operatives in Twentieth Century Australia, Gary Lewis, 2006, Paperback, 440 pages,
ISBN 0 -646-46587-2

Other books by Gary Lewis:
A Middle Way:Rochdale Co-operatives in New South Wales, 1859-1986
People Before Profit: The Credit Union Movement in Australia

A profile of Gary Lewis