Chambers reject overtures to affiliate

The proposal follows the merging of ABL and the State Chamber of Commerce about three years ago. At that time the smaller chambers throughout NSW were members of the State Chamber and were able to access State Chamber services as part of their membership.

CCBR has learned that the local chambers fear losing their identity with one chamber director commenting that already the Central Coast Regional Office of the NSW Business Chamber is putting out messages purporting to speak on behalf of the local chambers.

It is understood that under the Affiliation Agreement local chambers will have to seek permission to make public statements and this has not gone down well.

Sponsorship is another aspect which is concerning the local chambers. Most have developed a strong sponsorship base which financially supports their organisations. They now fear that these funds could be directed directly to the NSW Business Chamber via the regional office.

As one chamber representative said, “we don’t need a ‘big brother’ organisation to be telling us what is best for our Region or speaking on our behalf.”

However, the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce has made the decision to affiliate. President, Mathew Wales said that the services and political clout that the Business Chamber can provide outweighs any disadvantages. “Without a large organisation such as the Business Chamber supporting us, the smaller chambers will simply perish and our Region will have no voice at all,” he said.

Meanwhile, the local chambers are now talking about another Regional Chamber of Commerce which they believe would better serve the needs of the Region than the NSW Business Chamber.

In 2000 the local chambers killed off the Central Coast Regional Chamber as they claimed it was achieving nothing.

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