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ATMA History

The history of ATMA is a remarkable story. From humble beginnings when a small group of seven people met at Paddington on 25 May 1962, the organization grew to a peak to its peak where 300 people along the Australian Eastern Seaboard came together on a regular basis to discuss items of mutual interest.

The following pages document this history and are a tribute to those who have been involved with this organisation over the past 50 years.

An idea was generated in Sydney by a visionary man who had ideas that would lead to a sharing of technical information, and be a forum for open discussion between those involved in Flour Milling, Stockfeed Milling and associated industries. This person began by telephoning key people in the industry in Sydney to show support by agreeing to meet to discuss the idea.

The first recorded meeting was held at Mr Tim Park's home at 83 Glenmore Road, Paddington on the 25th May 1962.  Present at that inaugural meeting were:

Mr. G McCorquodale
Mr. P Tresidder
Mr. T Park
Mr. R Eliott
Mr. C Jennings
Mr. S Jedlin
Mr. J Newell

At this meeting it was decided to establish a group that would be comprised of interested people in the technical milling field. It was envisaged that this group would constitute somewhere in the vicinity of twenty to thirty people. Those present agreed to bring together other interested people and hold a further meeting to discuss in more detail the issues for the formation of this group.

Fifteen people attended the next recorded meeting held at Mr. Stephen Jedlin's home on Old Northern Road, Castle Hill on the 6th July1962.  All those who attended the first meeting were present as well as:

Mr. B Bisbee
Mr. T Kitchen
Mr. G Earle
Mr. J Walsh
Mr. C Burrell
Mr. G Carr
Mr. P Stephenson
Mr. F Murphy

This meeting discussed several options however no conclusions were reached apart from forming an interim committee to make recommendations;

a) What name this group should be called,
b) Where and when the first function / meeting should be held, and;
c) Draft a constitution.

The interim committee comprised: -

Mr. McCorquodale (Chairman)
Mr. P Stephenson
Mr R Eliott
Mr. G Carr
Mr. J Newell
Mr S Jedlin
Mr P Tresidder
Mr T Park

Two months elapsed before this interim committee met again. At this next meeting the three objectives handed to this committee to resolve were achieved showing the dedication of these people to further the industry.  Major decisions arrived at this meeting were:

a) The name of this group would be "The Technical Millers Group" (TMG).

b) A guest speaker Mr Stan Hodgson would be approached and invited to speak to the group on “Handling and Segregation of Wheat in New South Wales”.  A suitable meeting hall in the Burwood area would be sought to convene such a meeting.

All items which should be included in a constitution were tabled and Mr P Stephenson then undertook the task of formalising these to a suitable document.  He agreed to have this document completed by the next committee meeting.

The first function of the TMG was held on 27thOctober 1962 at ELIM, 83 Shaftesbury Road Burwood. The programme was as follows.

8.00pm - Arrive and register

8.30pm - Meeting, chaired by Mr Tim Park called to order and an outline of the TMG was given together with its origination and future direction. Mr Geoff McCorquodale then introduced the guest speaker Mr Stan Hodgson, Chairman of the Grain Elevators Board of N.S.W.

At the conclusion of the address the chairman called on Mr Peter Stephenson to give a vote of thanks. A buffet dinner and drinks followed the meeting.

A good time was had by all of those who attended. This was quite an achievement in these early days where skepticism was rife amongst rival companies in the industry, and for key personnel to come and talk openly with one another on common ground was remarkable. It was claimed that this first meeting of the group set up a great deal of trust between members and was so fundamental that the future success owed much to this meeting.

The next formal meeting of members was held on 21stFebruary 1963 at the Metropolitan Hotel, Bridge Street Sydney. Those present were given a copy of the draft constitution (refer to Appendix 1).  Note: Annual membership was 5/-.  The Constitution was accepted by the members present and so the T.M.G. was officially formed.

The first official committee was then elected as follows.


This active committee enabled the group to grow in strength from year to year by providing members with functions to expand industry knowledge and maintain support for the TMG.  The association retained its name until 12 September 1972 when a unanimously carried motion amended the constitution from "The Technical Millers Group" to "The Australian Technical Millers Association".

As the strength of this association grew, millers from Victoria and Queensland began to express interest in the association and its benefits.  Early in 1972 Mr. G. Wise began a campaign to establish a Technical Millers Group in Victoria similar to the ATMA in NSW.  Some mill managers and head millers were attending functions in NSW but the cost was relatively high. A small group of mill managers met at the Victoria Club. Letters of interest were sent to most flour milling and stock feed companies in Victoria to establish interest. First attempts led to a limited response and the project was abandoned.  In January 1973 Mr Wise was elected Chairman of the Flour Millers Council of Victoria (FMCV) and some months later he resurrected the idea of forming a Victorian Technical Millers Association.  In March 1973 a meeting at the Bourke Country Steak House was arranged and attended by G.Wise, J.Stephenson, A.Laver, D.Willis, B.Gordon, K.Rollason, and H.Hubner. It was decided that those present would form a provisional committee with G.Wise as provisional secretary.  It was proposed that the VTMA be based on the ATMA (NSW) and the FMCV be approached for support.

On the 15 May 1973, the provisional committee decided that an Inaugural meeting be held on 18 June 1973.  However formal elections did not take place until 3 December 1973, when the committee was elected.

The elected committee comprised:


At the June 1973 meeting papers were presented by D Willis entitled "So you want to be a miller" and Mr R Cracknell of the AWB spoke on "Wheat Storage, Handling and Segregation".

Office Bearers for the Victorian ATMA and subsequent national body are referenced as Appendix No. 2.

April 1974 saw the initial proceedings of the Biennial Conference.  R Dalton, R Gough and L Stevens from the ATMA (NSW) visited the VTMA and began to programme a seminar to be held in Melbourne. This was held on 12th to 14th September 1974 with 110 members attending a very successful conference.

Mr. A. Peate commenced talking to flour millers and members from associated industries of Queensland in early 1975 regarding the establishment of the QTMA. It wasn't until 4 September 1975 that Queensland formed the QTMA.  In 2005 the Queensland Division of the ATMA celebrated 30 years of activity. Mr. A Peate was deceased by that time however his efforts in establishing the Queensland branch should not be forgotten.

The QTMA used the existing constitutions of ATMA and VTMA to form their own constitution and elected 6 members to its first committee.

A Peate	President
G Armstrong	Secretary
R Dalton	Treasurer
D Bloomfield	Committee
G Gilbert	Committee
K Winterscheidt	Committee

The original membership fee in 1975 was $10.00 which entitled members to attend the first technical conference with invited speakers Mr. L Price, Chairman of Queensland Grain Growers Association, and Mr E Bond, Director of The Bread Research Institute of Australia.

Nearly 6 years passed before members from all 3 associations met to discuss aligning the associations as the ATMA with respective state divisions. On 4 August 1981 the States amended respective constitutions and the ATMA name was recognised in all states.

An objective within the constitution is to bring together members of the cereal milling and allied industries, and to encourage technical interest and knowledge for the betterment of the industry. The ATMA has achieved this commitment through establishment of the successful Biennial Conference. Since those days in September 1974 conferences have been held throughout the country, alternating from one division to another.


These biennial conferences have provided an international flavour with overseas speakers joining local presenters to provide topical information of direct interest to members.

The conference subsequently developed to include displays by suppliers to the industry especially the milling engineering companies.

The biennial conference has grown in status with each subsequent conference and is now identified as the major industry event every two years. The success of this initiative has meant that ATMA is unable to organize the event singularly and joins with The Stockfeed Manufacturers Council of Australia to retain this important event on the milling industry calendar.  The Feed Ingredients Additives Association of Australia joined the organisers in 2014.

ATMA meets the needs of its members through a combination of speaker meetings, conferences, seminars and site visits. Typical of subject areas addressed by the various activities are; technical information on engineering development and new practices, nutrition, baking, workplace health and safety, microprocessor and computer technology, equipment advances and new designs, amongst many other matters of member interest. Site tours include bulk wheat storages, bakeries, biscuit and cake manufacturers, retail distributors, packaging manufacturers and many other associated facilities.

The ATMA has a strong commitment towards its younger members and in support the “Young Achiever Award” was established as another major project. In 1992 the first "Young Achiever Awards" was made at the Biennial Conference held in Melbourne. The prize is a significant cash grant to enable the recipient to undertake an approved funded overseas study tour.

Since then a Young Achiever Award has been presented at each biennial conference:

HONOUR ROLL OF YOUNG ACHIEVER  AWARD WINNERS

Gold Coast	2018	Jamie Andersen	Inghams
Gold Coast	2020	Molly Coleman	Ridley
Gold Coast	2022	No award due to pandemic

Life Memberships:
The following members should be remembered for distinguished service which has been recognized by awarding of Life Membership.

Queensland:

• Rod Dalton - QCMA
• Graham Armstrong - Weston Milling

New South Wales:

• Jack Brose (d) 
• Tony Burgess
• Geoff Carr (d)
• Percy Chater (d)
• Richard Eliott
• Reg Gough
• Ian Hamilton Snr. (d)
• Tom Kitchen (d)
• Frank Murphy (d)
• Eric Schuller
• Peter Stephenson (d)
• George Tremain (d)
• Jack Walsh (d)
• Bill Ward (d)

Victoria:

• Geoffrey Wise (d) - FMCV
• Bruce Gordon (d) - N B Love
• Bert Hubner (d) John Darling & Son
• Graham Staley - Bunge
• Bruce Cowled - GPM
• Andrew Lee - FMCA

ATMA Inc:

• Ron Plant
• Graeme Lukey
• Trevor Gardner
• John McCorquodale

Another activity to which ATMA members made strong contribution was the TAFE Sydney Technical College Milling Course which many millers from across the country participated in. The syllabus was prepared by Peter Stephenson and a number of ATMA members assisted in lecturing in the early days of the course. Unfortunately this course no longer exists due to insufficient students to maintain its viability.

Although challenged by a reduction in milling companies and personnel employed in the industry the ATMA state divisions continued to strive to provide members with technical support and networking through seminars, meetings and the Biennial Conference.

In recognition of a need to consider the future of ATMA State representatives had considered for some time the need for a national body to be established.

On 15th April 2008 State representatives agreed on a course of action;

• That the state groups form as a national body,
• That each state have this ratified at an AGM,
• That a committee be formed to include representatives of each state,
• That a proposal be put to Graeme Lukey at Flour Millers Council of Australia (FMCA) to administer the national group,
• That the funding of the association to be investigated prior to proceeding

On the 21st July 2009 a meeting was facilitated by Graeme Lukey, Executive Director FMCA to progress the future direction for ATMA. Patrick Walsh (NSW), Ron Plant (Qld) and Trevor Gardner (Vic) considered the current and projected status of the milling industry and how ATMA should adjust to continue to meet the needs of its members.

A number of actions were proposed;

• Each state representative to get feedback on its states position
• The formation of the national group to be announced
• Draft a letter to all members advising the AGM of ATMA (Vic) on 2 September 2009
• Confirm the new organization
• All existing state members become members of the national ATMA
• Invite new members

Eventually arrangements were finalized and the Australian Technical Millers Association Inc. was formally incorporated from 30th October 2009. The first AGM of ATMA Inc. was held on 24th September 2010. During this period and following the deregistration of the FMCA the ATMA Inc. took over the responsibility as agent for the nabim Milling Correspondence Course in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. This is the long recognized training for millers in the region with approximately 90 students participating each year. This provides a foundation for millers to be involved with ATMA Inc. in the future.

APPENDIX No 1

1.	That the name shall be Technical Millers' Group of N.S.W.
2.	The object of the Group shall be to bring together members of the flour milling and allied industries, and to encourage technical interest and knowledge, to the betterment of the industry.
3.	Membership is open to those engaged in technical management in the flour milling industry; and to those nominated and seconded by members and approved by the Committee.
4.	The annual subscription shall be 5/- or such amount as may be determined at an Annual General Meeting. Annual subscriptions shall become due at the beginning of each calendar year.
5.	Meetings shall be held about three times per year at a time and place to be decided by the Committee. Ten members shall form a quorum.
6.	The first meeting of the year shall be the Annual General Meetlng. Ten members shall form a quorum. The retiring Chairman shall preside throughout this meeting.
7.	The Committee shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting and shall consist of eight members.
8.	In the event of a vacancy occurring during its term of office, the committee may appoint an ordinary member to fill the vacancy. The committee shall meet whenever it decides and a quorum shall be four. The committee shall elect from among its members, a Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer.
9.	The Secretary shall keep a correct record of the minutes of the meetings on a book provided for the purpose, and place before the meeting all correspondence. In the absence of the Secretary, a minute Secretary shall be elected for the meeting.
10.	The Treasurer shall receive all monies, issue receipts for the same and pay all accounts authorised by the “Committee”, and keep proper records.
11.	All properties of the group shall be vested in the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer who shall be its Trustees. The group's funds shall be deposited in a bank.
12.	A financial statement shall be presented at the Annual General Meeting.
13.	To amend this Constitution it shall be necessary to give notice of the motion of such amendment to the Secretary, who shall circulate it to all members not less than 14 days prior to the date of the next General Meeting.

Appendix No 2

 Office Bearers ATMA (Vic) 1973 – 2009 and ATMA Inc. from 2010 - current

 

Year	President	Treasurer	Secretary
1978
1979	G Staley		GH Wise
1980	G Staley	J Drewe	GH Wise
1981	J Drewe	I Stone	GH Wise
1982	J Drewe	I Stone	GH Wise
1983	W Robinson	I Stone	GH Wise
1984	W Robinson	J Parish	A Lee
1985	W Robinson	B Cowled	A Lee
1986	W Robinson	A Lee	A Lee
1987	A Missing	A Lee	A Lee
1988	B Cowled	A Lee	A Lee
1989	B Cowled	A Lee	A Lee
1990	B Cowled	A Lee	A Lee
1991	B Cowled	A Lee	A Lee
1992	B Cowled	A Lee	A Lee
1993	B Cowled	A Lee	A Lee
1994	A Mackay	A Lee	A Lee
1995	A Mackay	Bob Davis	Bob Davis
1996	A Mackay	Bob Davis	Bob Davis
1997	A Mackay	Bob Davis	Bob Davis
1998	Inactive
1999	P Newton	A Lee	A Lee
Apr-00	P Newton	A Lee	A Lee
Jun-00	T Gardner	A Lee	A Lee
2001	T Gardner	A Lee	A Lee
2002	T Gardner	A Lee	A Lee
2003	T Gardner	A Lee	A Lee
2004	T Gardner	G Lukey	G Lukey
2005	T Gardner	G Lukey	G Lukey
2006	T Gardner	G Lukey	G Lukey
2007	R Mason	G Lukey	G Lukey
2008	R Mason	G Lukey	G Lukey
2009	P Martin	G Lukey	G Lukey
2010	P Martin	T Gardner	G Lukey
2011	P Martin	T Gardner	G Lukey
2012	P Martin	G Lukey	R Plant
2013	P Martin	G Lukey	R Plant
2014	P Martin	Ian Murray	F Taylor
2015	P Martin	Ian Murray	F Taylor
2016	P Martin	Ian Murray	F Taylor
2017	P Martin	Mathew Rees	F Taylor
2018	P Martin	Mathew Rees	F Taylor
2019	P Martin	Mathew Rees	F Taylor
2020	P Martin	Mathew Rees	F Taylor
2021	P Martin	Mathew Rees	F Taylor
2022	P Martin	Mathew Rees	F Taylor

Appendix No 3

ATMA (Qld) Committee 1975 - 2008

Year	Chairman	Secretary	Treasurer	Committee
1975	A Peate	G Armstrong	R Dalton	D Bloomfield, G Gilbert, K Winterscheidt
1976	A Peate	G Armstrong	R Dalton	D Bloomfield, G Gilbert, K Winterscheidt
1977	A Peate	G Armstrong	R Dalton	D Bloomfield, G Gilbert, K Winterscheidt
1978	G Armstrong	R Dalton	D Bloomfield	K Winterscheidt, A Peate, G Gilbert
1979	G Armstrong	R Dalton	D Bloomfield	K Winterscheidt, A Peate, G Gilbert
1980	G Gilbert	R Dalton	J Egan	D Bloomfield, K Winterscheidt, G Armstrong
1981	G Gilbert	G Armstrong	J Egan	D Bloomfield, K Winterscheidt, R Dalton
1982	R Dalton	J Egan	G Armstrong	K Winterscheidt, B Allen, G Gilbert, D Bloomfield, B Dyer
1983	R Dalton	J Egan	G Armstrong	K Winterscheidt, B Allen, G Gilbert, D Bloomfield, B Dyer, P Jeffries
1984	J Egan	B Dyer	G Armstrong	K Winterscheidt, B Allen, R Dalton, D Bloomfield
1985	J Egan	B Dyer	G Armstrong	K Winterscheidt, B Allen, R Dalton, G Kirkpatrick, R Plant
1986	B Dyer	R Plant	W Allen	K Winterscheidt, R Dalton, G Armstrong, J Egan, J Mallet, G Kirkpatrick
1987	B Dyer	R Plant	W Allen	R Dalton, G Armstrong, J Egan, P Distel, G Kirkpatrick, D Andersen
1988	G Armstrong	A Mackay	W Allen	R Dalton, J Egan, R Plant, P Distel, D Andersen, M Wilson, W Dyer, M Hancock
1989	G Armstrong	R Baxter	M Wilson	P Distel, W Allen, D Andersen, R Smith, D Lee, R Dalton, R Plant
1990	R Baxter	M Wilson	B Allen	J Mallet, D Lee, R Dalton, R Smith, G Armstrong, M Hancock, D Andersen
1991	R Baxter	M Wilson	B Allen	D Andersen, R Dalton, G Armstrong, D Lee, R Smith, J Mallet, M Hancock
1992	M Wilson	B Allen	M Hancock	D Andersen, R Dalton, G Armstrong, D Lee, R Smith, J Mallet, R Baxter
1993	M Wilson	M Hancock	R Smith	D Andersen, R Dalton, G Armstrong, D Lee, J Mallet, G Rowe, R Baxter
1994	M Wilson	J Mallet	D Lee	D Andersen, R Dalton, G Armstrong, R Smith, M Hancock, J Brunner, G Rowe
1995	G Rowe	J Brunner	D Lee	G Armstrong, R Dalton, M Hancock, R Plant, D Thompson, M Wilson
1996	G Rowe	J Brunner	D Thompson	G Armstrong, R Dalton, J Gorringe, R Plant, D Thompson, B Allen
1997	G Rowe	J Brunner	D Thompson	G Armstrong, R Dalton, J Gorringe, R Plant, D Thompson, B Allen
1998	R Dalton	J Brunner	D Thompson	G Armstrong, R Dalton, T Fisher, R Plant, D Thompson, B Allen, P Newton
1999	R Plant	T Fisher	D Thompson	R Dalton, G Armstrong, J Brunner, S Harland, B Allen
2000	R Plant	T Fisher	D Thompson	R Dalton, G Armstrong, J Brunner, S Harland, B Allen
2001	R Plant	T Fisher	D Thompson	R Dalton, G Armstrong, G Stagg, S Harland, J Mallet, B Allen
2002	R Plant	G Stagg	D Thompson	R Dalton, G Armstrong, S Harland, J Mallet, B Allen
2003	R Plant		D Thompson	B Allen
2004	R Plant		D Thompson	B Allen
2005	R Plant		D Thompson	B Allen
2006	R Plant		D Thompson	B Allen, T Byrnes
2007	R Plant		D Thompson	B Allen, T Byrnes
2008	R Plant		D Thompson	B Allen, T Byrnes

• Andrew Peate
• Rod Dalton
• Graeme Armstrong
• Don Bloomfield
• Ken Winterscheidt
• Grant Rowe
• John Brunner
• Ron Plant
• Merv Wilson