The Australian Cotton Ginning Association has awarded life membership to Moree’s Melvyn Kong and service-to-the-industry awards to Rowena’s Neil Towns and former Wathagar Gin manager Mike Murray during its annual general meeting last month, reports Grain Central.

Richard Millyard, formerly with Lummus Australia in Moree, also received life membership.

Since starting out at Auscott in 1983, Melvin Kong has built a 40-year career that includes various roles in the Gwydir and central New South Wales valleys, completing all certifications and helping train and support a generation of workers still in the cotton processing sector today.

Richard Millyard, 36-year veteran of the industry, began his career with Lummus Australia in Moree, eventually earning a seat on the board before moving to Vomax and later providing auditing services across cotton gins.

Mike Murray worked on cotton properties after emigrating from New Zealand in 1981; he started with Namoi Cotton in 1984 at the Ashley gin.

Melvyn Kong (left) and Richard Millyard have been awarded life membership of the Australian Cotton Ginners Association (Image: Grain Central).

He later commenced a long-term appointment overseeing construction and management of the Wathagar gin before retiring in January 2025.

Neil Towns has more than four decades in the cotton industry.

He began at Auscott farms before taking up a role at Namoi Cotton’s Yarraman gin in 1984.

He then moved to Auscott, rising to site manager in 2000 and settling in the Rowena community, where he remained until his retirement in 2025.

ACGA members and industry representatives came together for a post-season function in Brisbane to reflect on four successive record-breaking processing years of more than five million bales per annum.

Industry members acknowledged the dedication of the award winners over many decades  to the cotton-processing sector.

During the AGM, Ben Suttor was re-elected president; Scott Davies as senior vice president; Kevin Chaplin as vice president; and Michelle Sleeth as secretary.

Southern Cotton’s Matthew Leonard was elected to the treasurer’s position, further adding to the strong contingent of processors representing the industry. Andrew Vanderstok and Shane McGregor will continue to serve as past presidents.

René van der Sluijs was again honoured for his outstanding work in the processing sector and his broader dedication to the cotton industry.

ACGA welcomed new processing members Northern Cotton and Collymongle Ginning, and new associate members JA Martin Electrical, Samuel Jackson Inc, KRSA Textiles, X Pak Global, and Strap + Wrap.