RAAUS - AGM Minutes

[Guest pembs]

Many of us could not attend the RAAUS AGM due to one thing or another, distance playing a major part. Does anyone know when the minutes of the AGM will be released as per the constitution, it would be really nice to know what our membership is paying for, and wouldn’t you agree?

 

Part IV - General Meetings. (Extract from the RAAUS constitution)

 

(vi) As soon as practicable after each general meeting, the Secretary shall cause a copy of the minutes of that meeting to be sent to each Board Member and the Editor (for inclusion in the next RA-Aus journal),

 

 

So they should have been published last month - maybe it would be nice to see the Tresurers report too just to see whats been spent on our behalf. This is the same as anyother organisation that we belong too.

 

 

 

 

[Guest pembs]

Yes but how long is as soon as practicable......next year! I'm concerned because this is supposed to be in all our interests as to what is going on and if we dont know whats going on then we cannot act as a membership. The constitution also states that it should have been published in the next mag following the AGM. If the board cannot get this small thing right what about the realy important stuff are they getting that right? Small steps go along way to keeping the members on side and this is one of them....so yes I'm very concerned and so should you be if your an RAAUS member which I'm guessing by your reply you are.

 

 

[winsor68]

Has anyone asked the board? If its in the regs...

 

Is there a board member or Ra-Aus employee present who could comment?

 

 

[Guest pembs]

Here is an extract from the RAAUS press release

 

 

President Eugene Reid stated “We know we need to communicate more quickly with our members using

 

 

 

 

 



every means possible. We’ve heard this loud and clear and we are addressing it by

 

 

 

 

 

ensuring more timely distribution of information to all members".

 

 

 

Clearly the Board are not living up to expectations maybe it's complacency I don't know, and just to clarify it's the Members AGM meeting Minutes I'm refering too which was only a 3 hour meeting so I'm led to believe. How much effort really does it take to have them typed and published. Clearly well over two months to-date. So come on RAAUS start communicating with your members, its not too much to ask............or is it?

 

 

 

[farri]

the Secretary shall cause a copy of the minutes of that meeting to be sent to each Board Member and the Editor (for inclusion in the next RA-Aus journal), 

 

 

Maybe I havn`t been looking for the minutes,but since when have they been in the RAA mag.

[Guest davidh10]

Nobody seems to have realised that it was an AGM, not a GM. Thus the secretary's record of the meeting does not become "Minutes" until accepted. For an AGM that is most often at the next AGM. ie. in 12 months time.

 

Some organisations, and I don't know if this applies to RA-Aus, pass a motion at the AGM allowing the Committee (or Board in this case) to approve the Minutes at their next meeting, or alternately to do it at the next GM, where GMs are held during the year.

 

Of course we are also talking about a Board meeting after the AGM, and those minutes would be accepted at the next Board Meeting. I seem to recall that Ian may have mentioned 3 months?

 

 

[Guest pembs]

David - Good point so how many General Meeting have the board had and why dont we ever get to see the Mins. Ian who? can he over ride the constitution then when sees fit? Its no way to run an organisation if you have to wait 12 months to see something as simple as minutes of a meeting surly the board communicate out side of meetings to ratify this of this nature? Farri - my point exactly where are they and why havn't they ever been published?

 

 

[Admin]

You all know where I stand on this and trying to get information out to members even before it is ASAP...however I am sick and tired of trying to fight for this time and time again when the same old long time board members keep waving their arms around saying that everything is confidential...are we all mushrooms???

 

 

[Guest pembs]

Ian thanks for the reply. Then it's about time the membership challenged the board to keep to the constitution, otherwise it makes a mockery of the whole thing, they cant pick and choose when and when not to apply the constitution. Like I said if they can't get this simple thing right then how can we believe anything? How can Eugene say that he is going to keep the membership informed and then make ALL the minutes of ALL meetings confidential. They cant all be confidential, I'm sure that publishing who turns up or participates in meetings isn't confidential, for a start. The Agenda can't be confidential, some content maybe. With the new laws on the Freedom of Information and more importantly the right to information, the board could be playing a dangerous game. We knned to know whats been discussed on our behalf so that we can participate and either field our support or not. I work for a Council and the meetins are published on line the next day, some confidential matters i.e. names and addresses are removed, (but may be requested under the FOI act and the RI). So if a government body can do it, and I'm sure that there are more confidential items discussed in these meetings than the RAAUS.

 

 

[winsor68]

I guess we could try E-mailing them Eugene, Mick or any of the others... Probably a waste of time because in my experience they don't even aren't even up to replying.

 

Not happy... I would like to know what happens to the more than $1.5 million dollars we give them every year.

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

I won't go into detail! But right now is the time to write to your local Federal MP with your concerns.

 

 

[Admin]

Guys, there is a very simple way that you can correct this if you are a current RAAus member...it is so simple...all you have to do is by-pass the Board by sending a letter to the Secretary c/o the RAAus office asking for a change to the constitution...it only needs one member to do it and it by-passes the Board and the Secretary has to call a Special General Meeting for the members to vote on it...we have recently gone down that path.

 

You could say:

 

Dear Sir,

 

I, (name) being as of this date a financial member of RAAus with membership number (your m/ship No) hereby request that you convene a special general meeting of all members within the required time from the date of this letter to vote to change the constitution of Recreational Aviation Australia Inc to the following:

 

--- Start Constitutional Change Request ---

 

(Insert your wording)

 

--- End Constitutional Change Request ---

 

Or another one as an example only:

 

Dear Sir,

 

I, (name) being as of this date a financial member of RAAus with membership number (your m/ship No) hereby request that you convene a special general meeting of all members within the required time from the date of this letter to vote to change the constitution of Recreational Aviation Australia Inc to the following:

 

--- Start Constitutional Change Request ---

 

The maximum number of consecutive terms that a member can occupy on the RAAus Board is set at 3 (three) terms except for the following circumstances:

 

When no other member is nominated for election to the board in the same State/Territory or Category

 

For continuity the current President can be nominated for a following term.

 

--- End Constitutional Change Request ---

 

This is all you have to do and you as a single member CAN change things if you want to and as I said it by-passes the Board, no Board Vote can stop it and the members get to have their say

 

 

[Guest burbles1]

Thanks for that helpful info Ian - one of the few Board members who seems to be acting in the members' best interests (by responding to members).

 

 

[Admin]

Sorry Dexter but you are referring to the calling of a SGM where it takes 5%.

 

To change the constitution only takes one member to ask for it to be put to the vote and THEN the Secretary has to call a SGM.

 

We have seen this just recently with the vote on reducing a Qld and increasing the Vic Board Reps where 2 members out of 10,000 odd asked for the change.

 

This was also clarified at a Board meeting when the Board Reps vote came up...it only takes 1 member to request it

 

Hope that clears things up for you Dexter

 

 

[Admin]

Dexter

 

For reference it is 24 IV that says:

 

A Member desiring to bring any business before a general meeting may give notice in

 

writing of that business to the Secretary who shall include that business in the next notice calling a general meeting given after receipt of the notice from the Member.

 

This means that a General meeting has to be called under the rules of calling a General Meeting and the time frame "given after receipt of the notice from the Member"

 

 

[Admin]

Dext, 75% of the members who actually voted in it by either their presence or by proxy, not 75% of all members. If you want greater release of information then I would bet that there would be very few members who would vote against it with most not voting at all giving the Yes vote a greater chance of succeeding. And then we don't have to complain about not getting enough information any more...after all, it is YOUR Association, NOT the Board's.

 

 

[Guest pembs]

Great point's and thanks to both of you for the advice......looks like I will be writing to the Sec then. The over arching principle in all of this is freedom of information to the membership and transparency both with the minutes and the accounts - expenses claimed by whom and for what, the budget proposal for NATFLY - value for money and regional flyins as well. Up and coming topics that are in vogue, and items for consideration. These are things that the membership should be aware of so that they may participate, discuss and have a chance to voice a considered opinion. The Board is there for the membership and elected as such, and therefore the membership should be driving the board and not as I believe some do the other way round. If there is nothing to hide and nothing to fear why the

 

Secrecy?

 

 

 

[Guest pembs]

......and no answer was the reply....maby by not answering they think we'll just go away...fail

 

 

[Powerin]

What it comes down to is this: if you believe your board, or part thereof, is not acting in your interests then you kick them out. You can do this at the next election, or sooner if you can get enough members to support you. However, as I have noted in other threads, we have recently had an election. In this election only ONE of the available positions was contested (in Vic.). So the rest of the available board positions were automatically given to the one person that put up their hand to serve in the position.

 

In the Victorian election, where there was more than one candidate, there were 372 votes counted. I would guess that means only 10-20% of Vic members bothered to vote.

 

If you really want to change things you need to vote in the elections. And you need to put your hand up for election to the board. It is a volunteer position and you need to travel to Canberra a few times a year. It takes time and commitment...especially if you are president, treasurer or secretary. It will then be your responsibility to plan and run the board meetings, or to make sure the finances of a multi million dollar association are correct and audited, or to write up the minutes of meetings and ensure they are promulgated to members in a timely and financially responsible manner. You need to do this in your own time for free.

 

All of this does NOT excuse a poorly performing board. But by my reading of the ACT (and other states) incorporation rules, the relevant government departments will not act against an incorporated association unless there is financial misdealing or fraud involved. It is up to members to resolve disputes, even if the board is not abiding by the constitution. The other alternative is for members to bring legal action against the board (my interpretation only).

 

So if you believe the current RAAus board is not doing the job you expect it to, are YOU willing to serve? What would it take for you to put up your hand? Money? Do we as an association need to consider paying our board members for their time in order to attract more candidates? I don't know...I have only been a member for a month

 

 

[Guest pembs]

Powerin – some good comments and the sort of reply I may have given. You are right in many aspects one being that the membership need to take ownership of its own organisation and vote – hence a change to the constitution to make that easier for members to do so. I would have gladly put up my hand but I believe that the new elected board member for my region, is more than capable and was elected by a good majority of the members. That said should he decide that when his tenure is up, look for my hand as it will be held skyward!.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

 

<o:p></o:p>

 

There is also a saying that “you pay peanuts, then you get monkeys” I’m not saying that this applies to everyone and where the cap fits…….but I agree wholeheartedly with you; volunteer or not the board have a responsibility and its currently not being upheld. So do you support the proposed changes? see RAAus - Constitutional Change - Proposal Lend your support <o:p></o:p>

 

 

[Powerin]

By the way pembs....I wasn't meaning "you" personally in the above post. Sorry if it seemed that way.

 

As for your proposed constitutional changes I think they look good in principal and good on you for taking the time to try and change things.

 

Peter

 

 

[Guest pembs]

Peter - No Problem and I agree but we can't just sack them, the RAaus would fall apart and we cannot forget some of the board do some fantastic work as you said unpaid. The idea behind my move is to start the move. I will be submitting my proposal and asking for a SGM - (I think thats the right way) next week. If this doesn't get their attention then plan B will take effect which is more along the lines that your thinking, just need the support of the members, so if you know someone who knows someone else etc... get them to lend their support to the proposed changes and email me their member number. Thanks Pembs

 

 

[Russ]

"the RAaus would fall apart and we cannot forget some of the board do some fantastic work "

 

Folks............ASRA ( gyro's ) several yrs back had board issues, serious, when your board goes pearshaped ( dismissed or resigned ) you will not fall apart.............in your hour of crisis, good folks step up.

 

If...........your situation is that serious, you have no alternative but address the matter.

 

If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem.

 

( shutup russ )

 

 

[Guest burbles1]

pembs - have you thought of publishing an open letter to the Board in the magazine?

 

 

[docjell]

Guys - certain clauses in the constitution are quite simply unreasonable and do not serve the best interests of us, the members who are funding the RAAus. I recently requested that I get emailed to me the audited accounts and was firmly put in my place as follows " Please refer to Section 36 of the coinstitution etc....as such I am unable to comply with your request". Section 36 asserts that members may without charge view the accounts and minutes of board and other meeting, these documents must be viewed in person at the RAAus offices in the ACT!!!!!!

 

This astonishing clause is completely unreasonable in a country the size of Australia, and needs changing now. The RAAus is OUR organisation, funded by US, for the purposes of promoting recreational aviation in all its forms, not for the personal self promotion of a select number of individuals who seek to be, for want of a better analogy, big fish in a puddle. The assertion that minutes are confidential is utter crap -and dangerous crap at that. We must challenge the board big time so that they are working for US and not them. They are our voice in the broader aviation world and their decisions will have far reaching effects on us, the recreational pilots in Australia. Open your eyes guys and wake up now. We all need to have uninhibited and unobstructed access to board meeting minutes and accounts - that information is ours by right. If Eugene Reid doesn't see that, he needs to go and be a President somewhere else.