Hi All.
Coming up in September you will be asked to vote on a change to the Constitution. Please consider how you will vote and the ramifications of your vote. You, the members, are the association, it is you who decide the direction of the association, so whatever you decide please vote.
Now for my view.
The Constitution is very specific on this matter and I quote the relevant section below.
13. Election of Board Members.
(i) The Board shall be elected by the membership on a one Member - one vote system."
That statement is very specific yet there are members of the executive and others who are muddying the waters by claiming the vote needs to also be State based and want a gerrymander voting system.
Like Nick Sigley, I am also uncertain as to how the membership numbers were arrived at as were published in the magazine, however the August 2010 figures are approx. Queensland 2444, NSW, 2415, Vic. 2185, SA 1079, WA. 622 , Tas. 277. NT. 148, ACT 138. The total membership, including international members is approx. 9337. Currently ACT and NSW are combined for representation purposes giving NSW 2553 members. NQ and SQ are separated for representation purposes, and these figures can't be obtained, but an upper estimate could be around 300 members in NQ.
I fully agree there needs to be a redistribution. But not this one. How can anyone really claim to be following a "one vote, one value" voting system where the new system will have the member from Tasmania representing only 277 members, NT 148 members, and NQ approx 300. While SQ will be 1200 approx, SA 1079 approx, Vic 728 approx, NSW 800 approx. and WA 622 approx.
My personal view is VOTE NO
Any change must be close to a one vote one value redistribution as per the Constitution. A redistribution needs to be redone on a one vote one value, without some powerful members pushing the "State" based model. NQ should also be abolished and SQ should perhaps include parts of northern NSW. The representation model should be based on a post code model to give as equal voting as possible.
However the members decide. So please vote. A change to the constitution with a 5% to 7% vote is a farce. I implore you again to vote.I personally witnessed the last change to the Constitution at the AGM 3 years ago with 7 raised hands, and no provision for postal votes.
John McKeown
