From Riley Warren,
President PNGAA
It is my intention to keep members informed of the workings
of the Management Committee and so I will post a summary of what transpired on
our website after each meeting. I hope members find this of interest.
Management Committee Meeting – August 2009
The new Management Committee met on 1
August – its first meeting after the AGM. We have a Management Committee that
is diverse. Members come from the Sydney area
and other parts of NSW, the ACT and Queensland.
There is a good age range and gender balance, and experience in PNG covers a
wide variety of backgrounds.
I outlined how I intended to conduct the meetings and what I
expected of the committee members. Simply put, I believe that all committee
members have equal status and that no one person’s opinion holds more worth
then any other person’s. I will not be forming an executive committee as a ten
member Management Committee obviates the need for one. I reminded the members
that our role is to make decisions that are in the best interests of the PNGAA
and the implementation of its Objects
As it was the first meeting there were a number of
administrative matters that took up our time but needed to be dealt with, like
change of signatories for the PNGAA accounts, setting future meeting dates and
venues, etc.
A good part of the meeting was given to the discussion of
the sub-committees. This was essential, as the main work of the Association
will be carried out by these sub-committees between meetings of the Management
Committee. We worked through the following questions:
- Are
the current sub-committees and their areas of responsibility the
appropriate ones to meet the Objects of the Association?
- If
not, what should the sub-committees and their responsibilities be?
- Do
the rules governing the sub-committees need revision?
A number of good and new ideas came
forward that will be
picked up by the various sub-committees. The work of the Superannuation
sub-committee will be absorbed into the Finance and Membership
sub-committee. The
Fellowship and Caring sub-committee will be known as the Social
sub-committee.
By and large the meeting agreed that the rules governing sub-committees
are
appropriate. As the Management Committee becomes more familiar with the
sub-committees I expect there will be some additional changes.
One of our new members suggested that, while our internal
image was excellent (Una Voce
provides the internal connection), we need to improve our external image, and
in particular we need to involve the 50-and-under age group. Several good ideas
were put forward, and the meeting decided to form a new sub-committee to
promote the PNGAA more broadly and to enhance its image. Its working title is
the Image and Awareness Sub-Committee.
I reported to the meeting that I have been in touch with
those who missed out in the ballot for committee membership asking if they
would be interested in serving on one of the sub-committees, and if so, which one. Several said they would be
happy to join. We are most grateful for this, and our sub-committees will be
the richer for their involvement.
The chairs of the sub-committees are:
- Finance
and Membership Will
Muskens
- Publications
and Communications Andrea
Williams
- Social
Juli
Alcorn
- History
and Scholarship Deveni
Temu
- Image
and Awareness
Dennis
Doyle
- PNG
Relations
Riley
Warren (interim)
The Management Committee was delighted with the fine
dedication ceremony of the Montevideo Maru Memorial in the Philippines and
of our contribution to its erection, especially as the PNGAA logo was carved
into the memorial tablet. We have been informed that there was an over-run in
the cost of the memorial and we have been asked if we would be willing to
assist in meeting the extra costs. As we have been involved in this project
together with the NGVR/PNGVR Ex-Members Association, Lark Force Association and
Greenbank RSL, we have been asked to contribute a quarter of the extra cost.
This was willingly approved.
It was a good and positive meeting with a real sense of
commitment to the Association evident and a desire to get on with the work of
implementing its Objects.
Riley Warren
President
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