Text from a letter
MELBOURNE, 3000
15 June, 1979
Dear Subscriber,
We have taken this unusual opportunity to bring to your attention a matter which will concern some of you as current members of the Australian Centre for Photography. (A. C, P.)
Notice has been given dated June 8, 1979 for the Annual General Meeting for 1979 of the A.C.P, to be held on June 26, 1979. At the previous meeting, (see WOPOP No 1, A Constitution Lost, by Anne Marie Willis) a contradiction was raised that existed between Article 19 (notice of general meeting to be at least 14 days) and Article 21 which states .... "No member shall, as regards any special business be at liberty to move at any general meeting any resolution not previously approved by the Executive unless he has given not less than twenty-eight days notice in writing to the Secretary of his intention to move such a resolution at such meeting and has included in such notice a copy of the resolution which notice shall be signed by the member and at least one other member." (The Business agenda for the meeting to be held on June 26, 1979 makes specific mention of Article 21 by stating under No. 5 .... "To transact such other business which may be properly brought before the meeting, and of which due notice has been given .... by order of the Executive.")
As can be seen from the above there is a contradiction in the amount of time given for notification of the General Meeting and the amount of time a member has to raise and subsequently put a resolution to the Meeting. This situation which at the last meeting was brought to the attention of the Executive, later re-elected unopposed, appears to have been overlooked once again.
As stated, the date of notification for the Annual General Meeting was June 8, calling for the meeting to be held on June 26, a period of 18 days. As can be seen the avenue for a member to raise any important matter for the meetings consideration has once again been restricted.
While Article 21 does seem to provide an avenue for a resolution to be put to the meeting via approval of the Executive, the mechanics of such Executive approval have not been spelt out in the Articles of Association.
Does the Executive hold a special meeting before the General Meeting to consider such resolutions ?
The answer would seem to be no.
The avenue for a member to present to the meeting a view opposed to the present Executive seems doomed to failure due to the insufficient time given by the Executive to notify members of the General Meeting. In effect the rights of the financial members have been severely restricted and it follows that the views expressed by the Executive of the A.C.P. are not a true indication of the feelings of the membership.
Perhaps it needs to be restated that the A.C.P. is intended to encompass the widest possible spectrum of the photographic medium in Australia and as such be a true reflection of photography in Australia. The aims of the A.C.P. are laid out in Article 3 (Articles of Association). Such aims can never be fully realised unless the members are free to engage in matters of importance at the Annual General Meeting.
We have therefore drawn your attention to this contradiction and we would call for the Annual General Meeting (June 26) to consider an extraordinary resolution aimed at amending the constitution to require at least six weeks notice to be given to members to allow time to place any items on the agenda
Also at least six weeks is needed for members to nominate or consider Kiominating people for Executive positions. Article 40 (b) states that at least 14 days notice has to be given to the Secretary before the Annual General Meeting for a nomination to be accepted.
As happened last year and also I this year mainly with interstate members, notification of the meeting arrived I with practically no time for anyone to consider nomination.
Our notification arrived on June 12, giving us14 days notice, the exact minimum time for nomination of members for office.
We therefore urge any of our subscribers who attend the Annual General Meeting to consider this state of affairs.
Yours sincerely.
Euan McGillivray, Matthew Nickson