20th March 2000
CEO APPOINTED
It is with great pleasure that we announce the appointment of Mr Les Ward as Interim Chief Executive Officer. Les is a Townsville solicitor whose ability and expertise will be a great asset to CCAQ. He will be working closely with me, and while our roles overlap in many areas, he will be mainly responsible for the day to day administration operations. The executive welcomes Les, and looks forward to a fruitful association.
REGISTRATION
The objection period for our registration application expired on Monday 13th. Unfortunately, there were two objections, but they are absolutely frivolous and have no hope of stopping our registration from being formalised.
I spoke to Electoral Commissioner Des O'Shea, who is understandably cautious, and he has no option but to request a formal submission from us, which is being prepared by Les post haste. Further discussions with the Electoral Commission today have made me confident that full registration is now only a week or so away.
INCORPORATION & FEDERAL REGISTRATION
Another task Les is proceeding with, is the incorporation of our organisation as a "not for profit body", and then registration with the federal Electoral Commission. Incorporation affords the best way to provide protection for the executive and members, and is the type of entity that will require the least time and expense to maintain. Importantly, the incorporated body, City Country Alliance will be the ONLY entity. It IS the political party, and we are ALL members of it. There will be no Limited Company or any other entity whatsoever.
Registration at the Federal level is of course necessary to contest Federal House of Reps and Senate seats. This can be achieved with minimum fuss. The only membership requirement is to have a sitting Member of Parliament in a Federal or State seat. Accordingly, that registration should be in place quite soon.
BEEF 2000
A massive trade display will take place in Rockhampton from the 9th to the 16th April. We have booked a stand in the pavilion and are currently busy preparing the many thousands of promotional flyers that will be needed for the thousands of visitors who are expected to attend. This is an opportunity to get our message out to a massive audience, and anyone interested in helping in any way is invited to contact us.
PARLIAMENT
As usual, our team in Parliament have performed extremely well with some stirring speeches and a barrage of probing questions. The highlight of this week has been the continuation of debate on our bill to repeal the National Competition Policy.
After posturing about how much they hate NCP and how much they care about those whose lives have been ruined by it, the Labor Government has now been forced to do a complete back flip and oppose our bill. The Liberals have done the same, but the intriguing aspect is the response of the Nationals.
They were forced into a position where they had to support their coalition partners, and run the risk of alienating almost all of rural Queensland, or supporting us, and causing a rift in the coalition. They unsuccessfully tried to squirm out of it by deferring the vote, but now, to their credit, are speaking in support of our bill. I think it is fair to say, though, that their heart is not really in it. The bill will, of course, be voted down, but it has been an excellent exercise in exposing the hypocrisy of the Labor government, and the blind adherence to economic rationalism that is driving Liberal Party policy.
MEMBERSHIPS
Membership applications continue to roll in, and new branches are forming at a steady rate. The level of response is most pleasing and will no doubt escalate once the registration is formally in place. We are working on membership cards, and once registration and incorporation are in place the membership cards will be mailed out.
COMMUNICATION
Thank you for your patience as we have struggled to keep up, in these hectic formative weeks. As we start to settle down and implement our systems and procedures, we will be able to keep you more fully informed. We are committed to doing that, because, as we have always maintained, we are determined to see this organisation evolve as a truly democratic, grassroots based and inclusive one.
Thank you for your support.
Best Wishes,
IAN PETERSEN
Executive Director (interim)