Minutes of the Annual General Meeting
Australian Public Access Network Association Inc
(ARBN 081 355 722 / VRN A0026600C / ABN 84 081 355 722)
Griffith Taylor Building
University of Sydney, New South Wales
Saturday, 11 August 2001

(These minutes were taken by Carolyn Baird)

1. Welcome

The meeting was declared open at 1.30pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).  As the President was unable to be personally present, the meeting was chaired by the Secretary, Dean Hollister.


2. Credentials Report

Attendance

20 members were in attendance

Dean Hollister			Secretary
John Childs			Treasurer

Carolyn Baird			Hunter
Chris Baird			Hunter
Helen Donaldson		Hunter
Andrew Glazebrook		Hunter
Peter Longworth		Hunter
Ross Slade 			Hunter
Laura Seabrook		Hunter
Marc Walters			Hunter

Matthew Geier			ICR
Peter Long			ICR

Reg Lobb			North Wollongong

Martin Bull			SA
Dave Edwards			SA

John August			Sydney
Craig Dewick			Sydney
David Fisher			Sydney
Ken Guntar			Sydney
Sydney Speleological Society	Sydney

Apologies

5 Apologies were received.

Garry Ford			President

Edwin Gibbons		ACT

Doug Young			Brisbane

Mirko Fluher			ICR

Chris Roughsedge		Northern Wollongong
	
Proxies

23 Proxies were received.

Garry Ford			President

Leon Aitken			Brisbane
Helen Lucas			Brisbane
Bjorn Smith			Brisbane

Alison Noack			Northern Wollongong	
Val Ochalski			Northern Wollongong

Daniel Alexander		Perth
Philip Brown			Perth
Andrew Canion		Perth
Terence Chin			Perth
David Chisholm		Perth
Paul Connolly			Perth
Axel de Groot			Perth
Jeremy Malcolm		Perth
Gavin Morrow			Perth
Mark Ramsden		Perth
Ann Sedunary			Perth
South Perth Church of Christ	Perth

Peter Brockbank		SA
Toni Devine			SA

Bob Chambers			Sydney
Marcus Coleman		Sydney
Adrian Lyons			Sydney

3. Minutes of 2000 Annual General Meeting

It was unanimously resolved to accept the minutes of the 2000 Annual General Meeting as a true record of the proceedings (moved Martin Bull, seconded Ken Guntar).


4. Business Arising from 2000 Annual General Meeting

There was no business arising from the 2000 Annual General Meeting.


5. Correspondence to Annual General Meeting

Inward		5.1	2001 Annual Report

5.2	2001 Annual General Meeting Supplementary Documents

5.3	23 Proxies
	
	Outward	5.4	Notice of 2001 Annual General Meeting

It was unanimously resolved to accept the correspondence (moved by Dave Edwards seconded by Matthew Geier).

6. Annual Report

President

As tabled.


Secretary

In addition to the report tabled, the Secretary commented that membership loss was down significantly - about 50% on previous year.  He also reported that the database operations had run smoothly throughout the year.  Laura Seabrook asked for clarification of the problems associated with the Church of Scientology.  The Secretary explained that for the past 5 years, COS had been threatening to sue APANA for Contempt of Court because a member had published documents relating to a US Court case in which COS had been involved on his webpages.  APANA had responded each time indicating that it would only act to remove those documents if such an order was received from an Australian court.

Matthew Geier queried problems associated with granting access to database for ICR members.  The Secretary replied that variable IP addresses made it extremely difficult to grant access to some ICR members. 

Ken Guntar offered his commercial premises for possible relocation of Sydney hub.  The Secretary replied that this matter should be discussed with Sydney's Regional Committee.

Treasurer

In addition to the Financial Return included in the Supplementary Documents, the Treasurer commented 5 years ago both SA and Perth had big deficits and had managed to pull themselves out of their financial problems, so the fate of those regions experiencing financial problems was not sealed.  He described Sydney's situation as 'sad' and said he had no answers for Melbourne.  He stated that overall APANA is experiencing cashflow problems as the result of many members not paying their fees promptly.  Various options regarding debt collection were discussed.  Reg Lobb queried why APANA's books had not been audited.  The Treasurer replied that under Victorian Law this is not mandatory for incorporated associations whose income is less that $200,000 per year.

The Treasurer issued a request for all regions to prepare and maintain budgets for the coming year.  The Treasurer also warned all regions that Telstra had advised an increase in charges from September 1st.

Dave Edwards asked the Treasurer if it was true that the cash reserves were originally built up by Sydney and Melbourne.  The Treasurer replied that it was so.

John Childs then said that he had gotten a lot out of APANA in his 5 years as Treasurer - that it'd been an education - but it was now time for him to step down and in the spirit of APANA allow someone else to share that experience.

The Secretary then addressed John Childs.  "John, on behalf of the President, Management Committee and all members thank you for the past 5 years of loyal service you have granted us in your role as Treasurer of APANA".



ACT

As tabled.

Brisbane

As tabled.

Hunter

In addition to the tabled report Carolyn Baird reported that the Telstra street cable had finally been replaced and rerouted even though it did not go smoothly and some lines were lost for a few days before the operation was successfully completed.

Independently Connected

As tabled.

Melbourne

As tabled.

	Northern Wollongong

	As tabled.

	Perth

In addition to the tabled report, Dean Hollister reported that Jeremy Malcolm has been promoting APANA amongst non-profit organisations.  He stated that Perth was pioneering the use of DOV/ISDN which Sydney, Melbourne and Wollongong were also looking into.  Dean also advised that Perth's first MAS was about to launch and the possibility of introducing 56K port dialup and local call access nationwide were also being investigated.

South Australia

As tabled.

Sydney

As tabled.

7. Election of Office Bearers

David Fisher took the chair and announced the following candidates elected unopposed:

President:	Garry Ford
Secretary:	Dean Hollister
Treasurer:	Carolyn Baird

The meeting unanimously resolved to accept the results of the election (moved by John Childs, seconded by Craig Dewick).

The Secretary noted that 23 proxies had been received, but there had been no need to distribute them.

8. Meeting Close

The meeting was declared closed at 2.50pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).