Members Vote for Change
On Saturday 14 May 2016, RAAus achieved a significant milestone in its history. The members overwhelmingly supported an initiative to restructure the organisation to reinforce the hard work of the board and the management team over the past three years. Some 982 votes were cast with a strong majority of 87 per cent supporting the change.
The number of votes cast is a record in a poll for RAAus and is a clear indication of both the engagement and support of our membership for change.
Mick Monck, Tony King and Barry Windle will become initial directors of RAAus Ltd when it is formed on 1 July 2016.
Mick said, “I’d like to thank my colleagues on the board, some of whom will retire when we move to the new structure, for the work and effort they have contributed to RAAus over many years. Our first order of business will be to call an election and appoint the additional directors needed to continue to take RAAus through this major reform."
RAAus will continue to communicate with members as the new structure is implemented in the coming six weeks.
CEO Michael Linke said, “We have a lot of work to do. We will continue the conversation on the reform agenda as we consult broadly and widely with our membership. It is an exciting time to be part of an organisation going this major change. I have said many times, members are central to everything we do and this turning point in RAAus’ history breathes more life into that notion.”
Formal results
The process for receiving proxy votes and tallying the results was scrutineered by Colquhoun Murphy Lawyers, an independent legal firm not associated with RAAus, on 13 May 2016 after the deadline for proxies passed.
At this point the proxy count was:
Yes – 813
No – 115
As see fit – 20
On the day of the meeting there were 41 votes cast in favour of the reform and 13 against.
The formal count of votes, supervised by RAAus’ legal adviser, Spencer Ferrier and two non-members, was conducted at the close of the meeting.
The final results, including proxies, were:
Yes – 854
No – 128
Percent in favour – 87%