2019 Annual General Meeting
Below you’ll find:
- our AGM photo gallery | Skip to Gallery
- a copy of the Meeting Minutes held on 9th of July 2019. | Skip to Minutes
- a copy of the notes from an informal discussion held after the meeting. | Skip to Discussion
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AGM Minutes:
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 9th July 2019 at Tintilla Vineyard & Olive Grove, Pokolbin
Members present
Mike Wilson, Peter Herborn, Robert Lusby, Joel Booty, Patrice Newell, Premella Shah, Alan Smith, Marie Kearns, Mary Lusby, Anthony Andrews, Jocelyn Smith, Ken McCraw, Jim Morgan, Steve Mitchell
Apologies
Steve Higgs, Meg Sherval, Lance & Judy Lloyd, Chris Iacono, Martin Johannes, Susan Frazier, Adam Bell, Mick & Lynne Pangallo, Peter O’Meara, Jim Kearns, Tony & Catherine Gilmour, Nick O’Meara, Sharn Hunkin
Members were welcomed by HOA President Patrice Newell.
Minutes of the previous AGM
Minutes and financial statement had been circulated by the Secretary. There were no matters arising and it was proposed that we accept the minutes of the 2018 AGM:
Proposed Alan: seconded Ken.
President’s Report 2019
Patrice welcomed everybody and thanked Robert & Mary for their hospitality in hosting this year’s AGM. The Treasurer’s report and minutes of the previous AGM had been sent to all members prior to the meeting.
During the past year there had been several members’ get-togethers at various groves to discuss a number of farm-related topics, but the tasting days had not been as successful as in the past. The annual Hunter Olive Show continues to be a signature event and to do well. The general view of the growers Patrice has spoken to is that the 2018-19 season has not been a particularly good one, but it is hard to get a grip on exactly why. An issue for the Hunter is that small-scale groves are generally not commercially viable, and while this exists there is little enthusiasm for fixing the problems.
The lack of available expertise to help has been alleviated by Joel Booty establishing a grove management service and his introductory email had a good response indicating people do want help. With small scale production the emphasis has to be on quality rather than price, and people will still pay for a unique product. There is capacity from the larger players to absorb any surplus oil.
Patrice noted that she would be standing down as President at the end of the year, and that Marie Kearns has agreed to take over the role. She thanked everybody, noting it had been an interesting experience.
Treasurer’s Report
Alan had previously circulated the Financial Statements and noted that the bank balance at the end of the financial year March 31st 2019 had been $33, 181. 2019).
There have been several new members since the end of the year: Marianne Villaneuva, Premella Shah and Elizabeth Williams all in the Broke and Milbrodale area, David Bartlett of Merriwa and Martin Johannes of Pokolbin. This brings our membership up to 60.
The revenue for the year is down a bit due to lower income from the Olive Show. The Olive Show this year had 7 sponsors and 50 entries, down from 80 the previous year, with a smaller proportion from the Hunter area. Our show is as highly regarded as the capital city shows and is the biggest regional olive show in Australia, but is much less expensive to enter than many others. The email with details of the 2019 Hunter Olive Show will go out in late July.
To formalise clearly our banking arrangements the following resolutions were considered:
Resolutions:
Due to increased banking regulations, the HOA proposed to formally change its banking arrangement to fall in line with current practices:
- There be 4 signatories to the Commonwealth Bank accounts, namely: Treasurer, President, Vice President and Secretary.
Proposed Jocelyn Smith, seconded Marie Kearns: accepted
- That the two accounts be managed on a one signature basis
Proposed Steve Mitchell, seconded Jocelyn Smith: accepted
- That the accounts not be audited this year as per past practice.
Proposed Steve Mitchell, seconded Ken McCraw: accepted
- That an ING Business account be opened using the same signatories as for the Commonwealth Bank account.
Proposed Jocelyn Smith, seconded Ken McCraw: accepted
A motion was put to the members to amend the membership fees.
Motions re membership fees:
Motion to set 2019-2020 fees at $88 including GST
Proposed Steve Mitchell, seconded Ken McCraw: accepted
Motion to set the entry rebate to members for the Olive Show at $59 including GST
Proposed Marie Kearns, seconded Steve Mitchell: accepted
Marie clarified that non-members still pay the full entry fee for the Olive Show.
Correspondence
There was no correspondence pertinent to the AGM
Election of the new committee
Nominations for the 2019-2020 committee had been sought by the Secretary, with the following being elected
- President: Patrice Newell
- Vice President: Peter Herborn
- Secretary: Mike Wilson
- Treasurer: Alan Smith
- Committee: Ken McCraw, Marie Kearns, Steve Mitchell, Joel Booty
Patrice noted she would be standing down as President but would remain on the committee at the New Year, with Marie Kearns taking over the role as President. Mike Wilson accepted the role of Secretary, but noted he would not be standing again and gave the membership notice that they would need to find a new secretary next year.
Signed as a true record:
Patrice Newell
President
11 July 2019
Discussions on the future direction of Hunter Olive Association
Immediately following the 2019 AGM an informal discussion was held between members to talk about the current state of the local olive industry and what members wanted from the HOA: led by HOA President Patrice Newell.
Members present: Mike Wilson, Peter Herborn, Robert Lusby, Joel Booty, Patrice Newell, Premella Shah, Alan Smith, Marie Kearns, Mary Lusby, Anthony Andrews, Jocelyn Smith, Ken McCraw, Jim Morgan, Steve Mitchell.
Joel noted that communication was an issue and we needed an easy way to communicate between members. Currently most communications go through the official channel of email to the Secretary, or by people looking up phone numbers on-line but it perhaps not the best way in this digital age. Mike noted that there is a Facebook site (later discovered it hasn’t been used for 2 years). Members seldom use the website for information.
Joel noted that the Hunter Olive Manual is good, but it doesn’t allow for changes in products. Kurri TAFE does run viticulture and perhaps horticulture courses, but there is nothing specifically for olives. There are some on-line resources, but not much and how relevant to people’s individual circumstances can they be?
Jocelyn noted the difficulty in scheduling meetings and suggested we lock in 4 days a year and get the committee to clear their schedules for these meetings.
Robert noted that he runs a blog on the Around Hermitage website that automatically generates an email to subscribers to the website whenever he posts something.
Peter noted the success that Laguna Bush Fire Brigade has had with a Limited Messenger Group: an alternative being Whatsapp. Patrice noted the high volume of SPAM on email and a preference for text or Messenger over email. Jim noted that some applications would need somebody to drive the system, Peter pointed out that this didn’t apply to their RFS Messenger system. Anthony suggested that we need to re-visit the purposed of the website.
The committee concluded this was worth looking into and that Joel would take the lead on this.
Field days were then discussed, with Peter offering to run a follow up session with Col Freeman on understanding the results of leaf and soil tests: early September seems to be the most appropriate time.
Steve suggested a training day for potential oil and olive judges be held, with a maximum of 20 people if it is held at Adina again. He considered after the Show would be ideal so members could get feedback on their entries.
Jim questioned the regulation on labelling. Patrice noted that this was covered as part of Olivecare, but wasn’t sure if this program still runs. It is an AOA initiative, and Peter thought that Peter McFarlane would be the person to contact to run this.
Steve asked about promoting our products by demonstrating the different styles of oil, which could be either an event put on for the public (Patrice) or training on how to best sell your product, so for the growers (Steve).
Peter had some handouts from Horticulture Australia and noted the upcoming problems with the Star Rating System: olive oil is likely to be downgraded to 4 stars where canola oil remains 5 stars due their chemistry. AOA is launching a campaign to lobby against this arbitrary ruling.
Robert noted the opportunities presented by the Wine Bloggers Conference to be held in Pokolbin later this year.