Report from the National Commodore
November 2006
- Farewells and Introductions
- Communications
- Agenda Items for discussion
- Sensis
- Stores
- ANZSBEG membership
- Applications for standard awards
- National Board Reports
- Member Biographies
- Standing Orders and Squadron Meeting Dates
- Conclusion
Dear Commodores,
I welcome you to our National Board Meeting in Hobart. I thank the Tasmania Squadron for hosting this meeting and Commodore Monty and his officers for arranging the organisational details.
Since our last meeting the Association has lost the services of Commodore Malcolm Wilson ESM, who passed away after a long battle with cancer. There are few who would not know Malcolm and his work ethic was legendary. Even during his hospitalisation he continued working on special projects and grant applications for many entities across the Association. He will be sorely missed.
We also welcome to this Board new Commodores who have been elected since our last meeting; Commodore Peter Campton, representing NNSW and Commodore Alan Seib from Nth Queensland Squadron. We wish them every success in administering and leading their Squadrons and look forward to their contributions to the corporate governance of the Association through this Board.
I would like to apologise for any lack of response members may have suffered from this office during Aug/Sept as I had the inconvenience of losing my email server for a period of nearly four weeks. My frustration with the server reached its climax when, after many phone calls and the visits of two technicians, I was back on-line for a total of 9 hours before it crashed again. I have since changed servers and hopefully all is now functioning efficiently.
I have also had the problem of retrieval of some emails received prior to that time and some may notice a gap in my correspondence list.
You will note that several of the agenda items do not relate directly to motions but revolve around discussion of future policy. These cover a number of issues that we have raised before and even had presentations delivered to the Board. However I want us to grasp the nettle on these issues and move forward to the adoption of formal policy and direction. I do not necessarily expect final decisions on these issues at this meeting but we do want to put some time frame on their agreement and adoption.
We also have a number of formal presentations that will confront us with new ideas and focus and engender some spirited debate.
I wrote to Commodores last month with news of a deal from Sensis to publicise our bases on their GPS map system “Where Is” which is accessed by the public seeking services, phone numbers or locations. While we had a very short time frame to respond in order to make the system for 2007, we managed to make application for all Queensland and NSW bases to be entered into the system. I have asked Peter Smith to give us a short overview of the situation at this meeting and hopefully next year we will be able to have all of our bases available for this project.
As the NADCO has indicated to Squadrons we have a new National Stores Officer, Don Young, who will be operating from this time onwards. We have made arrangements to transfer the Stores items to him and we should be able to commence business immediately. His contact details are as follows:
National Stores Officer Don Young
408 Flinders Pde. Brighton Qld 4017
Phone / Fax 07 3269 3152 Mob 0418 191 183
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Peter Matthews for his efforts as Stores Officer over the last six months but due to work commitments he was unable to devote as much time to this onerous task as he wished and was necessary to satisfy the constant demands of Squadrons and flotillas.
Commodores will remember that I was to address a meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Boating Education Group with the aim of having them invite us to join this forum. To remind members, their aim is to identify national safe boating issues, address them through coordinated public education strategies and provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and knowledge.
The group brings together those responsible for the implementation of government policy on boating safety, those with a responsibility for the implementation of national/ international training standards, small craft search and rescue and those that have direct communication links with the recreational boater.
The members of ANZSBEG are representatives of State and Northern Territory government boating authorities, Australian Maritime Safety Authority, New Zealand Maritime Safety Authority, Australian Yachting Federation and the Australian Boating Industry Association. AMSA provides the secretariat for the group's bi-annual meetings and develops and assists funding of education campaigns initiated by the group.
The presentation went very well and many of the delegates spoke to me after with positive attitudes towards our proposal but the formal response I received last month was that a couple of representatives were concerned that we did not represent ALL the volunteer marine rescue sector.
The NMSC, the overriding body, indicated that we might like to get written consent from other groups indicating that they were happy for us to represent them before they made a final decision concerning our membership.
I am afraid that I am not about to go ‘cap in hand’ to RVCP or VMRAQ to ask permission from them unless this Board directs me to do so. I believe that our contribution to the safety of the boating public stands on its own feet and we have always shown support to that end with our own courses and programs, providing representatives and presentations to NMSC and ANZSBEG forums as well as the TDM training committees. We have the credibility, organisational size and scope and the reputation and I expect them to either accept that, or not, on its own merit.
Applications for standard awards
Some newer SADCO’s may not have been fully briefed on procedures by their predecessors and I have received several applications for Meritorious and long service awards which do not need to come to this office as they are decided upon and processed by the Squadron.
Only Commodore’s Gold, Distinguished Service, Substantive Rank, Life Memberships, and Patrol Officer applications are forwarded to National for decision.
Applications for awards under the Australian Honours system (namely Medals in the Order of Australia, ESM and others) are generated within a state but we request that they be sent to the office of the NACO for a confirming, supportive letter before final submission so that this office can keep a proper record of such honours.
National Medal applications are also processed through National but these are becoming increasingly loose in their format and the rigour with which the supporting information is gathered and scrutinised by the Squadron. The sighting of original documentation must occur within the Squadron and copies maintained there but these do not all have to be forwarded to National, only the proforma application on the Excel S/S provided.\. However the exact dates of service (dd/mm/yy) must be submitted along with member numbers and date of birth. It is also the responsibility of the SADCO to ensure that the applicant has not already received recognition for the same long service from another body. Some SADCO’s, but not all, are using the proformas for these applications and even then not all of these are being fully utilised or correctly filled out. So please ask your SADCO to revise their procedures and, if they require help, then contact my office. This is not their fault but almost always the lack of a proper briefing from former Officers who simply pack up and leave in contravention of the Constitution and By-Laws.
The content and format of Commodores’ reports to this Board has also deteriorated over the last couple of meetings. I can only put this down to the fact that like the aforementioned SADCO’s, Commodores too have lost the correct proformas for these reports. I will update this with the NADCO and distribute to all Commodores early in the New Year.
At our last meeting I asked Commodores to promulgate to their members the idea of a short biography (with photo) from members on why they joined Coast Guard and what they derived from this volunteering exercise. The idea was to display these on a rotational basis on the website to provide a stimulus for those surfing the site to possibly consider joining.
To date I have not received a single contribution.
Standing Orders and Squadron Meeting Dates
I would request all Squadrons and State Councils to forward to me as soon as possible, and by the end of November, the latest copy of your Standing Orders and a program of your Squadron meeting dates and venues for 2007.
It is at least 5 years since the National Office has had an updated record of these details and so they are long past due.
Also some entities are not forwarding Minutes to this office. Please attend to this detail as it greatly improves communications within the upper levels of the Association. Likewise I presume that each Commodore is receiving regular minutes of flotilla meetings within their region of responsibility.
It has been over ten years since we held a NBM in Tasmania and at that time it was to recognise the establishment of the fledgling Squadron in this state only 4 years earlier. Today we recognise the establishment of Coast Guard as the only officially recognised Volunteer Marine Rescue organisation in this state and we welcome, with pride, the former units and members of RVCP who have become an integral part of our organisation.
It is hoped that the publicity gleaned from this meeting of the national body will serve to enhance the public and corporate profile of Coast Guard in Tasmania.
After this meeting, on Sunday afternoon, we will be commissioning the new rescue vessel for TF1 Kettering. This is a larger and more seaworthy vessel for the flotilla and reflects the evolutionary growth of TF1, following the pattern of other, longer established, flotillas within the organisation. Any members who will still be in Hobart are welcome to attend this significant ceremony.
Chris Gillett ESM
National Commodore
18 November 2006