President’s Message

“When it comes to Dogs Queensland, 2022 is a bit of a watershed or milestone year for me. It was in 2012 that I was put in the President role by the RNA with a council of 16 people and worked towards incorporation of the

CCCQ as a corporate body separate from the RNA.

And we achieved that at the end of that year after many consultation sessions across the State and a number of draft constitutions, first as an incorporated association and later as a company limited by guarantee. Many people contributed to that good outcome and democratic elections of directors on our governing board have followed.

With the exception of 2 years I have been a director over this pretty dynamic 10 years. And during my 2 year absence from the Board, I was actively involved with members in bringing on a Special General

Meeting that passed resolutions ensuring that any sale of the Durack grounds and purchase of the former Masters site at Parkinson could only occur with a vote of members.

For after all, we are a member organisation and all of us as members have an important responsibility to take a real interest in our governance. Whether we show our dogs or engage in one or more of our many dog sports it is so important that we value our right to have a say as a member of Dogs Queensland. And 2022 is an important year for each member to give some thought about our governance and to have their input.

First of all, we have a Special General Meeting coming up on 9 February with an important question to be resolved about the directorship of Mr Woodrow. The motion to be voted on is “Mr Christopher Woodrow is removed as a director of Canine Control Council (Queensland) Ltd”. If you think that Mr Woodrow should remain a director, you will vote “Against” the motion. If you think that Mr Woodrow should not remain a director, you will vote “For” the motion.

For members who are unable to make the meeting here is information about lodging a proxy form in the office by 7pm on Monday 7 February 2022.

Whichever way you choose to vote, if you would like to put your vote in before the meeting you can do that by nominating the Secretary, Mr Harrison, as your proxy and completing the proxy form. Here is a link to the form. Once completed with your membership number you can then scan and email it to Mr Harrison on email rob@dogsqueensland.org. au or you can deliver it to the office. This needs to happen before 7pm on Monday 7 February 2022.

Alternatively, you can appoint, by proxy, a member to cast your vote as you direct. A member is limited to exercising a total of five (5) proxies for other members. This proxy form must also be lodged in the office by 7pm on Monday 7 February 2022.

The Secretary can hold an unlimited number of proxies and, of course, the proxies must be voted as you direct in the proxy form. When using the proxy form, if you wish to vote in favour of the motion, you put a cross in the “For” column. If you wish to vote against the motion, you put a cross in the “Against” column.

Secondly, the 4 year term of six of our directors will expire at the end of March 2023. Nominations for these director positions will open in November this year for about a month with the election being held in January 2023. Being a director can be rewarding and it is a way to give back something

to our dog world. I know that we have diverse skills and experience in our membership ranks and it would be great to continue to tap into that. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about our wide range of activities and look after member interests. Being a director is a completely voluntary role with no financial remuneration. I encourage you to start thinking about this and to talk to other members who you think could make a good contribution. And on the subject of elections, we have had a pretty low percentage turn out for voting at director elections. At our last election, we had just 1570 members vote and that was just 25% of members. Let’s see if we can see that increase substantially at the next election. Again, let’s raise awareness about how important voting is in our member body.

And on that subject, we have called for expressions of interest for a casual director vacancy in Zone 3 due to the recent resignation of Mrs Sharron Taylor. So, if you are a member, live in Zone 3, and would be interested in being a director till March 2023 do send an email to Mr Rob Harrison by 16 February 2022. The Board will then consider those expressions of interest and decide on the filling of this vacancy. Zoom meetings have been a great option for directors unable to attend every meeting. If you would like any more information about being a director feel free to contact Rob or myself. It’s a good opportunity to have an involvement for this shorter duration.

OUR FINANCIAL POSITION

Members will know that I am always keen to keep you informed about our financial situation. The auditors are currently in the office finalising our audit for the calendar year of 2021. The figures provided to the Board last week are subject to this audit so may alter somewhat. The final audited Financial Statements will of course form part of the Annual Report that will go to the AGM at the end of March.

Subject to this audit, the DQ profit figure at the end of December for the 2021 calendar year sits around the $600,000 mark.

The comparative figures for 2020, 2019 and 2018 were $623,915.59 (including $387,306.36 from the Covid Jobkeeper Subsidy), $-108,131.00 and $-259,671.25 respectively.

During 2021 Administration Income was well ahead of Budget, being $202,368.30 compared to a budget of $127,900. Shop sales and the sale of stationery showed marked increases.

Membership Income (5.5%), Prefix Income (15.3%) and Registration Income (38.5%) are all showing income well above Budget. Litter Registration Income has brought in $1,004,179.890 in 2021 compared to $688,919.96 in 2018

This is a very positive result. It has been a priority of our General Manager and the Board to manage DQ finances carefully. My thanks go to Mr Rob Harrison, our Accountant, Ms Pina Mangion and the rest of our office for this good stewardship this last year. I will provide an update to members when the audit result is received. All going well, the Board will be looking at providing a flow on benefit to Clubs this year. Zoom meetings with Zone 2 and Zone 3 Clubs will be continuing this year with the next meeting scheduled for Monday 7 March 2022. GCCC SHOW WEEKEND AND ADSS AUSTRALIA DAY SHOW

Hopefully this latest outbreak of Omicron will settle soon.

The decision to not proceed with the Gold Coast Canine Club Shows on the weekend of 21 and 22 January 2022 and the ADSS Australia Day Show on 25 January was not made lightly and made just a day or so beforehand. This was at a time when the peak of the Omicron wave was not expected for a few weeks, many of our DQ staff were affected by Omicron and there was concern about the welfare of our members and concern about marshalling sufficient volunteers and employees to manage Covid requirements on the grounds. The 8 directors who responded on the Thursday were all in favour of not proceeding with the shows and a 9th director responded this way too just after the decision was made.

I would like to thank the GCCC committee members for their cooperation and look forward to the rescheduling of this popular show weekend. I understand that some exhibitors had committed to the drive to Brisbane for that show weekend and incurred fuel expenses. Those members are welcome to submit claims to the office for consideration.

”Wishing you and your families all the best in the forthcoming month. Ulla Greenwood, President Dogs Queensland 31 January 2022