Following in an informal report of our Annual General Meeting held at the Bulimba Community Centre Qld, on Sun 7 Nov 2021. The minutes of the meeting will be distributed to members and placed on our website. The President, Tim Heard, opened the meeting and welcomed the 62 members who attended, 35 in person plus 27 by Zoom.
The minutes of the last AGM on 6 Dec 2020 were accepted, as were the Presidents report, Branch reports, report from the Honey Subcommittee and financial report (these were published in the 2021 Annual, posted in August to all members.
Following nominations, creation of new positions and elections, the following committee was formed:
President – Ian Driver
Vice President – Mark Hall
Past President – Tim Heard
Secretary – Alex Griffiths
Treasurer – Peter Stone
Membership Officer – Lachlan Driver
Web Administrator – Steve Flavel
Committee Member positions – Tobias Smith and Kit Prendergast
Rockhampton Branch representative – Lloyd Younger
Wide Bay Branch representative – Adam Kent
Brisbane Branch representative– Jason Laskus
Coffs Harbour Branch representative – Monica Rich
Mid North Coast Branch representative – Diane Norris
Cassowary Coast Branch Representative – Lea Merone
Gladstone Branch Representative – Mark Larney
Sydney Branch Representative (to be elected at their up-coming AGM in December)
Membership fees are set each year at the AGM. Fees are low compared to other similar associations, and as a maturing association it will be necessary to raise more funds into the future if we are to participate in conservation and industry initiatives, and possibly employ a part-time position to take the pressure off the current association volunteers. Following discussion and a vote, the membership fees for the 2022-23 financial year were raised to Concession – $35, Standard – $50 and Industry – $100 (from $35, $40 and $80 resp).
Following the formal proceedings, the meeting heard from the incoming President Ian Driver, who gave an inspiring presentation of his journey into keeping native bees, starting his “A Green Soul” enterprise which breeds bees and provides a range of educational resources.
Meet the new management committee
Over the next few issues, we wish introduce you to the incoming members of our committee, starting with:
Alex Griffiths, our new secretary
Alex’s passion for native bees was discovered when she established the first community garden in Canungra in between home-schooling her two children. She now is head native beekeeper at Little Bee’s Secret Garden, the first native bee demonstration/open garden in Queens-land, which was a space created to combine her four loves: her children, native bees, gardening, and books.
Her early career path lead her to Plain Clothes Policing, most recently employed with Task Force Argos at Police HQ in Brisbane. Academically, Alex earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology in 2015 (Central Queensland University), and her Bachelor of Japanese (Language) in 1998 (Griffith University).
Alex now focuses her attention on building awareness of Australia’s native bees, educating children and adults. She takes great pleasure in introducing the healing power of bees and nature to anyone who is seeking connection and is in the pursuit of a meaningful contribution to the Earth. Alex has been a resident of the Canungra area, in the Scenic Rim, on and off since 1989 and is now building her business , while raising her two children there.