Complaint against Peter Walsh, Kynie Evison and Rick O'Shea for Welfare Officer proposal

Hi SBW committee,

The September 2023 General Meeting minutes, under General Business states -

"Establishment of a Welfare Person and group suggested by Peter Walsh: Some members cease walking for various reasons especially health and may then feel rather isolated and benefit from some ongoing contact with the club - Peter indicated that Tony Simmonds would like to do this role and that he could lead a mixed group. Motion put to establish this role – Moved Peter Walsh, Seconded Rick O’Shea, Passed"

The constitution under Rule 30. General meetings (g) says "A "notice of motion" shall be issued at the General Meeting prior to the meeting when the matter is to be presented. The motion shall be in writing and shall contain the names of the proposer and seconder."

This didn't occur. As a result, the motion was out of order.

Section 13 of the current SBW constitution which deals with "Disciplining of members" says that "a complaint may be made to the committee by any person that a member of the Club has refused or neglected to comply with a provision or provisions of this constitution". The entire process of the motion being proposed, seconded, discussed, voted on and passed, shows that the three committee members involved - Kynie Evison as the Presiding Officer, Peter Walsh who put the motion, and Rick O'Shea who seconded the motion, were either unaware of the requirements of Rule 30 (g) of the constitution, misunderstood it, or deliberately ignored it.

I would suggest that the committee should get rid of its woeful code of conduct and replace it with "committee Responsibilities" in line with the "Leader Responsibilities" and "Walker Responsibilities" documents. Included in this list of responsibilities should be something like -

• potential committee members should familiarize themselves with the SBW constitution prior to accepting a nomination to the committee.
• potential committee members should be aware that we are bound by the state laws of New South Wales and by regulations set down by the Department of Fair Trading (DFT) for incorporated associations which require them to follow the rules of their association's constitution.