Annual General Meeting 1995

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Held at University of New South Wales
Thursday 28th September 1995 at 3.20 pm

1. Present

J.MacLeod (President and Chairman), M. Sheil (Secretary), M. Guilhaus (Vice-President), J. Traeger, R. Lidgard (Treasurer), R. Summons (Public Officer), D. McNaughton, W. Korth, J. Korth, J. Vine, J. Brophy, D. Nelson, A. Duffield, K. Masson, S. Walker, C. Walters, S. Salisbury, F. Antolasic, G. McFarlane, N. Davies, C. Moore, M. Duncan, M. Lacey, V. Brown, D. McGilvery, C. Wijesundera, K. Fisher, I. Eckhard, I. Fraser, I. Kalinitvhenko, H. Elimelakh, T. Frey, C. Braybrook. I. Fletcher, S. Duck, K. Shaw, D. Balafas, D. Stone. P. Cullis, M. Thompson


2. Apologies

L. Johnson


3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting

The minutes of the previous General Meeting, held at La Trobe University, Wednesday 17th August at 5.30 pm have been circulated. S. Duck/D. McGilvery moved that the minutes be accepted as a true and correct record of the meeting.


4. President's Report

The President (John MacLeod) had previously circulated his report.

J. Traeger/M. Guilhaus moved that the report be adopted.


5. Treasurer's Report

The Treasurer (Ray Lidgard) presented the Audited accounts for the year ended 31st March, 1995 to the meeting. The surplus for the year was $12398 and the Society's Accumulated Funds are $61,835.91 as of this date.

J. Brophy/D. Nelson moved that the report be adopted.


6. Conference Chairman's Report

The Chairman of the 15th Conference (M. Duncan) gave the following report. Mark thanked the organising committee, in particular M. Guilhaus, R. Lidgard, and J. Brophy for the enormous effort they put into organising the conference. He noted that there were 11 overseas speakers and he thanked the sponsors for their generous support. He noted that the accommodation of the speakers in the Holiday Inn was received very positively. The two cooperative ventures with other meetings (Drugs in Sport with APPS and the Biopolymer Workshop with FAOMB) were successful. Given there are now only two common weeks these may become a regular feature of other meetings.

J. MacLeod moved a vote of thanks for the Conference Organising Committee that was carried with resounding applause.


7. Conference Treasurer's Report

The Conference Treasurer (J. Brophy) gave a preliminary Treasurer's Report for the Conference. There were 210 registrants for the Conference and a preliminary balance sheet indicated that the profit from the conference would be approximately $8,000.


8. Venues for the 16th and 17th Conferences

It was noted that the Central Committee had recommended that the venue for the 16th Conference will be the University of Tasmania and Noel Davies will be the Conference Convenor. He has already made a preliminary booking for the University Centre for the 3-7th February. This will be the week before the Lorne Protein Conference and the Secretary of that conference will be approached regarding the possibility of there being some joint sponsorship of speakers. Noel noted that he would welcome suggestions for speakers for the next conference.

M. Thompson/M.Lacey moved that the decision of the Central Committee to hold the 16th Conference in Tasmania be endorsed. Carried.

It was noted that an off-campus venue in regional NSW was being investigated for the 17th Conference. This would be jointly organised by J. MacLeod and M. Sheil with a committee drawn from Wollongong and Canberra.


9. Regional Correspondents

M. Sheil noted that the Central Committee had invited the following people to act as regional correspondents.
L. Johnson, Queensland
A. Duffield, NSW
M. Lacey, ACT
J. Traeger, Victoria
N. Davies, Tasmania
M. Thompson, South Australia
J. Watling, Western Australia
P. Holland, New Zealand


P. Cullis/D. Nelson moved that the regional correspondents be endorsed. Carried.


10. Membership Fees

J. Traeger/P. Cullis moved that the membership fees remain at $15 (individual) and $30 Corporate. Carried.


11. Changes to the Constitution

K. Shaw outlined the history of the proposed changes to the constitution which were presented to the meeting as a notice of motion. These have largely arisen from a combination of the Society now having both a Central and a Conference Committee and some changes to the ACT Incorporations Act.

J. Traeger/P. Cullis moved that Section 16 of the notice of motion be amended to change the Society's financial year to 30th September. Carried.


12. Appointment of ANZSMS representative on the International Scientific Committee for the 16th IMSC (Finland 1997)

J. Traeger/D. Nelson moved that J. MacLeod be the Australian representative to IMSC. Carried.


13. Election of Office Bearers

J. MacLeod vacated the Chair to the Vice-president M. Guilhaus.

A written nomination (M. Thompson/P. Greenwood) had been received for J. MacLeod for the position of President. Elected unopposed.

J. MacLeod resumed the chair.

The following written nominations had also been received prior to the meeting.

J.Brophy/P. Cullis nominated M. Guilhaus for Vice-President
R.Willis/G. Corino nominated M. Sheil for Secretary
A. Duffield/J. Brophy nominated R. Lidgard for Treasurer
M. Sheil/R. Lidgard nominated R. Summons for the Committee
R. Summons/R.Lidgard nominated K. Shaw for the Committee

Further nominations were called from the floor.

M. Sheil/P. Cullis nominated J. Traeger for the Committee

There being no further nominations all of the above were elected unopposed.

It was noted that the Convenor of ANZSMS16, Noel Davies would also be an-ex-officio member of the Central Committee.


14. General Business

14.1 Queensland Branch

M. Sheil noted that a letter had been received from Les Johnson on behalf of members in Queensland stating that they had recently held two meetings at which approximately 30 members had attended. At the second of these a committee was elected comprising John Bartley (President), Les Johnson (Secretary) and Graham McFarlane (Treasurer). The Central Committee had approved the formation of the Queensland Branch at its meeting on Wednesday 27th September. Hence they now seek formal ratification as a State Branch. J. Brophy/D. Nelson moved that this be endorsed.

14.2 ANZSMS on WWW

J. Traeger noted that the ANZSMS page being set up on the WWW will be
http: //www.latrobe.edu.au/ANZSMS/ANZSMS.html


There being no further business the meeting closed at 5.00 pm.


Margaret Sheil
Secretary