Information about the Annual General Meeting

The 89th Annual Conference and AGM was held on 16 - 18 May 2011, at Nowra.

Download the resolutions which were carried here

Download the competition results here

Day by Day Report

Sunday Evening

The impressive Ecumenical Service was conducted by the Nowra Ministers' Association, led by Pastor Richard Utber and supported by the Reverend Matthew Pickering of All Saints Anglican Church, Nowra and Sandra Spencer from the Church of Falls. The generosity of members saw $3294.30 donated to the offertory collection, to be used in the provision of scripture materials to school students. The CWA choir members added to the service with their singing of "Who cares?", "If I Can Help Somebody" and "The Stranger of Galilee".

Monday

An escort of two members from the Albatross Naval Base provided a grand entry for the Official Party into the 89th Annual General Meeting.

Mrs Elaine Armstrong welcomed all and introduced the official guests after the singing of the Anthems and recitation of the Motto.

The Welcome to Country was given by Aboriginal Elder, the stately Ruth Simms who commented that the Country Women's Association was awe inspiring and that she was "fair dinkum" in her admiration of what we do. A further welcome was given by Paul Green, Mayor of the Shoalhaven City Council. Mayor Green remarked that he was very excited that Nowra was chosen to host the event and wished the CWA well.

Immediate Past State President, Mrs Margaret Roberts, officially opened the Meeting and after commenting on the theme "Our Vision, Our Future", made the observation that all members needed to be actively involved to see our future secured.

The State Choir, conducted by Mrs Marie De La Torre and accompanied by Mrs Llewella Evans, entertained us once again with "Georgy Girl", the beautiful "Love Changes Everything" and "The Power of the Dream" including a delightful solo by Kerrie Houghton.

Keynote speaker, Ms Elizabeth Broderick, Sex Discrimination Commissioner, recognised that the CWA was an enduring organisation in Australia working to assist other women all over the world. Ms Broderick outlined her role as Commissioner, with her focus being women in leadership roles and violence against women, particularly domestic violence.

State President, Mrs Elaine Armstrong, presented her comprehensive report giving an overview of business and activities for the past year.

The afternoon session saw the introduction of the National President, Mrs Heather Wieland, who brought greetings and informed members of the CWAA Conference in Tasmania in 2012.

This was followed by the start of the business sessions as follows:

Confirmation of the Minutes of the 2010 AGM

The First Special General Meeting

An address by our Corporate Sponsor from Telstra Country Wide, Michael Marom, the Area General Manager, Illawarra. He spoke on Telstra's commitment to its customers and future directions for the company.

The nominations for Medical Research, Prostate Cancer, Macular Degeneration and Parkinson's Disease were presented. It was passed that Executive provide a set of guidelines for branch nominations for medical research.

The nominees for State Officers gave their presentations to members, prior to a return to the Agenda.

At the evening meeting, the State Cultural Awards were presented by Ian Burgess, Managing Director, Scott & Broad Pty Ltd. Scott & Broad have been sponsoring these awards for some years and announced that the company was increasing their funding. Special mention was made of the commitment of Marie De La Torre, conductor of the State Choir, who announced her retirement.

This was followed by the State International Meeting where the Consul General for Iceland in Australia, Mrs Sigrun Baldvinsdottir, addressed the assembly and thanked the CWA of NSW for all they had done in promoting her country. The meeting was also addressed by Andrea Gledhill, Head of Earle Page College, and Mrs Ruth Shanks, AM, South Pacific Area President, ACWW. Another special guest was Mrs Anne Moore who was an exchange visitor from the Indiana Homemakers Association.

Results of the various competitions can be found in the appropriate reports in this Journal.

Tuesday

The day commenced with the confirmation of nomination of Group Representatives to Executive Committee, followed by the State Honorary Secretary's Report from Mrs Denise Ferguson. In her final report Mrs Ferguson outlined the activities she had performed during the past year, with her difficulties eased particularly by the wonderful staff at Head Office and her many CWA friends. State President Mrs Elaine Armstrong congratulated Denise for her expertise and contribution and for her support and friendship, and presented her with a gift on behalf of the members.

The State Honorary Treasurer's Report was presented by Mrs Denise Turnbull who explained that conference costs were increasing and there was a need to raise our conference contribution to $5.50. Our membership fees would be increased to $31 plus our TSP 50 cents making a total of $37.00 per member for 2011/2012. This recommendation was carried by the meeting.

Rodney Grosvenor of Grosvenor Business Advisors was appointed as the auditor.

An update of the Governance Review was presented by Dean Cording who is consulting and surveying members in order to prepare a review and recommendation about good governance practices for CWA.

Guest speaker, Karen Anstiss, from The Slice Of Life Australia talked briefly of the catering program established in Nowra to help disabled people achieve in a work situation. She was supported by two employees, Allie and Matt who touched our hearts with their enthusiasm.

State International Officer, Mrs Margaret Brown, gave her final report with an overview of her years activities and also received a presentation from Mrs Armstrong.

Mrs Gloria Hyatt was presenting her final report as State Agriculture & Environment Officer and touched on many of the issues that are impacting on our communities and environment. The award for the recycled article was sponsored by peckvonhartel who announced that they would be continuing that sponsorship for a further two years. Mrs Hyatt also received a presentation from Mrs Armstrong.

The Editor of "The Country Woman", Mrs Gay Cowan gave her report before announcing the results of the Garry Essay Prize. There were 25 entries for the topic "It was too quiet...", judged by Ms Janene Carey, a writer with a PhD in creative writing. The first prize was awarded to Helen Williams, Young Branch with the following comments from Ms Carey; "An evocative portrait of an old family home with the poignant use of the phrase ‘It was too quiet...'"

The following presentations were given:

The Australian Event Services Award for the highest increase in membership over two years was awarded to Ivanhoe Branch.

The Wagga Daily Advertiser Award was won by Jan Humphreys, Pambula-Merimbula Branch

Mrs Jenny Mitchell presented the Past State Presidents Award to Quirindi Branch.

The forum for Physician Assisted Dying with Yvonne Allen speaking for and Dr Bernadette Tobin speaking against was extremely interesting and thought provoking. The presenters faced many questions from members at the end of the forum.

The evening session saw the presentation by John Dwyer of ‘The Land' Cookery awards with a special mention of the 100 year anniversary.

Awards for the State Handicraft were presented by Mrs Elaine Armstrong with John Dwyer presenting ‘The Land' awards.

Further information can be found in the pertinent reports in the Journal.

Wednesday

The final day's proceedings commenced with the announcement of the elections and members congratulated the new State Secretary, Mrs Jocelyn Cameron, and International Officer, Mrs Rowena Casey. The new Vice Presidents elected were Mrs Roma Bundock, Mrs Jill Roughly, Mrs Maureen Campbell and Mrs Robyn Wright. Elected unopposed as the Agricultural & Environmental Officer was Mrs Joy Beames.

The State Manager of Prostate Cancer Foundation accepted a cheque for $35,000 and was delighted to hear that Prostate Cancer Research was being supported for another year.

Mrs Gloria Hyatt presented the Show Catering Committee Report and congratulated members for volunteering to help. A cheque for $88,100, the profits of the 2010 show, was presented to the CWA.

A special RAS John Ross Award was presented to Mrs Barbara Hendrick for having the longest service as a volunteer.

The 2012 AGM will be held at the Blacktown Workers Club on the 7th till 10th May. After drawing the various raffles the conference concluded with presentations and votes of thanks.

The Head Office Staff was congratulated for their hard work.

Mrs Armstrong closed the meeting and invited us to our 90th AGM in 2012.

Wednesday evening saw everyone relaxing at the Entertainment Centre to a pleasant meal and entertainment by pianist, Arthur Bowcher, a delightful presentation of singing, dancing and performing by the students of the Illawarra and South East Regional Schools ensemble.

Members had a chance to dance the night away to the music of the Shoalhaven City Concert Band.