Changes to Articles & Memorandum

The Planning and Finance Committee presents the draft of the NEW - MEMORANDUM and ARTICLES of ASSOCIATION of the Little Ship Club Queensland Squadron

Members are encouraged to read the recommended new Memorandum and Articles of Association which, once the Club's Solicitor has reviewed and corrected any legal or other content which he considers should be altered, will be submitted to Club Members, for their approval, at a special General Meeting, and forwarded to A.S.I.C. for ratification.

The new Articles of Association is virtually a new document. I suggest members read it as a stand alone document with little relationship to the existing Articles. Indeed, it is almost twice the number of pages, its coverage of Club life is far reaching, it has enshrined in it the processes and supporting proceedings which will ensure our Club will have the necessary constitutional strength to see us through for many years to come.

The new Memorandum and Articles of Association are labelled just that, NEW, while the existing Memorandum and Articles are labelled EXISTING. Some Members may wish to view the existing document for some reason, but I suggest Members read the proposed new Memorandum and Articles of Association as an entirely new document, and consider it on its merits alone, understanding that it is written with today's circumstances in mind, with tomorrow's Board Members in mind, and very mindful of the expectations of tomorrow's Club Members, written to the best of my ability, with the years of Club experience, and the years of Committee service behind me.

This new Constitution with its Memorandum and Articles of Association will be presented to Members as a completely new Constitution, replacing the existing, old Constitution in its entirety. The new Constitution is so much larger, and covers so many important matters so comprehensively, that any attempt to align it with the existing old Constitution could be both frustrating and a waste of time. As I said, the new Constitution should be considered on its own as a completely new and stand alone document. With a sensible, clear, unambiguous and unpretentious set of Memorandum and Articles of Association documents to form our NEW Constitution, we can expect that all Members and all Board Members will, in future, see clearly how the Club is to operate, with all areas covered, and hopefully nothing left unchartered.

We can also expect that the recruitment of quality Members to the Board of Directors of our Club will be easier and more rewarding in the future. Our Club deserves only the best, the best Constitution we can give it, the best Directors we can recruit, with the best and fairest governance as a result.

This new Constitution has been over twelve months in development, it has been subject to innumerable changes and redrafting, a number of senior Members and past Commodores have been consulted, and finally the document has been exposed to examination over three months by the full Board of Directors, where yet more amendments were made, and the new Constitution - the new Memorandum and Articles of Association - were agreed to and approved unanimously by the Board of the Little Ship Club at a Special Board Meeting on 3rd April 2007.

This new Memorandum and Articles of Association [revised and rewritten 2007] will be presented for approval, as our new Constitution, to Club Members at a special General Meeting which the Commodore will call in the near future.

This New Constitution will replace the Existing Constitution in its entirety.

The Commodore has invited Members to read and consider the proposed new Constitution, and should a member have a question, a suggestion, a complaint or any input to this matter, he should contact the Board through the Secretary, or phone the Commodore or myself - Phil Maschmedt - and tell us your concern or idea or whatever, and it will be taken under consideration by the Board.

This is very important for the future of the Club, and I recommend the New Memorandum and Articles of Association, which will form our New Constitution, to you the Members.

Select the - New Memorandum- or the -New Articles of Association -by clicking on the relevant icon on this page.

Phil Maschmedt
Chairman Planning & Finance Committee