Australian Warbirds

[T28D]

THE FUTURE OF AWAL IS AT STAKE.

A PERSONAL LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

M.P. (KIM) ROLPH-SMITH

AUSTRALIAN WARBIRDS ASSOCIATION Ltd.



PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ. THANK YOU



Dear Member,



During the last year, I have becomeincreasingly concerned about the actions of the management of AWAL, which has recently resulted in AWAL beingordered to pay my legal costs and of course its own. I expect that the totalcosts payable will be in the order of some $50,000.



This should not have happened, and didn’t needto happen. All I was trying to do was contact our members to advise them ofissues and concerns that occurred over the last 3 months. I was banned fromcontacting our members up until the court order ruled in my favour on the 18thof this month and ordered the release the membership list to me.



This is a long document,because the issues are many and technical, and cannot be covered in a fewpages.



Because AWAL is an aviationself-administration body, AWAL must always be able to demonstrate that;



· it is a fit and proper organisation.



· basic breaches of the companyMemorandum & Articles of Association and of the Corporations Act 2001should not occur.



· If for any reason breaches do occur,they should be immediately acknowledged and dealt with properly, as required bylaw, and not create further breaches of law.



There are a number of other issues, including;



· the complete lack of progress insolving the problems that have not allowed APs to issue Limited Category. C. ofAs. and the lack of action or feedback from the DSA or CEO as to their progressif any with CASA to all concerned and frustrated AWAL members awaiting LimitedCategory C of A s for their aircraft;



· the rules changes within CASR 21, and the proposed CASR Part 132 and theresult;



· potentiallymajor operational limitation on our present rights and freedoms,



· completely unknown increased cost impacts on our flying,



My concern has been heightened, becauseour general management has refused to address these concerns, claiming that therules changes will only benefit our members, a claim that is clearly not thetruth.



CHRONOLOGICALEVENTS



Onthe 14th November 2012 I emailed a memo to the CEO, the DSA and ourboard members with my concerns about our current inability to issue C of As forLimited Category aircraft.



Ihad been uneasy about the way things were happening for some time, however dueto what appeared to me to be a lack of interest from the rest of the board andthe attitudes of the Secretary and CEO in failing to involve me in any of theirconsiderations, I felt powerless to act.



Itwas not until receiving some recent advice, that I ascertained just how seriousmy concerns were, which led me to write a memo to the board regarding theseconcerns, which brought about the present situation.



Thememo was addressed to the whole board but I had no idea that it would beregarded as so offensive by the Secretary, CEO and result in their lobbying,the rest of the board.



Mymemo was merely a suggestion that we clean up our act. With the benefitof hindsight I am sorry that I did not act earlier.



Itis now 8 months since AWAL has been able to issue a C of A. There have beenmany excuses, while aeroplanes sit on the ground, at great inconvenience andexpense to owners.



Myconcerns are summarised hereunder:-



· AWAL remains in a position where itcannot act or issue C of As for members with Limited Category aircraft.,because CASA has failed to issue a CAR 262AM delegation.



· members should be told that, whereaircraft owners were waiting for C of A’s due to delays, no fees would becharged or taken until this serious situation was resolved.



· Theanswer, considering some of the provisions of Part 132, appears to be that CASAdoes not intend to give us a proper 262AM delegation.



· to ensure that, by self-audit, ourmembers conducting adventure flights were all adequately insured, especially passengers,with insurance of at least $500,000.



· If there was an incident or accidentthis could place AWAL in a vulnerable position legally.



· AWALand members will be even more legally vulnerable if Part 132, in anything likeits present form, ever becomes law.



· CASA did not appear to be supportingAWAL in relation to following up persons or companies still operating LimitedCategory aircraft and conducting adventure flights, who had not paid their AWALfees e.g; the initial adventure flight exposition assessment fee of $1650.00and $770.00 for the AWAL Permission to Operate.



· CASA must support us, as AWAL areacting on behalf of CASA, as a self-administrating organisation.



· theproposed changes to CASR 21, the new draft Part 132 and its serious ramificationsfor our members; (an initial summary is attached);



· the real effects of the major changesto Part 21, the most serious one being that Ex-militaryaircraft are to be denied a certificatein the Experimental Exhibition Cat.,even if this is their proper category, as provided for in the law, and;



· thenew Part 132 potential costs and losses – both money and rights and freedoms;



· right down to grounded aircraft thatare made unsaleable and non-income producing, because they are denied a certificate in Experimental Exhibition;



· as yet undefined but apparently seriouschanges to maintenance requirements, and;



· the failure by our management to informmembers, of these possibilities, despitethe many clearly onerous provisions of the draft changes to CASR 21 andprovision of CASR 132.



· Themany new offences created by Part 132, with maximum fine of up to $8500 fortrivial issues, like failing to notify a change of address within 14 days.



· CASAcan levy Administrative Fines (without court cases) of up to $4250.00. for administrative trivia.



· The limited private use proposed, whilewelcome, is of real little consequence, compared to the above. Part 132 is notneeded to allow additional private use.



Mymemo to the Board also included a suggested agenda for the AGM on the 24thNovember 2012.



Thememo consisted of some 25 important items, that in my opinion required oururgent attention. I asked all boardmembers for feedback, to add, comment or change any items. None did so.



Neithermy suggested agenda nor any part of it was used at the AGM.



Onthe 22nd November 2012 a teleconference was arranged by the Secretary to comeup with a compromise in voting new board members on before the actual AGM.



Therewere 4 options put forward by the Secretary, from which Board members had tomake a choice of one.



Thenext day, after seeking legal advice, I was advised that none of the optionswere legal, also that the CEO and DSA could not vote on these matters but did.



Because of abnormalities with regards tonominations and the closing date of acceptances for board vacancies, asPresident and Chairman of the meeting, I chose to adjourn the AGM at itsconclusion on 24 November 2012.



This motion and a motion that AWALwould appoint independent Elections Australia Pty Ltd to conduct the electionat the adjourned AGM , was put to themembers who attended the meeting, either personally or by proxy. Thismotion was passed.



Onthe 26th November 2012, the Monday after the meeting, I requestedthe membership list from the Secretary, aswas my right in law.



Mypurpose for the request was to exercise my right to communicate with themembership with a date for the resumed AGM, and to give you a clearunderstanding of my opinion of the issues facing us.



Iwas improperly denied this request the same day, with no reason givenwhatsoever, and apparently without AWALmanagement seeking accurate and proper legal advice.



Onthe 4th December 2012 a teleconference was called by the Secretary,with no mention as to what it was about, or any agenda posted.



TheCEO, DSA and Board were all present.



TheSecretary advised me that;



· they were “standing me down aspresident and chairman and”; despite only being a caretaker board during theadjournment, and;



· were removing me from the Board forthwith;



Thesepurported actions are prohibited by the Corporations Act 2001, a matter thatshould be known to any competent director.