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This week’s meeting Wednesday 18th March 2009 http://www.rotaryboxhillcentral.org.au
President Greg’s Report for Week in Review, ending March 11th, 2009: “The
best democracy money can buy”. I just loved this one-liner from our guest
speaker David Mattiske, from Transparency International. It’s a bit sobering
that he was referring to the “mother country”. It goes to show that we must
all be diligent in protecting against the little compromises in ethics that
can eventually lead to corruption across society. Yet another fascinating
meeting. Thank you to The
pace is picking up for the organisation of the Golf Day Monday week. Please
contact Tony if you can provide any assistance on the day as we are still a
little short on numbers and any extra assistance would be greatly
appreciated. We have the largest number of teams entered this year since
inception and this is a wonderful fundraiser for the Club. Please chip in if
you can. Who
do you plan to invite to the Club this week? President
Greg Report from Last Week’s Meeting (Mar 11th) by Roving Reporter
Bernie Millane The
theme for today’s presentation was
"Fighting Corruption through Transparency International" Firstly
however we heard a number of important report and activity items from
members; I noted the following ::-- The
23 March Club Golf Day at Box Hill Golf Club. Tony
Stokes was excited to announce that we have 20 teams registered for the day
-- AND -- the door is still open for more to participate. The Evening Dinner
promises to be a Gala Event and the planned Entertainment is a big
attraction. Clearly, the organising
Committee has gone to many lengths to ensure members and visitors have a
memorable day and evening. Tickets are still available. Operation-CLEFT. Brian
Martin provide us with an excellent update report. As previous Bulletins and
reports have confirmed, this Project has achieved national and International
status - apart from the wonderful, personal benefits it produces, the Project
has made BHCRC known across the land as being a truly remarkable Club - one
that stands tall a extends a helping hand across many borders. Brian
also informed us that a revised figure will be announced as the cost of OC
medical treatments. This cost increase is the result of the global financial
issues and we need to understand that it has an impact on future costing
calculations and future funding. The Guest Speaker was David Mattiske of Transparency
International The Topic: Fighting
Corruption through Transparency. I finished my notes at the closure of Davids talk with the words ' a full-on presentation'. This sums up, I feel, how many of us felt at 8.35am !! Transparency
International Australia is an affiliate organisation of Transparency
International - the coalition against corruption. It was created in 1993 and
is receives funding from AusAid. Its HQ'sare in
TIA
works with government, business and private citizens David
outlined for us some of his employment background. This included the World
Bank, PMG and many government streams.
He then captured our attention for well over 30 minutes, telling us
how government, their agencies and corporations have and can bribe and steal
from national and international communities. As an example, corporate gain is
a big issue across the world. Why? because corporations abuse entrusted power
for private ie. personal gain. This occurs on both the supply and demand side
of business activities. David told us that TI research data reveals the
Russian budget has 'leaked' $130B (US$), the Suharto family 'leaked' $48B
(US$), The
adverse impact of this worldwide corruption dilemma affects the political,
economic, social and environmental stability of nations and communities. It
affects the end users via higher prices and less quality in products. Of
note - TIA seeks 'Perception' responses from many sources including the
public. This input is a significant source of vital information -
sometimes damaging - when assessing and analysing corporate and government
responses . As
David said, the data collection process and end product confirms that
many countries are affected by corruption. A
major task for TIA is to promote and produce Integrity Pacts. These are
commercial agreements where tenderers agree NOT to use corruption. This
function is linked to work TIA does with OECD and the UN - to have
international conventions created AND Laws being passed. TIA also does
work with all Australian governments and our local Pacific countries - this
includes TIMOR-LESTE. As
a summary comment, David's power-point information was excellent and his
focus on the TI and TIA role was exceptional. I, for one, had never heard of
this organisation and what it does. As
I said to a Club member - it is astounding what happens in our community
but rarely do we hear a word about it.
David Mattiske explained the purpose of Transparency
International, including its role to promote and produce Integrity Pacts with
Governments world wide. A
copy of David Mattiske’s PP Slides are available from Bernie Millane on
request - Ed. Attendance Report for
Last Week’s Meeting (Mar 11th 2009) by Listed below are Apologies for and Make-ups advised for the
September 3rd meeting. Remember that to be counted towards attendance,
Make-ups may be made 14 days prior to, or following, a missed meeting date.
Notice of Apology prior to a meeting should be
made to Likewise if you are bringing a guest, similar notice would be
appreciated beforehand if at all possible.
Operation Cleft Australia
Inc: Operation Cleft – Relocation: Operation
Cleft Australia, a Project of The Rotary Club of Box Hill Central, is most
indebted and appreciative of the generous offer from Craig and Raeleen Hoath
of Office Accommodation to house the “Operational Working Base” of Operation
Cleft. Since
it’s inception a few years ago OC has operated from Premises provided by Craig
and Raeleen have offered a room on the first floor of their premises at Brian Martin Chairman –
Operation Cleft Victorian Rotary Districts Bushfire Recovery Group: The combined Victorian Rotary Districts Bushfire
Recovery group held its first meeting on 5 March. This inaugural meeting
mainly dealt with consideration of the overall scope of the task facing the
Rotary districts and how we are going to handle it. Some organisational and
administrative measures and a communication strategy were put in place.
The five Victorian districts have all set up
bushfire relief appeal funds and funds are flowing in from clubs, Rotarians
and other donors across As far as possible, the group will allocate funds
based on need and priority across the whole of Districts 9790 (North Eastern Victoria) and 9820
(Gippsland) were most severely impacted by the fires and clubs in these
districts are still very involved with clean -up activities and planning for
longer term recovery projects is yet to be finalised. Therefore the Rotary
recovery group is not yet in the position to allocate funds to specific
projects in these areas and it is likely to be about two months before this
can commence. It is expected that the life of the program could extend for a
period of up to two years. The Rotary Club of Healesville has initiated a
project to assist landholders re-establish homes and businesses in areas
affected by the fires around the Healesville, Chum Creek, and Yarra Glen
areas. Services being provided include tree clearance, timber salvage,
firewood, land surveying, fencing, provision of generators, water tanks,
portable toilets/bathrooms/washing facilities, chainsaws, trailers, water
filters, battery radios, shipping containers etc. The club commenced this
project using its community service funds and is receiving an initial
allocation from the District 9810 Bushfire Appeal Fund to allow this
worthwhile project to continue. The need for further funding for this project
will be reviewed regularly in relation to the total funds available and other
requests. Many clubs and individuals have already donated to
the District 9810 Bushfire Appeal and we are aware of other events planned to
support this cause. You are encouraged to continue supporting this appeal so
that adequate funds are available to meet all the Rotary recovery programs in
the affected communities. All enquiries concerning the Victorian Rotary
Districts Bushfire Recovery Group should be directed to me. Donations to the district bushfire
appeal should be sent to District Treasurer David Mair It is planned to provide progress reports on the
recovery effort through our regular weekly and monthly newsletters, district
websites and RDU Brian Foley District 9810 Representative Victorian Rotary Districts Bushfire Recovery Group
Email: foley.be.hc@bigpond.com Telephone:
95848405 0407508186 AFL 2009 Football Tipping
Competition: Join
now, for just $25.00 for the year – so much fun for such little cost! All 2008
Tippers are automatically invited to go again in 2009. If you
would like to join the RCBHC Tipping comp for the 1st time click
on the following link: Why join the Footy
Tipping Comp? ·
Half of my fee of $25.00 goes to the Club’s
Fund Raising Efforts for the 2009 year. ·
I can win big prizes at the end of the
year. ·
I Support both my Rotary Club and my Footy
Club. ·
I can prove that I’m as good a tipper as
the best expert. ·
Its good fun and it takes just me 2 minutes
per week – and my computer reminds me. ·
It’s so easy to enter my tips. Join
Now! Just go to the link above. Future Meetings:
Important Dates: 2009
Celebrations:
Desk Duties/Greeting
Roster 2009:
Roving Reporter Roster:
Eastern Emergency Relief
Roster:
Thought for the Week:
District 9810 website - for all the news in our Rotary district Rotary eClub one - Rotary eClub One For contributions
and improvement ideas please email the editor, bmcewen@optusnet.com.au |
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