National President's Letter to Associations February 2005

Dear members

It is 4.30 a.m. Canberra time, I am unable to sleep with the events of the past three weeks crowding my brain, so what better time to bring you up to date with the happenings of this New Year of 2005.

Those of you who are individual members of the Association Country Women of the World will have read the letter from our World President, advising that our Tsunami appeal fund is now ready to receive donations. I had many requests from members and individual Associations in the early part of January, asking for direction as to what path to take to direct funds, and we have subsequently received advice from Mrs Jeanette Tarbotton that direction would issue from the World Office. I am sure that there will be a generous reaction to this, and that the many gifts received at our Pacific Area Conference in Ballarat, will assist the desperately needed reconstruction of homes hospitals and schools in the affected areas.

Our Presidents’ meeting in Canberra at the end of January had a lot of exterior business to discuss. During the Christmas break and in fact while I was visiting my son and his family in Karratha, I received e-mail contact from the National Museum in Canberra. Amanda Zervos had been impressed by the CWA Cookbooks in the Museum (I would think similar to copies I had from my mother’s collection from NSW) and as part of the celebration of Anzac Day 2005, her proposal was to have the Great Anzac Biscuit Bake-off with CWA’s the major participants. By the time she met with us in Canberra, she had secured funding to fly the successful winners from each State and the N.T. to bake off first hand with local Canberra members also to participate. She had also secured the appointment of Margaret Fulton to judge the bake-off. Each State and the Territory Associations have also been asked if they would provide copies of each of their cook-books to mount what would surely be a most impressive and historical display for the National Museum. Each Association has been given “carte blanche” to decide its own representative, and with focus being given to the war effort activities of our members in the Second World War, this day should really highlight one part of the achievements of our Associations. The final bake-off will be on Sunday 24th April, thus providing a family day for visits to the museum.

You will all know by now that the reprint of our National Country Treasures cook-book is to go ahead, with additional royalties of $5000 being added to our Rural and Remote area Scholarship fund. I am still being asked for the odd copy of the cook, and Mrs Judy Richardson, NSW President has agreed to locate one copy to supply to the most recent request.

Our re-dedication of the Memorial Herb Garden should go ahead in conjunction with the Drovers’ Reunion at the end of April. The garden has been relocated as a major feature on the graded walkway to the main entrance, with the pump positioned at the top, and a gentle water cascade along the full length of the walkway, with the herbs positioned either side. I am hoping that this will be a pleasing end to what has been a frustrating time for our members and that you and your families will be satisfied with the result.

Our Presidents’ meeting was convened to discuss the repeat project funded by the Department Agriculure Fisheries and Forestry, to expand and include Occupational Health and Safety and Child Safety on Farms, as well as the Succession Planning which was the focus of the project last year. Our discussion was facilitated by Jenny Oates who had previously worked with us last year, and her guidance made it possible to complete the preliminary project application in the course of one afternoon. We were also visited by the new Departmental Secretary Joanna Hewitt, Virginia Perkins and Jo Slattery to discuss our project aims. Jo was able to stay with us for the rest of the afternoon to provide additional guidance. It is hoped that funding will be received before the end of the financial year, with the project to be completed by November.

We have also had preliminary talks with the Office for Women, with a view to running the information sessions provided by Philanthropy Australia again, also in a greater number. This is seen as vital for our rural and regional communities to receive up to date information regarding the funds available from Philanthropic Associations, and the best way to apply for funds. It is hoped that all Associations participate in this activity to benefit all of organisations within our communities.

To complete the week, Mrs Judy Richardson and I attended the face to face meeting of the National Rural Women’s Coalition. We were given an update on the policy paper emerging from the November 2004 Health Forum in Melbourne, and ongoing developments in the two other projects, Cultural Immersion and Family Violence. I then attended the Office for Women face to face, with the other three funded Secretariats. Kerry Flanagan assured us that the strength of the Office for Women has not been diluted by their inclusion in the Department of Family Services, with Senator Kay Paterson still being our Minister across all of these issues.

The theme article on “A decade of Withdrawal of Services and the effect in Rural Regional Communities” for which the Presidents last year chose the whimsical title “Where have all the Flowers Gone?” was accepted and published in the end of year issue of the Australian and New Zealand Rural Science Journal and copies have been ordered for all of the Associations. I am grateful to the Associations who provided the basic words for differing situations in their States, and am well pleased by the way it all came together. The closing lines of “When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?” may create some response in some bureaucratic hearts and minds! Well, we can always hope.

I was inspired by the Tasmanian Conference – although small in number, these members are passionate about issues affecting their communities, and I see no possibility that the Association will “fade away” while this dedication is maintained. Of great joy to me was some quiet time with President Lesley Young and her husband on their property at East Sassafras, and the drive to Hobart in company with other members was a joy. I also had the privilege and pleasure of meeting Mrs Vera Norris, one of the last appointed Presidents and I welcome her opinion on some of the constitution changes that have been proposed by our Presidents and our pro-bono solicitor. These of course will be submitted to the 2006 conference, and I would hope that all eligible Associations will be in attendance to debate and decide.

We were also asked by AQIS to provide contacts with Non English Speaking Background farmers in each area (NESB) and this request will be dealt with by each Association in their own area.

A request to rewrite the CWAA history has been received from PhD student, Kate Boyce, who has chosen the lack of speech pathology services in rural areas as her thesis topic. This follows on a meeting I had with Kate in Sydney last year, when she asked for health issues important to our Associations and I was able to list, among others, Victoria’s concerns in this special area. Since our Canberra meeting Kate has advised that the team she has gathered for the project (if approved) includes Emeritus Professor Duncan Waterson, Associate Professor George Parsons, Dr Graeme Aplin (Historian) and herself as Sociologist. I have no idea as yet as to the format that is proposed, but should the Presidents give permission for this conversation to continue I will obtain further details. I would think that this may be a differing format to that used in our previous history which was completed in 1997 by Brenda Stevens Chambers.

Now to close on Conference 2006 – dates have been advised to all Association, August 28th to 31st inclusive. It is planned to have an after lunch commencement on the Monday, with the Ecumenical Service and Annual Meeting during the afternoon. When I visit the Northern Territory for their Conference in June, I will take the opportunity to have further discussion on the forward planning, which Dr Valerie Asche and I took the opportunity to work through after the NRWC Health Forum in Melbourne last year.

Best wishes to everyone for a fulfilling year in CWA.

Myra Pincott
National President
CWA of Australia