[Linux-aus] Constitutional Change to add Statement of Objectives into Constitution

[Andrew Bartlett]

As one of the many at the last AGM dumbfounded by hearing not only had
this logical change not been passed, but also that nobody attending
could speak to why it should not have proceeded, I wish strongly
encourage a vote, and a vote YES for the change.

In doing so I trust, as Julian has indicated below, this will make the
tireless job of our conference organisers a bit easier, as well as
protecting the assets of our community.  I hope every other member
subscribed here can take the time to vote YES to the change also.

Thank you to the council for proposing the vote again.

Andrew Bartlett

On Thu, 2020-01-02 at 22:17 +1100, Sae Ra Germaine via linux-aus wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> Just a quick reminder to make sure you vote in the constitutional change and whilst you're there... on the Council elections. There are some fantastic nominees for council this year and I highly recommend you vote!
> 
> See you all at LCA... if you're going :) 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Sae Ra
> 
> 
> On Wed, 11 Dec 2019 at 20:15, Julien Goodwin via linux-aus <linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au> wrote:
> > Dear LA Members,
> > 
> > Over recent years a number of conference sponsors have indicated that it
> > would be easier for them to support our activities if Linux Australia
> > were a registered charity. As Linux Australia’s role has always been to
> > educate people about open source, the day-to-day running of the
> > organisation won’t change if Linux Australia were to become a registered
> > charity. Furthermore, the Linux Australia Council has sought advice from
> > our Auditor and Accountant; both advised that becoming a charity would
> > have no material effect on how Linux Australia is run.
> > 
> > For these reasons (and in light of the benefits), the Linux Australia
> > Council would like to register Linux Australia as a charity and for this
> > purpose an application has been submitted to the Australian Charities
> > and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC, https://www.acnc.gov.au/). However,
> > the ACNC has advised us that our application can not proceed until our
> > constitution explicitly lists our charitable objectives.
> > 
> > Before the charitable objectives can be added to the constitution the
> > Linux Australia membership must vote in favour of the change.  The
> > authoritative text of the change can be found in the pull request:
> > 
> > 
> > https://github.com/linuxaustralia/constitution_and_policies/pull/38/files
> > 
> > The proposed change adds the following section to the constitution.
> > 
> >  43. Objects of the association
> > 
> > (1) The objects for which the association is established are:
> > 
> >   (a) to facilitate the communication of information relating to
> > inventions, results, techniques, and governance of open source and
> > related open technologies;
> > 
> >   (b) to support open source and related open technologies projects and
> > the contributors to open source and related open technologies;
> > 
> >   (c) to support and promote the adoption of open source and related
> > open technologies;
> > 
> >   (d) to support and promote awareness and understanding of open source
> > and related open technologies;
> > 
> >   (e) to conduct open source and related open technologies advocacy with
> > the government, business and civil society;
> > 
> >   (f) to create a network for related local and online open source and
> > related open technologies communities.
> > 
> > (2) The association must pursue charitable purposes only and must apply
> > its income in promoting those purposes.
> > 
> > (3) The association must manage payments and gifts to the association
> > and ensure that they are used to further the stated objects of the
> > association.
> > 
> > (4) In the event of the association being wound up, its assets must go
> > to a charitable entity whose objectives aren’t inconsistent with the
> > stated objects of the association.
> > 
> > The Linux Australia Council supports this constitutional change as it
> > allows the charitable registration to proceed and provides additional
> > clarity on the purpose of the organisation.
> > 
> > To cast a vote for or against this constitutional change, please visit
> > https://www.linux.org.au/
> >    * Click on “Login” located on the top right hand side of the page and
> >      log in.
> >    * Click on “Elections”.
> >    * Under “Constitutional Change to add Statement of Objectives into
> > Constitution”, click on “Vote in the election”.
> > 
> > Voting for this change will be open until 11:59PM (AEDT) 12th January
> > 2020. Results of the vote will be announced during the Linux Australia
> > AGM on the 13th of January 2020 at linux.conf.au (Gold Coast, Queensland).
> > 
> > 
> > Kind Regards,
> > 
> > Julien Goodwin
> > Secretary,
> > Linux Australia
> > _______________________________________________
> > linux-aus mailing list
> > linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au
> > http://lists.linux.org.au/mailman/listinfo/linux-aus
> > 
> > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to
> > linux-aus-unsubscribe at lists.linux.org.au
> 
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-- 
Andrew Bartlett                       http://samba.org/~abartlet/
Authentication Developer, Samba Team  http://samba.org
Samba Developer, Catalyst IT          http://catalyst.net.nz/services/samba