The 2005 CAFCA Annual General Meeting was held at the Christchurch WEA on September 26. 18 members were present. Bill Rosenberg chaired. Apologies were accepted from Reg Duder, Colin Milne, Gillian Southey, Kane O’Connell, Luke Trainor, Paul Piesse, Warren Brewer, Reihana Robinson, Maurice Ward, Carolyn Brown, Maxine Boag, Trish Murray, John and Katherine Peet, Leigh Cookson and Geoff Morris. The 2004 Minutes were read by the Secretary, Murray Horton, and accepted.

The 2004/05 audited accounts were presented by Liz Griffiths, the bookkeeper (these had been published in Watchdog 109, August 2005). She pointed out that income was slightly down on the previous year, and that donations are the vital ingredient in keeping CAFCA financially healthy. She explained one entry in the accounts, namely misdirected payments, which are quite often those to be split with the Organiser Account, for example.

The meeting accepted the accounts and thanked Liz Griffiths for her essential work as bookkeeper, and Bruce Finnerty for his work as the honorary auditor. In turn, Liz thanked Murray for his financial record keeping and banking work which enables her to do the bookkeeping – he is the treasurer in all but name.

Bob Leonard reported on the CAFCA/ABC Organiser Account, which pays Murray Horton. There was a phenomenal response to the Special Appeal in 2004. In the 2004/05 year, the Account received $9,070 in donations, which was down slightly on the previous year. But donations now account for only 34% of the Account’s annual income (it used to be a nearly 50/50 split between donations and pledges). The latter now comprise 66% of annual income, which is a huge improvement, and the factor which makes all the difference to the now very healthy situation of the Account.

There are now 50 pledgers (last year it was 43, and for a long time before that hovered around 30). Income from pledges has increased from $12,000 a year to $18,000 p.a. – the average monthly pledge per person is just under $30. The meeting passed a vote of thanks for Bob Leonard, who has been in charge of the Organiser Account for more than a decade.

Election of officers. Murray Horton was re-elected as Secretary. The committee was re-elected unopposed - Bill Rosenberg, John Ring, Reg Duder and Joe Hendren. Liz Griffiths is bookkeeper; Bruce Finnerty the honorary auditor. Murray Horton presented his annual Organiser’s Report.

General Business. There was a discussion about the election outcome and how it affects CAFCA’s issues. NB: the AGM took place in the fortnight between the election and the announcement of the final result, so it was before the formation of the new Government. One member spoke on the involvement of the Exclusive Brethren in the election campaign and the dangers posed by that.

At the conclusion of business we screened the 2004 Australian SBSTV documentary ”Jungle Justice”, about the reprehensible activities of Malaysian logging transnational, Rimbunan Hijau, in Papua New Guinea. We also had an unpublicised screening of “The New Zealand Experiment”, a Danish union documentary about the costs of privatisation arising from Rogernomics et al. This had been brought home by Bill Rosenberg from his September speaking tour of Norway (in his capacity as a union official). Bill also spoke about that tour, which took place during Norway’s election campaign, one in which privatisation was a major issue (and which was won by Opposition parties opposed to it).

Foreign Control Watchdog, P O Box 2258, Christchurch, New Zealand/Aotearoa. December 2005.