The 2007 CAFCA Annual General Meeting was held at the Christchurch WEA on September 11. 15 members were present. Bill Rosenberg chaired. Apologies were accepted from Reg Duder, Jeremy Agar, Lynda Boyd, Liz Griffiths, Paul Piesse, Bill Willmott, Tony Orman, Lana Le Quesne, Joe Hendren, Daniela Bagozzi, Gillian Southey and Brian Stephen. The 2006 Minutes were read by the Secretary, Murray Horton, and accepted.

The 2006/07 audited accounts, which had been distributed with Watchdog 115, August 2007, were accepted (Liz Griffiths, the bookkeeper, was not able to personally present them). As of March 31, there was a surplus of $5,000 income over expenditure, so CAFCA is in excellent financial shape. Murray explained that the two term deposits had been restructured since the end of the 2006 financial year, and were now both earning higher interest rates than in the 06/07 accounts. The meeting thanked Liz Griffiths for her essential work as bookkeeper, and Bruce Finnerty for his work as the honorary auditor.

Bob Leonard reported on the CAFCA/ABC Organiser Account, which pays Murray Horton – his gross annual income is currently $25,000. In the 2006/07 year, the Account received $5,874.80 in donations, which was down on the previous year. But donations now account for only 22.9% of the Account’s annual income (as opposed to 29% the previous year). Regular pledgers now comprise 77.1% of annual income (70% the previous year), which is the factor which makes all the difference to the very healthy situation of the Account. There was a $1,000 drop in total income compared to the previous year but the Organiser Account is in a healthy state and has been able to increase Murray’s hourly rate from $11 to $13.50 since the 06 AGM. There had been some sizeable donations in the weeks immediately before the AGM, including the first ever bequest. The Organiser Account currently has the bulk of its money in two Kiwibank term deposits (with only a residue left in the actual Westpac cheque account).

There were 44 pledgers as of September 2007 (down from 47 the previous year). Income from pledges was $19,824.36, up on the previous year – the average monthly pledge per person is about $38 (as opposed to $33 the previous year). The Account made a nominal “profit” of $223.69. The meeting passed a vote of thanks for Bob Leonard, who has been in charge of the Organiser Account since the early 1990s. See below for full details.

Election of officers. Murray Horton was re-elected as Secretary/Organiser. The committee was re-elected unopposed - Bill Rosenberg, John Ring, Reg Duder, Jeremy Agar, Lynda Boyd Quentin Findlay and Colleen Hughes (the latter two being new members who joined the committee in 2007). As Joe Hendren has permanently moved to Auckland since the 06 AGM, he is no longer on the committee. Liz Griffiths is bookkeeper; Bruce Finnerty the honorary auditor.

Murray Horton presented his annual Organiser’s Report. He paid special tribute to the invaluable role that the Rosenberg family has played in CAFCA since the outset nearly 35 years ago, noting the deaths of both Wolf and Ann within six months of each other this year (Ann’s obituary is in this issue), and praised the tireless high quality unpaid job that Bill has done for all those years, and continues to do. The meeting responded with a round of applause for Bill and his late parents. The meeting also passed a vote of thanks to Leigh Cookson for her thankless, frustrating but vital job as Watchdog’s layout editor. There was no General Business (there was no real need for it as many relevant subjects had been discussed with those present during the course of Murray’s Organiser’s Report).

The AGM concluded by screening a specially prepared DVD of Bryan Gould, author of “The Democracy Sham”, speaking at the March 2007 Roger Award event in Wellington. Followed by the Extras footage on the DVD of “The Last Resort”, namely individual segments featuring Moana Jackson, the late Rod Donald, and Murray Horton (this is footage that wasn’t included in the original film).