VUWSA AGM points of order poked

VUWSA AGM points of order poked

by Michael Oliver

He may be renowned for sipping on milkshakes at VUWSA meetings and around the general Wellington area, but Peter McCaffrey now holds a new mantle: picking holes in VUWSA meeting procedure.

Last Wednesday’s VUWSA Annual General Meeting (AGM) was interrupted over a dozen times by the ACT on Campus Vice President, who raised 13 points of order and called for five quorum counts over the course of the 50-minute-long gathering.

The VUWSA AGM, a compulsory meeting of the Victoria Students Association, is held every year during the second trimester. It covers the presentation of the VUWSA financial report, the election of officials to relevant committees and offers opportunity for amendments to VUWSA’s constitution to be made.

McCaffrey’s concerns largely focus¬ed on poking holes in the meeting’s procedures which he claimed were impractical at best and “illegal” at worse.

Demanding an enrolled roll count, whereby those eligible to vote would be required to list their name and Student ID number, McCaffrey was told by meeting chair (still) VUWSA President Jasmine Freemantle that it would be practical for a show of hands instead.

This point was then disputed by Vice-President (Administration) Max Hardy and former VUWSA Exec member and current President of CanDo Robert “Bobby” Latimer.

Despite Latimer’s insistence on procedure, an initial quorum count only netted 87 people. VUWSA Exec members then went into to café adjacent to Mount Street and asked diners to ask if they would put their hands up.

When asked by Salient why they had their hands up, those in the café admitted being somewhat confused by the whole shebang.

“It seemed like the thing to do,” said one student.

“Some guy said something about a meeting and that I should put my hand up, so I thought ‘fuck it, why not?’”

Following repeated points of order, Milkshakes McCaffrey’s hilarity finally poked a nerve in Admin VP Max Hardy, who moved that McCaffrey’s speaking rights be revoked.

The motion was passed with palpable enthusiasm.

A motion was then tabled asking for the restoration of McCaffrey’s speaking rights, which failed with similar enthusiasm.

McCaffrey made his 13th and final point of order right at the meeting’s conclusion calling for a quorum count. This failed, bringing the meeting to a close—right on the brink of it being closed had quorum been maintained.

Despite the kafuffle rendered by Milkshakes McCaffrey, a number of minor constitutional amendments were passed, and the two new rep groups were brought to life.

The creation of a New Zealand School of Music rep group was passed unanimously, as was the creation of the cutely titled Victoria Student Media Group (VSM).

The brains behind the VSM Group, VBC Managing Director Matthew Davis, said that the group would give students a place to showcase their creative wares on the air and in print.

“It’s another way of getting a voice out there and building a community,” he said.

Salient Editor Jackson James Wood was equally enthused.

“I thoroughly endorse the idea of VSM.”

“It’s a fantastic idea to bring together a whole group of people who haven’t been brought together before,” he said.

However, the contentious amendments to the Salient Charter which would have required the magazine to dedicate an entire page to VUWSA Clubs failed when motion sponsor Masha Kupriyenko withdrew her support for it.

Although the motion was moved and seconded by two other students in attendance, it failed spectacularly.

http://www.salient.org.nz/news/milkshakes-mccaffrey-and-the-perilous-points-of-order

This story was syndicated by the Aotearoa Student Press Association via Salient www.salient.org.nz

ENDS

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