Airsports

For those that might be interested in supporting the proposed amendment please see the enclosed proxy form. RAA - PROXY FORM - PDF 2 - Final 2.pdf RAA PROXY - Instructions.pdf

It's not what is best for any particular Board member, it is what is best for all RAAus members. Benevolent dictators are the best form of government until they stop being benevolent. The RAAus reform group do not believe RAAus is a benevolent organisation any more. That is why the getting some new faces on the Board is so important. Retirement after 9 years for a short period of time is a safe and fair way of ensuring incumbency does not become the norm. There is no shortage of good, young, qualified candidates able to do the job.

Thanks Flying Higher for your comments, the constitution sets the rules, not me. The intent is that the maximum time is 9 years for a Board member, then retire from the Board and have another go later. Retiring or resigning early and then taking up a position weeks later by filling a casual vacancy to enable the clock to be reset does not pass the fish shop or the pub test. The constitutions intent is clear, workarounds should not be supported.

Recreational Aviation Australia Proposed amendment to the RAAus Constitution Under the RAAus constitution Board members must retire after 9 years of service. Unfortunately workarounds have been found to the current rule. As it stands now an individual Board member, with Board support, could remain in office indefinitely despite the 9 year service rule. Certainly this was not the intent of the current constitution of RAAus. Our proposed RAAus constitution amendment will resolve this problem, it will ensure current Board members must retire after serving a 9 year term. This will enable new Board Members to be appointed, the Board refreshed and the problems facing RAAus resolved. There is need for change. A police force type structure has been created within RAAus. RAAus employees now have the power to prosecute, penalise and punish RAAus members. In our view these actions have proven to be both excessive and without just cause. Our amendment has been put forward by two retired RAAus Board members and two RAAus reform group members. We are asking for current financial members of RAAus to support this proposed amendment see the details below.: 36.6 On retirement or resignation a Director may be appointed, elected or re-elected, subject to Clause 36.7. 36.7 A Director who has held office with the Australian Ultralight Federation Inc and/or Recreational Aviation Australia Ltd for a cumulative period of nine (9) years or more, can not be appointed, elected or re-elected for a period of 3 years from the date of the most recent retirement or resignation. Original : 36.7 A Director who has held office for a continuous period of nine (9) years or more may only be re-appointed or re-elected by a special resolution. The proposed constitution amendment will protect RAAus members rights and preserves the intent of RAAus’s constitution. We recommend it strongly for member consideration and adoption. There is limited time…..Our amendment is to be voted on at the RAAus AGM on the 25th of November. If you are a financial RAAus member and wish to support this amendment please download the proxy form, fill out your details, sign, scan or take a photo and send to the [email protected] today and for the record send a copy to [email protected]. Further information available from: Rodney Birrell 0422-446622 [email protected] Alan Middleton [email protected] Rogin Taylor 0417 646 075 Stuart Erskine [email protected] RAAus member RAAus member PROXY - PDF DOCUMENT PROXY - WORD DOCUMENT PAGE 2 - Instructions

Hello Fly Higher; What management have done is to allow private company to give senior RAAus staff the ability to run their own punishment based private police force within RAAus. They can and are causing great harm to RAAus members. I only hope you do not need to report an incident to RAAus yourself as to report is no longer a "no blame" exercise (as it is within GA), even worse I hope you do not decide to fail to report an incident to RAAus as that is also an offence. I am not trying to change your mind here, please vote for the persons that you feel will look after RAAus its members and its future. As I have said before I believe RAAus will be improved if we have some new views and skills on the RAAus Board. Rod Birrell

Hello Flying Higher, Perhaps some background information first, before responding to your post, I am both a founding member of the Australian Ultralight Federation and Recreational Aviation Australia, my original purpose and goal was and is to ensure RAAus and its members achieve their ambition of flight with the minimum amount of regulation and red tape. I started teaching pilots to fly in hang gliders and then in ultralight aircraft, my school now uses a small fleet of light sport aircraft for flight training. In all I have 50 years of experience safely teaching pilots how to fly and 40 years acting as a volunteer for both the AUF and RAAus. I have served on the RAAus Board or many years since its inception. I do feel I have the experience to be able to give some insight as to what RAAus has achieved over recent years, its corporate ethos, its culture and its plans for the future. The efforts of the original AUF/RAAus founders was aspirational, after only a few years we proved our goal was not only achievable it has now become a rock solid fact of life. I have no wish to harm RAAus. in fact I want it to remain strong and continue to grow. I have made a lifetime commitment to RAAus I do not want to see it fail. To achieve this goal we need the right RAAus management team in place. I submit for a strong future we need some new representatives on the RAAus Board. This is hardly revolutionary out of a Board of 7 to support a potential change of 2 new Board members. On Rogin Taylors candidature, I only know Rogin from the information he has presented to me by email and phone about his election. I did not know Rogin was to stand until RAAus released his details and his election statement. On the harm caused to RAAus members by RAAus employees the cases are real, significant and numerous. Those adversely affected often will not speak openly about their cases in the fear of further reprisals from RAAus officials. The solution here is not releasing the cases themselves, no one want to go through a trial by media. The solution is changing the culture within RAAus to put in checks and balances to ensure RAAus officers to not harm RAAus members - we are not a police force, we should not become an unpaid enforcement agency for CASA and we should not be stopping pilots flying or putting flying schools out of business without just cause. Please now speak with Rogin yourself, I am sure he will explain independently what the problems are with RAAus and what action is needed to make RAAus a better organisation. Regards Rod Birrell

NEWS - Recreational Aviation Australia Elections - Call to action. As you all know the RAAus Board elections are now open for voting. The outcome of these elections will matter to you as recreational aviation pilots. The purpose of Recreational Aviation Australia, above all else, is to look after its members. Unfortunately this policy is no longer the guiding principle of RAAus. Using Part 149 regulations senior RAAus employees are now taking what most see as unjustified punitive action against pilots, aircraft owners and flying schools. RAAus’s current penalty centric anti-member method of operating needs to be changed. Taking action to change RAAus's focus to a "cause no harm" operation will require a momentous cultural overhaul of the organisation as a whole. This necessary reform will not happen if current serving RAAus Board members are re-elected. I ask that you consider voting for those candidates standing for Board positions that have offered to fix this cultural problem.There is only one candidate who has directly stated his willingness to reform the way RAAus works and how it interacts with its members, that Board candidate is Rogin Taylor. Rogin has stated publicly that he will advocate for and represent RAAus pilots, aircraft owners, flying schools and maintainers in all areas and in particular where members have been adversely affected by RAAus policies. Please consider voting for Rogin to be elected as a RAAus Board member. Online voting for RAAus Board members is now open and an email link will have ben set to you by RAAus to enable this voting to occur. You can vote for two candidates as two positions are available. To ensure the possibility of reform may I suggest you consider supporting either Andrew Johnson or Jim Tatlock as suitable candidates for your second vote. This is a call to action, if you are a RAAus member, student pilot or pilot please consider voting now for a Board candidate, let your friends know of the problems facing RAAus. We need as many pilots of a like cause voting at this election. The “worse than CASA” tag is the most common reference I now hear from members in the field and this needs to change. Unfortunately most RAAus members do not vote in Board elections, based on previous elections with 10,000 RAAus members we can expect 90% of members will not vote. Encourage those you know to take the time, look at the candidates statements and vote, it will make a difference. Please feel free to contact me or Rogin Taylor on 0417 646 075 if you have any questions. Regards Rod Birrell Airsports Flying School RAAus pilot #35 0422-446622 RAA Rogin Taylor - 2023 Election Statement.pdf