I am glad to be in a position where I can congratulate the Board of the Australian Newsagents’ Federation for repaying overpayments made during May 2008 in respect of daily sitting fees.
ANF Board members are paid for $250 each sitting day for every Board meeting conducted.
This fee was approved several years ago by an annual general meeting of the ANF in accordance with Clause 32 of the Constitution.
It was suggested to me some weeks ago that all ANF Directors were paid for three sitting days in May, at the time of the ANF Convention on the Gold Coast, when the ANF Board in fact only sat for one day.
After representations from me, the matter was resolved by agreement to refund the overpayment to the ANF by not taking a sitting fee for the next Boards meeting.
I would welcome the ANF agreeing to having payments to Board members subject to independent audit.
I’m not an ANF member nor have been, but if they did the overpayment and didn’t rectify it on their own accord until someone said something about it, it doesn’t encourage me to become a member.
Mark my information is that you are mistaken. There are no plans by the Directors to forego board payments. Keep pushing. Make your complaint to ASIC and call for a forensic investigation of the Association’s accounts, especially around Director expenses and fees.
Inside, can you tell me how much work goes on inside it to help newsagents and the industry? I’m talking about a rough volume with hours spent on each issue.
I have suspected for a long time that anf directors join the club for the free trips and booze because they don’t seem to do anything else of value for us.
Michael I can tell you a fair bit used to go on in the ANF office and that effort was coming from about 4 people. The rest of the office is a waste of space, time and money. Since 2 out of the 4 have gone in recent weeks the place has just about come to a stand still.
Gary, your right most of the directors sitting around the table aren’t there doing the industry any favors. Let’s hope this years board elections mean newsagents get some decent candidates rather than the same old same old.
Hi Daniel,
Gee, are you expecting the ANF will have members to conduct an election?
And just what would they vote for?
Have a good day
David Negri is hardly the same old same old.
This situation should never have arisen. Newsagents need to ask how it happened. They also need to ask for a time-line of how the issue was handled from when the overpayment was outed.
Lorraine, your right at this rate what would they vote for?
Vaughan, it’s a shame VIC newsagents don’t get to vote the director in they want rather than have VANA decide it for them.
Mark is spot on. The situation should never have arisen. From what I understand it has taken a long time to fix the issue for something that simply should have never been an issue in the first place.
I would like to hear from the Directors about this overpayment. Why do we have to hear about it from here?
Stupid question…… where was the anf stand at the GNS fair?
With everything going on at the moment are the ANF days numbered .I have been waitiong 3 weeks for someone to call me back about a question ,i am wondering if they have come to a stand still
How can we sack these directors?
ANF members have a right to have their questions answered whether it is operational or about the goings on within the organisation.
Personally, I am disappointed at the amount of time it took the ANF to acknowledge that Directors had been overpaid and that this would be rectified. It was made out as if I had done something wrong.
I did not ask the Directors to be overpaid. I did not ask them to delay responding on this. My question about the overpayment had nothing to do with politics.
The best way for the ANF could have avoided this situation would have been to not either ask for or accept the overpayment. It would only be an ignorant Director who accepted the overpayment and we don not need ignorant Directors on our national body.
Mark when you check whether the Directors refund this money, which they asked for in the first place, be sure to look at their expenses for the Conference especially alcohol. As well as the nice rooms they got for free and all their meals paid some of these hard working Directors drank themselves to sleep at newsagent expense. And who approved the spending? The Directors. With 75 newsagents attending no wonder they were depressed.
Surprise surprise, no ANF stand at the GNS fair?
Would have been plenty of high rafters to throw a rope over, up in the roof of ‘The Dome’
Surely they’re gone?
I don’t know what happened down there, but if they are drinking with the money that members have paid in fees to help them with matters such as bill express they all should be given notice.
The ANF is not a business, it’s a Federation to do what it’s told by it’s members.
Inside, I doubt the Directors will confirm that the refund has been achieved. It was like pulling teeth to discuss the issue in the first place. It was as if I was in the wrong for questioning the payment. Mark
Directors taking money without authority is a breach of the anf constitution. This issue is the last straw and I will resign from the anf. I have no faith in them anymore.
Richard, I have called for the ANF to have an independent audit done in order for newsagents to have confidence that these are any other improper payments have been handled properly. Mark