In an not unexpected move, the ANF has terminated its relationship with WAANA, the state newsagent association inWestern Australia.
WAANA has been struggling financially since it lost its brokerage business. regulars here would know that I think it is time newsagents had one single association to ensure a single and consistent approach to national issues. Such a move nationally could considerably cut the cost of newsagent association representation. It could also remove local politics which has dogged state associations for decades.
The WA move is not part of any national push. Here is the information released yesterday by ANF CEO Alf Maccioni.
Since becoming the CEO of the ANF my core focus has been unity to ensure that all newsagents benefit from the strength of national representation. The ANF has been working closely with QNF, NANA, VANA, and the ANF Branches to share our resources, ideas and address the changes that are happening in our industry to create a better future for all.
In WA, we have had a number of challenges working with WANA.
The ANF Board has decided after extensive debate that we can best serve the newsagents of Western Australia by re-establishing a WA Branch. I want to stress how difficult a decision this has been to decide to go back into WA, but our ultimate aim is, and will always be, to assist the Newsagents nationally and locally.
We have sent WANA a termination letter today acknowledging their repudiation of the agreement through non-payment.
We have been in close contact with all Association CEO’s and Chairs including WANA over the last 6 months to attempt alternate resolutions without success.
Adam, Colin and I are heading over to WA to meet with the relevant industry partners and newsagents. We want to explain our actions to them all face to face. We will be recruiting a WA membership manager who will be located at the GNS office. This person will report directly to Colin and Colin will be visiting WA on a regular basis ensuring that the agents concerns are met.
ANF should be pushing the envelope with
the larger state associations VANA, NANA,
& QNF. WA and SA are now branches
and if the CEO’S of the state associations
don’t follow through the ANF should dissociate themselves from the states and
go it alone.
Newsagents would follow them when they
showed some G & D.
IT IS TIME??????
Mark,
Firstly, WANA has not lost its brokerage business. Simply, last year was one of 2 years in the 25 year history of the brokerage business that it ran at a loss, and given the current business brokerage climate that is hardly a great surprise. The business is still operating and there are no plans to change that.
WANA’s cash flow issues stem not only from the reduction in income from the brokerage business, but also from a disproportionately high fee the ANF was demanding of WANA at almost $300 per member and a huge reduction in member numbers whilst WA was a branch of the ANF – from approximately 360 in 2005 when WANA became a branch of the ANF, to 115 last year when WANA reformed. WANA now has 149 members.
WANA’s future has yet to be decided, and that will partly depend on whether or not WA newsagents want local representation with people who have the experience in the local conditions, which incidentally are very different to those on the east coast, or whether they want to be represented by a national body whose core membership issues are different to those in WA. WANA now is in the process of filling in the gaps of the offerings that the ANF previously brought to the table to ensure members continue to have full and proper representation.
Negotiations by WANA committee members have resulted in delivery agents in WA enjoying better conditions and remuneration than any other state, and these discussions on issues around T2020 affecting the east coast now go back as far as 2005 in WA. Newsagent representation in WA has been very proactive and produced great results for both members and publishers, and that will remain the case whilst WANA continues to operate.
Glenn Cornish
WANA Chairman
Glenn, this isn’t about whether or not WANA is/was efficient and whether or not
newsagents enjoyed their pro-active association but rather what is best for us
all.
Unity under a national banner is the only
way forward and I would urge you to encourage your members in the interests
of all Australian newsagents.
NASA became a branch of the ANF and it
has been quite seamless in its execution.
If QNF, NANA AND VANA were honest with
their members they would also become branches and allow the ANF to represent
newsagents at the national level.
Federation has been tried (and it has failed) so nationalism is the way forward.
Our industry is at the crossroads and the
associations are fiddling while Rome (us) is
burning.
Glenn, I applaud your transparency on this
blog and would encourage your counterparts at VANA, NANA AND QNF to
follow your lead and talk to us so that we
know the real reasons why they don’t want us to “go national”.
I’m not holding my breath though because
we’ve been here before and the CEO’s of
the state associations have their hip pockets as their first priority.
Funnily enough, though, their jobs will
be redundant once there are no newsagencies left in this country.
The sooner get get to one national association and not these little state kingdoms paying director fees to newsagents and employing staff wasting time the better. We’re fools for letting it go like this. Bye Bye wana.
David,
No member of the WANA board gets paid a cent. Every one on that board is there because of their passion for our industry and a deep desire to see it succeed.
It helps when you understand issues on which you make comment. Clearly you don’t.
Glenn. I am a vigorous non member of any industry association, but I do respect totally the efforts and commitment of the voluntary board members. Where I come apart with the associations, and I think this is also where David’s comments were coming from, is the attitude, knowledge and effectiveness of the paid employees is a definite contrast.
When I see evidence that the paid employees are approaching the industry with the same passion and commitment as the voluntary board members I will review my position
Azeem, you are quite correct. A lot of
very good men/women have contributed
on a voluntary basis, to our industry as
board members but it is the paid CEO’s
who have let us down badly.
They have wantonly protected their hip
pocket to the detriment of the whole industry and have not ensured that their
members are cognisant of why we need
a national body. The parochialism has
been astounding and ongoing for many many years.
I can’t see it changing in my newsagency
lifetime of 34 years in the industry but it
is my fondest wish to see the industry
nationalized because federalism has clearly
been a total failure for us as newsagents.
The big problem with coming under one banner is the present way the ANF is run.
They do not know what is going on in the states, they are more concerned with profit making ventures and are top heavy.
I am surprised to see you say this john. I’ve looked at their financials and taken on board what they have done over the last three years. They have trimmed the operation, delivered some quality submissions ton government on important policy matters and run the best industry awards voting and nights I have seen.
You are entitled to your opinion Mark.
Can you give me one positive outcome the ANF has given newsagents over the past three years.
National issues are Gotch and Network on magazine oversupply, outragious fees on Xchangit, T2020.
Submissions to the govt may be great, industry awards voting may be great, but where is the real results on national issues that all newsagents are craving for.
‘John’, it is a bit rich to expect the ANF to handle these things when the states are busy running them too. The ANF hosted a meeting with the states a year ago on one of these topics and some states ignored the agreed strategy and did their own thing, and failed.
You can’t criticise what you are working against.
Sorry Mark,
I can criticise, you may not agree, but that is your right.
As I said, where are the results for newsagents from the ANF
‘John’ I’d ask the directors of the state associations that have not permitted the national body a free rein on national issues.
my uderstanding is the ANF pass them back to the states
‘John’ I am not at the table for these discussions so can’t be sure. That said, I know for a fact that on one national issue in your list some states went ‘rogue’ and now they expect the ANF to be responsible for what they, some states, have not done.
Until newsagents have a single, slim and transparent association covering state and national issues these games will continue.