Adjourned Equestrian Australia Annual General Meeting Lapsed

The Equestrian Australia (EA) Annual General Meeting (EA), which was adjourned last week when a quorum could not be established, was rescheduled for this evening Monday 25^th January 2021 and has subsequently lapsed.

For the second week in a row, the number of voting members required in person or by proxy to form a quorum was not met and resulted in the lapsing of the AGM. 

Under normal circumstances only 20 voting members are required to constitute a quorum at the AGM, however as there was a ‘Special Business Notice of Motion’ on the agenda 5% of voting members were required. While this equated to 820 voting members, 654 voting members attended.

The AGM was hosted online due to Covid-19 restrictions and was the first time that members of EA have had the right to vote on constitutional reform. Under the current EA constitution, which was adopted in 2020 during the Voluntary Administration period, all members are entitled to vote on matters regarding constitutional change. 

All members of EA were encouraged to exercise their right to vote by attending the meeting in person or submitting their vote by proxy, unfortunately to no avail.

The ‘Special Business Notice of Motion’ that was tabled for the meeting sought to grant Equestrian Northern Territory the same voting rights as those held by other State Branches. According to the current EA Constitution Equestrian Northern Territory is not recognised as a “member of the Company” with the administration of the Territory devolved to Equestrian Queensland. 

With EA unable to form a quorum this ‘Special Business Notice of Motion’ has also lapsed. However, this does not restrict the submission of a further ‘Notice of Motion’, which is allowed under the current constitution.

Incoming Chair Mark Bradley stated “Given this was the first opportunity for EA members to exercise their one member one vote right, it’s highly encouraging that so many stood up to express their voice.

To effect constitutional change requires member engagement and a groundswell such as we have seen by the members in the Northern Territory and others around the country who have supported them.

The EA Board is committed to consulting widely and listening to the members as we work together to effect reform for the betterment of equestrian.”

Although the AGM has lapsed EA has fulfilled all obligations to proceed with the required reporting and is looking forward to finalising its exit from Voluntary Administration in the coming weeks and commencing the transition process.