A serious crowd arrived at the Greek Community of Melbourne’s (GCM) Special General Meeting (SGM) on Sunday, July 21, where members voted against changes to the Community’s Constitution.
More than 110 members of the GCM were present at the SGM held at Alphington Grammar, to vote on proposed amendments to the Community’s Constitution.
The SGM opened with GCM Treasurer Professor Marinis Pirpiris acknowledging the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and asking for a moment’s silence before moving on to the matters at hand.
“The purpose of today’s meeting is really to consent to the changes, if you choose to do so as members of the Greek Community, in the proposals that have been distributed to the membership. It’s with your active participation, that we’ll be able to ensure the continued success and prosperity of our community,” he said.
The proposed changes to the Community’s Constitution have been in the works since 2023 when Directors of the GCM initiated a comprehensive review of the document, calling for submissions from members to identify desirable changes, and engaging law firm Piper Alderman to assist with the review.
According to an Explanatory Memorandum, the GCM hoped to update the Constitution as the “dated document” did not conform “with a number of current legal concepts,” did not “reflect either modern corporate practice or contemporary concepts of good corporate governance,” and contains many “inconsistencies and unclear provisions.”
The meeting focused on three ‘Items of Business’:
- Preliminary Amendment: Members will consider a special resolution to modify Article 60 of the current Constitution by removing the words “(save and except Clauses 3 and 4 which shall be unalterable).”
- Adoption of Replacement Constitution: A special resolution will be proposed to repeal and replace the current Constitution with a new version tabled by the Chairman of the SGM.
- Approval of Member-Proposed Amendments: The Community will vote on a special resolution to amend the Constitution with changes proposed by members in 2023.
As the meeting moved to focus on the items of business, members were given the opportunity to speak for or against the first motion which referred to the Preliminary Amendment.
One impassioned member spoke to the audience and the Directors about how she had difficulty accepting the amendments, citing that she felt the process of tabling the changes was rushed, improperly explained and communicated to members by the Directors.
Another member, who mentioned that two years ago he himself had suggested to modernise the Constitution, expressed his desire for the first motion to be accepted in order to “move forward with the times.”
His concern was that it could take another two years, with more time and money spent to amend what had currently been put to vote.
“Let’s put an end to this loop,” he said.
It was then explained that if the first motion was not passed, the second and third would be scrapped.
Members moved to vote and the meeting concluded with the results whereby the proposed changes were rejected by a vote, 64 in favour and 44 against. The GCM required 75 percent acceptance to pass the motion.
Despite the outcome, Prof Pirpiris was proud of the turnout.
“When you’re representing the Greek community, you’re representing the members. So it’s not a personal reflection on how you feel about what’s occurred. I’m happy that the members came together on a Sunday evening when it’s cold and there are so many other commitments including the Cyprus memorial,” he told The Greek Herald.
“One of the members mentioned to me, despite the fact that most of us voted yes, the referendum didn’t get up. And that, unfortunately, or fortunately, is how referendums are concentrated; you need 75 percent. I don’t think you can be emotionally attached to a referendum.”
Looking to the future, Prof Pirpiris stated that the Directors will reexamine the Constitution and ensure that the GCM is represented proudly and fairly in the wider community.
“One of the things with constitutions now is that people are revisiting them more frequently. There is an expense, both in terms of people’s time and a financial one, but revisiting it at certain time points along the way, to try and ensure that the Greek Community is relevant and that its Constitution is contemporary, is important.
“We use the Constitution whenever we’re applying for federal and state and other third-party funding… So one of the aims of this constitutional review was to create a document that allowed them very quickly to see an introduction about what exactly the community does.”
*All photos copyright The Greek Herald / Marianna Alepidis.
