Convention and Committee

Telsa: The District conference was a great success with good food and the one of the guest speakers was  Mr Hieu Van Le  (AO) Lieutenant Governor of South Australia and Chairman of the South Australian Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission (SAMEAC)was inspirational.

Hieu Van Le arrived in Australia in 1977 as one of the “boat people” from Vietnam

Hieu had just spent months at sea as the navigator, by default, of a small, flimsy, leaking fishing boat with 41 fellow refugees on board.  Barely 23 years old, he had already experienced the horrors of war, the constant fear of persecution and the hopelessness of refugee camps.

In August 2007, Hieu Van Le was sworn in as the Lieutenant Governor of South Australia. It is understood that Mr Le is the first Vietnamese-born person who has ever been appointed to a Vice Regal position in the world. 

Another Guest speaker, Dr Tony Gregson AM spoke of the The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Dr Gregson was pivotal in Australia’s first deposit of seeds to an over-seas vault.

This was instigated when he was invited to ‘Come and visit the Global Seed Vault, Oh and by the way, bring some Australian seeds with you’.

Tony traveled to Svalbard which is only 1000Km from the North Pole. The ‘Doomsday Vault’ was built in 2007 and is in the side of a mountain and capable of holding 4.5 million samples at a constant temperature of -18C.

Many of the back­-up seed storages have been lost in recent years with wars in Iraq, Syria & Afghanistan. Victoria’s storage is at Horsham with a new building currently under construction.

Seed storage is essential for the protection of world crop production with the diverse genetic pool being available for breeding to overcome plant disease etc.

Telsa spoke of the massive drop in Polio cases from 365,000 a few years ago to 312, but a major drop this year brings it down  to  57 of which 37 are in Pakistan (for political/religious reasons).  It is now important to protect the surrounding countries by quarantining Pakistan by a good polio vaccination program

John Spiteri

Following discussions with Auskick rep we’ve been advised that the parents group will be doing the BBQs themselves and our help is not needed.  This will release us to undertake other BBQ options.

Woolworth & Bunnings (Torquay) BBQs are still on.

Telsa

Discussions at the Presidents meeting regarding a proposed Bellarine bike ride of 100 and 74 km respectively as a fund raiser is being considered by Rotarian John Patten.   This will be a fund raiser for polio and tied in with bike safety.

Peter Kavenagh

Outbound student for Rotary Youth Exchange is under consideration and interviews and support functions are to be organized.

Committee Reports

Foundation - $1000 allocated to Aquabox, a letter to our guest speaker Peter thanking him for his presentation last week.

Fundraising – as advised, other options are being considered.

Youth – Carlos attended conference and we are planning activities for the remainder of his stay.

Fellowship (F Troop) – Jo advised she is investigating a pull up banner for public events.  Vocational sheets are to be prepared to assist us in targeting new members and a ladies night is being considered.  Jo has proposed a garden experience (killer event) to be a major fund raiser and project for the club and the committee is investigating various options.  More info to come soon.

Simon undertook a lightning fast fine session and Telsa closed the meeting and invited members to enjoy fellowship.