Reflection: Delivered by Past President Robert Fisher –see below for transcript.
Following the Loyal Toast, President Philip shared the obituary for David Dunoon, a long-standing Rotary Melbourne member who passed away in January.
On resuming after the meal service, President Philip welcomed special guest Kate Datson from St John Ambulance, our partner in the PNG SnakeBite Project, Andy Rajapakse Zone 8 Assistant Rotary Coordinator AU/NZ/Pacific, and Chrysanthe Pragastis, who was to be inducted shortly. The full list of guests is included later in this Bulletin.
President Philip then called Chrysanthe Pragastis and her sponsor Sue McDonald to the podium and the induction ceremony familiar to all members proceeded.
Tony Battaini then returned to the podium to provide an update on the PNG SnakeBite project, and in turn he invited our Snakebite leader in PNG, Kate Datson to reflect on the positive impact the project is having saving the lives of young people living in remote communities, and training local volunteers in the use of first aid compression kits acquired with Rotary Melbourne financial assistance.
Past president Mary Barry then came to the podium to remind us that the On-to-conference road trip from 25 March to 27 March, prior to the District 9800 Conference in Horsham. Mary stressed that the on-to-conference experience is fellowship at its best most members participating enjoy this as an annual highlight.
Philip then invited Jack Howes, Head of Funding & Research from Homie (our Christmas fund-raiser) to come forward and presented the proceeds $2485.74.
After the raffle draw, Past president Reg Smith came forward to introduce the annual Vocational Panel discussion and to explain the importance of using our vocation to serve society. He introduced Moderator, Vocational Service Chair Joseph Ebbage, and Panellists Dr Mimmie Watts, and Mamum Haque.
A range of issues emerged from the discussion and created considerable interest. Mamum spoke of his experience in manufacturing overseas and felt that the environment for manufacturing in Australia is far from ideal, with expensive rents, high wages and little government support in purchasing local products or supporting small to medium enterprises. That said he values Australia’s reputation for quality in manufacture and the benefits this brings.
Mimmie reflected on her combined talents of science and artistic creation. She spoke of challenges accessing capital, the difficulty in competing with fast fashion manufactured in lower cost environments overseas, bur celebrated the rewards from viewing people wearing her clothing and inspired to create their own futures by dressing for success and starting their own businesses. She highlighted the gap between to call to buy Australian and the absence of support to ensure supply.
Overall, this was another successful vocational panel discussion highlight the vocational talents of two Club members. View the panel discussion by clicking here. To view the full meeting recording, click here.
