Pajero Club: President’s Report
March 2020
The IT Transformation has been a focus for the committee since mid-2019 and is being led by Terry
Barbie. We are close to selecting a vendor and moving to the all-important implementation stage.
The IT Transformation initiative is our response to the widespread dis-satisfaction with our current
means of communication, and the observation that various people have been excluded from any
club communication for periods of time (the President included).
At the last Committee meeting we discussed the role of external speakers at General meetings. The
decision was to limit any presentations to those aligned with the Purposes of the Club as outlined in
the Rules. This precludes any public campaigns. At the same meeting we re-affirmed the policy of
not contributing Club funds to charitable organisations. However, we are broadening the
opportunities for voluntary contributions of time and effort made by Club members. Recent
examples include initiatives to benefit Lakes Entrance, Corryong, Heywood and Wulgulmerang, and
there are no reasons why further groups of members cannot be established to assist other areas; the
Committee can assist in choosing the appropriate responses and timing.
Our Treasurer, Ian Fieldhouse, is busy drafting a budget for the coming year and itemising likely
expenditure in various areas. We are following what has been a long-term club policy to retain
reserves equivalent to two-years of expenditure, and we are about 10 percent below this level. For
the last few years the Club has been spending a little more than it has been receiving so this reserve
has decreased; it is our intention to arrest this decline. We see few areas where expenditure can be
reduced without impacting on the services offered to members, but on the receipts side, we expect
to increase annual membership, kitchen items and receipts from sponsorship. As a point of interest,
membership has decreased in recent years and appears quite low compared to other 4WD clubs.
At the end of 2019 the By Laws of the Club were replaced by the new Policies after a consultation
period of nine months and a purpose-established sub-committee. The Policies were always planned
to be amended as required, and the first amendments were approved by the Committee in February
relating to Temporary Membership, pets on trips and minimum trip size. The aim of some of the
adjustments to Temporary Membership is to make it easier to have temporary members on trips
with the plan that many will migrate to full members. However, for all trips the trip leader retains
the authority to determine who comes on trips and what vehicles are acceptable.
The future of the Pajero Challenge is being discussed and many members have already had informal
input. The tradition of the Challenge and the enormous effort and enthusiasm of the organising
teams are recognised as important components of the Pajero Club. However, for the Challenge to
remain relevant, we need to keep in tune with society and environmental changes over three
decades. Of immediate importance is to make participation in the Challenge much more attractive
to Club members, to find a better time slot than summer in Victorian forests, and place the event on
a sound financial footing in which the organisational efforts of Club members and financial risks
taken by the Club are always reflected positively on the club books. Discussions are on-going.
Neil Phillips #1744
President: [email protected]