President's Message

6TH SEPTEMBER 2002

Last Friday Rtn Phil Dempster spoke to our Club on Rotary's Polio Plus Campaign and the Rotary Foundation. With only 106 cases of polio reported in the world last year Past RI President Clem Renouf's (a Queenslander) dream of a polio-free world is in sight.

However, to achieve this goal and bring the largest humanitarian project in history (by any government or non-government agency) to an outstanding conclusion RI needs to raise further funds.

Rtn Phil Dempster has asked all Clubs in D9550 to contribute $ 150 per member over the next three (3) years to the Polio Plus campaign. I am sure that everyone agrees that this outstanding Rotary International project must be seen through to a successful conclusion. The Club Board is currently considering ways of finding our Club's additional contribution of approximately $ 6000 to Polio Plus.

This Friday 6th September 2002 we will be visited by a member of Robyn Goodwin's GSE Team to Italy earlier this year. This should be a very entertaining and informative presentation so please make sure that you do not miss out on the experience.

The Rotary Community Car Art Union is progressing well, thanks to the dedicated efforts of John Quinn, Herman Ehrlich and David Kirchner. Thank you to those Members and supporters who continue to work hard to bring this project to a successful conclusion.

We have entered into an arrangement with Smithfield Shopping Centre to sell our tickets in the Centre and display the prize car at the same time. Herman and John will contact everyone soon to ask for your assistance in doing one shift at Smithfield Shopping Centre to help clear the remaining tickets.

Whilst this project is not every members "cup of tea" please help out by committing to this worthwhile community service project - it only requires a couple of hours of your time. And remember, if you have sold your quota of tickets then please return the ticket butts and money to John or Herman urgently.

The Club Board met on Tuesday of this week - a very interesting meeting with a significant portion of the meeting being devoted to the discussion of the results of the recent survey of Club Members on their preferences for the future projects and commitments of the Club.

The survey produced some interesting (and surprising) results and these will be published by Steve Baker in the Bulletin to give all Members a chance to consider them prior to our next Club Forum where the Board will present its recommendations to the Club.

This coming week sees the arrival of our second Rotary YEP student Keerati (or Nei as she prefers to be addressed). Nei is in contact with Chris Lord and Cheryl Williams regarding her arrival date and time that has changed again. If you are able to join us at the International Airport to greet Nei on her arrival in Cairns the please call Chris to obtain the most up-to-date details. Chris & Jill Lord have stepped up to take on the role of first host family to Nei.

The Cairns Combined Presidents Meeting was held on Thursday morning - always an enjoyable experience and an opportunity to cement friendships with the other Rotary Presidents in Cairns. Amongst other things we were brought up to date on Cairns Sunrise and Cairns Clubs' annual Melbourne Cup functions. These are always great fun so contact Ross Britton (Sunrise) or Mark Dodge (Cairns) to get your tickets.

The Queensland Ambulance Service will launch its Emergency Health Booklets at the Anderson St center on Wednesday 11th October 2002. Our Club has supported the production of these booklets with a contribution of $ 500 - a very worthwhile community service project. If you would like to attend the QAS launch then please contact David Kirchner for details.

The Combined Presidents also discussed our Group 5 continuing commitment to the Hear & Say Centre and to a project to get hospital equipment transported to PNG.

Rotary Awareness month is September and a lot of discussion was held on how to achieve the maximum benefit for Rotary in Cairns during Rotary Awareness Week 22nd - 28th September. A combined campaign is being planned in addition to our Club's own advertorial feature that will appear in the Cairns Post on 25th September 2002.

Community Service Director Gina Raccanello is planning our feature and will speak to the Club about that project soon. Please try to support your Club and Rotary International by taking out a business advertisement to help defray the cost of the Club feature that will be primarily aimed at attracting new members to our Club.

That's about it for this week.

See you all at the Hilton at 12.30pm for 1.00pm - remember the parking arrangements.

Take care of each other, and be sure to talk to someone about Rotary this week.

Garry Shirvington

President Rotary Club of Cairns-Mulgrave 2002-03

Rotary 4-Way Test

1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

Recent Photographs

Harry Slee

Ted Elliot Testimonial Youth Assisitance Fund

ROTARY AWARENESS MONTH- September

60 YEAR OF MARRIAGE AND 50 ROTARY YEARS

Canberra club's honour for services leader

CLUBS IN ACTION

Games vehicle has new use

Literacy project rewarding

50 Fijian schools benefit

Wandin unites, does the job

PETS planning makes mark

Cairns Mulgrave Rotary Club

Boxed Gift Pens Available Now

$15.00 each.
Please see Secretary Mike if you would like one

Art Union Tickets:
Please hand in sold tickets

Lawrence Edward (Ted) Elliot
Testimonial Youth Assistance Fund

Donations are being sought to establish the Lawrence Edward (Ted) Elliot Testimonial Youth Assistance Fund for the assistance of disadvantaged and isolated youth achievers throughout Far North Queensland.

Harry Slee

It was with great sadness that we heard last night of the passing of Harry Slee the owner / editor of Cairns Barfly, after a long battle with cancer.

Harry was a great supporter of the recent Relay for Life through his publication and with his energetic input. Harry was by extension a great supporter of our Rotary Club through his involvement with the RFL.

Those of us who have met Harry will remember him a "rough diamond" but a good man - and like any diamond he always shone through when things got a bit hard. Harry will be sadly missed by the Cairns community and by his Rotary friends.

On behalf of the Rotary Club of Cairns Mulgrave I extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to Harry's family, friends and business associates. Vale Harry - a good mate.

Garry Shirvington

ROTARY AWARENESS MONTH- September

Hi all,

As September is Rotary Awareness Month and also follows August's Membership Drive, it would be a fantastic idea to put a spread in the Cairns Post to let people know who and what we are.

This should make people aware that we are a community based and orientated group of people who are an enthusiastic and fun group keen to take action for their community. My idea of the spread is something similiar to the following:

1. have photos of each member (passport size) along the banner with a heading "Do you know these people?" Followed by - They are Rotarians.

2. Pieces of editorial about Rotary, our club projects e.g Xmas hampers, R4L, Sailing for Kids, BBQ for Shared Family Carers, 4WD & Boat Expo

3. A target ad - Why not join Rotary today? Call .....

Now for the nuts and bolts.... This will cost us $2800.(discounted price) We could ask everyone to contribute $20 for their photo to be part of it, and also ask business to take an ad in the 2 page spread advertising their business or showing support for Rotary, particularly the Cairns Mulgrave Club.

I will also ask businesses we support for outside services e.g printing. If you have any suggestions please let me know. The cost per individual ad will range from $100 to $250 - depending on how many particpants we get.

Please offer your support for this (that or I chase you with a whip!)

Donations are also greatly welcomed if you do not want to advertise but want to make this part of your effort towards getting new members to the club.

Looking forward to hearing positively from you all

Cheers

Gina

60 YEAR OF MARRIAGE AND 50 ROTARY YEARS

This year has been a milestone in the lives of Bill and Millie Phillips, of the Rotary Club of Dubbo, N.S.W. It marks their diamond-wedding anniversary and Bill's 50th year in Rotary.

Dubbo-born, Bill married Millie at All Saints in Bathurst, N.S.W., on April 4, 1942, during his six years of Army service which included time overseas. He joined the Rotary Club of Dubbo on July 2, 1952, when the club was in its 16th year and had 30 members. His classification was real estate agent.

Bill had a reputation as a caring businessman and later he qualified as a valuer. He was the third Paul Harris Fellow in the club when recognised in 1983. He father, Clem, had been a long-time member of Dubbo Rotary and club president in 1943-44.

When the Rotary club celebrated his 50th year of service, Bill was presented with a sapphire pin for his Paul Harris Fellow. Still a regular at club meetings, he has held most position in the club and upheld the ethic of Service Above Self. Bill still plays golf at 84 and when aged 76 shat a 75.

Canberra club's honour for services leader

Chief of Defence Force in Australia, General Peter Cosgrove, a former Australian of the Year, has been inducted as an honorary Rotarian in the Rotary Club of Canberra, A.C.T.

He addressed 250 people at a special club meeting on The Four-Way Test and its application to the Military. His wife Lyn was recognised as a Paul Harris Fellow for her long-term contribution to charitable organizations.

General Cosgrove stressed that effective military leaders had to ask subordinates to do difficult and sometimes dangerous tasks and that could only be done if they were completely impartial ("any hint of nepotism can cripple a unit"). Standards must be applied uniformly and without exception.

He admired the simplicity of The Four-Way Test and that it had a familiar resonance, stressing values of integrity, service and self-sacrifice which were at the heart of the military ethos. The occasion also raised more than $A1,500 for the Eradicate Poli campaign. ·

A video of the general's address is available for $A30. Requests with payment should be made to the Rotary Club of Canberra, G.P.O Box 276, Canberra, A.C.T., 2601.

CLUBS IN ACTION

Mayors were good sports

The Rotary Club of Grafton Midday, N.S.W., has staged an annual charity auction for three years and this year the event raised $A21,000.

Clarence Valley mayors showed themselves to be good sports by being slaves for the day.

Games vehicle has new use

A people-mover used at the Sydney 2000 Olympics now moves elderly patients about the grounds and main corridor of The Prince of Wales Hospital at Randwick, N.S.W.

The six-seater vehicle, valued at $A20,000, was bought by the Rotary Club of Bondi Junction, N.S.W., from a sale of surplus stock. Acting Executive Director of The Prince of Wales Hospital, Doctor Martin Mackertich, described the vehicle as a marvellous gift.

The corridor fro the hospital's High Street entrance to the lifts servicing the Barker Street entrance and carpark is about 500 metres long. It has seats along the way to allow patients and visitors to rest. "Thanks to Rotary we now will be able to convey people along that long corridor and around the hospital's hilly sit in comfort," said Dr. Mackertich.

"In times when resources are scarce and we are increasingly unable to provide more than a core hospital service it is wonderful to see community organizations such as Rotary step in to help." - Warwick Pleass.

Literacy project rewarding

The literacy team of the Rotary Club of Terrace End, Palmerston North, N.Z., has gathered for lunch to mark several years of listening and helping children with their reading.

The Rotary Readers attend Terrace End Primary School for Half-day a week and each child is involved in one-on-one concentrated support for 15 minutes. Many of the children do not have grandparents or two parents at their home.

Teachers welcome the support and the literacy team finds the sessions rewarding. Those involved include team leader Peter Pitman, Jud Pitman, Past President Paul Gregg, Jill Wilson, Midge Janssen, Pauline Sargentina, Jim Esson, Anne Lockwood, Graham Wilson, Ilsa Kirk, Brian Kirk and Ethel Robinson. - PP Paul Gregg.

50 Fijian schools benefit

More than 50 schools have benefited in a literacy program by the Rotary Club of Suva East, Fiji.

The club gets discounted books or free books from Reed Publishing in Australia and funding assistance for the Rotary clubs of Maroubra and Rose Bay in N.S.W. A Matching Grant from The Rotary Foundation also helped the program.

Assistance is given to transport the books within Australia and then to Fiji. A concession on duty and VAT also has been won from the Fiji Customs Service. The books distributed to schools help with reading and writing, maths and science studies.

The club believes that raising the standard of public education in Fiji is a way to avoid civil unrest and instability.

In another education project the Rotary Club of East Suva offers scholarships to disadvantaged students. With a limited budged and many needy families the criteria is stringent. To qualify a student must have one parent deceased, no regular significant income for the remaining parent, two or more siblings and above-average school results. The project is conjunction with schools.

The club believes that Rotarians in Fiji have a responsibility of keeping children off the streets or in school for an extra for an extra year.

Wandin unites, does the job

Wandin is a semi-rural community in the Yarra Valley, some 50 kms eat of Melbourne, Vic.

As in many smaller communities, families are involved in several clubs and groups. So when the Wandin and Wanalock Country Women's Association (CWA) needed an upgraded lavatory and modernising of 1940's kitchen the Rotary Club of Wandin agreed to help.

The CWA members, some are wives of Rotarians, raised funds through catering for Rotary meetings, a Christmas in July and local celebrations. Tradesman in the club directed eager helpers and pre-planning by builders meant the project was completed in two weekends. Rotarians are more agile now after leaning to duck planks and paint.

The new facilities are much appreciated by the CWA and other user groups. The Rotarians were treated to a thank-you dinner. - PP Keith Corbett and PP Garry Byrne.

PETS planning makes mark

A project planned at a President Elects Training Seminar (PETS) has resulted in an environmental project at Lake Annand in Toowoomba, Qld.

Involved were the Rotary Club of Toowoomba City under than President Joan Mladenovic and the Rotary Club o Browns Plains under then President Jitendra Prasad. Rotarians from Brown Plains travelled two hours by car to take part in the project which saw the surrounds of stormwater drains marked with stencilled signs asking people not to dump there.

Pamphlets were placed in letterboxes telling the importance of keeping stormwater drains free of pollutants. Pollutants find their way into the Murray-Darling Basin as well as impacting on Toowoomba waterways. Exchange student Hugo Herrera from Ecuador and Interactor Megan Geary took part. - Past President Joan Mladenovic.

Humour From Barfly Sept 5 2002

Council Capers

Genuine complaints received by local councils in the UK ·

My bush is really overgrown round the front and my back passage has fungus growing in it. ·

…. And he's got this huge tool that vibrates the whole house and I just can't take it anymore. ·

…. It's the dog's mess that I find hard to swallow.

· I want some repairs done to my cooker as it has backfired and burnt by knob off.

· I wish to complain that my father hurt is ankle very badly when he put his foot in the hole in his back passage. ·

…. And their 18-year-old son is continually banging his balls against my fence.

· I wish to report that tiles are missing from the outside toilet roof. I think it was bad wind the other night that blew them off.

· My lavatory seat is cracked, where do I stand?

· I am writing on behalf of my sink, which is coming away from the wall.

· Will you please send someone to mend the garden path. My wife tipped and fell on it yesterday and now she is pregnant. We are getting married in September and we would like it in the garden before we move into the house.

· I request permission to remove my drawers in the kitchen. ·

…. 50% of the walls are damp, 50% have crumbling plaster and the rest are plain filthy. · I am still having problems with smoke in my new drawers.

· The toilet is blocked and we cannot bath the children until it is cleared.

· Will you please send a man to look at my water - it is a funny colour and not fit to drink.

· Our lavatory seat is broken in half and is now in three pieces.

· Would you please send a man to repair my spout. I am an old age Pensioner and need it badly.

· I want to complain about the farmer across the road; every morning at 6am his cock wakes me up and its now getting too much for me.

· The man next door has a large erection in the back garden, which is unsightly and dangerous.

· Our kitchen floor is damp. We have two children and would like a third so please send someone round to do something about it.

· I am a single woman living in a downstairs flat and would you please do something about the noise made by the man I have on top of me every night.

· Please send a man with the right tool to finish the job and satisfy my wife.

· I have had the clerk of the works down on the floor six times but I still have no satisfaction.

· This is to let you know that our lavatory seat is broke and we ant get BCC2.

·To consume or not consume

From Barfly Sept 5

I've just been perusing the United Nations World Development Report 2003.

In line with the modern hatred of the word 'problem'‚ it tells us about the 'challenges' and 'concerns' facing the planet.

I don't want to depress you too early in the article so instead here is the Report's two point global vision:

o Prosperity and well being, like peace, are indivisible and must be shared if they are to be maintained.

o Two generations - fifty years - are enough to eliminate poverty and to move to a more sustainable development path.

According to the Report, the following actions are necessary by developed countries to help the poor world.

o Increased and more effective aid.

o Debt relief. o Improved access to technology and knowledge. And perhaps most topically;

o The opening of agricultural, industrial and labour markets.

Currently the rich west subsidises its agricultural sector to the extent that prices for Third World goods are further lowered, increasing the poverty level.

Unrestricted access to developed country markets in textiles and clothing could yield US$9 billion a year, and access to agricultural markets $11.6 billion a year to poor world economies.

So far so fair and accurate we might say but the Report struggles right at the end when the vexed question of over-consumption arises. How do we define it and what are its impacts on the environment and society?

The Report sees the environmental issues as solvable by getting the "combination of the specific consumption mix and the production processes" sorted out. It has more of a problem dealing with the implications of capitalism's tendency to conspicuous consumption.

People, says the Report, judge the adequacy of their consumption - clothing, cars, housing - in part against the standards set by others. Consumption, therefore, takes on some of the characteristics of an arms race. The solution to this, apparently, is to exercise "mutual restraint" and "to shift resources from competitive individual consumption to consumption of public goods".

But, perhaps afraid of criticising the rich and powerful, the Report concludes, "these (social and environmental) externalities need to be much better understood before there can be any agreement on the actions to address them". By which time it may all be a little academic!

So what constitutes too much consumption in a society? It seems that if economic growth were to proceed at around 3% a year, by 2100 - ignoring for the moment the social and environmental implications - we would be 18 times richer than we are today.

The Peter Costellos of this world would, I'm sure, be thrilled to hear this news but the question they never ask is the one philosopher Simon Fairlie does in his pamphlet the Prospect of Cornutopia: "when we possess this fabulous wealth, how will we spend it?

A fraction of this amount will provide us all with the one car per two people which appears to be the saturation point - what next? Will everyone be jetting around the world on a weekly basis from airports in every town? Will each home have ten rooms and a swimming pool and, if so, where are we going to build them?

Will we then inhabit the terrestrial heaven that the advocates of endless growth have promised us?"

A full scale 'growth' debate is essential if we are to challenge the myth of its endlessness which nowadays is also dressed up in ill-fitting sustainable clothes. The Amory Lovenses of this world, with their belief in the capacity of capitalism to be sustainable, may not agree but surely logic tells us that there has to be an end point to consumption on a finite planet.

We can't simply shop till we all drop. At the very least let the daily media 'wisdom' of the latest economic growth rates, the predictions of the NAB CEO and the regular comments of such fearless corporate figures as Gerry Harvey, be tempered with some discussion about what this all means for the future of our lovely green planet.

The Prospect of Cornutopia can be obtained by emailing:

chapter7@tlio.demon.co.uk -

Denis Walls