Dear Perth Rotarians,
 
Republican or Royalist, I think all would acknowledge that the passing of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh signalled the end of an era and significant moment in history.  HRH, Prince Phillip  did indeed embrace the Rotary theme of “Service Above Self” throughout his life.   The loss of any family member is tough and reminds us all to hold a little tighter to those we love, to be a little kinder or perhaps more tolerant.    RIP, HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, our thoughts are with all those who have lost loved family members particularly during these difficult times.

 
 
Next week is “World Immunization Week” and so it was fabulous timing to have Dr Andy Robertson, Chief Health Officer for WA as our guest speaker last week.  Despite being committed to a press conference and missing out on lunch entirely, we greatly appreciated Dr Robertson making time for our club so as to speak to members and update us on the AstraZeneca Vaccine and Pfizer Vaccine.  At the end of the day, it is up to us as individuals to be pro-active, well informed and considered in our choice around the covid vaccination. 
 
Rotary has the opportunity and years of experience in fighting polio to remind people about the effectiveness of vaccines.   In July of 2020, Rotary International was excited and very proud to announce that Africa was now considered wild poliovirus free.  The polio virus only remains endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan, this is due to a constant and huge effort over many years.  Time and effort has been directed towards building trust with communities so they would allow the delivery of the vaccine.    The world has come a long way since the Polio Pandemic of the 1950’s, surely we can do so again with the current pandemic and vaccine program. 
 
 
President Elect Rev John Shepherd announced the President Nominee of Perth Rotary Club for 2022/23 at lunch last Friday.  Congratulations and welcome to your leadership role with the club, Rotarian Maree Gooch.  It is fair to say that Maree brings with her a great deal of experience and is a fantastic choice for our club.  Maree is an engaging and successful entrepreneur and management consultant with more than three decades of experience spanning business and government.  Her strengths are in Business Strategy, Business Transformation and Financial Management for small and medium sized businesses.  Maree has extensive experience working with and for government agencies.  Maree facilitates strategic planning and business development either in-house for entrepreneurs and small to medium business or through industry workshops for business planning and growth, change management and future planning and turnaround strategies.  Maree co-founded Value Creators in December 2018. The underlying ethos of the programs offered by Value Creators are about managing change for good and to  create the future you want.  Their programs align strongly with key business concepts of strategy, finance and governance, providing the space for people and business to flourish.
 
Maree has regularly applied her key strengths of Finance, Strategy and Governance to help individual businesses over a long period of time.  Maree has been happily married for 30 years and has three amazing grown children. She loves to travel and meet new people and is extremely grateful to Rotary International for the life-changing experience of being a Rotary Exchange Student to West Virginia (USA) in 1984.  Maree is passionate about mentoring and has mentored hundreds of people over her life.  She is a regular guest speaker at events and radio interviews.  Maree is the proud Chairman of CRISP Wireless providing fast and reliable internet across ten regional shires in rural WA.  Maree gives much of her time generously for philanthropic pursuits, especially regional and rural initiatives and has over the years mentored many students through the UWA Career Link and Business School, the Grow Zone Program and more recently the AgTech Business Growth Mentoring Program.
 
Maree is a
  • Graduate – Executive Master of Business Administration, University of Western Australia
  • Graduate Member and Fellow – Australian Institute of Company Directors
  • Fellow – Australian Institute of Management
  • Diamond Member – Business Women Australia
  • Retired board member – Peel Development Commission
  • Retired board member and Vice Chair – Rural Business Development Corporation
  • Retired chair – Rural Regional Remote Women’s Network
Congratulations once again President Nominee Maree, we all look forward to working with Maree as she prepares for her year in 2022/23.  
 
Our District Governor, Jon Bilson’s most recent update is available on the following link.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUhNy58hdM   DG Jon Bilson announces the finalist for the Dr Ken Collins AM.CitWA Award for Excellence in Service to Rotary towards the end of the video message.  It is with great pride and excitement that we congratulate Past President John Garland AM on making the shortlist of finalist.  John is joined by two other finalist, Mr Gordon Hudson of the Scarborough Rotary Club and Mr David Barton of the Melville Rotary Club.  We thank all three Rotarians for their service to Rotary and for the wonderful example of Service Above Self by Dr Ken Collins AM.CitWA in whose honour the award was created.   An independent panel of judges are now considering the nominations with the winner to be announced at the Centennial Gala on Friday 23 April 2021. 
 
The Theme of the Gala is “Puttin on the Ritz” and dress is Black Tie – 20’s style.  We look forward to welcoming all Rotarians from across Western Australia to this Centennial celebration.  If you are not able to attend the Gala, but would still like to support the event, please consider purchasing some wine with a Centennial commemorative label.  Please go to http://bit.ly/r100wine to purchase your choice of wine.   
The Centennial Gala Ball, Friday 23 April at the Ritz Carlton Hotel
 
 
ANZAC Day is just around the corner and Perth Rotary is looking for volunteers to help serve breakfast to the returned soldiers and their families.  Why do we do this?  As a small gesture of appreciation for the many sacrifices made by the soldiers and their families so that we might enjoy a stable democracy; economic success and community.  If you would like to volunteer to help out on this special day please visit the following link:  https://forms.office.com/r/tdrUY2ZYrR    Your family, friends and work colleagues are welcome to join us on this occasion.  Many hands make light work.    
 
 
This week we have Mr Colin Pettit, Commissioner for Children & Young People of WA as our guest speaker.  Colin will be speaking on the topic of “Wellbeing of Children and Young People”. 
 
Colin has spent his career working to improve the wellbeing of children and young people, particularly in delivering education services and programs to children and young people living in regional and remote areas of the State.  Colin has worked with children, young people, families and communities all over the State as a teacher and then principal in a number of regional schools, before holding the role of Executive Director Regional and Remote Education at the Western Australian Department of Education for three years.  Between 2010 and 2015, Colin was the Secretary of Education for the Tasmanian Department of Education. He is a former President of the Primary Principal’s Association of WA and Deputy President of the Australian Primary Principal’s Association.   Colin is an Ambassador for Barking Gecko Theatre and the Valuing Children Initiative, the Vice Chancellor of the Children’s University WA Partnership and in February 2019 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Education from Edith Cowan University. He is a father of three and a grandfather of three.  You are welcome to join us – please go on line to pre-book your ticket – http://www.trybooking.com/BPWPH. 
 
 
We then have a further break of two weeks from our usual business lunch meetings as we celebrate the centenary of 100 Years of Service.  We also have a unique opportunity to visit the WA Museum on a Vocational Visit Friday 30 April along with our re-scheduled Blessing of the Fleet in the evening.  We return to our Friday lunch meetings on 7 May 2021.  
  • Friday 16 April | Perth Rotary Business Lunch Meeting – Mr Colin Pettit, Commissioner for Children.  Parmelia Hilton Hotel  www.trybooking.com/BPWPH
  • Thursday 22 April | NO MEETING
  • Friday 23 April | Centennial Gala Ball, Ritz Carlton Hotel  http://bit.ly/R100Ball  
  • Friday 30 April | Vocational Visit, WA Museum  rsvp:  vocational@rotaryperth.org.au  Guests will hear from senior curators from each discipline who will showcase and speak to some unique objects within their collection, explaining the provenance and relevance of the objects. The tour will include the Harry Butler Research Centre and Wet Store which contains over 2.5 million research specimens, including a number of unique, highly significant holotypes specimens discovered by scientists of the WA Museum.
  • Friday 30 April | Blessing of the Fleet.   larryh@chartermortgage.com.au
  • Friday 7 May | Kristy Staples, Salvation Army - Kristy manages The Salvation Army’s response in WA to one of the most challenging social issues of our community. Once buried deep in the conversation, never really talked about, carrying both visible and invisible (to the eyes) scars, the topic of Family Violence must rise and remain at the surface of public discussion to generate real change. A national conversation needs to be led by example at all political levels as well as the need to have active conversations at home. Now is the opportunity and time to influence current and future generations to create change. Changes in attitudes, understanding and behaviours. Kristy brings her experience and skills into building sector leading and innovative services to both Perth and the Pilbara that can provide a therapeutic model of security, care and empowerment.  https://www.trybooking.com/BQMXL
Members are also reminded of the Path of Hope Gala Ball, Saturday 22 May 2021 at the Crown Towers.  Tickets are on line and available by visiting www.pathofhope.org.au  By securing your ticket to the Path of Hope Gala 2021, you are supporting our efforts to raise funds which are directed towards the  Salvation Army in their incredible work with survivors of FDV.  Please consider attending this magical evening and making a difference in the lives of so many.  
 
 
 
 
 
Please not only put these dates into your calendar, but go on line to purchase your tickets and secure your place at the table.  
 
 
PERTH ROTARY 2020/21 BOARD EMAIL - Our Next Board Meeting – Monday 3 May 2021
President:                  Jill Dawson               president@rotaryperth.org.au
Past President:         Vangelis Katsaitis    vangelis@excellenceps.com.au
President Elect:        Rev Dr John Shepherd AM john.h.shepherd@bigpond.com
Treasurer:                  Joseph Wambua      treasurer@rotaryperth.org.au
Secretary:                  Jacques Phillips      secretary@rotaryperth.org.au
Rotary Foundation  Emma Cork               emma@oneenergyfps.com.au
Club Service:           Darren Perera           clubservice@rotaryperth.org.au
Fellowship Chair:    Jo Morris                    fellowship@rotaryperth.org.au     
Media Chair              Barry Thornton         barrythornton@hotmail.com
Speaker Program     Nicola Johnston       programmechair@rotaryperth.org.au
Membership              Ashley Whitworth    membership@rotaryperth.org.au
Vocational                 Jonas Edner             vocational@rotaryperth.org.au
Community               David Wee                community@rotaryperth.org.au
International             Wesley Sim               international@rotaryperth.org.au
Youth                         Kelly Gibson             youth@rotaryperth.org.au