WEDNESDAY 20TH FEBRUARY 2019
THIS WEEK'S MEETING
Maleny Hotel at 6:30 for 7:00pm with our own Melinda Martin as Guest Speaker on My Story 2.
APOLOGIES AND MEALS
Apologies please to Bernice before noon of Tuesday.
DUTY ROSTERS
20th Feb 6th Mar 20th Mar
Duty Officer Greg W Phillip S Ric Townsend
Assist DO Peter McG Keith R Rick Vickers
Registration Paulette S CL C Laurelle O
Fellowship Bill H Malcolm B Chris B
SAUSAGE SIZZLE ROSTER
23rd February
Keith Rogers (Leader) Phillip Stark Bill Hankinson
9th March
Chris Brooker (Leader) John Whan Andy Shouteten
23rd March
Jeff Cornfoot (Leader) Roly Neiper LIonel Tilley
CLUB ORGANISATION
Details of the make up of the currrent Board and Committees can be found at the end of this bulletin.
MINUTES OF LAST MEETING
President Alan opened the meeting by welcoming the guest speaker Barry Smith, Helen Habgood (guest of Paulette) and members. Following the usual formalities from Peter McG and Paulette the President briefed the meeting on current topics, including the District Conference in Brisbane on the 22nd - 24th March and the 2019 International Convention in Hamburg, Germany in June. President Alan was also seeking ideas for a Club project towards the end of this year. Alan stressed the importance of members in general and Club Directors in particular attending the District Conference.
Rick V and Jim A thanked those involved in the Australia Day activities and Jim reminded us that the six monthly Club dues are ‘due’. Rick V noted that around 2000 attended the Australia Day event and that he has received thank you notes from Andrew Powell, Andrew Wallace and Jenny McKay.
John W mentioned that Lloyd Larney is celebrating his 90th birthday on 17th March and suggested that the Club recognize that with a bottle of something ‘special’.
Sergeant Chris extracted a few ‘shekels’ towards Club funds by attempting to embarrass members with various levels of ‘fake news’.
The guest speaker Barry Smith is well known to the Maleny Rotary Club as this was his 3rd attendance at a dinner meeting. The most recent was to receive a Paul Harris Fellowship for his long service to the community and especially to the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre. Tonight Barry gave the meeting an excellent overview of the issues around the provision of ‘social housing’ in Maleny.
He said it was important for us all to understand that even if we do not see it from day to day, there are significant issues with domestic violence and homelessness within our community. Along with the more urgent cases needing emergency housing, there is a particular need for small and low cost housing.
The Maleny Neighbourhood Centre actively supports people ‘doing it hard’ by providing swags, stoves, tents and in many cases, particularly for single women, a hotel bed. The Centre has set up a ‘transit house’ where people can stay for up to 2 months. The cost of running the ‘transit house’ is around $40,000 year and where possible the guests pay $100 week. Barry mentioned that he has personally housed single women for periods of 3 weeks to 6 months.
The ADO Jeff C thanked Barry for his interesting and informative talk and congratulated him on his personal efforts for this community.
President Alan closed the meeting at 8:35pm.
STOP PRESS
RIVER SCHOOL GARDEN SHED
finished the shed the afternoon of 13th February and that everything almost
fitted together.
Many thanks to the three members in the photoraph plus John McLennan snd the others who
purchased parts and laid concrete. The Club needs to arrange a handover
photo and a Rotary sign for the shed.
Another great community project.
FUTURE MEETINGS & EVENTS
27th February
Masonic Hall at 5:30 for 6:00pm for Club Assembly.
6th March
Maleny Hotel at 6:30 for 7:00pm with presentations to Life Flight and Blackall Range Care.
13th March
Board Meeting at the Masonic Hall.
20th March
Maleny Hotel at 6:30 for 7:00pm with Guest Speaker Karan Gerard on Cervical Cancer.
22nd-24th March District Conference.
27th March
Masonic Hall at 5:30 for 6:00pm for Club Assembly.
BIRTHDAYS FOR FEBRUARY
18th Jeff Cornfoot 28th Marlene Hankinson
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT
AN APOLITICAL VIEW OF TAXATION
In the lull before the political battle of a Federal election consumes us, it is hoped that it might be useful to use the story of a drinking group to explain the effects of changes in taxation. This has been done before but bears repetition. The numbers may not be exactly right but the idea is. The unarguable bottom line is that everyone’s view of the fairness of the tax system – like most such matters – depends largely on the angle from which you look at it.
Suppose that once a week, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this…
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
And the tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that’s what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every week and seemed quite happy with the arrangement until, one day, the owner caused them a little problem. “Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your weekly beer by $20.” Drinks for the ten men would now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free but what about the other six men? The paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share? They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33 but if they subtracted that from everybody’s share then not only would the first four men still be drinking for free but the fifth and sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fairer to reduce each man’s bill by a higher percentage. They decided to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.
And so, the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (a 100% saving).
The sixth man now paid $2 instead of $3 (a 33% saving).
The seventh man now paid $5 instead of $7 (a 28% saving).
The eighth man now paid $9 instead of $12 (a 25% saving).
The ninth man now paid $14 instead of $18 (a 22% saving).
And the tenth man now paid $49 instead of $59 (a 16% saving).
Each of the last six was better off than before with the first four continuing to drink for free.
But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings. “I only got $1 out of the $20 saving,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, “but he got $10!“
“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a $1 too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me!”
“That’s true!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back, when I only got $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!”
“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison, “we didn’t get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor!” The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next week the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had their beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important – they didn’t have enough money between all of them to pay for even half of the bill!
And that is how our tax system works. The people who already pay the highest taxes will naturally get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy and they just might not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
MALENY ROTARY CLUB EXECUTIVE TEAM FOR 2018-2019
BOARD MEMBERSPresident - Alan Wilson
Vice President - Michael Gregory
Secretary - Bernice McLennan
Treasurer - Jim Atkinson
Vocational - Ric Townsend
Club Admininstration / Membership - Philip Stark
International/Foundation - Angela Griffin/ CL Claridge
Community Relations/Youth - Greg Williams
Service Projects - Rick Vickers/Chris Ross-Smith
Other Roles
Guest Speakers - Michael Gregory
Bulletin Editor - Keith Rogers
MALENY ROTARY CLUB COMMITTEES
1.Grants Committee 2.RAWCS - Ebenezer Zambia
Confidential Angela Griffin
CL Claridge
Jim Atkinson
3.RAWCS-Nepal
Chris Ross-Smith 4.Show Committee
Jim Atkinson Bernice McLennan
CL Claridge John McLennan
5.Social Committee 6.Calendar Committee
Phillip Stark Lionel Tilley
Roly Neiper Rick Vickers
Jeff Cornfoot
7.High School Project Jim Atkinson
Chris Brooker
Jeff Cornfoot
Greg Williams
8.Membership/ 9.Qld Australian Cross Country Athletics Title
USC Project Committee Rick Vickers
Phillip Stark Greg Williams
CL Claridge Chris Brooker
Angela Griffin
Roly Nieper 10.Plan for Maleny Education Support Fund
Chris Ross-Smith Angela Griffin
Rick Vickers CL Claridge
Roly Nieper
Jeff Cornfoot
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