Commonwealth Study Conferences (Australia) IncorporatedFounder: HRH The Duke of Edinburgh Australian Chairman: Mr RFE WarburtonABN 33 055 796 693 GPO Box 2733 Sydney NSW 2001 ~ Ph: 02 4234 1072 ~ Mob: 0418 164 043 ~ E-mail: secretary@cscaustralia.com
AUSTRALIAN CSC ALUMNI NEWSLETTER - MARCH 2006 Dear Fellow Alumni, This Newsletter aims to provide information on a forthcoming CSC 50th Anniversary Reception at Buckingham Palace, an update on the Pacific Conference scheduled for June/July next and some information on the planned Tenth Commonwealth Study Conference expected to be staged in March 2007. Buckingham Palace Reception Last Wednesday, we received an official invitation for up to 35 Australian CSC Alumni to attend this 50th Anniversary Reception to be held at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday 24 May 2006 from 6.00 to 7.30 pm. The Reception will be hosted by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, The Princess Royal and HRH The Duke of Kent and the purpose of this important event is to celebrate the 50th Anniversary year of the first Commonwealth Study Conference held in Oxford UK from 9 to 27 July, 1956. The Reception will also provide an opportunity for the UK Trustees to raise awareness of CSC 2007 expected to be staged by India, Malaysia and Singapore in March next year and for the Canadian Alumni to launch a 50th Anniversary book detailing the history of these conferences. As places for this Reception are strictly limited, bookings will be received on a first in basis from those Australian Alumni who are keen to attend and plan to be in London at this time. Please confirm your wish to attend by contacting Brian Pickett on secretary@cscaustralia.com or by phone to 02 4234 1072 and 0418 164 043 or by fax to 02 4234 1076. Regrettably, the Palace has advised that because of space limitations, partners and spouses will not be able to attend. The Pacific ConferenceAs many of you are aware, this inaugural regional CSC style Conference titled the Emerging Pacific Leaders’ Dialogue (EPLD) will be staged from 28 June to 12 July 2006. The theme for the EPLD is Navigating Our Future Together with relevant sub-themes. The EPLD opening plenary sessions will take place in Parliament House, Brisbane from Wednesday 28 June to Friday 30 June. Ten study tours to separate Pacific nation locations are scheduled for the middle week of the EPLD and closing plenary sessions will be held at the Waipuna Lodge Hotel, Auckland from Sunday 9 July to Wednesday 12 July, 2006. This regional CSC is being staged by the Australian and New Zealand CSC organisations supported by Alumni and other volunteers across the 20 member and observer nations comprising the Pacific Islands Forum. A small EPLD Secretariat has been established to service the various planning activities required to stage the event. In taking a decision in March 2005 to stage this important event, the Executive Committee of CSC (Australia) Inc., Chaired by Dick Warburton, appointed a Steering Committee to oversight the project. This Committee is Chaired by Carolyn Bloch with Dr Brian Scott as Deputy Chair. The Steering Committee has widespread representation across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. Additional Committees, also with strong Pacific nation representation, have been established for Membership Selection, Study Tours, Conference Program and Fundraising. The Membership Selection Committee, Chaired by Joan Spiller, assessed almost 600 applications for the 120 places. Applications were received from all 20 Pacific Islands Forum nations. Sector representation across business, trade unions, government and community service sectors has been achieved as has a 50/50 gender balance. The Study Tours Committee, Chaired by Brian Pickett, has been active and ten study tours have now been confirmed over the middle week of the EPLD. Study tour destinations are scheduled as PNG (2), Fiji (2), Samoa, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands/Auckland, New Caledonia and Kiribati. Dry runs or dress rehearsals for all study tours will be undertaken in May/early June. The Program Committee is Chaired by Professor Di Yerbury - the recently retired Vice- Chancellor of Macquarie University. This Committee has developed a short list of VIPs and high quality speakers for the opening plenary sessions. Sir William Deane has agreed to be Conference Chair for the Brisbane opening. The Fiji and New Zealand Committees are working in conjunction with the Program Committee to prepare for the planned visit to Fiji and New Zealand (not Australia) by HRH The Princess Royal and her party from Thursday 6 July to Wednesday 12 July. It is anticipated that The Princess Royal will participate in some of the planned study tour visits in Fiji followed by participation in the closing plenary in Auckland. The Fundraising Committee, Chaired by Dick Warburton, and regional panels continue to work on achieving a cash donation target of $1.8m assessed as being required to stage the event. At this point, a further $200,000 has to be raised to achieve this target. Of total cash funds received and committed to date, 59% has been sourced from the Australian Government and 41% from other governments and the private sector. Considerable in kind support is also being received by a wide range of organisations across the region. Further information on the EPLD is available on the new partially constructed CSC Australia web site www.cscaustralia.com If you would like to support the EPLD there are two possible options: Firstly, as outlined above we still require further cash donations of some $200,000. If you know of a potential additional sponsor or if you would like to contribute an amount, no matter how small, it would be gratefully received (some Alumni already have indicated their interest in doing this). Secondly, subject to seating availability, you are very welcome to attend the opening and/or closing plenary sessions of the EPLD. In addition, an Opening Dinner and an Alumni Dinner are being planned for evenings of Wednesday 28 June and Friday 30 June respectively in Brisbane. As has been the case with previous CSC conferences, where catering costs are involved, there may be a minimum charge to cover these costs. As appropriate, costings will be confirmed with those who individually indicate an interest in attending. Please contact Rilka Macainsh on rilka.macainsh@centrelink.gov.au or mobile 0421 919 101 if you have any fundraising suggestions/offers or if you are interested in attending some of the EPLD activities. The Tenth Commonwealth Study ConferenceSubject to final confirmation by the end of April 2006, the Tenth Commonwealth Study Conference is expected to be staged by India, Malaysia and Singapore over the period 16 - 29 March 2007. The Conference Opening and Closing is planned to take place in New Delhi, India with 9 study tours to various Indian destinations, 3 study tours to Malaysia and 2 to Singapore. Further information on CSC2007 will be provided in due course.
Brian Pickett Chief Executive 25 March 2006 |
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