National Judges’ Seminar and OCNZ AGM Weekend
The AGM and Seminar weekend was wonderfully hosted by the Hawke’s Bay Orchid Society and was attended by a large number of Judges and the OCNZ Committee over the long Queen’s Birthday weekend. Despite several key people being unable to attend, we were able to run the judging session, thanks to Margaret Lomas.
We were fortunate to have three great speakers and video presentations from Woolf Orchids. Phil Thomsen, on judging soft-cane Dendrobiums for form, square versus oval. Ross Bicknell on his passion for Pleione orchids and how he is leading the way. Michelle Whitten on the sex life of orchids, which gave a fascinating insight into the lengths of mimicry, entrapment, and their clever deception.
The venue for the Saturday night’s dinner was well attended (despite being ram-raided two nights before). Our Patron, Roy Neale presented Margaret Lomas with an Award of Honour for her 18 years of service to OCNZ and Joy Hopson with a Distinguished Service award to mark her 32 years of service to OCNZ. At the AGM both left the Executive Committee. After dinner Roy entertained us with a tale about exporting plants to the United States many years ago. The weekend was rounded off on Monday by visiting some well-known local growers in the area, Bill Liddy, Richard Christensen, and Lynda Stephenson.
Hawke’s Bay Orchid Society Remit
Delegates voted against the remit offered by the HBOS, the motion being: That the OCNZ produce a generic constitution which complies with the requirements of this new Incorporated Societies Bill. It would be intended that the completed document be made available to all OCNZ affiliated Orchid Club/Societies, which they can use as the basis of their own rules/constitution. The motion was fully discussed at the AGM. Please find below a briefing document prepared by the OCNZ Executive Committee, which contains a link to the NZ Companies Office where there is an online Constitution Builder to assist societies to draft and revise their rules. This have been used by a couple of societies who can vouch for its usefulness.
2022 Yearbook
Please look out for your copy at your next meeting. The Yearbook was sent to the printers a week ahead of schedule and contains a bumper 104 pages and has been couriered to societies. There are some very interesting articles which have been provided and the genus featured this year is Cymbidiums.
Expo 2023
We are delighted to confirm that we are going ahead with the 2023 option. Save the dates: September 28 – October 1. Location is Mystery Creek Convention Centre, Hamilton. Further information will be available soon.
Iwitahi Weekend
This will be back this year, to be held the first weekend of December. Please contact Toby Marris for further information.
Nelson South Island Judging Seminar
This will be held in its traditional Labour weekend slot, this year October 22-23. It would be wonderful to see some judges from the North Island attending.
Incorporated Societies Act Review: What you need to know
If your Orchid Society is an incorporated society you are probably already aware that the Incorporated Societies Act 1908 has been under review and once passed will require Incorporated Societies to review and revise their constitution and to re-register. Societies do not need to do anything just yet but there are things you could do now so that you are better prepared once it is time to re-register. Below is a summary of developments to date and key dates you need to be aware of.
Latest developments
• The Bill to replace the incorporated Societies Act 1908 was signed into law on April 5, 2022
• Regulations will be developed between May 2022 and September 2023
• Re-registration period is from October 2023 to April 2026.
This means that any society registered under the 1908 Act (including those that register before the end of the third quarter (Q3) 2023) is as follows:
Until Q3 2023, they remain subject to the rules in the 1908 Act:
• At some point between October 2023 and April 2026 they must re-register with the Companies Office or they will cease to exist.
• As soon as they re-register, they become subject to the rules in the 2022 Act. This means each society will become subject to the new rules at the time of its own choosing.
For groups considering creating new societies:
• Until around Q3 2023, they must register under the 1908 Act.
• After that time, they must register under the 2022 Act.
The NZ Companies Office website includes a helpful Constitution Builder tool. Updates are planned for the Constitution Builder. The Companies Office will update the Constitution Builder in 2023 so that it can be used to help societies prepare constitutions that fully comply with the new Act.
On this site you will find information about:
• Timeline to registration
• Key changes
• Tools to assist you
• Sign up to receive updates from the Companies Office.