Last Wednesday we had a hugely successful re-launching of the Mid North Coast Group. As you know NGINA has been working with our current regional and special interest groups on a new Group Charter to simplify and reduce the regional group administration and to overcome any potential audit and risk issues with the association. Every member is assigned to a group and every member can attend every event.

It was wonderful to see so many past, and present NGINA members reconnecting, sharing insights, and enjoying a fantastic evening together. We kicked off the night with a visit to the beautiful Bonny Hills Garden Centre where Keith gave us an overview of the history of the nursery. The evening continued with lively conversations over dinner at the Bonny Hills Beach Hotel. It was lovely to have members from other regional groups come to support the Mid North Coast. We look forward to more gatherings like this in the future!

This past fortnight we have also been focussed on our own internal operations. 

Last year we asked members at the AGM to vote on a resolution to change auditors. ASIC has accepted the resignation of our previous auditors, William Buck and approved the appointment of Nexia Australia. William Buck has served the association very well as our auditors and our accountants, but we felt it was time to change auditors to promote accountability, reduce costs, enhance audit quality, and improve confidence in our financial reporting processes.

Also this past fortnight we have been finalising our FY 2025 Budget. It is our intent to rely less on the investment income to support the operations of the association. To that end, we have been developing our alternative revenue streams and have conducted a thorough review of our expenditures to optimise our financial resources. I am pleased to report that our draw down on the investment funds has been steadily declining over the past 4 years. The Board discussed the draft budget at length at a full-day Board meeting on Thursday last week.

A company’s internal policies and procedures serve as the backbone of organisational effectiveness, enabling companies to operate efficiently, consistently, maintain quality standards, comply with statutory requirements, manage risks, and foster a culture of continuous improvement. As caretakers of your association, it's our duty to establish and uphold robust policies and procedures while maintaining responsible and effective financial management.

Tomorrow, we also have the Audit and Risk Committee attending the NGINA Office to conduct an Internal Audit. The Committee is chaired by Director John Walsh and consists of Anna Hulme from Grange Growing Solutions and Julia Wokes from Patterson Fern Nursery. The purpose of an internal audit is to provide independent and objective investigation of our internal policies and procedures aimed at improving our operations, risk management, and governance processes. We are very grateful that John, Anna and Julia can volunteer their time and expertise to assist us in making your association as robust as possible.