Warning for proxy voters at rescheduled EGM

Proxy voters for the RACGP's revamp EGM need to ensure their nominees can attend the June 14 e-meeting

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A shambolic air continues to hang over the RACGP’s bid to undertake a hotly disputed governance restructure via an electronic vote.

 The first attempt at holding an online extraordinary general meeting on May 30 crashed when members logged in but were unable to communicate with the chair due to a “technical failure” blamed on a third-party provider.  

Now, members have learned that their proxy votes might not be cast as they intended if their nominated proxy holder is unable to “attend” the next e-vote on June 14.  

College members who lodged proxy votes ahead of the first meeting were assured their votes would be preserved for next week’s poll.  

But if they gave an undirected proxy to a likeminded colleague who is a no-show at the next meeting for any reason, they will, in fact, be disenfranchised. 

College stalwart, Professor Max Kamien, has found himself in this perplexing situation not once, but twice.

 Knowing he would be away in Melbourne on May 30, Professor Kamien gave his proxy to prominent “No” campaigner Dr Karen Flegg.  

As it turns out, Dr Flegg will be in Europe next Wednesday and unable to register her attendance.  

Alerted to the problem, Professor Kamien switched his proxy to another No voter, Dr Di O’Halloran.  But now Dr O’Halloran’s attendance is unlikely, he has had to switch again. 

“In nearly 63 years of voting, I have never had to go to this length of trouble to cast my vote,” Professor Kamien said. 

“I think a lot of people will just say, bugger it.  I wonder if it might not have been better and fairer to have held a plebiscite.” 

Members who had cast a proxy vote and were now not contactable, even if their identities were known to their proxy holders, would have grounds for complaint, he said. 

It has also emerged that proxy holders who become incapacitated for voting purposes have no way of identifying members who may have nominated them to cast their proxy votes. 

In a flurry of pre-travel correspondence with Computershare, which is running the EGM, Dr Flegg has been assured by returning officer Danielle Hine that the company would contact members who had appointed her as proxy and confirm her non-attendance.  

Members who nominated Council Chair Tim Koh as their proxy holder with a direction  – Yes or No – will be secure in their voting intention.    

But undirected proxies that fall to Dr Koh, a Yes voter, will be cast at his discretion. 

Members who wish to change their proxy votes must do so 48 hours before the next meeting, that is by 8pm (AEST) on Monday.

If the proposed  governance changes go ahead, the RACGP will have a new board of seven members, including at least four GPs and external experts, at the top of the College hierarchy.

The current executive argues the new “skills-based” board structure would better handle financial, fiduciary and regulatory matters.

But under the more corporate-style arrangement, the “No” camp fears that membership voices will be lost while the existing 14-member Council will lose control over budgets and strategic decisions.