As more and more damaging revelations appear daily concerning RSPCA Tasmania, calls have been made by former high-ranking insiders and current staff for the board of three to be dismissed.
Media here:
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/11/07/365464_most-popular-stories.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-07/rspca-sacks-second-chief/4358306?§ion=news
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/11/09/365653_tasmania-news.html
Suzanne Cass, from Stop Tasmanian Animal Cruelty and a former President and board member, has filed complaints with the Department of Fair Trading in relation to the governance of the strife-ridden organization, and also with the Minister about taxpayer funds, and potentially community donations and bequests being used for what she describes as “unseemly corporate wrangling and damage control”, while animal care and protection, supposedly the core business of the organisation, is neglected.
‘This “gang of three” has brought the animal welfare regime in the state to its knees yet again’, she said. ‘We have seen that massive amounts of money are being spent on legal fees and expensive “investigations”, and we are also very concerned that community donations and bequest funds are going down the same sewer’.
‘The board appointed a CEO who did not even approach the carefully developed selection criteria for the position, and vice president Angela Ayling claimed that it was “standard industrial practice” to conduct an investigation into the conduct of the CEO, Ben Sturges. Standard industrial practice would have been to appoint someone who actually met the selection criteria, not someone on (another basis). By all standards of responsible governance and due diligence, this was always a disaster waiting to happen’.
The CEO, Ben Sturges, was sacked by the board on Monday, having been on full pay for the six weeks of the investigation, and his RSPCA vehicle was repossessed by bailiffs the following day, so he has had the use of a RSPCA vehicle throughout.
‘Mr Sturges was interviewed by ABC morning radio presenter Leon Compton last Wednesday, and expressed concerns, which he claimed to have had for some time, about the organisation’s governance, and its cash flow position’, continued Ms Cass. ‘This invites the questions; for how long did he have these concerns, and as the organisation’s Public Officer, did he not have a duty to act and why did he not do so? Moreover, if he was as concerned as he claimed to be for the animals, why did he accept full pay and the continued use of the vehicle for the last 6 weeks when he claimed, talking with Leon Compton, that the outcome was “pre-determined”?’
Mr Sturges is the son of Labor MP Graeme Sturges, who lost his seat in Parliament at the last state election, but re-entered Parliament on a recount after the resignation of David Bartlett. Mr Sturges (senior) lost his position on the RSPCA board at the 2010 Annual General Meeting. His son (was then) appointed to the top job at the RSPCA.
Mr Sturges is reportedly filing a claim with Fair Work Australia against his dismissal, which is expected to be a bid for re-instatement, and this will not be the only industrial claim since the sacking of his predecessor Greg Tredinnick. Former Marketing Manager Colin Anderson took the Society to Fair Work Australia in March, and the costly services of solicitors and barristers were once again engaged. According to the Fair Work Australia website, the matter was inexplicably dealt with in Darwin.
(Case here: http://www.fwa.gov.au/decisionssigned/html/2012fwa1711.htm )
Ms Cass was expelled in September 2010, for very publicly castigating the board for appointing a large administrative bureaucracy on the advice of then Acting CEO Michael Linke, the ACT CEO. The cost of Mr Linke’s services, and the staff he brought with him when he visited Tasmania, has never been disclosed.
Ms Cass has also obtained a copy of the RSPCA’s Annual Report and Financial Statements for the last financial year, which she has referred to an accountant for an opinion on the Society’s viability.
‘Even with the limited expertise that I have in accountancy matters, the figures for 2012 just compared with 2011 are alarming’, she said. ‘There appears to have been a large spike in wages and salaries, which cost over $2 million ($2,202,641), and such self-indulgent expenses as travel and motor vehicles ($105,598), ‘consultancy’ ($52,672) ‘subscriptions’ ($43,967) and an explained entry for ‘sundries’ of $83,025. “Marketing and Development” cost $332,458. There is a massive loss of support in terms of sponsorships, for example, which dropped from $741,270 to $195.209 and income from the Inspectorate Service Agreement dropped from $600,000 to $480,000. There was a drop in memberships of almost $7,000’.
Ms Cass says she is awaiting a response from the Department of Fair Trading on some key complaints:
1. Whether it is within the governing Act for an organization dealing with taxpayer, public and community funds to be operating within the governing Act (the Associations Incorporations Act 1964) and its own Constitution with just three board members.
2. Why the organization has not reconvened its aborted AGM within the required timeframe of four months after the end of the preceding financial year
3. Even if it is operating within a constitutional loophole, then the Department of Fair Trading, firstly should never have approved a constitution allowing this situation to occur and secondly it has a duty to review that constitution to bring it into line with the spirit and meaning of the Act. Failure to do so is negligence, since these people are dealing with large amounts of taxpayer funds, community donations and bequests. It also had an obligation to exercise a level of monitoring over other organisations like this to ensure that this situation cannot arise elsewhere.
• Sunday Examiner: RSPCA members bite back:
THREE former RSPCA members believe the charity’s board needs a complete overhaul to stay viable.
Suzanne Cass, Nigel Burch and Eric Gooi all said that the overhaul was the only way to save the charity.
Ms Cass further believed that the state government must find a better organisation to administer and enforce the Animal Welfare Act.
The charity has been dogged by accusations of systematic financial mismanagement, infighting, bullying and bad appointment decisions over several years.
The most recent drama involved the sacking of chief executive Ben Sturges last week – a dismissal he will contest before Fair Work Australia.
RSPCA Tasmanian president Paul Swiatkowski said that while the organisation was struggling financially, it was not because of mismanagement, but “bad luck” and less available public money for charities in general.
He said the withdrawal of sponsorship by millionaire businesswoman Jan Cameron – a contribution that came with conditions the board had to meet – had also hurt the RSPCA’s finances.
“Certainly that has affected what we can and can’t do to some degree – it’s something that has maybe added to our problems in the short term,” Mr Swiatkowski said.
He conceded accusations of mismanagement had damaged the charity’s brand and feared it would continue to hurt public funding.
etc, read the rest on The Examiner website …
MINISTER SHOULD ASSIST IN RSPCA CRISIS
Board Turmoil Threatens Animal Welfare Delivery
Cassy O’Connor MP
Greens Animal Welfare spokesperson
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
The Tasmanian Greens today called on the Minister for Primary Industries Bryan Green to intervene in the board crisis facing the RSPCA in Tasmania, which was potentially compromising the Society’s capacity to deliver on its commitment to animal welfare and tarnishing its public image.
In Parliament, Greens Animal Welfare spokesperson Cassy O’Connor MP called on Mr Green to step in and insist that the current Board be dismissed and an administrator be appointed to investigate allegations made by concerned staff.
“The RSPCA has a long, proud history of promoting animal welfare in Tasmania, but the current administrative crisis is threatening to undermine this crucially important work,” Ms O’Connor said.
“Earlier this year the Minister agreed to a substantial increase in taxpayer funding to the RSPCA, which means that he now has an obligation to ensure that the organisation is in a position to properly carry out its work.”
“The recent events including the dismissal of the CEO, Ben Sturges, have negatively impacted the important work of the RSPCA and the integrity of its brand and it’s clear that front-line staff are not happy.”
“During his time as CEO, Ben Sturges successfully established strong working relations across the three political parties and negotiated with the Tasmanian Government a substantial funding boost for the organisation.”
“The Minister needs to step in and insist that the current RSPCA board be disbanded and an administrator be appointed to get their finances and management in order until a new board with the relevant business and management skills can be established.”
“I acknowledge that Minister Green has engaged with the RSPCA national body to raise concerns about the governance and operations of the RSPCA in Tasmania, and I encourage him to stay on their case.”
