Not content with the challenges of a rapidly changing marketplace, some newsagents are engaged in a series of bitter and personality based fights which threaten to tear the channel apart. By newsagents, I mean the politicians, those elected to the Boards of the state associations and the national association.
In May of this year the ANF signed a Memorandum of Understanding with each of the state newsagent associations in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Since then, in NSW and QLD, it’s been guns at 30 paces. The ANF has served breach notices on the states for the most minor of infractions. In Victoria, any minor infraction has been ignored.
The MOUs I have seen are convoluted and provide a basis of confusion for what was to be a harmonious marriage. I have seen breaches of the MOUs by both sides. It is nonsense to issue breaches when all newsagents want is robust membership on the issues that matter.
The battles, in my mind, are all about membership for it is membership which determines the make up of the Board and for some a Board position is all that gives their life meaning, or so it would seem.
There is a battle going between the ANF and one state at present which threatens to tear the fragile unity among newsagents apart. If newsagents knew the story they would lose all faith in their associations. State Associations must serve their members first and in doing so ought not be attacked by the ANF.
The participants need to pause for a moment and consider their various constituencies. How are newsagents best served by the time and money being spent on such a personal and spiteful battle? They are not. At the time the MOUs were being considered I said that immediately on signing all directors ought to have resigned and fresh blood brought in. That this did not happen has led to the current situation.
I was a Board member of the ANF in 2004. The concerns I expressed in my resignation letter of almost two years ago have not been addressed. They go to the heart of the current mess.
Newsagent associations are in need of strong experienced and independent thinking board members. Without this the current mess, which has provided for more than ten years of poor representation of newsagents, will continue.
Unless this mess is fixed in the next few days newsagents would be well served resigning from all industry Associations. The Catholic Church in Boston refused to address its scandals until it was affected at the collection plate. Newsagents withholding funds from their associations could have the same effect.