RESIGNATION LEADS TO VACANCY ON BRC BOARD

By Graham Potter | Thursday, June 18, 2009

The resignation of Wayne Milner has created a vacancy on the Board of the Brisbane Racing Club just two weeks before the new club, which was created by the merger of the Brisbane Turf Club and the Queensland Turf Club, officially opens its doors for business on July 1.

Wayne Milner explained his decision: “I’ve decided to put my name forward to try and get on the Board of Queensland Racing Limited. There was an ad in the paper. I applied to the recruitment agency. Under the racing act it is a requirement for me not to hold any other position to be eligible for that position so I had to make a decision.

“I took the role here (as Chairman of the Brisbane Turf Club) because of the fact that I wanted the merger to happen. I didn’t really see myself as a Club man. I saw myself more on the state picture rather than the small picture. This job’s done. The BRC (the new Brisbane Racing Club) is in really good hands with Kevin Dixon and his team.

“The opportunity is there for me now. There are no guarantees. My issue is that if I don’t clear the decks of my current positions, I’m not eligible. I can’t go forward, so I’ve basically put myself in no-man’s land. It’s a bit sad to leave here, but I think I can do better for racing if I can get on to the QR Board. If I can’t, well ... I’ll become a relaxed member of the race-club.”

The foundation Board of the Brisbane Racing Club is made up of eight Directors comprising four members drawn from each of the merger clubs committees. As Wayne Milner was one of the representatives from the Brisbane Turf Club, the constitution of the new club dictates that the onus of selecting his replacement falls on the remaining three members of the Board who were elected from the Brisbane Turf Club.

Kevin Dixon, Chairman of the Board of the Brisbane Racing Club, and one of the directors who will decide who the new Board member will be, explains what happens next.

“We will be looking to fill the vacancy in the quickest possible time that we can. The arrangements are that the three surviving directors of the Brisbane Racing Club who came from the Brisbane Turf Club get together and select a candidate. That person has to have been a valid and eligible Brisbane Turf Club member at the prescribed date, which is the date of the merger. It is not limited to any group within the membership. Any valid member is eligible.

“What we will probably be doing is very quickly sending out a note to members asking anybody who has an interest to express that interest. The three of us will then take that list and work through a process to get to a short-list and then to a person who we select to go on the Board. I wouldn’t think that we would want to waste too much time doing that.

“This nomination process to fill a vacancy stays in place for three years until the next General Election of the Directors. So the timing of Wayne’s resignation makes no difference at all to what happens next. If it had been any time in the next three years the same process will apply. The same happens if anyone else, you know, gets sick ... or retires ... or anything like that, it will be the same process.

“I had a fair idea where Wayne’s motivations and ambitions lie. They have been there for some time, even preceding his current roles. He was willing to step up at a time when these roles needed it, and now is the time for him to pursue another role and we wish him well.”

Dixon