Young engineers back ballot
At its meeting in August, the Young Engineers Australia National Committee voted unanimously to support the upcoming ballot and to encourage members to vote YES.
“All of our representatives from the different divisions around Australia supported the YES vote for the ballot,” said Dr Jessica Andrewartha, Vice Chair of Young Engineers Australia, “because it would make our membership more equitable. If you’re a fee-paying member then you should have the right to vote.”
“Young engineers are concerned about equity,” she said. “A lot of the older engineers are saying no, they [associates and technologists] shouldn’t be part of our organisation at all, but I think you’d find the majority of young engineers would be happy for them to have the vote and would feel quite strongly that it should be equitable, especially coming off the back of the Year of the Engineering Team.”
Dr Andrewartha said she personally had no problem with associates and technologists being able to have the vote and hold office bearer positions.
“To be elected an office bearer in Engineers Australia you have to have the right personal qualities for the position, and I don’t think whether you’ve spent two, three or four years at university is relevant, as we do so much on the job training and continued professional development. Your membership category should have no bearing on whether you are capable of holding an office bearer position.”
She said concerns associates and technologists might somehow “take over the organisation” didn’t make any sense. “I do not believe this would ever be their intention nor do they actually have the numbers to do so. It is still a professional engineering organisation.”
Dr Andrewartha said she hoped the majority of young engineers would vote, and vote YES in the ballot. “As well as addressing the equity issue, the new Royal Charter and By-laws are written in modern language, and ensure Engineers Australia is compliant with current tax laws.”
To encourage members to vote, Young Engineers Australia will take part in the blog running at www.ballot2010.org.au and is about to send out an email to members encouraging them to vote, and to vote YES.
“We need to have a representative vote on this issue,” said Dr Andrewartha. “With previous ballots, only the people who are really passionate have voted, and these have all been knocked over. So we are telling our members to make their voice heard and vote.”
