Hello CAFNEC members,

CAFNEC would like to extend an invitation to you to join the 2018 Annual General Meeting (AGM) next Thursday 25th October which will be coupled with October Green Drinks for an enjoyable evening.

We’ll be running the usual Green Drinks agenda (free yummy food, drinks by donation, music and interesting folk) but afterwards please join us for our AGM, where we will be looking back at efforts and successes over the 2017/18 year as well as focusing on the work ahead of us in the coming year.

When: Thursday 25th October 2016 – Green Drinks 5.30 pm, AGM 6.30 pm
Where: Cominos House, 27-29 Greenslopes St, North Cairns.

As a CAFNEC member your presence is greatly valued to participate and vote for the change you wish to see. If you are unable to attend but would still like to vote you can fill out a proxy form to nominate a proxy and send to Marie at admin@nullcafnec.org.au by 12 pm on 25th October.

Is your CAFNEC membership up to date? Only financial members are eligible to vote on the election of members of the Management Committee and other matters necessitating approval of the majority of the members. If you’d like to renew online click here. If you’d like to check on your membership please call 4032 1746 and ask for Marie.

AGM Agenda:

1. Introduction and apologies
2. Minutes of the 2017 AGM tabled for adoption
3. Presentation of Annual Report by President
4. Finance Report – including

• Receiving of the Auditor’s Report and Audited Statement
• Presentation of the Audited Statement to the meeting for adoption
• Appointment of an Auditor for 2018/2019
• Report on public liability insurance & sponsorships over $500

5. Staff presentations
6. Election of members of the Management Committee
7. Any other business
8. Close of meeting

We’ll also be cracking out the screen printing gear and printing a retro CAFNEC graphic onto t-shirts for members so bring along a plain t-shirt on the night if you’d like one (scroll down to see the design). 

Your participation as a member or supporter is greatly valued by CAFNEC and we look forward to your company next week.

Kind regards
Denis Walls
President

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CAFNEC’s vital role 

Formed by concerned community groups in 1981, Cairns and Far North Environment Centre acts as conservation council for the region from Cardwell north to Torres Strait and from the east coast to the Gulf of Carpentaria. For more than 35 years member of the CAFNEC has worked to protect the rich natural environment of Far North Queensland. CAFNEC works to protect the environment by enhancing the capacity of local groups and community members to act for conservation. The sustained efforts of CAFNEC volunteers over the years have been inspirational, and the few paid workers are vital to CAFNEC’s success.

Benefits of secure funding

The environment of Far North Queensland needs a strong voice, and the people of FNQ who know, love and live in the region are the best ones to be that voice. Protecting the world’s largest living structure (the Great Barrier Reef) and the oldest continuously surviving rainforests (the Wet Tropics) – as well as the other spectacular natural areas in the region – is a huge challenge and needs resources.

A bequest to Cairns and Far North Environment Centre will support CAFNEC’s long term objectives and make a lasting contribution to the protection of the Far North’s natural heritage.

A bequest can be large or small, any gift will make a difference.

How to make a bequest

To make a bequest you must make or supplement your Will, as it is necessary for Wills to comply with a number of legal requirements. Your Will is a very important legal document and Cairns and Far North Environment Centre advise that you consult a solicitor or the Office of the Public Trust. 

Appropriate wording of your Will is crucial. For your bequest to be valid the organisation’s full name, i.e. Cairns and Far North Environment Centre Incorporated, must be used. If necessary your solicitor or trustee company can contact us to discuss your wishes or request further information. 

A clause may be inserted in your Will using the following words:
“I GIVE (insert here the details of the bequest) free from all debts (secured and unsecured) payable in respect of my estate to the Cairns and Far North Environment Centre Incorporated  and I DECLARE that a receipt of the Secretary or Treasurer for the time being of the said Cairns and Far North Environment Centre  Incorporated  shall  be  a  full  and  sufficient  discharge of this bequest to my executor(s).”

Common types of bequest

Residual bequest

After providing for family and friends you can choose to leave what remains (residual) to Cairns and Far North Environment Centre. Regular review of your Will is recommended to account for changes in your estate or compensate for inflation.

Specific cash bequest

A specific cash amount is another form of bequest that allows you to nominate a certain quantity of money. Regular review of your Will should be made. 

Percentage bequest

You may decide to share your estate among a number of charities by allocating a percentage. In this case your Will does not need to be reviewed regularly. 

For more information

For further information about bequests or any other aspects of Cairns and Far North Environment’s work, please contact Marie Short, Office Manager for a confidential conversation: 

Tel: (07) 4032 1746
Email: admin@nullcafnec.org.au

Download brochure – Bequests & Gifts

Cairns and Far North Environment Centre Inc.
Cominos House
27-29 Greenslopes Street
North Cairns Queensland 4870

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Significant win in the ongoing campaign to protect Trinity Inlet and the Great barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

On Saturday 18th April 2015 the Queensland Government announced that it would not be funding the Cairns Dredging proposal.

CAFNEC has put in years of work informing politicians and the community that this project involved unacceptable environmental risk. We have welcomed the announcement by Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt that Government will not be supporting a dredging project which has been “..exposed as environmentally and economically unsustainable”.

CAFNEC summarised on the day by saying in the media “This project was never necessary, never environmentally responsible, and does not represent a good use of taxpayers money.”

CAFNEC Marine Response team members at the rally for the reef.

Thank you to all of our volunteers and supporters who made this win possible – your love for our FNQ environment makes good things happen. Without your support we would not have reached this significant milestone. Special thanks also to the amazing volunteer CAFNEC Marine Response Team and our volunteer Management Committee for the hours of work they put in to help make this win possible.

We need your help to bring further important wins home – please support us by becoming a CAFNEC EcoStar or making a donation. There is a long way to go to secure the health of our FNQ land and sea and with your help we are making great progress, thank you.

More detail and what now?

For the short term we are on track to avert the dredging of 4.4 million cubic metres of spoil and dumping it within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, or the sensitive East Trinity conservation reserve.

However, the announcement came along side the release of the long delayed Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the ‘Cairns Shipping Development project’.

CAFNEC photos helped convey the impacts of offshore dumping to the public. (c) CAFNEC / WWF

The EIS acknowledges that the Ports North preferred option of dumping dredge spoil at sea is not on the table due to the announced ban on new dredge spoil dumping in the Marne Park. The EIS concludes that The Ports North preferred onshore dumping option of East Trinity conservation reserve is “at this time, is not appropriate for dredge material placement”.

Public comment on the EIS is open until the 1st of June and we are calling on both state and federal Governments to rule out future revival of this ill-conceived plan by rejecting environmental approval.

Stay informed via this newsletter, our face book page and our website as in coming weeks CAFNEC will be:

• Providing the community with advice and information to help you to engage in the public consultation process.
• Organising events and activities to celebrate the milestone victory and move forward on environment protection. (Yes, that’s right, a party!)
• Providing thorough feedback on the EIS to the State and Federal Governments.
• Calling for the rejection of environmental approval for the dredging proposal.

Read the EIS at: http://www.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/assessments-and-approvals/projects-draft-environmental-impact-statement-documents.html

Best Wishes,

Josh Coates

CAFNEC Marine Programs Coordinator

The post Congratulations, the environment wins – Cairns dredging halted! appeared first on CAFNEC.

We are sending out a massive thanks to all the volunteers, management committee members and CAFNEC supporters who contributed to a successful election campaign period. We helped put the environment and especially the reef firmly back on the political agenda where it belongs. We achieved some important environment political promises from the Labor party, who look likely to form Government. We built new links in the community, reengaged with long term supporters and yes, even made new friends along the way.

You can recap on some of the activities and achievements that CAFNEC helped make happen on our 2015 election page: https://cafnec.org.au/2015/01/queensland-election-2015-far-north-queensland/
Want to familiarise yourself with why the environment was such an important election issue? Try this for a read – lots to do to reverse the environmental rollback!

Ahead: holding politicians to their promises, forging even more relationships with the FNQ community, pushing forward in new and innovative ways to advance environmental protection, bringing local environmental issues to the fore and building on our strengths to become an even stronger local peak environment group, and building and nurturing a broader community movement for living sensibly and sustainably with nature.

Particular thanks must go the CAFNEC Marine Response Team volunteers in Cairns and Port Douglas. The team led our community engagement and were fantastic from the banner and placard painting, to the huge letterboxing campaign, through the Rusty’s market information stalls to the Reef Hour event, despite the heat, despite the short time frame and inconvenient timing of the ‘snap’ election.

Well done all. I am proud to be associated with such a fine group of volunteers.

CAFNEC is feeling the love, if you are too please consider supporting us to do the crucial work that will be needed to get our environmental sustainability and protection back on track here in FNQ.

Like us on Facebook for all the latest news.

Please consider becoming an EcoStar and supporting the work we do for a better and more sustainable environment for all of us in Queensland and the Far North, and feel free to contact us if you have offers of help, feedback, or just to reconnect with your local environment group.

Best Wishes,
Josh Coates, Marine Programs Coordinator,
For the Environment and the CAFNEC team.

The post Election 2015 – open letter to all our supporters and volunteers appeared first on CAFNEC.

Let’s put a healthy Great Barrier Reef at the Top of our Wish List for 2015!!!

Dear CAFNEC Supporters,

Season’s Greetings and a sincere thank you for your support throughout the year! Your support allows us to continue to stand
up for the environment in all its uniqueness and what it offers to our and future generations.

There have been many challenges this year including mass dredging and dumping proposals that threaten the Great Barrier Reef and a push for large scale developments across Northern Australia that are both environmentally and economically unsound.

CAFNEC is making a positive difference through an aware and engaged community and keeping the pressure on decision makers, with regard to their environmental policies or lack thereof.  Submissions on unsound policies, community events and rallies and support to groups on urban and regional issues, are all part of the process.

In a snapshot of recent times we have:
• Given evidence to the Senate Inquiry on the Australian and Queensland government’s management of the Great Barrier Reef.
• Conducted a number of successful community events including a Community Forum on the Cairns Port Dredging proposal and a Reef Hour event, now also in Port Douglas. These demonstrate an aware, concerned and engaged regional community.
• Strongly advocated environmental conservation on the ‘Our Water Security’ group providing objectives and recommendations to Council, as they seek increased water for residential areas.

You can help CAFNEC protect the reef and other natural areas by joining EcoStar, our monthly giving program. Monthly giving is one of the best ways to help achieve success for environmental outcomes in the region. Your ongoing support enables us to plan ahead, making strategic decisions on future campaigns and projects.

Are you still looking for that perfect Christmas gift? Please consider making a donation on behalf of a friend, family member, co-worker or client as a Christmas gift. Once you have purchased your gift donation, we’ll provide you with a lovely certificate showcasing the donation amount and the name of the person it’s for. Just let us know their name.

Best wishes to you and your loved ones this holiday season and all year long.

Yours sincerely

Angelika Ziehrl
Director, Cairns and Far North Environment Centre

The post Christmas Wish List appeared first on CAFNEC.

June 17 – September 17, 2014

$10/Individual and $15/Family

Far North Queensland is currently facing many challenges that threaten our environment and therefore the health, happiness and well-being of all. Now more than ever, we need a strong community voice for the environment, for the people that care and all of us that depend on it. For a limited time only, we are holding a 1 year Membership Special of $10/Individual and $15/Family. With your membership support, we will continue to punch above our weight and champion our environment in these challenging times. To take advantage of this special, you can sign up by visiting our New Membership & Renewal page or Download our membership form here and send it back to us.

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