[Osia-members] OSIA belated November update

[Jack Burton]

Evening, all.

November was another busy month for OSIA, so please forgive me for
being a little late with this update.


** 2018 AGM, elections & retirements **

Thankyou to all those members who attended the 2018 AGM (held in Deakin
ACT on 30 Nov), whether in person or by proxy.

Draft minutes will be circulated in due course, after the 2019 board
have met to review & endorse them.

The 2018 AGM was uneventful, which was a welcome relief after last
year's.

At the board election item, both candidates were re-elected
unanimously. Given the large number of casual vacancies, the chairman
then called for further nominations from the floor, in response to
which Mike Hideo (Tiny Technologies, Qld) was elected, also
unanimously.

So your board members are now: Paul Moore, Mike Hideo & yours truly.
Board structure for 2019 will be agreed at the December board meeting
and announced in the next regular OSIA update post.

Please join me in welcoming Mike back to OSIA's board.

The board thanks Alexar Pendashteh & Josh Stewart (both of whom retired
at the 2018 AGM) for their service during the year and wishes them both
well in all their other endeavours.

See also the associated press release distributed earlier this evening.

After the AGM, those present adjourned to Manuka for an enjoyable
discussion of all things OSIA (and FOSS in general) over an informal
dinner & drinks.


** Membership renewals **

Membership renewal invoices for FY2018/19 were issued on 7 August.

A big thankyou to all those members who have paid their renewal
invoices since then.

For any of you who haven't yet paid, please do so as soon as possible.

This would also be an opportune time for any former members on the list
to become financial again, or non-members to join for the first time.
To do so, contact me off-list.

OSIA relies on your financial support to make possible all the things
we do for our industry, such as those described elsewhere in the update
and more, so please support the industry body that supports our
businesses.


** Call for volunteers: RCEP **

OSIA will be lodging a submission to DFAT on the "Regional and
Comprehensive Economic Partnership" (RCEP) early in the new year. This
is another TPP-like deal, which threatens our industry in many of the
same ways.

Josh Stewart had carriage of this matter during his term on the board
and although he has now retired as a director, he has generously agreed
to continue leading OSIA's efforts on RCEP in 2019.

If you have the capability & motivation to contribute to the analysis
and/or drafting of OSIA's submission to DFAT on RCEP, please contact
Josh Stewart <josh at noisymime.org> off-list.


** Call for volunteers: AU/EU FTA **

On 22 November, OSIA Chairman Paul Moore attended a joint EC/DFAT
briefing on the AU/EU FTA in Canberra. It didn't take him long at all
to take the floor and pose some suitable pointy questions to
Australia's negotiators. Sadly however, the responses were predictable.

OSIA will also be lodging a submission to DFAT on the AU/EU FTA. This
is yet another bogus FTA (i.e. one which has very little to do with
free trade), but unlike with TPP & RCEP, this one is being negotiated
(at least on the EU side) much more transparently -- which is one step
in the right direction.

One of the big concerns is that a fair amount of the draft text seems
to have been copied from TPP (although fortunately in some areas it is
not as extreme as TPP).

For those who want more detail, the EU's proposal for an IP Chapter is
available here:
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2018/july/tradoc_157190.pdf

If you have the capability & motivation to contribute to the analysis
and/or drafting of OSIA's submission to DFAT on the AU/EU FTA, please
contact either Paul or me off-list.


** Call for volunteers: AU/PA FTA **

In some ways the AU / Pacific Alliance FTA (with Chile, Colombia,
Mexico & Peru) is of even greater concern. However, the extreme secrecy
of its negotiations (more so even than TPP) makes it very difficult to
respond to.

Accordingly the board is keeping a watching brief on this treaty, but
has no plans to lodge any submissions at present.

However, if any of you feel that this should be a priority for OSIA
*and* you are willing & able to lead our efforts on it yourself, the
board would look favourably on volunteers to take on the task!

To volunteer for the task, contact me off-list.


** CPTPP ratified **

Tragically, as most of you no doubt know already, Australia ratified
CPTPP (aka TPP-11) on 31 October.

It strikes me as singularly apt that our government should choose to
ratify this zombie treaty on, of all days, Halloween!

Australia was the sixth country to ratify, which triggered the 60-day
commencement clause. Therefore, CPTPP will come into force on 30
December this year.

OSIA's TPP Committee will remain in place until the treaty comes into
effect, but note that the board is likely to disband the committee in
January (as there is nothing left for it to do).

Although on this occasion we failed to convince the Commonwealth to
heed our industry's concerns, we nevertheless fought a valiant fight.
Thankyou once more to all those who contributed to that effort.


** Board meetings **

The 2018 board met in Collingwood Vic. on 3 & 4 November, then again by
teleconference for the last time on 28 November.

The foreshadowed 2 Dec (Canberra) board meeting was cancelled as one
director was unable to attend in person and the 2019 board felt that it
was important for all directors to be present in person at the first
meeting of a new term.

So, the 2019 board will now meet for the first time in Brisbane on
Friday 21 December.

Any members who may want to meet informally with OSIA directors over
drinks and/or dinner in Brisbane (in or near the West End) on that
evening should contact me off-list in advance.

For those of you who won't be in Brisbane on 21 Dec, as always OSIA
members are encouraged to bring any pertinent matters (and indeed your
views on them) to the attention of the board, either on this list or by
contacting any of us directly. The OSIA email addresses of all board
members are available here: https://osia.com.au/about.html

A schedule of board meetings for the whole of 2019 will be agreed at
the Dec board meeting and will appear in the next regular OSIA update
post.