The PIAA CEO Jason Allen has issued a strong defence of the Association’s actions in the wake of member angst, and the resignations of its president David Leach, Queensland Board member Susan Heaney, and himself.
Allen says that there is a high level of misunderstanding that he cannot fathom regarding the key issues of the three year strategic plan, the sale of the Auburn headquarters, the staff departures, and also the kerfuffle over the heritage items.
He says, “The narrative that is heading the agenda among some members that the details of the new three year strategic plan have not been given to members is simply incorrect. The plan – that was created following extensive surveys of members – was emailed in short form to all members in November. It was sent as a one page document with the key points, with a clear contact details for those members that wanted to access the full document to get in touch so they could receive the full document.
“Since then we have had feedback from members on the document, so clearly it has been received. I am not sure why some members say they have not received the three year plan or do not know what it is, I am at a loss to understand why members have not seen it when we sent it and gave the opportunity for follow-up feedback, which in some cases we have received.”
Addressing concerns about the sale of the headquarters building in Auburn, Allen says, “We have released a significant amount of equity through the sale, around $1m, which we need improve the infrastructure of the PIAA, for instance with a new CRM. We also have an issue with finance, as the uplift in members that we planned for at the start of last year did not occur. The audited results are not due out until the EGM in April, but it is safe to say there is some distress.
“In terms of the sale price we asked an independent valuer for a price, then four real estate agents, who all came in at or around the same price as the valuer. The agent we appointed actually achieved a premium of close to 20 per cent on the valuation, so we were thrilled with the price.
“I can also say that the PIAA is not renting the new office in Chatswood at anywhere near the $226,000 reported as the asking price, we are paying close to half that in the first year with nominal increases for the term of the rent.”
Staff departures have been at the forefront of members thoughts, with a high turnover since Allen came on board as CEO in June. He says, “The PIAA and the industry is going through a substantial period of change. Staff have moved on for various reasons. I had a number of staff come to me, (as they did to my predecessor) requesting redundancy packages, which wasn’t going to happen. We also had staff that were part time that needed to be full time. Some positions were subsumed within others. Restructuring meant that positions change. In fact a large number of head office staff have moved to Chatswood and are highly motivated.”
In regard to the public stoush with industry identity James Cryer over the PIAA’s heritage items Allen refutes almost all of what has been reported. He says, “We are not disputing the passion to ensure our history remains intact. However most of what has been claimed is simply not true. The PIAA was never going to throw out the heritage items, in fact we had a systematic process for documenting all items during the move. We had an ex-CEO, the EA who has been here for 30 years, and the inhouse lawyer with more than 10 years’ experience, all working together to identify, document, and store the items in question. James Cryer did request to loan several items, including the noticeboards, and he took a box of valuable items, which we requested he return. We did not issue any legal documents against him, but I did tell him that he needed to ask my permission before he came into the building. We could have gone down a legal route, but I preferred not to, so we issued a press release – due to the alarming number of insinuations – to clarify the situation.”
In regard to the now deferred threat by mainly Queensland members to call for a Special General Meeting “I welcome the decision of those members to postpone the SGM, in this situation we need cool heads to prevail. It also is not a good look for government, sponsors or print buyers if the industry is seen to be at war with itself. The communication lines are always open.”
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