AVN australia - New blog post - Setting the Record Straight

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Setting the record

straight

The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) has held an authority to

fundraise (granted by the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) in

NSW) since 1996.

Complaints from members of the organisation Stop the AVN, a group

which has been trying for 3 years to force us to close our doors through

harassment, bullying and vexatious complaints to government departments,

the media and venues where we have hosted seminars, saw the Health Care

Complaints Commission (HCCC) pursue an ‘investigation’ of our activities

and subsequently, the issuance of a public warning against our

volunteer-run association.

As a result of this public warning – and ONLY as a result of this public

warning – the OLGR revoked our authority to fundraise.

In February of this year, the AVN won its case in the NSW Supreme Court

against the HCCC. The judgement said that both the investigation and the

public warning were Ultra vires – in other words, illegal and

outside of the HCCC’s jurisdiction.

Since the warning was no longer valid, the OLGR has seen fit to reinstate

our authority to fundraise

Stop the AVN and their minions have claimed that the revocation was due

to fraudulent activity by the AVN. This is not true and they have stated

many other things about our organisation as a whole and myself

personally, which are both untrue and defamatory.

OLGR FindingsIn a statement dated 18 April, 2012, the

OLGR said that, “The Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) has

received legal advice that the revocation of the Australian Vaccination

Network’s charitable fundraising authority can not be

sustained.”

During the OLGR’s audit process and in their report to the relevant

Minister prior to the revocation, the OLGR noted that several

administrative errors and breaches of the Act by the AVN had been

discovered. In this Report, these breaches, which they identified as

technical, were expressed to be of a minor nature, not uncommon in the

not-for-profit sector and not sufficient in and of themselves to warrant

cancellation of our fundraising authority.

In fact, it was hinted that, were the OLGR to rely upon these technical

breaches to take such an action, it is probable that this might be

interpreted as unfair since the OLGR admits in this same Report that many

other organisations continued to fundraise despite similar or identical

breaches.

Provided the AVN took steps to rectify these problems (which we

immediately did), the errors found by the OLGR were not of a nature to

require revocation of a fundraising authority.

In summary

When the OLGR took the step of revoking the AVN’s long-held authority

to fundraise, they did so solely as a result of the HCCC’s illegal

investigation and public warning. Once the NSW Supreme Court deemed that the HCCC had acted outside of

its jurisdiction, the OLGR no longer had grounds to persist in refusing

our organisation a valid authority to fundraise As a result, on April 17th, 2012, the AVN was again

awarded an authority to fundraise that will be valid for 2 years. Lastly, even whilst our fundraising authority was revoked, the OLGR

stated that it was clear that the AVN pursued a charitable purpose,

meaning that without a valid authority, we were not able to accept new

members nor could we receive donations from members of the public. Other

organisations such as Stop the AVN and their parent group, the Australian

Skeptics, do not pursue a charitable purpose and therefore, there are no

restrictions on their fundraising activities nor are they required to be

audited or to be accountable to anyone for the money they collect and how

it is used.

The AVN has always taken its responsibility to our members – whose

support has never wavered over this long and difficult period – very

seriously. We are grateful for their support – it is only because of our

membership that we have been able to pursue this issue in the courts and

to gain vindication from both the Supreme Court and the NSW Government in

this case.

Meryl Dorey,

Spokesperson

The Australian Vaccination Network, Inc.

Investigate before you vaccinate

Editor,

Living Wisdom Magazine

Family, Health, Environment

PO Box 177

BANGALOW NSW 2479

AUSTRALIA

http://www.avn.org.au

http://www.living-wisdom.com

Phone: 02 6687 1699

FAX 02 6687 2032

skype: ivmmag

Freedom is not merely the opportunity to do as one pleases; neither is it

merely the opportunity to choose between set alternatives. Freedom is,

first of all, the chance to formulate the available choices, to argue

over them -- and then, the opportunity to choose. - C.

Mills

The authority of any governing institution must stop at its citizen's

skin. - Gloria Steinem

We rely on the help and support of our members and subscribers to

continue offering our services freely and without prejudice.

Please consider helping us by joining the AVN as a member. Go to

http://www.avn.org.au to become a member or donate to support our

work.

We also sell books, videos and DVDs on vaccination and other health

issues. Go to

http://shop.avn.org.au/ for more details.

Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian

Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Washington State, USA

Vaccines -

http://vaccinationdangers.wordpress.com/ Homeopathy

http://homeopathycures.wordpress.com

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