Mardi Gras future

While candidates for the Mardi Gras board jockey for position on election tickets in the lead-up to next month’s annual general meeting, discussions continue about how the organisation can be pulled back from financial crisis.

Former association president Murray McLachlan will be bringing two resolutions to the 24 August meeting: one dealing with Sleaze Ball preparations and one concerning the Mardi Gras workshop.

McLachlan told Sydney Star Observer that the first resolution would seek to direct the board to revisit their projections for Sleaze Ball (scheduled for 5 October).

Clearly the move has been away from bigger parties, he said, suggesting that even the current board’s conservative ticket cap of 8,000 is too ambitious and that 6,000 is a more realistic goal.

McLachlan said his resolution would also direct the board to report back to the community about profits derived from Sleaze Ball -“ thus giving an indication about funds available for the Mardi Gras festival next year.

The Star understands that a number of other resolutions will be considered as part of the meeting, including one dealing with the renewal of association memberships via email. Other motions call for the board to publish decisions on the Mardi Gras website and hold more regular community consultation meetings.

The board elections to be held as part of the meeting may also be subject to some new rules. Mardi Gras has indicated that it will abide by corporations law rather than its own constitution in dealing with proxy votes as the relevant provisions of the constitution are out of date.

Currently, the Mardi Gras constitution allows for each member to hold only one proxy; under the new system, anybody (not necessarily members) could hold an unlimited number of proxy votes.

The new regulations may play a decisive role in the conduct of the upcoming Mardi Gras elections (one source suggested the regulations opened up the possibility of proxy wars), but tickets for the board have yet to be finalised.

Currently, only one group of people have declared their intention to stand in the elections: a small band led by current Mardi Gras board member Jacqui Jones. Members of Jones’s team have been in negotiations with a range of community figures (including former board member Ewan Samway) about the composition of their ticket.

Some sources suggested it was possible that only one consensus-based ticket would emerge for this year’s elections.