The Annual General Meeting.

• Date: 01 July 2023

The NZIIA held its Annual General Meeting at Victoria University of Wellington on 27 April.

A working lunch of Board members, branch delegates and NZIIA officers preceded the meeting. At this gathering branch representatives spoke about their branches. Regarding Hawke's Bay, Dr Richard Grant noted not only the older-age membership of the branch but also the adverse impact of Cyclone Gabrielle; although the 'human and financial scars' had been considerable, the branch was in 'reasonably good health' and a recent meeting had had a good turnout.

The Auckland branch's recent challenges were noted by co-chair Prof Rouben Azizian, but he pointed to signs of recovery. A very strong committee was in place, including a number of energetic young people, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Auckland office had been 'extremely supportive'. It had also been helpful having the NZIIA executive director based in Auckland.

Wellington branch chair Karim Dickie reported that 2022 had been challenging, not least because of the protest at Parliament early in the year. Nonetheless, with the branch managing to stage 20 meetings, it had been a 'pretty successful year'. He noted that attracting student members was still a work in progress, partly because many students were not yet coming back to the campus. Several successful 'hybrid events' had been staged.

Palmerston North's new chair, Ramola Duncan, noted that the branch had held two successful events in 2022, and was looking for new members. Wairarapa chair Richard Jackson reported a 'reasonably successful and busy year'. He noted the problem of hunting down speakers and that generational change was needed in the branch leadership. A fundraising effort connected with the Auckland film festival had been a valuable exercise.

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