The National Council meeting.

• Position: INSTITUTE NOTES

COVID-19 impacted on arrangements for the National Council and Annual Dinner on 25 August. The dinner was cancelled and the meeting went ahead as a Zoom event, though with a shortened agenda.

After some welcoming remarks, the president, Sir Anand Satyanand, presented his report. NZIIA Director Melanie Thornton then did the same, after which Treasurer Luke Qin presented the accounts. Neither the chairman of the Research Committee nor the managing editor of the New Zealand International Review spoke to their reports, which were, however, available in the printed papers.

Rouben Azizian (Palmerston North), Juliet McKee (Wairarapa), Karim Dickie (Wellington), Bill Unwin (Nelson) and Serena Kelly (Christchurch) provided brief reports on the activities of their respective branches.

It was agreed that all office-holders would carry over their appointments.

The meeting then addressed proposals for streamlining the NZIIA's management structure, most notably by the institution of a small board in place of the existing National Council/ Standing Committee structure. There was a substantial discussion of the future of the NZIR, which seemed to indicate general support for its continuance under existing arrangements, at least for the time being. The meeting agreed that new proposals should be drawn up in light of the points raised during the discussion for the further consideration of the National Council.

Another Zoom meeting was held on 13 October to settle the future structure of the NZIIA. A report on the outcome will be included in the next issue.

Caption: Sir Anand Satyanand

Caption: Juliet McKee

The full list of officers...