I’m a migrating whale right now, and so I have to respond briefly whilst I have internet access.
Whilst I’ve not come across this particular shenanigan before, I reiterate that a physical Meeting needs to take place, where Owners can either attend personally (as you and like-minded Owners should do) or have their proxies tabled by the Secretary on the Form prescribed in the Act, where the Owner granting their proxy is required to themselves write-in the name of the recipient.
One of your problems will be that proxies need to be given to the Secretary at or before the commencement of any General Meeting, so don’t hang onto them and present them to the Strata Manager on the day.
The salient points are that a Meeting cannot be “held by proxy” and further the pre-completed proxies are not in compliance with the spirit or the requirements of the Act.
So either attend the Meeting and, armed with your proxies and the personal attendance of like-minded Owners move that Motion to have the Meeting adjourned, and if all else fails seek those Sect 153 Orders; remember though that you’ll need to prove that the outcome/s of the Meeting would have been different had it been convened and held legally.
Back on the road now – maybe Jimmy et al can add something additional that will assist.