From HarryP
Great column in SMH – I have been reading it for years. Just an enquiry regarding the number of proxies one person can have at an annual general meeting. I remember reading about it in your column and I think it was 2013 – it was a percentage. We are in NSW and have someone on our EC who had garnered 10 proxies as well as his own vote out of a total of 41 attendees. Is this legal?
One of the many ways that the government has let us down with the delay in strata law changes is the issue of proxy votes. There is no limit on the number of proxies any one person can hold, provided they are on the correct form and the proxy holder and providers are entitled to vote at the meeting (ie, their levies are paid up to date and in the bank before the meeting starts).
Demand scrutiny of every proxy to make sure they are OK.
Meantime, collect as many other proxies -or get owners to attend your AGM – and ask this owner why they thought proxy harvesting on this scale was necessary. It’s immoral and it’s about to become illegal, just as soon as our MPs get their acts together.
One other thing, anyone who has given their proxy and now has second thoughts (because they didn’t realise they were giving one person too much power, for instance) just has to fill in another form and that supersedes and rescinds the previous proxy. They don’t have to cancel the proxy directly.
FYI: The proposed new laws will not be presented to Parliament until after the election in march next year and will not come into effect until 2016. Then owners will be limited to five proxy votes or five percent of votes in schemes smaller than 20 lots.