because I voted (democratically) my dissenting vote will carry the costs claimed by the solicitor of the OC member
It sounds like you are saying that because costs were awarded against the owners corporation, and you obviously are a member of the OC, you are having to bear your share of the costs award.
If that’s the case, I assume this is a small strata scheme (which would have been handy to have had spelled out). Assuming all that is the case, this is not a penalty of costs against you personally, but against the OC (excluding the prevailing party) for which you have to pay your share.
This is a quirk of strata law which means that owners who fail to prevent Tribunal action, even for things with which they disagree, can end up paying for decisions with which they have no issue.
In this case, it sounds like your secretary is at fault but, as long as they were acting in good faith – i.e. they didn’t know this was going to happen – then there is no recourse that I can think of for recovering the payments.
However, it may be worth contacting Marrickville Legal Centre, which provides free legal advice for pensioners in need across NSW (not just Marrickville).