The limit on proxies has been around for a few years but it was recently extended to include powers of attorney.
Basically any owner can hold a maximum of 1 additional vote for every 20 units in the building. In your case, the chair is entitled to carry only six votes plus their own, making 7.
We had a case reported recently where a strata manager rounded up a bunch of ring-ins who had nothing to do with the scheme and came clutching 42 votes. Luckily the other owners had organised themselves and had one vote more.
If I were you, I might try to blindside this autocrat by quietly organising as many votes as you can without telling them what you are planning. Thenat the meeting have a lawyer or even the strata manager declare the excess proxies invalid under sections 25, 25A and 26 of Schedule 1, Part 4 of the Act. You could also ensure that all proxies were on valid proxy forms and that owners providing them were “financial”.
You can guarantee it will turn nasty so be prepared to tough it out and have your own candidates for the committee ready to take over.