President Jonas Edner opened the meeting at 6.30 pm.
Welcome to our guest speaker, Geoffrey Thomas, and guest, Mike Gurry.
The meeting was opened with the singing of the national anthem.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
What was the name of the hurricane that sank the SS El Faro?
Answer: Hurricane Joaquin
Correctly answered by Kevin Jackson, with no help whatsoever from the question setter.
CLUB AND COMMITTEE REPORTS:
• Cans for Christmas – Anthony McGrath spoke of the big week ahead of us. Please distribute the bags and flyers to your allocated streets this Wednesday, 26 November, or Thursday, 27 November.Collection day is this Sunday, 30 November, and the items go to Nigel’s house, where the Foodbank bins have been delivered.
Business lunch – Many thanks to John Bolto, Russell Hawkins, John Hopkins and John MacKinnon for their hard work in organising an entertaining and highly successful business lunch last week. The guest speaker, Amanda Lacaze, was engaging and amusing in her talk on Lynas’ journey.
Treasurer Leon asked that all invoices and payments due be settled as soon as possible, please, so that the event proceeds can be calculated.
• Christmas dinner – The Christmas dinner will be held on Monday 8 December at the Weld Club. Please consider inviting the spouses of past members and any potential new members. The cost is $65 per head for a two course sit down dinner with pre-dinner drinks and wine throughout dinner. There has already been a strong response, thanks to the members who have booked already. Bookings close Wednesday 3 December. To book, click on the following link https://www.trybooking.com/DHKXQ
• Toy drive for Grandcarers – Please bring unwrapped gifts to the next meeting on Monday, 1 December, or buy directly at Toyworld Claremont. Gift cards for teenagers would be appreciated, too. Many thanks to those who have already donated.
BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES: The following birthdays were announced by Susan Watson:
Members’ Birthdays
Tom Langley 20 November 2025 82 years.
John MacKinnon 22 November 2025 84 years.
Neil Wilkie 22 November 2025 81 years.
Bruce Fiegert 26 November 2025 86 years.
Anniversaries
Ann and Igor Bray 27 November 2025 43 years .
Kent and Mary Warburton 27 November 2025 60 years.
Ken and Helen Ilett 27 November 2025 60 years.
John and Cherry Martin 29 November 2025 56 years.
ROTARY MOMENTS:
• Cambodia Family Support – Mike Gurry spoke of how, over the last year, he, along with Vin and Helen Keane, have been fundraising for Cambodia Family Support, because its major sponsor, an American company, withdrew its funding, which made up half of the funds needed. Mike was able to secure funding from a number of individuals as well as organisations such as the Charitable Trust. As a result 20,000 people have been helped this year, who would have otherwise lapsed into or stayed in poverty.
• John Fawcett Foundation – Richard Gorham gave a talk about his trip to East Java to see the work of the John Fawcett Foundation. He saw the remarkable work being done by the local ophthalmologists and how impactful the eye repair work is for the community, be it providing glasses, removing cataracts or making eyes for those who have lost theirs.
• The Post – Well done to Jason for another article published in The Post, a timely piece about the Cans for Christmas collection for this coming weekend.
SERGEANT JASON SESSION: The following members were fined by Sergeant Jason:
the wine table;
Hugh for not getting the rock star car park;
Russell for having the shiniest car in the car park;
President Jonas for travelling overseas, to Rottnest Island;
Jill and Susan for not getting any letters published.
GUEST SPEAKER: Geoffrey Thomas - introduced by Anthony McGrath,
Geoffrey is a much sought after aviation journalist. He has produced and presented aviation documentaries for Channel 7, contributed to investigative programmes such as Air Crash Investigation/Mayday, and is a regular expert on CNN, BBC, Sky News, Al Jazeera, and Channel News Asia.
Geoffrey spoke about the MH370 crash in 2014. An expert with whom he works, Richard Godfrey, has calculated where the plane will be located, at a depth of four thousand metres. Under his guidance, Ocean Infinity is conducting a new search for MH370 in the Indian Ocean under a "no find, no fee" agreement with the Malaysian government, for which it will be paid $70 million if the wreckage is found. The search, which began in February 2025, was temporarily suspended in April 2025 due to adverse weather conditions and is planned to resume in January 2026. The search area is approximately 15,000 square kilometres off the coast of Western Australia.
Geoffrey also spoke of the $5 billion upgrade to Perth Airport. A new runway will be built over the next 4 years. After that, two new large car parks, a hotel and new terminals will also be established. It should all be finalised by 2030/31. The traffic system around the airport will be much improved.
Many thanks to Geoffrey for his illuminating and amusing presentation.
REMINDER OF COMING EVENTS:
Monday 1 December 2025 – Laura Ellwood, foot health.
Monday 8 December 2025 – Christmas dinner at the Weld Club.
Monday 15 December 2025 – Last meeting of the year, Christmas message by Peter Smith.
ROSTER:
Monday 1 December 2025
Susie Rich Welcoming members and guests.
Richard Ranshaw Table duty.
Anthony McGrath Registrar 1.
David Miller Registrar 2.
John Murdoch Introduction of guest speaker.
Kent Warburton Pass the microphone.
.THANKS:
Thanks to the Staff of the Nedlands Golf Club, Joel and Anton, for their service tonight and Chef Alvin for dinner.
WE RECOGNISE OUR VERY GENEROUS SPONSORS:
Lizzi Bee - supplier of flowers.
Dry Kirkness Chartered Accountants (Butler Settineri) – Club Auditors.
Accura Accounting & Advisory Services for providing Xero Accounting software and Sharesight Portfolio reporting software to the Charitable Trust.
Dirk Vanderstruyf from Euroz Hartleys.
MEETING CLOSE:
President Jonas closed the meeting by recognising the Rotary International presidential theme for 2025-26, "Unite for Good"
