Changing of the Guard

…and kia kaha to Australia

The end of 2019 and the start of 2020 have certainly been very volatile around the world in more ways than one.

Close to home, I hope that the effects of the bushfires in Australia have not been too devastating for you personally, although it would be hard to find anyone who hasn’t been impacted in some way. A good friend of mine living in Canberra told me that the air quality there was the worst in the world for several days. Both Australian National University and the University of Canberra closed earlier in January due to the poor air quality. The pictures and reports of devastation to peoples’ lives, the land, and to animals is heart breaking – it will take years if not decades for people to feel normal again, and maybe there will have to be a new ‘normal’ for us all to cope.

I hope that at least some of you were able to have a decent Christmas and New Year with family and friends. I think our motto for 2020 will need to be Kia Kaha! Kia Kaha is a Māori phrase that translates to ‘be strong’ or ‘stay strong’ and is meant to convey comfort or solace and also support for the future.

And with the start of the New Year, there are changes planned at the executive level for AAIR. Many of you will know that I have been in the role of Acting President since the 2018 AGM. I am now officially retired from Victoria University of Wellington, and therefore, it seemed appropriate for someone else who is still involved in the tertiary and higher education sectors to step into the acting role. After discussions with the executive committee at the annual forum in Hobart in November 2019, it was agreed the following changes would take place from 21 January 2020:

Acting President – Stuart Terry, Otago Polytechnic. Stuart has been Vice President since 2018, having been elected to that role at the 2018 AGM. Stuart has had longstanding involvement with AAIR.
Acting Vice President – Don Johnston, Southern Cross University. Don has been a member of the Executive Committee since 2006 and was Vice President from 2016–18.
Secretary – this role remains vacant. I would encourage people to consider serving in this role either in an acting capacity or by putting yourself forward for election at the 2020 annual forum in Sydney.