Octagon January, 2016

President’s Report
Firstly I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all
members a happy New Year. I hope that 2016 brings
you and your families much joy and happiness. For
those of us who are involved with the running of the
club we have had little respite over the Christmas
and New Year period, with membership renewals
due and the first of the Hillclimb and Race Meeting
entry forms to be sent to CAMS for the start of the
competition year.
I mentioned in my last report that I was hopeful of
acquiring some additional committee members to
lift our numbers and share the load somewhat. I’m
happy to report that I have been successful in this
area with Dean Tighe and Steve Price agreeing to
join the committee in December. Thanks to both
Dean and Steve for agreeing to come on board.
Once again the committee and others have been
working hard to provide what should be a great
year of activities for the club. There is well and truly
something for everyone. We have an extensive
social programme, with the major event being the
annual presentation of trophies. This year the event
is being held Boulevard Gardens in Indooroopilly
on Saturday the 6th of February and features long
time club member, driving instructor and the 1982
Qld Sports Car Champion John Fraser. John is an
outstanding speaker, I encourage you to attend as
I’m sure you will be well entertained and informed.
Soon after receiving this edition some of our
members will be beginning their long journey to this
year’s MG National meeting, which is being held in
Perth. This is the first time that the event has been
held in WA since 1995. Unfortunately with four
school age children and the tyranny of distance the
Mattea family will not be represented at this year’s
event. National Meetings are an event that I believe
demonstrates the best features of MG ownership.
It caters for all who have an interest in the marque,
from those who simply enjoy the social activities
associated with the event on to those who enjoy
displaying their car, through to those who enjoy
driving their car in a sporting fashion, a National
Meeting has it all. Good luck and safe travels to all of
those participating and make sure you don’t forget to
return with both the Wratten and Nuffield Trophies.
With a change of year we generally encounter a few
changes in those who offer their time and expertise
to organise and run events, even more so now with
the Chapters that operate throughout the state. We
have one Chapter Coordinator and one “Sub Branch”
coordinator who have recently stepped down from
their roles. I’d like to thank David Carter (Chapter
Coordinator - Wide Bay) and Allan Dansie (Wide
Bay “Sub Branch” Coordinator - Bundaberg) for their
contributions in the time they have filled these roles.
I’d also like to thank David Hall (Wide Bay) and Eric
Beckman (Bundaberg) for agreeing to take on the
responsibility of the above mentioned roles for 2016.
Towards the end of 2015 the club celebrated 60
years continuous affiliation with the Confederation
of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS). Recognition
of this achievement will take place at the CAMS
Evening of Champions event to be held on the 22nd
of January at The Pavilion Function & Conference
Centre which is located at Allan Border Field. You
might remember the venue as we have held a
number of our presentations evenings there in the
past. I’d encourage members to attend this event if
at all possible. There wouldn’t be many car clubs in
Australia who would have been involved with CAMS
continuously for such a long period, nor that could
lay claim to have provided so many and various
opportunities for members to enjoy their motorsport.
The club has produced many talented officials and
competitors alike as well as being the owners of the
only permanent CAMS licensed motorsport venue in
SEQ, thus we have many reasons to be proud of our
achievements over the past 60 years.
Congratulations to Max Johnson and his small group
of helpers in making All British Day such a great
success that the club has had the ability to donate
$5000 each to the RACQ CareFlight and QIMR
Berghofer Medical Research Institute charities. A
great deal of time and hard work goes into the
organisation of such an event so it’s really pleasing
for it to turn out to be such a financial success.
One thing that has been troubling me for some time
is the aging of the club membership and what we
can do to attract younger members. It’s now been
over 20 years since MG built its last sports car.
The club did see an increase in younger members
during the years that the MGF and MGTF were
produced. Since that stopped we have struggled
to attract younger ‘MG’ members. We still have a
number of new younger members who are attracted
to hillclimbing and motorsport in general coming
through but few, if any, have an interest in MG cars.
Let’s hope that MG can sort itself out in Australia
soon and that we can at least see a few new sedan
cars on the road. If anyone has any ideas about how
to attract and keep young members the committee
would be pleased to hear from you.
- Richard Mattea
The Octagon - November 2015 3