Jeweller - August Issue 2018

EDITORIAL
CHANCE FOR BREATH OF FRESH AIR IN 2019
The industry politics of the past few years
has certainly quietened down. In fact, there’s
far less controversy in general, particularly
surrounding the JAA; however, this doesn’t
mean dissatisfaction has subsided.
It’s been more than two years since the JAA
made the disastrous decision in April 2016 to
launch and manage its own jewellery trade
fair, ending its relationship with Expertise
Events and losing the financial support
that came with it. History shows that the
JAA’s decision split the industry – directors
resigned, members quit en masse and
Australia’s largest retail group Nationwide
Jewellers declined to renew its membership
after 25 years.
The fallout has been financially disastrous
with the JAA reporting a $131,829 loss to
members in its 2017 financial statements,
a result that pushed the association into
negative equity. Worse still, one can’t be
sure if this loss is even accurate; the financial
statements were riddled with errors,
which are now under investigation by the
compliance division of the Institute of
Public Accountants.
Not only were the original financial accounts
issued to members last October error-ridden,
they also showed that the JAA business
model during that year was unsustainable
given that its executive director was paid 52
cents in every membership dollar!
Around the same time, information emerged
that JAA president and board member
Selwyn Brandt had decided against his
company, Australian Jewellers Supplies (AJS),
participating at the new JAA fair. And this is
despite he being one of the instigators of
the decision to break away from Expertise
Events and start a rival show. Brandt’s own
business wasn’t going to exhibit at the very
fair he was promoting!
At the time, some JAA directors declared
that they were unaware of this, with one
director telling me that he/she would not
have supported the breakaway move if
they’d known that the president’s business
would not be supporting the new fair.
The JAA’s many missteps continued, and
so has the resulting fallout. Just recently,
I received a phone call from someone
who expressed utter dissatisfaction after
contacting the JAA head office. He said
when his phone call was finally returned
“they seemed to be disinterested in
anything I said.”
I still receive emails about JAA membership,
and the sad thing is that all carry the same
message: we would like to support an
industry association, but we also don’t want
our money going down the drain.
It is perhaps expressed best by the following
email, which has been slightly edited for
clarity and anonymity: “I would like to know
if you can offer a suggestion with regards to
renewal of JAA membership. We have been
“WE RARELY
MAKE USE
OF THE
ASSOCIATION,
HOWEVER WE
PREFER TO BE
A PART OF ONE
FOR DIFFERENT
REASONS.”
members for years because we like to belong
to the association or at least be a part of an
association for jewellers. I am happy to pay
membership fees as long as it’s not wasted
because of their problems. We rarely make
use of the association, however we prefer to
be a part of one for different reasons.”
Sadly, this sentiment is rampant across the
industry; while the noise may have stopped,
the dissatisfaction hasn’t.
Now that the 2018 financial year has ended,
it’s likely that the JAA will record another loss,
and as expected, if up to $60,000 is writtenoff
in bad debts, which perhaps should have
been accounted for last year.
With JAA membership at an all-time low,
I have previously called on Selwyn Brandt
to stand down from the JAA in a bid to
reconcile industry factions under a new
leadership. Instead, Brandt stood for reelection,
which is his right, and re-assumed
the presidency.
However, there’s a chance for a breath
of fresh air in 2019 given that the JAA
Constitution precludes Brandt standing
again. It states “a director shall not hold
office for more than six consecutive years”
and depending on the outcome of the
accounting investigation, it may well be
prudent for other directors to consider
their position too.
Coleby Nicholson
Managing Editor
August 2018 Jeweller 9