Minutes
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Minutes of the Tweed Regional Museum Advisory Committee Meeting held Wednesday 27 May 2020
Venue:
Virtual meeting Time:
3:30pm Present:
Gary Fidler (Community); Sandra Flannery (Community); Chris Core (Community);
Brian O’Keeffe (Tweed Heads Historical Society); Helena Duckworth (Uki & South Arm Historical Society); Marion Mewett (Community); Judy Kean (Museum Director); Kirsty Andrew (Collection and Program Support Officer).
Apologies:
Cr Warren Polglase (Tweed Shire Council); Max Boyd (Murwillumbah Historical Society); Christian Ellis (Community); Tracey Stinson (Director Sustainable Communities & Environment); Jim Sachs (Tweed Heads Historical Society);
Minutes of Previous Meeting:
Moved: Sandra Flannery Seconded: Marion Mewett
RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Tweed Regional Museum Advisory Committee meeting held Wednesday 26 February 2020 be accepted as a true and accurate record of the proceedings of that meeting.
Business Arising:
BA1. Meeting schedule for 2020
At its meeting of 26 February 2020, the Committee noted that the last meeting for this Committee would be the May meeting as Council would be moving into caretaker mode from 14 August due to the Council elections.
Gary Fidler noted that the Council elections have been postponed to 2021 due to the Covid- 19 pandemic and queried whether this meant that the Museum Advisory Committee would continue to meet as normal until caretaker mode begins for the next election.
Judy Kean advised that it was her understanding that the Committees are tied to the terms of Council, so she considered that the Committee would continue until a new Council is elected. Judy will confirm this and advise the Committee.
Agenda Items:
A1. Museum Director’s Report
Museum Director’s Report had been circulated prior to this meeting.
Judy Kean provided an update to the Committee on re-opening dates for the Museum branches: Murwillumbah will re-open on 30 June and Tweed Heads on 15 September.
Judy outlined the requirements for re-opening, including volunteer safety.
Gary Fidler and other Committee members congratulated the Museum on its digital presence and content during the lockdown.
Minutes
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No queries on the content of the Museum Director’s Report were received from members.
Moved: Brian O’Keeffe Seconded: Marion Mewett
RESOLVED that the Museum Director's Report be accepted by the Tweed Regional Museum Advisory Committee.
A2. Proposed Acquisitions
The Proposed Acquisitions list had been circulated prior to this meeting.
No queries on the content of the Proposed Acquisitions List were received from members.
Moved: Marion Mewett Seconded: Helena Duckworth
RESOLVED that the proposed acquisitions be accepted by the Tweed Regional Museum Advisory Committee.
A3. Proposed De-accessions
The Proposed De-accessions list had been circulated prior to this meeting.
Marion Mewett enquired whether books being de-accessioned would be offered to the Library service.
Judy Kean advised that the Collection Policy guides what can be done with de-accessions, and this states that items must be offered back to donors if that is known. She advised that the age, poor condition, and lack of local content may mean that the items are not relevant to the Library service.
Gary Fidler shared the preamble of the de-accessions list on his screen for the benefit of members on video links, and read it out for those linking in via audio only. Gary noted that the object on the last page, a naval hand grenade, was an interesting object, however he was not questioning it’s suitability for de-accession.
No further queries on the content of the Proposed De-accessions List were received from members.
Moved: Sandra Flannery Seconded: Brian O’Keeffe
RESOLVED that the proposed de-accessions be accepted by the Tweed Regional Museum Advisory Committee.
Moved: Marion Mewett Seconded: Gary Fidler
RESOLVED that the 90 day cooling off period be waived for those de-accessions that do not have identified donors.
General Business:
Chris Core joined the meeting at 4pm and apologised for getting the start time wrong.
Minutes
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Gary Fidler brought Chris up to speed on what had been covered so far.
The Museum’s digital content during lockdown was discussed again, and Chris advised that he had included links to the Museum content in all the Mt St Patrick’s history pages for online learning.
Judy Kean updated the members of the popularity of some of the Museum’s digital content.
GB1. Lisnagar
Sandra Flannery queried whether there was any news regarding Lisnagar.
Gary Fidler reiterated that Lisnagar was not the business of this Committee, and it was up to the Historical Societies to act on this issue.
Judy Kean advised Sandra to contact the Murwillumbah Historical Society directly to discuss this.
GB2. Protest exhibition
Gary Fidler mentioned that he had been contacted by the Museum regarding protests that he had previously taken part in.
Judy Kean advised members that this was for a forthcoming exhibition, Fight for the Right, that will cover the history of activism in the shire.
Next Meeting:
The next meeting of the Tweed Regional Museum Advisory Committee will be held on Wednesday 26 August 2020 at 4pm. Depending on social distancing restrictions, this meeting may be a combination of in-person and virtual attendance.
The meeting closed at 4:17pm.
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM’S COMMENTS:
Nil.
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM’S RECOMMENDATIONS:
Nil.
