Kosciusko Huts Association 2001 AGM Report

Thus year marks an important milestone for the Kosciusko Huts Association - it is thirty years since the inaugural meeting and the foundation of the Association. In recognition of this, the 30^th Annual General Meeting was held at the Kosciuszko National Park's Education Centre at Sawpit Creek where the inaugural meeting was held all those years before. While many of the original founders are no longer living there are however others who are alive and well who were at that first meeting and of course were all invited to attend this auspicious occasion.

The weather is always an important topic of conversation in the mountains and of course as everyone assembled at the picnic area adjacent to the Mountain Resort for an informal bring your own lunch the weather rated high as snow clouds gathered momentum over the main range. Over fifty people journeyed from Canberra, Sydney, Camden, Cooma, Wagga and Tumut. Harry Hill came too with his "pink ladies".

Outgoing President Pauline Downing

At 2.00 pm the formal proceedings for the weekend commenced with strict instructions from Ian McNeil that the meeting must conclude at 4.00 pm as the pre-dinner drinks and hot savouries were due to be served at 4.30 at the Bungarra Alpine Centre, the venue for dinner and overnight accommodation. It was back to the old school days with ladies to the right and men to the left as everyone dispersed to their allotted rooms to claim a bed and freshen up for the evenings proceedings. Shirley and Jim Hart displayed the huts photographic collection and a timeline from the early days to the present had been set up for all to view.

During dinner, Robin Miller, the first KHA President gave a most interesting rendition of the events leading up to, during and after the first meeting. His report follows:

'AS IT WAS IN THOSE EARLY DAYS'

Talk by Robin Miller, KHA President 1971-73

'First, I want to congratulate the KHA on turning thirty, and on becoming the respected and stylish organisation it now is. We owe a lot to those scores - hundreds? - of energetic and dedicated members of the KHA who've worked so long and so hard over the last thirty years to make the KHA the impressive organisation we're celebrating today.

Newly elected President Maurice Sexton, First KHA President Robin Miller

and foundation member

Pieter Arriens

I've been asked to talk about the KHA 'as it was in those early days. I was very flattered to receive this request, and am delighted to be here now as a result. Those among you who, like me, are struggling to grow old with grace, will know that any invitation - indeed, anything at all - which can be interpreted, however tenuously, as hinting of veneration, is grasped immediately. We geriatrics scramble over one another to have our reminiscences taped, we wait anxiously for big anniversaries like this one to arrive, and we queue to become subjects for school projects on ancestors. You'll discover during this commemorative weekend, if you haven't already done so, that once old people are wound up to reminisce they are often difficult to stop.

I understand that Reet Vallak and I are doing the olden days, and Dave Darlington is doing the present and future. Reet has allocated me the first year or so of the KHA and she is taking over from there. I'll be talking about the conception, pregnancy, birth and early post natal period of the KHA and Reet will be taking you up to the terrible twos.

The first question that could be asked is: why was the KHA formed?

A particular reason why it was formed in 1971 is that managers of the Kosciuszko National Park were by then starting to become uneasy about what was occurring with the huts. 

Neville Gare, then Superintendent of the KNP, had recently visited North America to learn how national parks were managed there, and he returned with a scary vision of future overcrowding in our parks.  He was informed that in the United States there had sometimes been violence as different groups battled for temporary possession of huts, and he was understandably anxious to avoid gunfights here. 

Against this background, it was easy for those so inclined to read omens of future problems into the situation in the KNP.  Eleven huts had already been adopted independently by caretaker groups during the previous decade or so. Who was to know what they might start getting up to? 

These groups included the innocently conceived but now ominously named 'Exclusive Squirrels Club' at Mawson Hut. While the Squirrels had not excluded anybody to my knowledge, it was well known that squirrels in general are unpredictable and can turn nasty.  There was no saying who might get bitten in the future at Mawson Hut. 

Manifestations of the nesting instinct were also observed in a few other huts. Some were regularly stocked with nuts in the summer, for consumption during winter; and some subtle, and not so subtle, improvements were being made to the comforts of a few huts - such as the construction of a sauna with a panoramic view at Grey Mare Hut. With Lake Albina Lodge still then operating, under the control of the Ski Tourers' Association, there was no limit to the standards of comfort to which decadent caretakers of other huts might aspire. 

There were also reports of trees being cut for firewood around some huts and of damage to vegetation by vehicles used for hut maintenance. 

All this was enough to seriously alarm some of those who were responsible for conserving the Park's natural values, and starting to develop stricter views on the meaning of 'wilderness'.

So in August 1970, Neville Gare wrote with great foresight to various clubs and individuals, asking for their views on future management of the huts; and he proposed a meeting at the headquarters of the KNP at Sawpit Creek in December that year, to discuss the issues.  For those of you who've been waiting with patient curiosity to hear the details of the KHA's conception, this December meeting was it.

Of course a general reason why the KHA was formed, and the reason also why it has been such an enduring organisation, is that the huts have a special place in our personal experiences of the Kosciusko National Park.  We treasure our experiences in the mountains there not only because of the Park's natural splendour but also because of the companionship usually associated with being there.  The huts are a focal point for companionship in the mountains, and thus enrich our total experience of the Park.  While no one would argue that the huts are essential for companionship, anyone who's stayed in them knows how they can add a special dimension to our experiences of the Park.  When you've browsed entries in the hut logbooks you understand why there is such a strong sense of community binding hut users and why an organisation like the KHA began and is still so vigorous.

So when Neville Gare wrote that letter about the future of the huts in August 1970, it connected immediately with a lot of passionate users of the back country of the KNP and stirred over seventy people into coming considerable distances to attend the public meeting in December that year.

The next question that could be asked is: how was the KHA formed?

Following the conception of the KHA at the December 1970 meeting, its pregnancy was managed, somewhat unconventionally for such matters, by a steering committee. 

To understand this you must appreciate that over half the people at that December meeting were from Canberra, that Canberra breeds the finest bureaucrats in the land, and that they got some of their own kind on the steering committee. A dedicated bureaucrat will die for the chance to create an organisation, and here was just such a chance - delivered, of course, by other bureaucrats. 

Thus in the blink of an eye the steering committee from the August meeting had produced an eight page constitution and set of by-laws, and was poised for more rule-making.

One issue that the steering committee had to resolve for the purpose of the constitution was a name for the organisation.  As I recall the discussion about this became impassioned and feverish.  Some said it should be called 'Friends of Kosciusko Huts' rather than Kosciusko Huts Association, because huts were inanimate and therefore could not form an association.  This was countered with the argument that if huts were inanimate they couldn't really have friends.  This baffling metaphysical issue was eventually resolved when it was realised that the acronym for Kosciusko Huts Association would come across better than the acronym for Friends of Kosciusko Huts.

My other main recollection of the KHA's pregnancy, and indeed of its birth and early post natal period, is that before decisions were made at our meetings lots of anecdotal evidence had to be produced, whether relevant or not.  This anecdotal evidence usually consisted of stories about trips to the mountains, involving great suffering and heroism.  Blizzards in the Kerries could completely lose the thread of discussion, and re-waxing in Ryrie's Parlour could bring discussion to a standstill.  I can recall learning how ingesting large amounts of honey could prevent hypothermia, during a discussion of hut fees.  I should add, for those disturbed by the ambiguity of that last sentence, that no one ever got hypothermia during any meeting that I chaired.  Viewed in retrospect, this social aspect of our meetings was probably almost as important as their decision-making function - and obviously is now part of my memories of 'the early days'.

The official birth of the KHA was at a meeting held at Sawpit Creek on 8 May 1971.  The purpose of the meeting was to approve the constitution enthusiastically crafted by the steering committee and to formally establish the Association. The meeting began at 10.00 am, with 51 midwives in attendance.  After we worked our way doggedly through 22 amendments to the constitution and by-laws, we agreed 'That this meeting form the Kosciusko Huts Association'.  The meeting elected Robin Miller as President, Reet Vallak as Secretary, John Pinkerton as Treasurer, Pieter Arriens as Huts Maintenance Officer, Max Bourke as Public Relations Officer and Tom Kneen and Phil Butt as Members. It decided to invite Paddy Pallin to be the first patron of the Association - which he subsequently became. 

After more than eight hours in labour, the 51 midwives were nearing exhaustion and the meeting ended at 6.15pm. 

The KHA began its first year with a burst of publicity, as its entrepreneurial Public Relations Officer blitzed the press, radio, TV and over 200 clubs, other groups and individuals with information about the KHA.  He also persuaded a friend to design the logo, which the KHA still uses. A policy for development and use of the huts was drafted together with some guidelines for their maintenance; and in April 1972 the first edition of the KHA Huts List was published.  It was based on information compiled by officers of the NPWS and was prepared by Reet Vallak. 

Harry Hill and Reet Vallak (2^nd KHA President)

Some statistics of hut usage were also laboriously compiled from hut logbooks and published in an early newsletter. These provided a first indication of the size of the community, which the KHA represented. They showed, for example, that during the three preceding years about 2,700 people had visited eleven of the more popular huts. I think it would be interesting and relevant to the purposes of the KHA to see what a survey of hut users today showed.

So there you have a glimpse of what the KHA did in 'those early days'. I leave you to judge what it all means for the KHA today and for the future. I think that what it means for the National Parks & Wildlife Service, however, is that if it ever wants people to march in defence of the wilderness in the Kosciuszko National Park, the first group it should call upon are members of the KHA.'