Australian Immigration Daily News

Yesterday, MIA members sent me a copy of the next email to come from the MIA.  I am not sure why this email was sent as it adds nothing to the situation other than adding more mystery to the sudden departure of Maurene Horder.  Was she sacked by the board?  Did she resign for medical reasons?  Has anyone been given a proper reason why she has suddenly gone a week before the Federal Elections?  As you can see, Maurene Horder attended the Labor party conference.  Is it that she was too entrenched with the ALP to be of any real help going forward with Liberal Ministers?  Ms Horder has gone so fast that the MIA have had to put on an Acting CEO, Kevin Lane.   Wow!

The email that went out to MIA members yesterday is as follows:

Message from the National President

Dear Members

Recently, Maurene Horder advised the Board of the MIA that she wished to resign her role as CEO of the MIA.  On 30 August 2013, the Board and Maurene agreed that she would take leave until 29 November 2013 following which an announcement will be made about the permanent filling of that role.  During this intervening period, Maurene will be available to assist the Board with succession and transitional arrangements.

The Board acknowledges and thanks Maurene for almost 5 years of dedicated service to the MIA.

At this stage, Kevin Lane has been appointed Acting CEO.

Best wishes

Angela Chan
NATIONAL PRESIDENT

A copy of this thread and the other thread will be sent to the MIA and hopefully they will be able to provide some feedback to their members about what happened to their CEO and why she has simply gone.  How can Maurene assist the Board with succession and transitional arrangements exactly is she is on leave?  Is it leave with pay or without pay? 

This is why I left the MIA.  The organisation felt too 'top-down' for me.  I used to be on the NSW Professional Practice Panel for the MIA.

I prefer a more transparent method of communication.  This all seems very beaurocratic in style... ho hum.   

I have nothing negative to say about Ms Horder and wish her the best in the future.

Now onto Kevin Lane:

I have reports from an ex-employee who used to work with Kevin Lane at the MIA that he used to call me 'that appalling Liana Allan' in the MIA office.  I can safely say I have never had a conversation with Kevin in my life and I find it hard to understand why he would have said such things about me.  I certainly hope he doesn't still think poorly of me.  I have sent Kevin Lane an email today to his personal email address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and to the generic This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. email address as follows:

Dear Kevin
I would like to think that there can be collaboration between Migration Alliance and the MIA in the future and for the future of the profession.  Could you please let me know if, as Acting CEO, you are open to working together in the best interests of the profession?
Could you please advise me how people should apply for the position of CEO?
Also, I have heard that you called me 'that appalling Liana Allan' during your time at the MIA from a previous colleague of yours who used to work at the MIA.  Having never had a conversation with you I find it hard to believe that you would say this about me.  Your comments on this would be most appreciated.
In the mean time, I wish you well in your role as Acting CEO.
Yours faithfully
Liana Allan

Now onto the future of the profession:

I would like to see the MIA and Migration Alliance work collaboratively into the future.  Perhaps Christopher Levingston might be a way to bridge the two organisations and create one peak professional association.  He might be one of a few who could make this happen.  Then again, who is voting?  Who decides?  The members?  The Board? 

My view is that the profession would be better off if the two organisations joined together.  Olive branch extended.  This blog post will be sent to Angela Chan and to all members of the MIA.  If anyone wants to contact me then I would be happy to hear from you.  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Left to right:  Kevin Lane, Angela Chan, Chris Bowen MP (Former ALP Immigration Minister), Maurene Horder