The original article in Polish - available here

1. Does „Millennium House” still belong to the Polish Community?

Unfortunately, not anymore. Our community achievement of two allotments worth approximately $3 million today, the building on the site and a community fund of approximately $70,000 have all been transferred to the Australian Multicultural Community Services Inc., AMCS. The formal change of title occurred on 2nd March, 2018.

2. Is the organisation which now owns the title a member of the Polish community?

No, it is not. For over 6 years, AMCS has been a multicultural organisation. It made a decision to become a multicultural organisation, serving the needs of ethnic communities in general, at the expense of its Polish roots. Nonetheless, there are still many Poles on the Committee, as well as employees and volunteers of Polish background.

The sad conclusion to these two questions, is that we, as Poles, have handed over the considerable sum of our achievements in Footscray into non-Polish hands. How did this happen? Much could be written about this, but for the purposes of this article, I am only able to present some basic facts and events.

From the beginning of its existence, the administration of the Polish House „Millennium” has been in the hands of the Polish Association of Kingsville, to which the women’s auxiliary was later added, thus making it the Polish Association of Kingsville and Ladies Auxiliary, Inc. – PAKLA). This Association applies the same principles as the Polish Houses in Rowville, Albion, Ardder and Geelong. A major change occurred in 2005. The existing Constitution was replaced with a revised one, in accordance with the unified statute proposed by Australian law („Model rules”).

Many points were dropped from the Constitution, including those, which protected the property and buildings from an easy takeover, which actually almost happened then. Since the Association still listed over 50 members, the proposal to merge PAKLA and AMCS was decidedly rejected. At the peak of its existence, many organisations used the Dom Millennium as their headquarters: Polish language Saturday schools, Polish scouts, Altar boys, Polish dance groups, Seniors’ Clubs, and others. To this day, only two organisations have remained at this address. The Polish Weekly, owned by the Kosciuszko Society Inc., and the Polish Museum and Archives in Australia. Both organisations undoubtedly have reasons to be concerned regarding their tenure at the above address.

The President od PAKLA was Mrs Alicja Michalska, who through many years of detrimental activities, as her committee and members would say, brought about the transfer of the property to AMCS. This led to the departure of many members who could not tolerate the damaging politics working against the best interests of PAKLA. Members’ protests achieved nothing. At the last annual meeting, Mrs Michalska, due to her poor health, hand over to Elizabeth Drozd, who, at the time was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AMCS, but also, in the previous year, was Vice-President of PAKLA. In previous years, Elzbieta Drozd was active in the Association, and was instrumental in gaining a valuable grant for the improvement of the road to the property.

It has to be said, that despite much criticism aimed at Mrs Michalska from its members, over the many years of her Presidency, Millennium House generated a small but steady profit, and was reasonably maintained and managed. This venue was never at the forefront of Polish cultural life, and thus fell into insignificance, to the extent that many people were not aware of its existence. Slowly, the dispirited members left, or died, new members were not recruited, senior members moved to other Polish venues, the House became empty. The necessity for change was obvious. Even more so, despite the conflict of interest, one cannot really be surprised at the election of such an experienced person, as Elzbieta Drozd, as the new President, although the idea and persistence of transferring the estate of the Polish House to AMCS, an organisation she is presiding, could raise questions. One of the milestones in the history of the Millennium House, is undoubtedly the last general meeting, 19th August, 2017, in which, not only was a new committee elected, but also a new proposal was put before the meeting to be voted on.

Despite only 10 members of the Association in attendance, the proposal was accepted (12 for – 6 present+ 6 proxies, with 4 against). Those against the proposal voiced their dissatisfaction with the weakness of the procedures and the obvious undue haste. It needs to be pointed out, that some of the people voting worked at AMCS so they had a direct and obvious interest in the proposed takeover. The Chair of the meeting, Mrs Monika Wiench, rejected any protests, including the protest by SPK Ko³o nr 3 , who had three votes at their disposal. The meeting was not held in a convivial atmosphere, and many questions and accusations remained unanswered.

The full proposal:
Members of the Polish Association in Kingsville with the Ladies Auxiliary are to decide whether to transfer the Polish House Millennium, the property at 296 – 298 Nicholson Street, Seddon, to The Australian Multicultural Services Inc., under the following conditions:
• The name of the building at 296 Nicholson street, cannot be changed
• The current tenants, i.e. the Kosciuszko Society, Inc. and the Polish Museum and Archives in Australia will remain
• PAKLA’s funds will be donated, as will Millennium’s, to AMCS.
• If, for any reason, AMCS will not be able to retain the property, it will do its utmost to transfer it to another community organisation with Polish interest.

The next few months were spent in negotiation with little results. This was not publicised in order not to aggravate or inflame the situation. Those members of PAKLA who were protesting, were well supported by the Polish community and organisations. There were many discussions, there were joint meetings, and an approach to VCAT with no result, despite compelling arguments. Much evidence is available, which allows one to form an opinion on the detail of planning involved in the take-over by AMCS. The scrupulous level and detail of planning is obvious. However, the evidence is not unequivocal in the eyes of Australian law.

Any further legal proceedings might involve huge sums of money. It might seem obvious to us Poles, but could ultimately involve massive losses. Members who protested against the takeover, are mostly elderly, some of them remember the property being built, with blood, sweat and tears. They also remember the hopes and dreams of those building it, and know well for whom it was built. It is hard to imagine that their intention and hopes would have been to see this property transferred to a multicultural society, especially as it was still a viable proposition, in a reasonable state of affairs, with potential for use over a number of years.

None of the Polish Community Organisations, nor the Umbrella organisation, the Polish Community Council of Victoria were alerted to any deficiencies regarding PAKLA, there was no mention of the poor state of the estate, no requirements to intervene, no requests were made to similar Polish organisations, asking for help. And, there are such organisations in Melbourne, e.g. Eastern District Polish Association and the Polish House, Syrena, in Rowville, who would definitely have helped in this case.

The only thing left to us, is to plead to the Organisation which is the owner of the transferred property, to reinstate its Polish status. And we will present this petition, signed by Polish organisations to Mrs Elzbieta Drozd, CEO of AMCS, and President of PAKLA. Let us only hope, that this plea will be met with understanding, and that a new mutually beneficial arrangement can be reached.

The original article in Polish - available here