Proxy forms hold key
Newcastle Herald
Thursday March 24, 2011
WHAT sits inside this cardboard box could determine the future of the Newcastle Knights.With just days before club members vote on Nathan Tinkler's privatisation bid, the Knights' office has been partly taken over by scrutineers opening the club's mail and screening faxes.PricewaterhouseCoopers have been hired by the Knights to oversee the entire voting process, and will be responsible for ensuring that proxies are correctly allocated at Monday night's meeting.A Knights spokeswoman said yesterday there were three ways proxy forms could be handed in.The first was by handing it in personally to the Knights administration office at Broadmeadow.An employee of PricewaterhouseCoopers has been stationed at the front desk to take possession of the forms.They're then placed in a cardboard box before being added to an official log.The second way was to fax it to the Knights office.Mail to the Knights office, the final way of entering a proxy, is being opened in the presence of a PricewaterhouseCoopers representative."No one within the [Knights] organisation handles any of the proxy forms," the spokeswoman said."It's an independent process."The caution being taken with the vote reflects the tense atmosphere at the club ahead of the members' vote.Last week Knights chairman Rob Tew gagged chief executive Steve Burraston from talking publicly about the proposal.For the privatisation process to be successful, 75 per cent of members must vote in favour.
© 2011 Newcastle Herald