Page 8 - MTCV25

MICK TURNER I MASONIC CAREER AND ACHIEVEMENTS
CASE STUDY – LNI Hutt Road Project
This is a building project that dates back to around
2017, the laudable aim of which was to build a center for Freemasonry in Wellington. During my tenure as Dist GM it became clear to me that there was something wrong with the running of the project and I intervened. As a result of my intervention, it became clear that the project was compromised. This empowered the influential groups to drive a positive change. The subsequent findings from an independent report showed that the managing group up to that point had wasted $1.7m and were over committed by $920k without any funding to cover it.
I introduced a new Board aligned with the principles of Freemasonry resulting in a proper project plan. Without this initial identification and intervention, it is my belief that this project would have failed, resulting in a catastrophic loss to the Craft and the shareholders involved.
Due to conflicts of interest, all parties with knowledge of the project at senior level were excused and I became the de facto key sponsor, driver and advocate for the project within the organisation. I have updated the Board on several occasions outlining progress.
I held a Town Hall meeting in respect of buildings which resulted in me being able to secure $300k on the night which was needed to fund works to enable a keystone tenant to lease the ground floor area. I have been instrumental in ensuring that funding from a closing Lodge was made available to the project whilst at the same time keeping the members of that Lodge engaged with the organisation. I developed a plan to ensure that future funding was secured and that existing shareholders were protected. The project is now on a positive trajectory that is likely to see its completion later this year.
8