About the BCSA
To find out about The Budgerigar Council of South Australia Inc (BCSA) we first need to step back to 1995. Back about then, the Budgerigar Society of South Australia (BSSA) hosted the state combined team for the National titles. At that time, the BSSA acted as the parent body on behalf of the State for all ANBC matters. The BSSA was in fact a founding member of the ANBC.
Inception of the BCSA
There was a meeting called in Tasmania on the 28th of May 1995, in line with the National titles being held at this time. The meeting highlighted a need for an independent governing body in South Australia for budgerigars. Roy Blair (ANBC President) and Bruce Bradford (ANBC Secretary) hosted the meeting. Both the BSSA, and other SA fanciers attended. Opinions were aired, and the BSSA agreed to the formation of an independent Council that became the BCSA.
To pave the way forward for this Council, the BSSA removed a clause in their Constitution. Previously, it had stated that they would “serve as the parent body in all matters pertaining to the budgerigar fancy in South Australia.”
As a result of the consensus to go ahead with an Independent Council, Mr. Nigel Tonkin became caretaker. Accordingly, the ANBC placed Nigel in a caretaker role until such a time as the Council was in operation. Nigel was to coordinate the process for the inception of the BCSA. Furthermore, he invited all South Australian Cage Bird / Budgerigar Clubs to attend a meeting, which he was to Chair. The purpose of this meeting was to give all 12 clubs the opportunity to provide input into the rules. In addition, the meeting would resolve the structure and constitution of the proposed Council.
First Meetings of the BCSA
Six weeks later, on July 8th 1995, the first meeting of the Council steering committee occurred with 11 of the 12 SA clubs represented. In attendance were two delegates from each club. On the day, 19 fanciers attended in total. The consensus vote saw Mr. Trevor Weckert elected as first President of the BCSA, and Mr. Nigel Tonkin as Secretary.
Subsequent meetings were conducted to create the Council’s Rules and Constitution. These meetings spanned July through September of 1995. The BSSA sent a formal letter to the ANBC on February 18th, 1996. This letter stated that official hand over of all matters relating to budgerigars in the state of South Australia had occurred.
On April 12th 1996, the President received a finalized copy of the BCSA’s Constitution. Therefore, officially forming The Budgerigar Council of South Australia. In November of that year, the BCSA changed its formal name from The Budgerigar Council of South Australia, to “The Budgerigar Council of South Australia Incorporated”. For more information about the BCSA, check out the Historical Record. The latest news on the BCSA is available via What’s On. For the BCSA Life Members, check out this link.
