Court rules in Progressive Lodge’s favour again
Following on from our success in June with a summary judgment throwing out petty and vindictive litigation brought against us by the Grand Lodge of New Zealand and the RAOB Trust, the Progressive Lodge succeeded in our application for costs, which the court has awarded to us to the maximum extent the law will allow.
Even so, the court order for costs only covers about a fifth of the costs we have had to pay out due to the unnecessary and unbrotherly litigation we were forced to participate in. On the plus side though, the failure of GLNZ to make a case has resulted in PLNZ being given legitimacy in the eyes of the law, as the judge dismissed all the nonsense claims made by GLNZ about the ASCC being the sole arbiter about who is and who isn’t in the RAOB. The PLNZ is a legitimate part of the Buffs movement worldwide, and our members are proud to carry forward the values of Buffaloism - truth, justice and philanthropy.
It is our view that Grand Lodge should pay our full costs in reparation for their pointless litigation. The money we have spent on this litigation was mostly raised by lodges within the Progressive Lodge of New Zealand’s banner and was meant for our charitable work. Therefore we can commit (and it is on the public record with the Charities Registrar) that every dollar Grand Lodge pays us in reparations will go to donations with a charitable purpose. What better way to come back to the core values of what makes us Buffs than to allow the Buffs Charitable Trust to do what the RAOB Trust has failed to do for years, by being a fraternal organisation within our communities.
We’re aware there is some discussion amongst members of the Grand Lodge that the litigation was brought without the consent or knowledge of even the officers of the lodge. Whether this is true or not is not relevant. What is relevant is that GLNZ now has an opportunity to put right a wrong against fellow Buffs, and allow PLNZ to carry on our good work in the name of the RAOB. The ball is in their court.