Gold Coast Italo-Australian Club members allegedly silenced at fiery information night

A security guard denied entry to one former member, while others were allegedly told to “shut up” when they raised concerns.

DISGRUNTLED members of a Gold Coast Italian club say they will continue to push for answers into its financial dealings after they say an information night failed to address their concerns.

The night at the Clear Island Waters Gold Coast Italo-Australian Club was called by the board on Tuesday after some members voiced concerns about recent decisions.

A security guard was hired for the event and denied entry to one former member, while others were allegedly told to “shut up” during the proceedings.

President Robyn Wallace, who said about 40 members were present, claimed there was an overwhelming show of hands in support of her presidency.

GOLD COAST ITALO-AUSTRALIAN CLUB ROCKED BY DEEP DIVISIONS

The security guard outside of the Italo-Australian Club before the meeting.

Ms Wallace told the Bulletin: “The six board members who were present spent 90 minutes addressing all the issues that have been raised and pointed out the numerous fallacies that have been spread around about the club.”

Ms Wallace said some members did tell others to “shut up”.

“Members are rightfully upset that this club is having its reputation dragged through the mud by a few disgruntled people so we took precautions to protect members and to ensure the meeting remained peaceful,’’ she said, explaining the decision to have security.

A number of members who had previously called for an extraordinary general meeting claim they were not given the opportunity to speak or ask questions.

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Gold Coast Italo-Australian Club at Clear Island Waters. Picture: Jerad Williams

Member George Tessarolo, who was at the meeting, described the tiff at the divided club as a “terrible disgrace”.

“I did not feel we looked at the financials, we didn’t get an understanding of what is going in and what is going out, just net profit and loss,” he said.

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“Some of us feel like second-class members at the moment, we have volunteered our time to build this club up only to get to this point.

“I am an Italian and very proud to be one, so I am not pleased to see this in the paper but people have been forced to speak out in this way.”