56th Annual General Meeting of the Members of Hakoah Club Limited held on Thursday 27th November 2025 at 6.00pm

DIRECTOR CHANGES

In accordance with the Constitution, nominations were called for the position of Director by reason of vacancies in accordance with the Triennial Rule. As the number of nominations received for those positions did not exceed the number of vacancies on the Board of Directors, no ballot is required, and I declare the following members Directors of Hakoah Club:
Lance Rosenberg, Rebecca Finkelstein, Antony Ritch and myself.

I would like to congratulate Lance on being reelected and Rebecca and Antony on becoming new board members.

Rebecca is a partner at King & Wood Mallesons, with over 20 years’ experience as a lawyer specialising in the development, financing and operation of some of Australia’s biggest and most complex pieces of infrastructure. Rebecca has been a board observer for the past year.

Antony has been the CEO of TFE Hotels since 2019, an Australian based international hotel group. Prior to joining TFE Hotels, Antony spent over 20 years with Westfield Group in Australia, UK and US where Antony and I worked closely together.

Both Rebecca and Antony’s experience will bring enormous benefit to our board deliberations. On a personal note, both have very fond childhood memories from Hall St and I am excited they are both joining our board.

I would like to thank both Greg Einfeld and George Farkas for their long service to the club and the invaluable contribution they both have made. Both Greg and George retire tonight due to constitutional term limits.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

This past two years since Oct 7 has revealed the strength and resilience of our community. Despite the cease fire in Gaza, antisemitism at home remains a major concern. This has made our mission even clearer: to create a home where every member of Sydney’s Jewish community and others who share our values are safe, welcomed, and able to thrive together. The need for a secure, communal space has never felt more urgent, as this is the essence of the Hakoah brand – Life is Better Together.

Delivering this vision has certainly had its challenges.

At last year’s AGM, I was hopeful we were close to signing a new construction agreement with Richard Crookes. Unfortunately, market pricing at that time proved too high.

We decided instead to extend our Early Contractor Involvement with Crookes, harnessing their expertise to achieve substantial cost savings without compromising the project’s vision. In this regard, our executive team, architect Dennis Rabinowitz and Cottee Parker, and project managers have worked diligently alongside our board Development Committee toward this goal. Our team has been enhanced by the leadership of Allan Vidor and the Toga Group assisting with reimagining certain areas of the campus.

The pause in construction also provided an opportunity to revisit our design with an enhanced club lounge and restaurant / bar overlooking the grandstand and sports field, and a versatile, column-free event space. This space is now suitable for 500-person theatre style seating or 280-person wedding/bar or bat mitzvah with dance floor as well as flexible configuration for smaller gatherings. These enhancements will greatly improve both member experience and the Club’s financial outcome. Approvals for these changes were secured in April this year.

As stated earlier, I am pleased that we have now signed a Letter of Intent with Richard Crookes, and our expectation is to secure a fixed-price contract ahead of the Christmas break. Richard Crookes is a major builder with strong credentials well known to many members of our community and a builder of choice for other community organisations. This is a significant team achievement, and we now embark on a journey towards an opening of the Club expected around Pesach 2027.

My heartfelt thanks go to the entire project team for their extraordinary perseverance and dedication in reaching this important milestone.

Last year, I shared that project costs would escalate far beyond the $93 million figure mentioned in late 2023. After completing the value management exercise, redesign and tendering process, we expect to be able to execute a fixed price contract with Crookes. The cost of the project will now be in the order $150 million. This is clearly a substantial increase due to current market conditions and is, unfortunately a result of the necessary termination of the previous builder and the extremely difficult post Covid construction environment.
Funding this cost increase has necessitated a substantial increase in donations from existing major donors as well as the generosity of new major donors. Initially we raised $53 million plus $5 million in memberships for a total of $58 million from the community. I’m pleased to announce that major donors have recently pledged an additional $37 million thus far making total donations from major donors and memberships to a record $95 million. This is a huge source of confidence and recognition of the importance of this project to the community and we thank them for their extraordinary generosity.

In addition, NSW State and Federal governments have provided grant funding of $22.5 million. We will still have a shortfall in donations of circa $10 million which we are budgeting to raise with broader community fundraising and advance memberships in order to ensure that all the contemplated facilities can be available on opening of the Club and complete the funding journey together.

Additionally, we will also need to now source debt funding. As we expect a better financial outcome from operations due to the improved facilities, the club will be able to service the necessary interest payments. Our goal over time is of course to reduce debt to an absolute minimum.

Membership continues to grow organically. Over 3,200 people have joined the Club, a testament to the community’s belief and excitement for this project. Next year, we will launch an active campaign to welcome even more members as we work towards establishing one of Australia’s premier community clubs. Membership of the old club in Hall St Bondi reached over 12,000 and we are targeting numbers closer to this figure after opening.

Our community partners remain resolute and passionate. Maccabi NSW, which will soon call Hakoah its permanent home, recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, an extraordinary achievement.

Thanks to our other partners, from CSG to Shalom Collective, for their shared commitment to inspiring Jewish identity through wellbeing, sport, and culture. Our campus will support broad participation, including a café offering both Kosher and non-Kosher food, reflecting our inclusive spirit. We are excited to be working with Shuk to provide a real community food experience as well as Doltone House, in managing our club event spaces and food and beverage experience. They are both very professional operators.

As we look forward, our excitement is matched by our determination. United, we will realise our shared vision: a new hub for Sydney’s Jewish community, a place of safety, joy, and belonging, a true home away from home for all generations. Hakoah has always meant strength; let us carry that meaning forward, stronger and more united than ever.

Thank you to all for embracing this vision, for your trust, and for your partnership.
I want to express my deep appreciation to the Hakoah Board, the Development sub-committee and our executive team lead by Andy Hedges our CEO, and Rachele Roberts our General Manager, who work tirelessly to make this bold and transformative project the future hub of the Sydney Jewish community.

As we have done in years past, I close with prayers for peace, healing, and safety here and in Israel. May those still waiting for reunion with loved ones be with them soon and may our community flourish together.

This concludes with the business of the 56th Annual General Meeting.

I thank you for your attendance and now declare the meeting closed.