Our Country, Our Community, Our Say.
A Joint Venture Governed by Members.
COGS of Australia Foundation is a member-operated joint venture. Members direct the joint venture through governance and hold one equal vote each. Members exercise day-to-day control over the joint venture's operations through the members own online secure governance system. The Trustee holds legal title to the assets and acts as directed by the members who the beneficiaries of the assets. First Nations involvement is built into the rules as a structural, not symbolic, process. Our Country and our communities come first.
The Foundation was founded on Wahlubal Country, in Drake Village, northern New South Wales.
The Foundation
The vision, the three values, how the joint venture works, Foundation Day, and the founding promise. This is what COGS of Australia Foundation is built for and how it is designed to deliver it.
Why This Exists
The minerals beneath Australian feet belong, by law, to the Crown. Not to the people who live above them. This chapter explains the Australian Dilemma, the legal background, and the fifty-year political history of failed attempts to redirect resource value toward the public.
The Structure
The governing principles, the legal instruments, the Trustee model, and the entrenched rules that cannot be changed by any resolution. This chapter explains exactly how the Foundation is built and why.
First Nations
COGS of Australia Foundation began on Wahlubal Country. First Nations custodianship is not consultation. It is governance. It is locked into the structure from the first day. The JLALC partnership, the First Nations Advisory Council, Free Prior and Informed Consent, and the Drake Address.
The Personal S-NFT (the individual membership unit that carries each member's vote and governance authority) contribution is permanently fixed at $4. It cannot be changed by any resolution. The Kids S-NFT is $1. First Nations LALCs on Country hold governance entitlements at zero cost.
Foundation Day was the Foundation's first public meeting held at the Lunatic Hotel in Drake Village. On Foundation Day, Santos (ASX: STO) and Origin Energy (ASX: ORG) were announced as Poor ESG Target candidates under clause 30.3 of the governing Declaration. Santos is an existing operational holding. First Nations Advisory Council review applies to any further acquisition of Santos. Acquisition of Origin Energy requires First Nations Advisory Council review before it proceeds.
Not less than 30% of annual Sub-Trust C (Community Projects Fund) distributions must go to First Nations programs. This is an entrenched minimum. It cannot be reduced by any resolution of any kind.
To change a founding principle of the Foundation, 75 per cent of members holding their personal membership unit must vote yes. No board decision, no Trustee action, no ordinary vote can change a founding principle. Only members can.