Avatar's Abode - Development

Development

Meher Baba gave Le Page a clear cut objective for Avatars Abode's development, saying 'Bill’s objective will be to make Avatar’s Abode universally known, for it is to become one of the great places of pilgrimage in the world'. Baba also informed Le Page, 'If ever you should need money, come to me and I will see to it.' As it turned out Le Page became a successful businessman in the 1970s and 1980s based on imported items from India, and was thus able to fund Avatars Abodes development during the 1970s and early to mid 1980's.

The development of Avatar's Abode into a place of world pilgrimage from a farm was never going to be easy. Perhaps anticipating later problems Meher Baba had said publicly, 'There should be no personalities in Baba’s work. Baba alone does his work. Now a new phase in the development of Avatar’s Abode begins, and it falls to Bill to direct it. And Baba wants certain ones to wholeheartedly cooperate with Bill and work under his direction in the development of the place. In so doing, they will be cooperating directly with Baba in his work in Australia.' Much community work was achieved over the following years, however differences of opinion with the chairman and his supporters and a local group from the Baba community, aligned with Brabrazon, arose in 1979 concerning the properties legal arrangements, despite them being approved by Baba.

Before the petition, concurrent with establishing a funding base for Avatars Abode Bill Le Page had sought legal advice over the years from 1967 to 1969 on the formation of a trust to protect the property. The legal advice at that time was a trust was not possible but the formation of a proprietary limited company was the best method. This was because Queenslands trust legislation was still formative at that time. Meher Baba was consulted, he approved the legal arrangements and chose the name Meher Holdings, he also approved the directors, Francis Brabazon and Bill Le Page,.

The petition in 1984 which was widely circulated and divided the Australian Meher Baba community. In 1984 the Avatar's Abode Trust deed was created as a compromise However the legal entity Meher Baba Foundation Australia, a private charitable Trust established by Bill Le Page, still functioned concurrently with the new trust arrangements. Le Page concentrated on continuing work with Meher Baba Foundation Australia after discussion with the mandali. In effect a schism developed. The timing was inauspicious for Avatars Abode as the worlds economy lurched toward the Early 1990s recession. In an effort to increase funding Avatars Abode Trust numbers increased over the years from the five Meher Baba suggested to a high of fifteen, currently there are ten.