Queensland body sidesteps Commercial Vehicle Industry Association of Australia to tackle national issues
Only an annual general meeting vote stands between the Commercial Vehicle Industry Association of Queensland (CVIAQ) and its transformation into Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia (HVIA).
The state organisation’s morphing into a national body that has been approved unanimously by its board, is five years in the making and has interstate backing from the likes of DANA Australia, Eaton Industries and MaxiTrans Industries.
HVIA’s formation, bringing with such major manufacturers, weakens the position of the Commercial Vehicle Industry Association of Australia (CVIAA).
“Our industry has had a pressing need for more effective national representation ever since the 2012 intergovernmental agreement to adopt a Heavy Vehicle National Law and to create the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator,” CVIAQ president Bob Martin says.
“While we tried to reform the CVIAA over many years, we were ultimately left with little choice than to chart an independent course,” Martin adds, citing longstanding concerns with the governance, representativeness and resources of the CVIAA.
CVIAQ CEO Brett Wright says three CVIAQ proposals, in 2011, 2014 and 2015 for bolstering the CVIAA’s approach were knocked back, before work on researching and consulting with relevant national business leaders along with national government authorities including the NHVR and National Transport Commission began.
The supporting manufacturers have pressed the theme of the need confront national issues with vigour.
“With the advent of the Heavy Vehicle National Law and a wave of national policy reform affecting our sector of industry we, the manufacturers and suppliers to the industry, now require a truly national body to provide the leadership and influential voice to represent us,” DANA Australia managing director Peter Langworthy says.
He is joined by Eaton general manager Martin Toomey, who says industry bodies “play a vital role in designing the environment that we operate within, so it is refreshing to see some genuine leadership at a national level”, while MaxiTrans managing director Michael Brockhoff praised the CVIAQ for “diligently represented the Queensland heavy vehicle industry for many years” and we welcome its evolution into a national player.
While Brockhoff was pleased to throw his weight behind the initiative, Langworthy and Toomey were active in giving it impetus.
Now , the CVIAQ is inviting nominations to its board from national business leaders at its AGM and will hold board meetings across the country from early next year.
Wright says the plan is to have four new staff and two new offices in Melbourne and Perth to be operational by March.
The Melbourne office, which will look after the ‘southern region’ of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, will have two positions – a deputy CEO looking after the region along with being national policy and government relations manager, plus a membership and communications manager.
One person, the national manager for north-western region and for national vocational and career promotion programs, will go to the Perth office to service Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
The location of a fourth manager, looking after technical and regulatory advice, may be located in Sydney or Melbourne, and will be tasked with liaising with industry bodies including the Australian Trucking Association and the Truck Industry Council (TIC).
Wright insists the HVIA will be complementary to the TIC.
“The HVIA respects the TIC’s position out there; there’s no cross-over or overlap,” he says.
“For truck-manufacturer-only issues, we’ll be deferring to the TIC as the peak body.
“It has to be said that TIC doesn’t look after all things that affect truck manufacturers.
“There are many coal-face issues that they don’t get involved in.”
He uses as an example legislative issues such as a proposal to extend chain of responsibility to include parts suppliers, which the CVIAQ opposes.
Wright would not be drawn on what issues are highest on the HVIA agenda, saying they would be raised in due course.