Order of Australia list features female trucking stalwarts
Amongst the great and the good the Australian honours system saw fit to recognise, two trucking women stand out this year – Sharon Middleton and Nancy Jones.
The South Australian Road Transport Association (SARTA) president, 2014 Transport Hall of Fame inductee and Whiteline Transport director, Middleton becomes a member (AM) of the Order Of Australia for “significant service to road transport, particularly to the trucking industry”.
Long-term industry stalwart Jones, who celebrates her 50th year as co-owner of NJ and NP Jones, gains her medal (OAM) of the Order Of Australia for “service to the road transport industry”.
A Hall of Famer more than a decade before Middleton, Jones boasts past and present industry body membership with the likes of NatRoad, Livestock and Rural Carriers Association Victoria, Livestock and Bulk Carriers Association NSW and Australian Road Train Association. She was also Australian Trucking Industry Woman of the Year, Australian Trucking Association, 2001.
“Both Sharon and Phyllis are well-known within the trucking industry for their passion and dedication, each demonstrating a commitment to improving the industry and ensuring its professionalism,” ATA Chair Geoff Crouch says.
“The Australian trucking industry is home to many outstanding women, and it’s important they are recognised for their contribution.
“I commend Sharon and Phyllis on their achievements and congratulate them for receiving such a prestigious honour.”
Read about the industry achievers who were recognised this time last year, here
https://www.fullyloaded.com.au/industry-news/1801/broad-brush-for-transport-in-honours-list
SARTA director Steve Shearer reflects on her 17 years on the SARTA board and in her capacity as president, now in her eighth year.
“Understandably most operators have little idea of just how hard it is to secure significant improvements and change from government,” Shearer says.
“It’s not just a matter of asking and it usually has nothing to do with logic or what’s practical. It requires an entirely different and usually highly frustrating approach as you fight your way through the inertia of the bureaucracy and government to overcome years and decades of misunderstanding or welded-on overly conservative philosophy of key individuals.
That takes a certain type of doggedness and steeled determination to fight for what is right over a sustained period.
“Sharon has stayed the course, often for years, on many such battles for the industry, for drivers and operators of all sizes, from owner-operators to small to medium and even large fleets. Some of our battles with Government have taken us as long as 12 years to win important gains and Sharon has never once faltered.”
On the logistics side, but recognised for his service to tennis at Kooyong, is cold chain identity Peter Quinn.
A former Refrigerated Warehousing and Transport Association (RWTA) chairman for 2007-2011, Quinn was also a director of the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses, part of Global Cold Chain Alliance, for 2009-2012.
Gaining an officer (AO) in the general division is former Costa Logistics national logistics manager Simon Costa, for “distinguished service to the international community through the delivery of humanitarian food programs, and to business”.
Also with an AO is Philip Clark AM, for “distinguished service to education, to research and infrastructure investment, and to the not-for-profit sector”. In the firswt half of the decade, Clark chaired Tasmanian Freight Logistics Coordination Review and the Tasmanian Infrastructure Advisory Council.
Federal and state/territory politicians whose careers had a bearing on the industry are also beneficiaries.
A companion (AC) in the general division of the Order Of Australia goes to former federal transport minister Warren Truss, for “eminent service to federal Parliament, particularly in the areas of trade, transport, agriculture, and rural and regional development”.
An AO goes to former Northern Territory transport and infrastructure minister Barry Coulter, for “distinguished service to the government and the community of the Northern Territory, and to business”. Coulter was minister for the Railway/AustralAsia Railway, 1986-1999, responsible for the campaign to construct the Alice Springs to Darwin railway, completed in 2001, and Darwin Port Corporation chairman 1999-2006.