Cochrane, Affleck and Liddle amongst those who highlight high achievement
Cochrane’s managing director Peter Cochrane was the leading trucking name in in this year’s Australia Day honours list.
Cochrane gained his Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia for charity work, recognising his roles supporting Variety SA and sponsoring events last decade, such as the Outback Ball and the Great Australian Cattle Drive, along with his generosity to the Operation Flinders Foundation, a wilderness adventure program for young offenders.
In a list heavy with academic and public administration names, Transport and logistics-linked identities gained high standing with four making it to Officer (AO) in the general division.
In Western Australia, Dr Fred Affleck was given his for distinguished service to the transport and logistics industries through leadership roles, to policy development and planning and as a supporter of the performing arts.
A one-time commissioner at the National Transport Commission, Affleck has chaired Australian Freight Councils Network, the Freight and Logistics Council of WA, the Strategic Grain Network Committee and the Planning and Transport Research Centre, and been deputy chair at Fremantle Port Authority, 2011-2014
Gary Liddle, a VicRoads CEO for six years and a five-year chairman of Victorian Road Freight Advisory Council, gained his for service to public administration in the Victorian transport sector thourh leadership in policirection, infrastructure development, road safety and regulatory reform.
Along with a strong academic performance, Liddle also spent three years chairing the Association of Australa and New Zealand Road Transport and Traffic Authorities (AustRoads) and was co-chair of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator implementation board.
Australia Post MD and CEO Ahmed Fahour gained an AO for distinguished service to business, particularly in the area of postal communications, to the banking and investment sectors and as a supporter of improved multicultural relations.
Victoria International Container Terminal board member and financier Brian Watson gained his AO for service to business and finance through leadership roles in the investment and venture capital roles and for social welfare roles.
Also gaining an AM award was Barbara Yeoh, for service to public administration and business to community health and to transport organisations.
Yeoh, a former assistant director general for financial management at the Victorian transport ministry in the 1980s as chair of the Rail Freight Advisory Council (Vic) in 2001-2004 and a National Rail Corporation director from 1993-2002.
The South Australian Road Transport Association (SARTA) is warmly welcoming of Cochrane’s award. “SARTA congratulates long-term member Peter Cochrane on being awarded an OAM in the Australia Day Honours list. Peter is a significant and very well-known and respected operator within the industry,” SARTA president Sharon Middleton says.
The Western Australian Road Transport Association (WARTA) congratulates Affleck, who retired as chair of the Freight and Logistics Council of WA in June 2016, “ending a long and active career in leading the logistics competitiveness of Western Australia.
“Fortunately for our industry, Dr Affleck still continues to chair the Planning and Transport Research Centre (PATREC) which is a collaboration between three Western Australian public universities.
“His leadership in logistics competitiveness helped contribute to our states exporters’ global competitiveness as well our ensuring our state maintained an affordable cost of living regardless of location.
“He achieved this though a variety of roles over a long and distinguished active career in industry, government and academia.”