With the change of federal government, new Liberal and National party leaders and deputies, hopefully we can plan for the next three years without anything too onerous being placed on the transport and logistics industry.
At the change of a government, there is either a feeling of optimism or of doom and gloom, but after the past couple of years it is hard to feel either really. It is very difficult to feel too optimistic with Covid still around us and life still being disrupted by worker shortages caused by Covid itself, Covid-imposed isolation and workers’ reluctance to return to onsite work. However, if we sink any deeper into the doom and gloom we may sink completely.
Having strong leaders is imperative for good governance of a company, association or country and we must hope that Messrs Albanese, Littleproud and Dutton, in their teams, show themselves to be strong enough to face the challenges of the next three years; or if they prove not to be strong enough to face those challenges, that their deputies and teams provide the support or necessary changes.
I think that the trucking industry is strong by nature as we have been forged by adversity and will continue to be so. Those who can adapt and evolve will pave the way forward, unfortunately as we continue to lose our smaller family companies.
This seems to be the way of the industry and it will continue to have an impact on the medium and midsize companies, particularly in regional and rural Australia, as many of the big national and international companies don’t necessarily wish to serve these smaller communities.
These communities need to look to David Littleproud as the Nationals leader to make sure they are not disadvantaged either financially or by the lack of essential services.
Transport Women Australia Limited is in a strong position to continue to grow and offer services and initiatives to their members. Recently we had the opportunity to showcase these services and initiatives to members at our successful conference held in Melbourne on the first weekend of June. These many initiatives were highlighted with our collaboration partners over the two days of the conference and proved we have much to offer.
We are now planning all future events for 2022, along with the rollout of new initiatives and expansion of current initiatives.
The board is committed to continue the growth of the association, its membership and its services to the industry.
At the conference dinner, the association was able to recognise one of its longest serving members for her contribution to the association by making her a Life Member.
In the next few months, we will be nominating our members for the Women in Industry Awards and choosing this year’s recipient of the Trish Pickering Memorial Award. We will also be looking for other ways to recognise the women in our industry and highlight those role models for those who come after us.
If you want to learn anything about Transport Women Australia Limited, including membership, its various initiatives or its history, please contact chair@transportwomen.com.au or call 0417 422 319.
- Jacquelene Brotherton is Chair of Transport Women Australia Limited