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76 E L EC TR I C AL CONNEC T I ON

AU T UMN 20 1 7

A word from the CEO

Since my last message, the 2016 National

Excellence Awards Finals have taken place,

in Canberra this year, which concludes the

annual series. It was a great event attended

by almost 300 guests and as we were in the

Capital, we had the pleasure of hearing from

both a senator and a minister.

The Minister for Small Business, Michael

McCormack, joined us for a lunch with our

councillors and sponsors. He shared with

us some of his ideas and aspirations for

improving the lot of our smaller contractors –

and we look forward to seeing the changes

as they happen.

Senator Brigit McKenzie – from Victoria,

was our guest speaker at our awards

night, representing Assistant Minister

Karen Andrews. The ABCC, VET reform

and the Registered Organisations (RO)

Act were the key strands from Senator

McKenzie’s address. Again with lots of

change on the agenda.

The highlight of the evening was of course

seeing the calibre of our winning projects –

which are presented on the next page. Our

awards are always a very special occasion

as, apart from seeing the best projects of the

year acknowledged, we also announce our

three national apprentice winners and the

trade teacher award.

VET reform squarely on the menu

Reforms to the Vocational Education

and Training (VET) sector are also

progressing in a healthy direction. The

government’s announcement to strengthen

the performance of the sector and replace

the largely discredited FEE-HELP program

is encouraging. NECA praises Minister

Birmingham’s announcement, and has called

on the Senate to support these reforms –

given the reputational damage suffered by the

behaviour of some rogue operators, and the

poorly thought-through design of the loan fee

program of former years.

The Apprentice Pathways Project – now

commonly referred to as ‘APP’, which follows

on form the highly successful MAPS project,

is well underway. By the time you receive this

magazine we should be in the implementation

phase of the pilot. And this is when the real

work begins. So watch this space.

Tasmania scores a first for Australia!

Over the past 12 months or so, NECA

has been working with the Tasmanian

Department of Justice to support its launch

of Continuing Professional Development

(CPD) for the building and construction

industry – including licensed electricians.

This program was launched on 1 July this

year. It means that from here on Tasmanian-

licensed electricians will need to secure 12

points per annum to maintain their licence.

The program will run for two years before

becoming mandatory. But the government

hopes this program will be embraced by

the industry as a means of maintaining the

safety and general awareness needed for

our industry to grow and develop. NECA is

one of the major providers of the courses

and events that attract points, and we

wholeheartedly support this initiative.

Time to have your say

As you may recall, we completed our most

recent Market Monitor industry research

in 2015. So by the time you receive this

magazine the 2017 survey will be in full swing.

Once again all of the major wholesalers, and

the majority of the large manufacturers, are

working with us on the 2017 questionnaire.

This year we will be particularly interested

in developments in the online space, and

the relationship that exists in today’s market

between ‘price and quality’.

To make completing the questionnaire

even easier for you this time around, we

have split it into four sections. That way you

can give us your views in manageable 10

to 15-minute blasts. But don’t worry, the

system will come back to remind you to

keep going until you have completed your

feedback. The questionnaire will be up on

our websites – and those of the participating

wholesalers, from mid-December through

to mid-February 2017. The results will be

presented in April 2017.

Don’t miss the chance to have your say.

Infinity Cables

While I hate to end my message on a

negative note, the news regarding the Infinity

Cables is not good. We are now well into

the period where the cable may well start

to deteriorate if it is in any way exposed.

However, although the recall has gone well

in a number of states, the recall in NSW is

turning out to be painfully slow.

Unfortunately, NSW is also the state

where the largest proportion of the cable

was sold.

The Industry Reference Group we sit

on – chaired by the ACCC, is currently

reassessing the situation for NSW as we

believe the only way to get the cable in NSW

inspected, and replaced where needed,

is via a consumer campaign. We will keep

you updated. But for those of you in NSW,

please do keep your eyes open for this

cable and notify the owner immediately if

you come across it. The ACCC website will

help them then work out their options for any

necessary remediation.

Finally, as we all head back to work after our

various summer breaks, let’s all hope that

2017 is a great year!

Best regards,

Suresh Manickam