Auto industry bodies merge

One of the first tasks of the new Australian Automotive Industry Association will be to appoint a lobbying group to  head-to-head with Federal politicians on automotive issues.  The association's acting chief executive, James McCall, expects the new body to have plenty of clout as it represents 80 per cent of auto industry workers nationally.

McCall said the motor industry in Australia was an extremely significant business.  Not counting manufacturers it represents 100,000 businesses that employ about 300,000 people, he said.

McCall said the biggest issue facing the auto sector was training.  "We need training to keep pace with technological changes," he said.

"We believe the arrangements put in place by government so far are inadequate and do not recognise the views of the industry."  Apart from training McCall said the association needed to build up a good relationship between motor dealers and manufacturers.  "This relationship has been fractured over time and we need to repair that relationship," he said. 

The association has emerged out of disillusionment with the Motor Trades Association over costs, services and the powerful role of MTA chief executive, Michael Delaney.  "Over the last decade the MTA has taken a life of its own," McCall said.

"It has grown stale and does not effectively represent the motor trades in political forums."  The MTA in NSW and Queensland, along with the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce and Tasmania's TACC were behind the split.  McCall said he expects other MTA groups Western Australia, South Australia and the ACT and Northern Territory to follow.

The executive director of the VACC, David Purchase, said it was felt the MTAA business model, which had served its purpose in the past, was not appropriate for the future.

The organisation "had to evolve" in order to stay ahead, he said.  "Under the previous structure we were falling behind," he said.  Purchase said AAIA members would be well served by a comprehensive support network.  The new association will also gain considerable lobbying clout with governments.

The Motor Trades Association of Australia was set up in 1988.