Senator Cormann praises HV industry at Executive Club launch

Finance Minister Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann MP praised the endeavour of the heavy vehicle industry as he shared the latest Australian economic growth news with guests at the launch of Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia’s (HVIA) new Executive Club.

Senator Cormann was on hand to meet with leaders of the industry gathered at the inaugural event hosted by KPMG at their Melbourne offices last week.

HVIA Chief Executive Todd Hacking says the Executive Club has filled a gap for the leaders of HVIA member organisations to share knowledge and discuss common issues with their peers across the heavy vehicle industry.

“We have been delighted with the response to the initiative,” he said. “Managers tend to be very proactive in ensuring their teams are engaging across their peer networks, but often don’t make time to do it themselves.

Senator Cormann revealed that the June National Accounts showed Australia’s economy grew 3.4 per cent over twelve months, which is the fastest rate of growth since the September quarter 2012, during the height of the mining investment boom.

He told HVIA’s guests that the Australian Government had delivered on its promises of jobs and growth and signs are strong for that to continue.

KPMG Partner Brendan Richards gave a fascinating talk about a convergence of factors likely to affect the future of freight transport and logistics looking out as far as 2050.

His forecast outlined the alignment of technologies ranging from road investment to blockchain, speculating on areas of industry that will face disruption soonest.

“This can be looked at as a problem or an opportunity,” he said.

The inaugural Chair of the HVIA Executive Club is Tony Clark, well known as Chief Executive of National Transport Insurance and along with Nathan Usher, President of HVIA, concurred on the success of the evening.

“Our industry is a relationship industry. A forum for executives to build networks and develop relationships with peers, as well as gaining access to decision makers like we have tonight, will be a major benefit for HVIA members,” Tony said.

Both were thrilled by the response from guests invited to sign up as inaugural members of the club, and equally with Rob Bazzani, KPMG Enterprise National Managing Partner, generously committing to hosting forthcoming events in Brisbane and Sydney.