He was elected President unopposed, and I congratulate him and give him my full support in his upcoming role as I will still be sitting on the board as Metropolitan Vice President.

The four years I spent as President gave me great opportunities to meet a vast number of members, which I enjoyed immensely. During these years the Association has moved forward in leaps and bounds. We conducted trade shows, President’s Breakfasts and technical seminars in both metropolitan and regional areas of NSW.
We have more exposure into the industry through our area managers, training department, apprenticeships plus and MTA Vehicle inspections. The Association is doing so much for the motor industry - it was hard to imagine just how much until I was physically involved. In my time as President we took on the insurance giant IAG in defence of the smash repairers and won. We now have introduced into the smash repair industry real time real money; this means repairers get their true worth for repairs done for insurance companies.

Our CEO James McCall, has given this Association enormous exposure through TV interviews, on such programs as ‘Today Tonight’,’ Sunrise’,  ‘A Current Affair’ and the evening news discussing issues confronting our industry. MTA NSW was the major lobbyist in getting the federal government to guarantee loans to Motor Dealers for floor plan stock, when GE and GMAC pulled out of the country.

MTA NSW is instrumental in the development of a new modern award that will apply across the retail motor industry. We also led the way in establishing the MTAA Industrial Council to facilitate a coordinated ,national workplace relations approach. MTA NSW’s involvement in these activities will ensure that our members will continue to secure the best possible workplace relations outcomes that most effectively meet the operation requirements of your business.

MTA NSW employment relation services continue to be at the cutting edge of service delivery, with member access to the employment relations information system (ERIS). The new OH&S management system, leave calculators, & pro-forma  document are an example of this innovative web based online service.

During the latter part of my tenure, MTA NSW continued to improve its working relationship with WorkCover. This relationship should ensure a more proactive WorkCover designed to more effectively operate in cooperation with our members.
Also during my Presidency we oversaw the establishment of Apprenticeships Plus which now has over 400 apprentices under its stewardship and providing a very valuable service both to them and the workshops in which they are localed.
Also, during this period our Training Department expanded substantially and commenced training apprentices in the workshop as opposed to them attending TAFE.  That Department also expanded its programmes for Trainees and now has close to 600 apprentices and trainees in its training programmes.

During this period the Divisional Managers have increased our services to the trades and are now operating in a most effective and beneficial manner as are our District Managers and operations staff.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Board of Directors, CEO James McCall and all staff for their cooperation and support - but thanks most of all to those members who supported me during my tenure and I encourage you to keep supporting your Association.

Regards

Steve Borg
President