History The History of the West Australian Road Transport Industry

By Russell McKinnon

building is owned by the RTTC.”

Transport Forum’s website was inaugurated as www.transportforum.com, preferring the United States of America finish as opposed to the .au.

An Associate Member category was introduced at the December 7 Board of Management Meeting with a fee of $1000. Another new division was established during the year with the Training Division having its inaugural meeting on December 14 after the Annual General Meeting on October 11. Greg Vigus was elected Chairman.

The Board of Management, at its January 4 meeting, endorsed a recommendation to hire a training facilitator to assist the Training Manager.

The previous administration was described as being “in a shocking state” and the financials were unaudited.

Resolutions were passed that included changing the name to Transport Forum WA and that RTTC wind up and hand over surplus assets within 14 days; accept all paid members of RTTC as members of Transport Forum WA; accept the appointment of the Executive; and agree that the initial divisions of the Association would be training, school bus, freight and owner-driver.

The appointments for the Executive were Frank Marley as Chairman, Derek Nathan and Max O’Dea as Vice-Chairmen, Mark Popham as Treasurer and the three elected members as Ian Tarling, Glen Sterle and Len Della. Also the four divisional representatives would be part of the committee.

Howard Croxon was confirmed as the Acting CEO at the November 16 Transport Forum Board of Management Meeting — the first under that name — and one of his first tasks was to sort out an office at the Cohn Street premises.

WARTA and the Road Transport Training Council (RTTC) merged on December 1 to become Transport Forum WA. RTTC owned premises in Cohn Street, Carlisle and the property would be signed over to Transport Forum. RTTC could not sell the property before the merger. Derek Nathan stated at the Annual General Meeting of October 8 held at Cohn Street that the RTTC would wind up and give the assets and liabilities to the Association. The name on the title deeds would be Transport Forum WA. It was asked how the RTTC came to have the building and property. The reply was: “The Commonwealth Government gave RTTC a grant and if it had not survived it would have had to repay the money. It survived and that is why the

Contract trainer Phil Loffman was engaged as a full-time staff member, seen by the March 15 Board of Management Meeting as a cost-saving measure and beneficial in the long run.

Max O’Dea stated it would be his last year as Chairman (little did he know he would do a further two terms) and said: “He had learnt a lot about himself and human nature” while in the role. Minister for Transport Michelle Roberts addressed the meeting, stating that the ALP had been in opposition for many years and it was time “to deliver changes and differences that the public expected and that the Government now had an obligation to deliver”.

Under Howard Croxon’s expert leadership, the workings of the office were improved considerably in 2001. The same could be said of the work of Treasurer Mark Popham in returning the finances of the Forum to an even keel at a time when auditors’ fees topped out at four times the budgeted amount.

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