Issue 12 • August-September 2013
INSIDE
The Newsletter of Downer Infrastructure
3 5 7 11
Downer Celebrates World Environment Day Raise Your Hand For Indigenous Kids Supervising Traffic Program Kicks Off Downer’s foray into West Africa
2 • Downer Link
A message from the CEO On 6 August, Downer Group reported its results for the 12 months to 30 June 2013. Downer Infrastructure’s contribution to this result was particularly pleasing given the competitive and challenging nature of our markets. Our revenue increased by 13.1 per cent to $5.24 billion and EBIT was up 33.2 per cent to $230.3 million. In both Australia and New Zealand, our performance improved in all key areas, including project execution, and we won a number of important new contracts across all sectors. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each of you for your contribution to this very good result.
Next year will be challenging for our business and our customers. We need to remain focused and continue to find innovative ways to give our customers more value for money, while at the same time being able to identify and respond to opportunities quickly. Our primary goal is to ensure that people don’t get injured, so please stay focused on safety, know the Cardinal Rules, watch out for hazards and take care of yourself and those around you.
Key Group Highlights: • Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate of 5.22, a 16% improvement • Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate of 0.64, a 32% improvement • Revenue increased by 7.1% to $9.1 billion • Net profit after tax (NPAT) increased by 10.3% to $215.4 million • Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) lifted 6.9% to $370.3 million • Strong operating cash flow of $452.4 million. Regards, David Cattell Chief Executive Officer Downer Infrastructure
Issue 12 • August-September 2013 • 3
zero harm
Downer celebrates World Environment Day June 5 marked World Environment Day and this year’s theme was Think. Eat. Save. Downer celebrated in style with a number of events to raise awareness of the environmental impact of food waste and loss across the food supply chain. By celebrating World Environment Day, we remind ourselves and others of the importance of caring for our environment. The following activities took place across Downer Infrastructure: • The Gladesville office presented Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth”, a documentary on climate change and an internal presentation. All employees were provided a selection of organic fruit to enjoy • In Christchurch, employees hosted a BBQ and planted fruit trees • Rail Infrastructure employees in Melbourne enjoyed an organic morning tea and a competition to guess the organic ingredients • Employees in Badgingarra Western Australia invited a guest from the Department of Environment and Conservation to present at a dedicated toolbox talk • The Road Science and Pacific division in New Zealand gave a fruit tree to each employee to offset carbon emissions. The fruit the trees produce will become a sustainable and shareable source of food for families and workmates • Locally grown, organic or fair trade produce was offered at a morning tea at the Auckland office
Port Melbourne’s Michelle Fox (left) and Donna Morgan package vegetarian sausage rolls for FareShare.
• At the St Kilda Road office in Melbourne, employees competed in an environmental quiz to test their knowledge of the environmental impacts affecting Downer, Australia and the world • Ian Clarke, Production & Technical Manager at Somerton asphalt facility, presented at the VicRoads Centenary Expo highlighting sustainable asphalt • At Rosehill in Sydney, employees also participated in an environmental quiz and planted a herb garden to encourage staff to take home fresh herbs and reduce plastic packaging from the supermarket • A number of employees from the Port Melbourne office in Melbourne volunteered at the charity FareShare which uses rescued, donated, or surplus food to prepare meals for people who would otherwise go hungry.
Rosehill Environment Day quiz winners ‘Captain Planet’ (from left) Erik Sodergren, Bill Twyman, Amanda Williams, Alana McRae and Mick Flynn.
Many good ideas were generated across Downer during World Environment Day including those that have the potential to improving our company’s environmental efficiencies. Thank you to everyone who participated and well done!
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NEWS Benefit offering (Australia only)
New Zealand’s work recognised at lngenium Awards
Downer lnfrastructure Corporate Family Program – supporting your family and work commitments
Downer Infrastructure’s team in New Zealand enjoyed success at the 2013 INGENIUM Excellence Awards.
Downer Infrastructure recognises the importance of families and that sometimes effectively balancing your career and family life can be a challenge. That is why we have partnered with SeventeenHundred to bring you the Corporate Family Program. The program is a support service designed to assist parents with children, those transitioning into retirement and those with ageing family members to help make meeting your family and work commitments a little easier. The services provided include: • Booking a carer online: babysitting, nannies and aged care workers • Access to senior living and parental tips, articles and news • Information on government benefits and entitlements. For further information on the features, services and how the program can assist you manage your work and family, please visit https://parental.seventeenhundred. com.au/Downer.
These awards recognise a wide range of infrastructure projects with entries accepted from any organisations in New Zealand that is involved in public infrastructure. Downer took out three of the five categories. • Stage 1 of the Caversham Highway Improvement Project. This was an internal joint venture project between the Major Projects and Transportation sectors. This project required the design and construction for the duplication of approximately 1.45 kilometres of State Highway. It was successfully completed four months ahead of schedule and on budget. • Fitzgerald Avenue Reconstruction in Christchurch. This project was a collaboration of teams working together on the SCIRT (Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuilt Team) project. It involved reconstructing one of Christchurch’s major arterials routes which had fissures up to 1.7 metres deep.
• The Bay Roads Performance Based Contract in the Western Bay of Plenty. This project is a collaborative contract for all maintenance, renewals and most construction on both Local Roads and State Highways. It has been a huge success through an innovative approach to collaborative procurement and a strong culture of ownership and continuous improvement. This has resulted in efficiency gains, improved service levels and significant improvement in the management of road assets. These awards are an excellent example of our values of collaboration, innovation, value for money and customer-focused delivery in practice.
For information and guidance about managing your ageing loved ones, or how to plan for a smooth transition into retirement visit https://seniorliving. seventeenhundred. com.au/Downer.
Above: At the Awards from left, Peter Mortimer (Downer), Simon Underwood (NZTA), Mark Woodward (Downer), Anthony van de Water (Downer), Duncan Kenderdine (Downer), Mike Flatters (MWH), Steve Rollason (Opus) and Chris Fox (Opus). Right: The Caversham Highway Improvement Project was delivered four months ahead of schedule.
Issue 12 • August-September 2013 • 5
NEWS
Downer has partnered with ALNF to help improve literacy and numeracy skills in remote Indigenous areas.
Downer supports the Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation Wall of Hands Appeal Downer is pleased to announce that it has partnered with the Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation (ALNF) to support the 2013 Wall of Hands Appeal. The Wall of Hands Indigenous Literacy Appeal supports ALNF’s mission to improve literacy levels in remote Indigenous communities and helps close the Indigenous literacy gap. The campaign raises awareness of the distressing fact that only one in five Indigenous children living in remote communities can read at a minimum standard (NAPLAN statistic). The ALNF has made it an objective to dramatically improve that figure. Developed in 2009, the Appeal was conceived to raise awareness of this statistic and has grown to become a national movement for change. Each year, the Appeal allows the ALNF to deliver its life-changing programs to remote Indigenous communities around Australia. Through the campaign, we ask Australians to
raise their hand to say they care and help close the literacy gap.
“lmagine not being able to drive a car because you can’t sit for the driver’s test, imagine your child is ill and you can’t read the dosage on a medicine bottle, and imagine not being able to use an ATM or fill out a form. These are just some of the day to day struggles suffered which can be eliminated through the delivery of the ALNF’s literacy programs,” said ALNF Co-Founder, Kim Kelly.
The funds that Downer has donated will assist in extending the ALNF literacy program to help children in Groote Eylandt, just east of Arnhem Land. That’s 463 kids that deserve the chance for a better future. This will join programs in Tennant Creek, Mungkarta, Elliott and Ali-Curung. Without doubt, closing the Indigenous literacy gap is a serious, long-term issue. ALNF wants Australians to know that they too can make a real difference to the lives of Indigenous children by participating in the Wall of Hands. Raise your hand and join Downer in supporting this very worthy cause! www.wallofhands.com.au
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NEWS
Connecting your lT environment Program Connect is untangling Downer’s complex IT environment.
Downer’s IT transformation, Program Connect, is untangling our complex IT environment to deliver a modern, secure and stable one.
What has been happening? Until now much of the work has focused on building the infrastructure to support the new environment including: • A state-of-the-art data centre at Eastern Creek (ECDC) which houses central servers, data storage, backup and internet • A centrally hosted core network • Relocating existing data centres into ECDC. You should also be aware of the completed migration of 12,000 mailboxes to our new email and calendar environment.
Activity is ramping up With the data centre services and core network available, you will see more activities across your division and at your site. So, what is currently underway?
Further data centre relocations There are more data centres to relocate, the largest one being the Downer Infrastructure (Newington) data centre. Lead-up activities have already kicked off, with the final move scheduled for the weekend of 21 and 22 September. The Downer Rail Granville data centre is also being relocated. This is being planned to coincide with the move of that office in late September.
Migrating applications to new hardware Even though the physical hardware from our old data centres has been moved to the new data centre building, applications and services have still been operating on the old hardware. We have been progressively migrating applications from the old legacy hardware to the new hardware. Each application being migrated will experience an outage and you will receive prior notification when these are scheduled.
lmproving the network performance To facilitate improved network reliability and availability, all Downer sites are being brought onto the new core network. This involves upgrading equipment, increasing link speeds and installing wireless access. We have 203 sites to transform and we have completed 120 sites as at the beginning of September Timings are agreed with sites to ensure minimal disruption, with the site networks scheduled for completion by December 2013.
Where can l get more information? For regular updates, please visit the Program Connect section on the IT@Downer intranet. Alternatively, you can email questions to the team at DownerIT.Transformation@ downergroup.com.
Issue 12 • August-September 2013 • 7
NEWS
Training program in focus
Downer lnfrastructure acquires water business
Somerton session of Supervising Traffic, Plant and People: What’s My Role?
Downer has recently acquired water business Scarriff to complement our service capability in the Victorian water sector.
15 participants achieve nationally recognised competencies in record time! On 11 and 12 July, 15 participants attended the Supervising Traffic, Plant and People: What’s My Role? program at the Somerton site, north of Melbourne. The two day training program improves the skills and knowledge required by supervisors to keep our people safe around the traffic interface with vehicles, plant and pedestrians. By attending the program and completing the required assessments, participants also obtain nationally recognised units of competency that meet the industry requirements to work in Work Zone Traffic Control – Implement Traffic Control Guidance Plan and a Spotters ticket. At the Somerton session, participants were positive about the program and all participants successfully completed the assessments in record time out.
Somerton participants provided the following feedback: • “[the] presenter was very professional in his delivery” • “…the program raised awareness – you don’t have to do anything unless you know it’s safe, not just because you were told to do it” • “Supervisors could easily translate the message back to the crews” • “The standardisation of spotters signalling – [a] great idea and very beneficial” • “For me the program highlighted the importance of the design and development of plans – we need a better standard in terms of designing and developing plans. This is currently outsourced and it we need them in-house so it is within our control. If anything, it makes us more aware of how important the planning phase is.” The Workforce Capability Team launched the new training program in May and Downer employees across Australia are now participating in the program. Contact your Learning & Development team or Manager to find out more.
Participants celebrate the completion of the Supervising Traffic, Plant and People: What’s My Role? program.
Established in 1961 by the Nugent Family, Scarriff has developed exceptional capability in the delivery of specialist water infrastructure projects to the Melbourne water authorities. With a workforce of 15, Scarriff operates predominantly in the metropolitan and CBD areas, often on complex water main networks in challenging ground conditions. The integration of Scarriff provides Downer with an enhanced product offering in larger diameter and steel pipelines, creating significant growth opportunities for Downer given the aging nature of the existing critical infrastructure across Victoria.
We welcome Scarriff employees to the Downer family!
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NEWS
The Newman Tigers, from left Eddie Broomhall, John Hutchison, Sean Normington, Wayne Smith, Denzel Ugle, Matt Marshall, Col Gray (Coach), John Davidson and Sam Attard. Not pictured are Mark Jeffer, Brent McCardle, Brent Morrow, Stuart Skene and Brighton Shea.
Jimblebar crew showcase their sporting prowess The Jimblebar electrical and instrumentation project commenced in August last year and is more than half completed. Staffing levels are at their peak with about 340 people working on the project. Earlier this year the usual sporting conversations were taking place around work and at camp with new acquaintances discussing their sporting prowess. It became clear that quite a few had played AFL football in their home towns across Australia. Enquiries were made and to our delight we found out that an AFL competition existed at Newman, a short drive from the camp. The competition consisted of four teams, who train on separate nights at the same ground and play at the same venue on Friday and Saturday nights. It started off with a few making their way into Newman on training nights, not really sure what to expect. The Newman Tigers was the chosen side and pre-season training was well underway. Interest was growing from within the Downer crew, with
more players keen to jump on board. Fortunately, with a football loving boss (John Jenkins), a bus was now required to travel to and from the mighty Tigers’ den.
Two Downer players are part of the reason a lot of the locals from the Newman community watch each game as these two Indigenous boys show their amazing skills.
There are 15 games during the season and finals that follow. The Downer crew make up about half of the team each week, including players out on R&R and a following of Downer supporters who attend each game. It has been a great choice as we remain undefeated!.
During the season a combined Newman side will travel to Port Hedland to play an exhibition match against the local competition. This is an annual event and some of the Downer representatives have been selected in the squad.
lt has bought a mix of players and workmates together with their stories of past performances and an opportunity to admire the current talents of the boys.
The Downer footballers are well respected within the club, by the local community and by their work mates.
Issue 12 • August-September 2013 • 9
NEWS Employee profile Becky Blackshaw What is your role? I am the Quality and Performance Manager for the National Service Management Centre.
Where did you come from? I grew up in San Francisco. I met and married a Kiwi and immigrated to New Zealand in 1985.
What are your qualifications? I hold a BSc from University of California at Berkeley and I am currently completing a Professional Doctorate.
Where is your work location? Kerrs Road, Auckland.
What is the best part about your job? I have a great team of people – I couldn’t ask for a better team.
What is the best part about working for Downer? When I started, I thought the best thing was a neat group of people, but I have come to really appreciate the legacy... the vision, values, safety of people, infrastructure, bridges, roads and tunnels, all these things make a profound impact on people’s lives – when I see a Downer van on the road on the way to work... I feel proud to work for Downer.
What is the worst part about working for Downer? The lack of Knowledge Management within the company frustrates me, we need to collaborate and communicate better – we are constantly re-inventing the wheel. The immaturity in our use of technology frustrates me…. we can do better.
What do you like to do in your spare time? Ride motorcycles, read books, watch movies, play board games, sew, hang out with my grandchild.
lntroducing Downer’s preferred print supplier McDonald Printing McDonald Printing Group offers print management services to Downer Infrastructure, Downer Rail, Downer Mining and Group-wide functions such as Zero Harm and Corporate Affairs. Some of the highlights of the print management arrangement include: • Capability of printing a large variety of printed collateral • Competitive pricing across the full range of regular and ad-hoc printed collateral • Wider geographical reach with locations in NSW, QLD, VIC and WA • Fully inclusive pricing – warehousing, stock management and freight across all products • Through the life of the contract McDonald Printing Group will locate and pass on to Downer the benefits through rationalisation and sourcing selected products through low-cost countries • Excellent Downer user satisfaction levels (validated through a survey in December 2012).
Products and services include: Offset Printing of the highest quality suitable for Downer business stationery, operational forms, books and pads, swing tags, publications, newsletters, catalogues, packaging, annual reports and direct marketing material. Digital Printing that is perfect for on-demand fast turnaround business stationery and sales brochures, training manuals through to envelopes, Christmas cards and corporate flyers. Signage for safety, building, reception ID, vertical plinth, wayfinding, carpark and destination. Light-boxes and illuminated products, banners and posters, fabrics, expo, trade show and modular systems, glass, film and interiors, walls and billboards,
display stands and roll ups. Visitor and Contractor Sign-In Systems for reception and site management of visitors and contractors. Downer Group generic sign-in books are available ex-warehouse. Site specific visitor sign-in systems for larger locations or specialised site rules. Full range of wallets, clips, lanyards and accessories. For a full list of services including records management products, label printing, branded merchandise, book binding, design and desk top publishing, environmental and thirdparty logistics solutions visit www.mcdonaldprinting.com/ downergroup.
Q. lf l have any questions, who should, l contact? Scott McDonald Downer Print Management Unit National Relationship Manager Ph: +61 2 8878 2788 E: scott.mcdonald@mcdpg.com.au
Q. How do l place an order? Visit: http://www.mcdonaldprinting. com/downergroup/ Helpdesk: +61 7 3013 6105
Q. How do l get a McDonald Connect login? For new user enquiries please contact the help desk +61 7 3013 6105 or email downergroup@mcdpg.com.au
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PROJECT UPDATE Employee profile Samantha (Sam) Burek What is your role?
An aerial view of the works being completed at the Powerlink Gladstone Power Station Substation.
Powerlink Gladstone Power Station Substation
Where did you come from?
In August 2012, Downer was awarded the Powerlink Gladstone Power Station Substation contract. The project is being executed by our Central Queensland business, based in Gladstone. Downer’s scope of work includes the decommissioning, demolition, removal from site and disposal of existing plant and equipment within the 275/132kV substation yard. Along with the subsequent construction, installation, factory and site acceptance testing of the replacement plant and equipment, the total project value is $13.7 million.
I am employed as a licensed electrical worker. I am involved in the electrical installation of the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre project.
lines, requiring our committed team to be intimately aware of the Zero Harm risks present. The safe completion of the project so far, is an example of Downer’s commitment to Zero Harm. A recent project review revealed that at the completion of separable portions 1 and 3, and over 32,000 man hours worked, Downer has had no lost-time or medical treatment incidents.
A number of elements add to the complexity of the project particularly the fact that Gladstone Power Station feeds an array of infrastructure across Queensland, placing a high importance on ensuring minimal disruption to the electricity supply. The Downer team has been successful in coordinating multiple activities on a very restricted work site.
Project at a glance
Not only does the physical size of the transformers add to the difficulty of the scope, but Downer’s highly qualified team also faced the challenge of handling cooling and insulating oils. In addition, all removal and replacement works are executed directly underneath, or in the vicinity of, 275/132kV power
Completion:
October 2014
Project Manager:
Mark Richardson
Safety Manager:
Jayd McKenzie
Project Supervisor:
Carey Seng
Project name: Gladstone Power Station Substation
When I left school I was heading in a totally different direction. I began at university where I studied for a Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences. Whilst I enjoyed the course material I was keen to get into the work force. This led me to explore the employment opportunities available to me. I tried many different avenues and was glad to find something that I found fulfilling.
What are your qualifications? I am an “A Class” licensed Electrical Mechanic (Electrician). I am also licensed to perform installation of telecommunications cabling and to operate elevated work platforms.
Where is your work location? Currently I am located on the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre construction site which is located in North Melbourne.
What is the best part about your job?
Client:
Powerlink Queensland
I never stop learning. My job keeps me thinking and this can be very rewarding.
Location:
Gladstone, Central Queensland
What is the best part about working for Downer?
Commenced: July 2012
The people are great; this makes for a great work environment.
What do you like to do in your spare time? Twice a week I participate in Mui Thai kick boxing lessons. I enjoy learning techniques which enhance my day to day coordination and fitness levels.
Issue 12 • August-September 2013 • 11
PROJECT UPDATE
Downer teams delivering iron ore feasibility study in Liberia In July, QCC was awarded the Feasibility Study for the Putu Range Iron Ore Project in Liberia, West Africa. The project/mining lease owner is Russian based Severstal Resources, a major resource and steelmaking company. The Feasibility Study includes mining, crushing, stockpiling and process plant infrastructure, as well as general mine infrastructure from in situ to train loadout. The majority of the customer integration will be in Dubai. Having previously completed work on a number of coal projects for Severstal Resources, QCC was awarded the project ahead of major international competitors. A key differentiator for QCC in winning the Feasibility Study was its ability to work directly with industry technology leaders from within Downer to deliver key components. The core requirements of the Feasibility Study include: • Project Management, Site Infrastructure and Civil Works, Tailing Dams, Bulk Earthworks, Site Run Off Reticulation, Water Supply, Materials Handling, Conveying, Storage, Reclaiming and TLO (delivered byQCC) • Mine Planning, Resource Estimation, Pit Layout and Mining Methodology (Snowden) • Mineral Processing for Iron Ore Extraction (delivered by Mineral Technologies) • Power Supply and Electrical Reticulation (delivered by Downer Infrastructure). QCC will compile the overall project methodology, costing and scheduling in conjunction with Severstal Resources. Work has already started and the Feasibility
Andrew Swanson, Alex Volberg, Ross Souter and Paul Allardice from QCC Resources discuss progress on the Putu Range Feasibility Project
Study is due for completion in March 2014.
“This project is an excellent example of Downer bringing together our industry leading expertise to deliver globally competitive solutions. Congratulations to the QCC team for developing a trusted and valued relationship with Severstal Resources, and to the broader team of QCC, Snowden, Mineral Technologies and Downer for your support in winning this project,” said Peter Reidy, Chief Operating Officer, Infrastructure Services.
Project at a glance Project name: Putu Range Iron Ore Project – Feasibility Study Client:
Severstal Resources
Location:
Liberia, West Africa
Commenced: August 2013 Completion:
March 2014
Project Manager:
Alex Volberg
12 • Downer Link
PEOPLE
Retirements Golden Grader Blade for Laurie Laurie Stanton was presented with the Golden Grader Blade (yes the Blade is gold) for his 10 years’ service and retirement from Downer’s road maintenance team in Loxton, South Australia. The team wanted to present Laurie with a more traditional retirement gift like a watch but they thought that was boring! The two guide posts represent what a post looks like prior to a grader going past and the other is what it looks like after? Laurie thought it was fantastic.
WA icons retire
The Biggest Morning Tea On Friday 21 June the Austins Ferry office came together to host The Biggest Morning Tea. Scrumptious treats baked by staff included cream horns, carrot cake and choc chip muffins (to name a few). The spread was full of yummy food…possibly not all healthy… but most certainly yummy!
On 11 July, the staff of Downer Infrastructure West gathered at Steve’s Bar and Restaurant to say goodbye to two of our long-serving leaders. Bob Hatherley, Executive General Manager Operations, and Greg Blampey, Executive General Manager – Mechanical & Electrical, retired recently after spending more than 45 years combined leading the Downer business in the West. Over 50 people attended the event to wish Bob and Greg good luck. Peter Onions, Chief Financial Officer, opened the night and thanked Bob and Greg for their commitment to the business. As a token of appreciation, both men received gifts that suited their new relaxed lifestyles. Greg received a large portable generator for his upcoming camper van trip to the North. Bob’s gift, a voucher for the Four Seasons Hotel, will certainly come in handy as he visits more than six countries in the next year including Thailand, Vietnam, USA and Canada.
Many thanks to Di Kasprzak, Reception/Admin Support for organising and making contact with the Cheesecake Shop and Bakers Delight who generously provided donations for the day.
All of us at Downer wish Bob and Greg all the best!
Farewell Noel The Hexham office recently farewelled Noel Baker who retired after 47 years of service. Noel, a boilermakers, most recently worked at Ravensworth North. Over the years, he has worked on key projects including Groote Eyland, Port Waratah NCIG and Mangoola. One hundred and twenty employees and ex-employees of Downer came together for an afternoon of lawn bowls to celebrate Noel’s 47 years’ service with Downer. Noel says he enjoyed his time with Downer especially all the places all over Australia he got to visit during his career. He is now looking forward to kicking back and relaxing. Congratulations Noel and thank you! We will miss you.
In recognising the Downer spirit that is fostered in this small office, everyone pitched in and raised over $200 to support this excellent cause. We would have included a photo of the delicacies on offer but they disappeared before we had time to say “cheese”.
Have you got a story idea? Know how we can make Downer Link better? Send your suggestions to: Sonja Stockton – Sonja.Stockton@downergroup.com
Maria Salcedo – Maria.Salcedo@downergroup.com
Sarah Llewellyn-Evans – Sarah.Llewellyn-Evans@downergroup.com
Julie Spinks – Julie.Spinks@mineraltechnologies.com
Justine Scott – justine.scott@downergroup.com
Marilee Tamasy – Marilee.Tamasy@downergroup.com
Tahlia Henwood – Tahlia.Henwood@downergroup.com
Gabby Aves – Gabby.Aves@downer.co.nz
60kg of carbon (CO 2) were neutralised using Campbell Design Group for this project. www.cdgroup.biz
Printed using vegetable based inks on recycled FSC paper.
