MTA WA MOTOR JULY 2023

Are you getting the most out of your Membership?

GOOd byE and Thank yOU MaRk McGOwan

With MTA WA CEO Stephen Moir

On the May 29 this year, history was made in Western Australia. This was the day that the most popular politician in Western Australia’s, and arguably Australia’s, history, chose to resign.

Mark McGowan left office at a time when his popularity was still north of 70 percent, the State’s finances were amongst the strongest in the world and he was all but assured of electoral victory in 2025 and, probably, 2029. Using a sporting analogy, he was at the top of his game, so why leave?

The expectation, based on past experience, is that political leaders leave office when they are defeated at the polls or rolled by their party. Of our 31 Premiers, we have only seen six leave during their term in office. George Leake died in office in 1902 and four resigned as a result of ill health (Newton Moore, Phillip Collier, John Willcock and Geoff Gallop) which leaves Mark McGowan as the first and only

Premier in WA to leave office of his own free will and on his terms.

McGowan set a number of firsts during his time in office. His landslide election win in 2017 saw Labor win 41 of the 59 seats in the Legislative Assembly, a result that saw the largest majority government in Western Australian parliamentary history. Fast forward to 2021 and McGowan improved on his performance from 2017 winning an incredible 53 of the 59 seats in the Legislative Assembly, relegating the Liberal Party to an unbelievable two seats. His management of the state during the Covid Pandemic saw his approval rating break all records when it reached a high of 91 percent, a feat no other political leader in Australia’s history has come close to. Bob Hawke sits in second place with a 75 percent approval.

There has been some speculation, particularly on the east coast, about McGowan’s reasons for leaving and, as can be expected in these times, some

are not kind. We have high, and I would suggest somewhat unrealistic, expectations of our politicians but few, if they were fair, could be critical of McGowan’s commitment to the job and WA. McGowan managed WA during one of the most testing times in our history. Every day during the pandemic, a period which stretched over two and a half years, he fronted the media to provide updates to the community and explain the reasoning behind the decisions of his Government.

That is over 900 media conferences, an extraordinary effort by any measure. Add to this the fact that he then also had to contend with the day to day running of the State during a global health crisis and one can start to see the pressure cooker that was his life. He was also under continuous pressure from his state counterparts to break down the hard border as well as fighting for the maintenance of GST rights, which he won for the state in 2018, to ensure that WA would never receive less than 70 cents in the dollar. For a guy who doesn’t like confrontation, he certainly has had to contend with a lot.

So, I think we need to give him the credit he is due and accept that his reason for stepping down from office is exactly what he said it was – he was exhausted.

He wasn’t always this way. The early version of Mark McGowan was a somewhat brash, closed figure who many deemed arrogant. In his own words he was too ambitious too early on. But like a fine wine he matured, watched and learnt. Fast forward to 2017 and we have a politician who was committed to being seen as a centralist, and one who wanted to represent all West Australians.

To do that he applied a strict consultative approach to himself, and importantly to his cabinet. The result of this approach was a government that was open and available, would listen, and, most importantly for an organisation like the MTA WA, provide the reasoning behind decisions that would not always go our way.

I always remember during the fight to protect the limousine sector against the impact of Uber in 2018, I had written to the Premier requesting his assistance on an issue. He not only replied in writing, but he insisted that

we meet so that he could explain his reasoning. We chatted for an hour over coffee and whilst I didn’t get the result I wanted, I was given a good hearing and we formed what I believe was a very good working relationship.

Mark McGowan was consistent in his support for the MTA WA, starting with making his first policy announcement as Premier at the MTA WA’s offices in Balcatta through to opening our Automotive Innovation Training Centre. He implemented the Parliamentary review into the crash repair industry which resulted in improved powers for the Small Business Commissioner to better protect operators against harsh and oppressive behaviour from insurance providers and he attended numerous MTA WA Award events during his tenure. Like him, his staff were always available to take calls or respond to emails – a fact that I greatly appreciated.

There are two outstanding examples of his commitment to this industry that I feel should be mentioned.

When the Premier attended the MTA WA’s Awards event in 2021 to say that he was welcomed like a rockstar would be an understatement.

Members were lining up for a selfie with the man. Not once over the course of the evening did he show any annoyance or frustration with the continual demand on his time

and, in fact, responded with warmth and enthusiasm to make sure those who wanted to meet him could.

The second example was during his final weeks in the job. MTA WA members were quick to respond when asked to assist a business in Fitzroy Crossing that had been wiped out as a result of the floods during January. On hearing of this generous support, the Premier personally wrote to each member who donated equipment to thank them. In all my time working with politicians I have never seen this response and I know that the members who received these letters greatly appreciated the gesture.

I personally will miss working with Mark McGowan and on behalf of the MTA WA I want to thank him for his support and wish him and his family the very best for their future.

That said, new Premier Cook is a very engaging individual who is committed to working closely with the business community to ensure the best outcomes for the State. I have already had a brief discussion with him and I am confident that he will continue the State Government’s past practice of consultation and regular engagement with the business community. I wish the Premier the very best in this role and I look forward to working with him into the future.

Over my career I have worked with or under eight Premiers and, despite the two of us coming from different political backgrounds, I can say that Mark McGowan is the most effective and consultative Premier I have dealt with.

Legislation changes need reconsidering

Australia benefitted, perhaps more than any other country in the world, from strong, decisive government at both the State and Federal level during the Covid Pandemic. Our economic performance is a clear demonstration of this fact. The underpinning feature of this success was the performance of the resources sector that continued unabated during this period. WA’s six budget surpluses and the Albanese Government’s 2023 surplus are predominantly due to the royalties paid to them by our resource sector.

It seems incongruous that at both a State and Federal level, legislation is about to be introduced that will seriously impact on the efficiency and competitiveness of this and other vital sectors and, in doing so, will lessen our competitiveness internationally.

The State Government’s introduction of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act in July this year will increase the level of regulatory compliance for land holders in Western Australia, and in particular resource companies and the agricultural sector. Both the agricultural and resource sector

have voiced their concerns over the additional costs and approval delays associated with the legislation.

Calls to delay the implementation of the legislation would appear to make sense and would allow for the provision of greater clarity over the impact of the laws. Both the resource and agricultural sectors argue that the additional compliance costs associated with the laws will have a significant impact on production costs which, ultimately, will have to be passed onto the customer. It remains to be seen what the true impact will be but any legislation that will impact on our productivity and competitiveness must be reconsidered to ensure continued economic prosperity.

At a Federal level, the planned same job, same pay reforms will impact the labour hire sector, heavily relied upon by the resources, agriculture, and hospitality industries. These industries constantly see their workloads contracting and expanding, meaning they need to be able to scale up or down their staffing dependant upon demand. The labour hire sector importantly provides a ready-made

workforce that businesses can utlilise when needed.

It’s a far easier and more flexible option than going through the process of putting on additional staff and then making those workers redundant when the work is no longer there.

Unions are arguing that some businesses deliberately use labour hire to reduce their costs, but the Australian Chamber of Commerce Industry (ACCI) dispute that, arguing there is little evidence to support this assertion.

Australia has been the beneficiary of a relatively stable industrial relations environment for the last 15 years. This new turf war has the potential to see us return to the industrial arena that existed in the 80’s and that does not bode well for the economy. Both these examples illustrate the importance of engaging in genuine consultation and finding a balance between the needs of interest groups and those of the economy. Time will tell how these two pieces of legislation play out but let’s hope that common sense prevails.

And now for something completely different

ChEvOLET C8 CORvETTE 2LT WORDS AND p ICTURES : STEPHEN MOIR

Over the past two years I have had the privilege to drive and review a range of low and zero emission vehicles, from Porsche’s amazing Taycan and Hyundai’s Ionic 5 through to BYD’s value-packed Atto and the impressive plug-in hybrid NX 450 H+ from Lexus.

All these cars offer class-leading technology, impressive drivability and provide a practical response to reducing emissions.

What they don’t offer is that emotional connection and smile inducing glee that all rev heads get when you first turn the ignition key of a serious performance car – noise.

And so it is that I am breaking from my normal approach of reviewing all things hybrid and electric to take up a rare opportunity to drive one of the most sought-after supercars of recent times, the Chevrolet C8 Corvette 2LT. There has been some debate about whether this car is a sportscar, a muscle car or, indeed, a supercar. For me the answer is simple. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and sounds like a duck then it’s a duck! The Corvette certainly

looks like a supercar, it drives like a supercar and it absolutely sounds like a supercar …. so for me there can be no denying that it’s a supercar. And before we progress further, my apologies to those of you who are more environmentally focussed, but there really is nothing that beats the sound of a thumping V8, particularly when it is matched with a dual mode exhaust.

At this point I will declare that, apart from the ‘69 Mustang, I have never really been a fan of American motoring icons like the Corvette, Trans Am, Camaro, and Mustang, preferring Aussie-made muscle cars like the timeless Torana A9X and Ford XB coupé.

This car changes everything I have ever thought about US built cars.

For a start, this is one of the best-looking cars on the market today and it has a presence that immediately attracts attention. If you desire a vehicle that turns admiring heads, look no further than the Corvette.

At first glance this car looks European, with styling cues from the Italian motoring super powers such as Ferrari

and Lamborghini, albeit at a cheaper starting price, and when matched with the sound of the naturally aspirated 6.2 litre V8, it certainly draws attention.

Produced at Chevrolet’s Bowling Green, Kentucky plant, this is the first factory produced right hand drive Corvette – a significant departure from the past and a nod to the 10 percent of the international market that remains RHD.

The C8 is also the first mid-engine Corvette produced by Chevrolet, joining the Ford GT40 as the most notable American-made mid-engine cars.

Talking of engines, the C8 comes with a 6.2 litre, naturally aspirated V8 producing 369 kW (or 495 hp) and it will have you at 100 kph in less than 3.9 seconds. The low profile of the car is in part delivered because the engine has a dry sump, with the oil tank being incorporated into the engine.

The power is delivered through an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission which performed flawlessly on my drive. Unlike many US produced cars, the C8 is relatively light at 1500kg and it is the power to weight ratio that gives this car its performance.

Despite its low-slung styling, getting into the C8 is pretty simple, even for a portly lad like myself. Once in the driver’s seat, the impression is more fighter jet cockpit than motorcar. The most notable feature of the interior is the raised stack between the driver and passenger seats housing 17 switches that basically control the air-conditioning functions. The problem is that they are all black against a black background, making it difficult to determine which button does what. As anything that takes the driver’s eyes off the road is problematic, a better solution would have been to incorporate these functions into the on-screen display. To the right of the center stack is the mode control switch that is tucked under a pad. Originally I thought this was a track pad but it actually doesn’t serve any purpose other than a wrist rest.

Apart from those small complaints, the whole feel of the cockpit is comfortable and easy to use with large screens to assist the driver. And just in case you get tired of listening to that V8 behind you, the C8 comes fitted with a 14-speaker Bose audio system. In all honesty, I didn’t even attempt to try it. Why would you?

Despite its low-slung stance, the C8 provides good visibility out the front. To assist the driver, there is a nifty rear-view camera that displays images through the rear view mirror. However, be warned –the limited rear threequarter view means the driver needs to exercise caution when changing lanes. And just in case you encounter speed humps, the C8 comes with a front-end lift switch, ensuring that expensive nose doesn’t get re-modelled.

I drove the coupé version, featuring a lift out targa top that fits nicely into the rear storage space behind the engine. Speaking of storage, this is a supercar so don’t expect cavernous storage options.

If that’s an issue, buy an SUV! The big surprise with this car comes in its Jekyll and Hyde performance. Whilst the C8 comes with a 6.2litre V8 which yearns to be driven hard, this car is incredibly mild mannered when driven carefully around town. This makes it well suited to being a daily drive, a feature many supercars simply can’t claim. That said, press the loud pedal hard and the C8 comes alive and provides an exhilarating drive experience that leaves you wanting more.

Perhaps the biggest advantage this car has over its rivals from Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini is cost –both purchase price and servicing costs. At around the $170,000 mark, the C8 is well under half the price of the European supercars and given the relatively simple engine set up, servicing costs are also well priced. Bang for buck, this C8 excels in every way.

However, there is one very big drawback – supply. The initial allotment is sold out and wait times for new orders are now out past four years. The scarcity of supply is being shown in the used car pricing of C8s with 20 currently listed on Carsales.com with prices ranging from $260,000 through to and eye-watering $315,000. Not a bad investment if you were lucky enough to get your hands on one from the first allocation and testament to the car’s allure.

After spending some time with this American beauty, my final verdict is that I would buy the C8 in a heartbeat if I had the patience to wait the four years to get my hands on one.

My thanks go to Jodi Kerr, Managing Director of Shacks Motor Group, for trusting me to take this very precious car out for a drive, and to actually give it back.

INDUSTRy MATTERS

By Graham Cawley General Manager Membership and Industry Engagement

Odometer tampering solution needs Govt support

The COVID 19 pandemic has had a widespread and significant impact on almost every part of daily life the world over. While most governments acted quickly and, thankfully, have successfully managed the primary health issues, a number of flow-on effects are yet to be addressed.

As individuals fell ill and countries locked down, the global manufacturing and transport capacity dropped away while demand for many products –ranging from toilet paper (remember that?) to almost every type of vehicle – outstripped supply. In Australia, consumers started spending their annual travel budgets on home renovations, domestic holidays and upgraded cars.

The reduced availability and the

resultant delivery delays of new vehicles subsequently super-heated the demand for low-mileage, second-hand vehicles. These unique circumstances created the perfect storm, providing an opportunity for unscrupulous individuals to acquire high milage vehicles, wind back odometers and cash in on the improved value of the vehicle they had tampered with.

Unfortunately, despite the supply of new vehicles now normalising and increasing interest rates slowing consumer spending, these deceitful operators continue the practice of winding back odometers to increase the value of their depreciating asset.

MTA WA licensed motor vehicle dealer members have been alerted to the rise in odometer tampering and are now more vigilant than ever before but without government support and intervention, even the most experienced buyer doesn’t have the tools they need to confidently identify this type of fraud before the

point of no return.

The MTA WA first raised the issue of increasing reports of odometer tampering in August 2022, outlining to the Department of Transport WA (DoT) not just the problem but a possible solution to help buyers check the historical odometer readings of a vehicle before they buy it.

Our solution is relatively simple: The DoT has an existing free lookup facility displayed on the front page of its website that provides some details of a vehicle based on its plate number. Given several of the DoT forms require odometer readings to be provided – such as the Change of Ownership Vehicle License Transfer MR9 form – the department already has this valuable information and it’s just a matter of adding the odometer field to the search results.

Regulation and Safety - Consumer Protection (DMIRS) to encourage a collaboration between government and industry to find a solution. The Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, Trish Blake, responded immediately, organising a roundtable with several key industry members to inform the department and consider possible solutions. With a number of WA’s larger dealer groups in the room, it was made very clear that odometer tampering is very difficult to identify and the general consensus was that this crime will continue to be perpetrated without government intervention.

The MTA WA has made no secret of its solution and it is delighted that a department has listened – it’s just a pity that it was NSW Department for Transport, and not the WA Department of Transport.

Through a genuinely collaborative approach, the NSW government has implemented the exact solution put forward by the MTA WA and a free service for NSW registered vehicles is now online and fully functional. Users are asked only to enter a NSW plate number and tick a box to accept the Terms and Conditions. The result provides details of the vehicle including make, model, year of manufacture, GVM and the last three odometer readings logged by government (see example screenshot below).

Whilst WA DoT has prioritised improvements to its IT security and online booking systems, capturing odometer readings is not scheduled to be completed until 2027 as part of the preparation towards road user charging. Frankly, this is not good enough and despite some in government believing this is a problem for industry to resolve, the consequences are already serious for everyday consumers. While the general public can have confidence when purchasing used vehicles from reputable dealers, they have next to no legal protection when buying vehicles privately.

The MTA WA and industry members are trying to reduce the crime and will continue to work collaboratively with multiple departments with the aim of finding a solution.

We would like to sincerely thank the Commissioner for Consumer Protection and those members that attended the industry roundtable with DMIRS, taking time out of their busy schedules for the benefit of the industry and the broader general public.

The MTA WA’s continued strong advocacy for the Department of Transport WA (DoT) to implement an accountable engineering-based process to upgrade the Gross Combination Mass (GCM) of in-service light vehicles, has finally overcome years of bureaucratic inertia and we can report some positive action.

Gross Combination Mass is the maximum allowed combined mass of a loaded vehicle and any caravan/trailer it is towing. The GCM of a vehicle is nominated by the manufacturer at the time of first registration. In almost every Australian state, but not Western Australia, government regulators have a process which allows owners to make engineered modifications to a vehicle to increase the maximum allowable combined mass.

Ironically in WA increasing a vehicle’s Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) essentially means it can tow less mass than the manufacturer states to remain legal and within the manufacturer’s GCM. In reality we know there would be a large number of vehicles operating over the manufacturer’s GCM in WA.

Despite Western Australian legislation providing a pathway for DoT to consider GCM applications, the Department has rejected the notion of an increase since December 2018.

While it is unfortunate that so much time and energy was required to prompt a review of such an arbitrary

and problematic process, the MTA WA is pleased to report that DoT has agreed to allow GCM increases for in-service vehicles. The Department has drafted a technical bulletin (VTB181A) to guide industry on the process to re-rate a manufacturer’s GCM on light vehicles.

Draft VTB-181A is largely based on the draft Queensland Code of Practice LH16. However, this is somewhat problematic as Queensland accepts Brake Towing Capacity (BTC) upgrades and, until we can get the regulations amended, DoT do not. The code will need to be reviewed by industry experts to ensure that it is fit for purpose. While it will not be legislated, it will be used to guide the technical process to re-rate a GCM once it has been implemented meaning it will be more difficult for modifiers of light vehicles to go outside the VTB-181A code. The MTA WA will establish a technical working group to review and, if required, suggest amendments to VTB-181A before it will be endorsed by the association.

Industry experts who would like to be part of the review and contribute to recommendations in regard to GCM can respond to the member alert or email Graham Cawley.

The MTA WA reached out to the Department of Mines, Industry

As several of the DoT forms require odometer readings to be provided – such as the Change of Ownership Vehicle License Transfer MR9 form – the department already has this valuable information and it’s just a matter of adding the odometer field to the search results.

New EV apprenticeship pathway ready for 2024

The MTA WA is very much at the forefront in training the next generation of technicians as the automotive landscape continues its march towards an electric vehicle future.

As the only training provider in Western Australia to offer electric vehicle education, a brand new EV apprenticeship pathway has been developed by the MTA WA’s Automotive Institute of Technology (AIT).

Just approved by the Western Australian Department of Training and Workforce Development’s Apprenticeship Office, the Certificate III in Automotive Electric Vehicle Technology will come on stream in January next year.

Describing the approval of this apprentice pathway as the culmination of over 15 months work, the MTA WA’s Registered Training Organisation (RTO) Manager Mel Greenhow said this was a very exciting innovation.

“With consumer demand moving at the rate it is at the moment towards electric vehicles, this apprenticeship is going to be a vital part of the automotive industry’s future,” Mel said.

The Certificate III will ensure apprentices understand the principles underpinning the systems and subsystems involved in the operation of electric vehicles.

This will include the fundamental requirements of interacting safely and confidently with high voltage electrical systems, including depowering and standard checks to ensure an electric motor is safe to work on.

Participants will learn how to carry out services, diagnose problems and repair braking, steering and suspension componentry as well as electrical charging and vehicle management systems.

Specialist units in this qualification include diagnosis and repair of traction and auxiliary motors and controllers, high voltage vehicle batteries and safety interlocks.

Designed as a three year course, Mel is expecting that some manufacturers will use this new opportunity to have technicians complete a dual trade apprenticeship by doing their light vehicle and electric vehicle training concurrently.

Although the EV apprenticeship is not due to start until next year, Mel encouraged potential participants and hosts to express their interest as soon as possible as places will be limited.

CONTACT US

MTA WA input helps bring workplace reforms

As a key stakeholder, the Motor Trades Association of WA has a very important consultative role to play in helping both the state and federal Governments create fair and equitable labour laws. We examine the outcomes of this continual engagement with the policy makers.

As an industry association working for members, the MTA WA has been actively advocating for workplace relation reforms as well as working closely with the Federal Government to address critical issues around wages, employee rights and the continued growth of our industry.

Workplace relations reform is very much in the cross hairs of the current federal government’s agenda given its direct impact on the labour market and its importance in driving economic growth.

The government has committed to improving the workplace relations system in order to deliver job security and better pay for Australian workers.

Consistent with this, the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 was passed in December last year. The amendments were the most significant changes to workplace laws since the introduction of the Fair Work Act in 2009. Further workplace reforms are in the pipeline.

Michael Kar, General Manager Employment Services, outlined that the MTA WA, with its extensive industry membership base and first-hand knowledge, is a key voice in shaping workplace relation reforms.

“We utilise our position as a representative body to engage in consultations, discussions and advocacy on behalf of members with both government and external organisations like the Fair Work Commission and the Fair Work Ombudsman,” Michael said.

“By leveraging our expertise and broad employer base, we can provide the government with valuable insights into the motor trade industry, identifying areas for reform and suggesting practical solutions.”

Over the latter part of 2022 and during 2023, the MTA WA made formal written submissions and was consulted by government on the following important workplace reforms:

• Inquiry into the impacts of the Commonwealth Paid Parental Scheme on small businesses and their employees

• The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Protecting Worker Entitlement) Bill 2023

• Fair Work Commission review of the shutdown provisions in modern awards

• The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022

• The Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill 2022

The MTA WA has also worked with other employer associations to prepare submissions in response to the following consultation papers released by the government:

• Updating the Fair Work Act 2009 to provide stronger protections for workers against discrimination

• Criminalising wage underpayments and reforming civil penalties in the Fair Work Act 2009

• ‘Employee-like’ forms of work and stronger protections for independent contractors

• Same Job, Same Pay

“The key focus in all our submissions is to ensure that the legislation or policy strikes the right balance between the rights of employers and their obligations,” Michael said.

“Further, any changes must achieve the intended aims, avoid unreasonable administrative or economic burdens on businesses within our industry and be unlikely to have unintended consequences.”

While it was unreasonable to expect decision-makers would adopt every suggestion made in submissions from stakeholders, Michael said the MTA WA’s involvement ensured the specific needs and challenges of the automotive industry were always considered.

“By working closely with policy makers, we do help shape the legislation and regulations that create more productive and safer workplaces and enable business growth,” Michael said.

Shane ‘Kenny’ Jacobson car

nut and all-round good guy

look in my rear vision mirror and see all the roads I have travelled and I can genuinely say I love where I have ended up,” Shane said.

Interestingly, it is a passion for all things automotive which affords this workaholic entertainer the outlet to be his happiest self.

“I’m doing up a Morris 1100 right now, I’ve just bought a race car and I’m planning on building a tribute Peter Brock VB Commodore race car,” said Shane, whose collection also includes an early pull handle MGB, a HQ Holden, a ZB Ford Fairlaine and a 1965 F700 truck.

“I love automotive and everything about it,” Shane enthuses. “I love cruising and I love racing. It’s the look of the cars and the feeling you get from driving. It’s going fast. It’s going slow. It’s looking at them when they’re not even moving. It’s the sound of them whether they’re racing or just purring…I just love it.”

Part of a very close family, Shane is a bit of nomad in this respect.

“None of my family have any real interest in cars at all,” Shane says, proudly claiming that he caught this virus all by himself and “isn’t looking for a cure at all.”

Quite how Shane Jacobson finds the time to eat, sleep or ‘do the business’ in the smallest room in the house is a mystery.

He is not only one of Australia’s best known stage and screen actors, but also a song and dance man, a TV presenter, screen writer, author, producer, podcast presenter and an ambassador for many charities and brands.

Oh … and he’s also a motoring tragic. Perhaps best known for playing Kenny Smyth, the down-to-earth portaloo plumber in the classic 2006 Australian comedy mockumentary Kenny, Shane will be the special entertainment guest at the 2023 MTA WA Automotive Awards on August 12.

“My brother Clayton has a line to describe my life which always makes me laugh – ‘they can’t make pies quick enough for me to jam my fingers into’,” Shane says with a chuckle.

Having just finished a run of almost 200 shows with Hairspray The Musical and currently in the middle of tech rehearsals for a new musical, not to mention the numerous other ongoing projects he is involved in, this multi-faceted performer is the very embodiment of the hard working Australian he played in Kenny

“I always seem to have many projects on the go because I just love what I do and because of that the lines get a bit blurred and they all end up sort of being part work and part hobby, which is a great position to be in,” Shane says.

“There’s probably a diagnosis for what I am but for the most part I’m just used to be being busy and I don’t know how to do it any other way.

“I’m incredibly happy and wouldn’t change anything in my past, not one millimetre, not one second because that may have adjusted the path of my future and I am blessed to be able to

“My kids only sort of like the cars and my wife doesn’t know one car from another but what she does say, which I think is beautiful, is ‘what I love about your cars is how much you love them’,” Shane says.

“That said, she bought me the ZB Fairlaine as a surprise 50th birthday present, so if that isn’t someone supporting and feeding my habit, I don’t know what is.”

When discussing where this ‘addiction’ came from, Shane points to a number of life changing moments.

“The first time I truly fell in love with a car and went ‘oh my God’ is when I saw this candy apple red 1964 EH Holden with Centreline mags and a 400 Chev engine rumble into a car park,” Shane explained.

“I must have been about 10 at time and I was sitting on my botched up Malvern Star BMX wannabe just in awe of this thing. He stopped and revved it a few times before switching it off, like you do when you’ve got something that sounds so good, and I remember thinking that this car was the most awesome thing I had ever seen.

‘‘

I love automotive and everything about it. I love cruising and I love racing. It’s the look of the cars and the feeling you get from driving. It’s going fast. It’s going slow. It’s looking at them when they’re not even moving. It’s the sound of them whether they’re racing or just purring…I just love it.

“So one of the first cars I had to buy when I started putting together a collection was a 1964 EH Holden, which I did.

“Even though I’m a Holden nut, I remember seeing a ’32 Ford once and going ‘what the hell is that … that thing is unbelievable. And then Mad Max comes out with that amazing XB Falcon and I’m like ‘holy sh^t’.

“I also remember riding through a particular car park every day just to see an XU1 Torana and if the owner was off work and it wasn’t there, I just felt the greatest disappointment.

“In all honesty, when I was growing up

I was more distracted by cars than by anything else,” Shane said. And then he got his licence and the real world of automotive fun opened up.

“When you’re on a dirt or wet road in a car and the back end goes out, people who aren’t car nuts consider that to be a scary or horrible moment in a car because it’s gone wrong,” Shane says, referring to some of his earliest memories of driving.

“But for some of us when that happens it feels just oh so right and you just want to do it again and again and that’s when cars and driving become something else.

SHANE JACOBSON IS THE SPECIAL ENTERTAINMENT GUEST AT THE 2023 MTA WA AUTOMOTIVE AWARDS ON AUGUST 12. A MOTORING TRAGIC, HE IS ALSO ONE OF HELL OF A NICE BLOKE

WORDS : PAUL ROBERTS

“So some of my earliest memories are of taking a car into a paddock and trying to get it into a controlled slide or doing a figure eight and thinking ‘I just love this’. And then you start seeking out remote and great driving roads and from that point, there is no turning back,” Shane said

As a former host of Top Gear

Australia as well as a motorsport tragic, Shane admits he has been incredibly privileged to have had some extraordinary automotive experiences including driving an E-type Jaguar around London, having Phillip Island to himself with rare supercars, racing a production car at Bathurst (“the most fun I’ve ever had in a car – it just burns in your brain”) and competing in a couple of rounds of the Australian Rally Championship.

“However, my favourite and most joyous automotive memories are from my childhood which is why my car collection is all just old ordinary stuff,” Shane says.

This is the true essence of the man.

The Shane Jacobson you saw as Kenny is really not a million miles from the Shane Jacobson you might meet at the local shops.

“I like to think I’ve achieved some fairly good things professionally in my life but my dad says so often to me that the thing that makes him the most proud is the way I interact with people when they stop me on the street,”

Shane says.

“As far as check lists go for dad of the things I’ve done, that’s in position number one for him and I couldn’t be prouder.

“All my best mates and my family and the folks I enjoy hanging out with are just pretty ordinary people and that’s what makes them extraordinary to me,” Shane says.

“If you can sit on a log with a stubby in your hand staring into a fire and having a laugh with someone for a couple of hours, well I can’t think of a better way to spend that time.

“The truth is what I aspire to is really ordinary stuff like old Holdens and Fords, not a Ferrari or a Lamborghini and I think that’s why I kind of give ordinary people a bit of hope because I’m really a pretty ordinary bloke.

Shane’s clothing of choice may not come as a surprise.

“I genuinely am the guy who cuts the arms off my long sleeve Hard Yakka

Perth boy Brodie a champion in the making

BORN TO RACE, BRODIE KOSTECKI STARTED HONING HIS DRIVING SKILLS AS A THREE YEAR OLD IN A MALAGA CAR PARK. RACING ALMOST NON-STOP FOR HIS ENTIRE LIFE, HE NOW HAS HIS SIGHTS FIRMLY SET ON BEING CROWNED V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPION

WORDS : PAUL ROBERTS

prior to the Bathurst 1000 race in 2020, mention of the name Brodie Kostecki would have drawn mostly blank stares from all but the most ardent V8 Supercar fan.

Perth born Brodie won a couple of races that year competing in the second tier of the Supercar travelling circus but he was hardly a household name despite getting the call up to co-drive for Erebus Motorsport, one of the main game’s top teams, in the 2020 Great Race. Eyes were opened when Brodie refused to play second

fiddle to some of the biggest names in the sport, aggressively fighting tooth and nail around the famous mountain circuit with perhaps the greatest of them all, seven-time Championship winner Jamie Whincup. Brodie ultimately came out on top when Jamie cracked under the pressure and crashed on lap 33.

Off the back of that impressive rookie Bathurst debut, Erebus signed Brodie to a full-time seat in 2021 and now, at the age of 25, he has quickly become one of V8 Supercar’s rising stars, consistently scoring pole positions and podium places as he looks to secure his first Championship on home soil.

When he achieves this goal (and it surely is when, not if), it will be the fulfilment of a dream for the boy born to race.

“My focus this year is on giving Erebus their first V8 Supercar Championship but I see absolutely no reason why we can’t do the double and win Bathurst as well,” Brodie said. His journey from Perth school boy to a driver at the very top of Australian motorsport is thanks in part to his family’s unerring support.

“The family engine building business was heavily involved in top level motorsport from drag racing to Supercars so I grew up around car racing” Brodie explained from his home in Queensland.

“My career, as such, started as a three-year-old driving a go-kart in the carpark at dad’s work and then when I started racing competitively at the age of seven, it was obvious that I had a huge passion for the sport,” he said.

Unbelievably his skill was so great that by his tenth birthday he was rated as one of the top 50 karters in Australia.

Brodie’s talent was also recognised in the United States and he received a scholarship to race USAC Ford Focus Midgets, small fully framed single seater speedway cars producing about 180 horsepower and weighing about 450 kilograms.

In 2011 father Andrew Kostecki closed the doors of his successful Malaga-based Kostecki Engine Centre business and moved to California with his now 12 year old son to write the next chapter of Brodie’s motor racing story.

“It was a pretty cool time of my life,” Brodie said.

“I continued my schooling in the States which was fairly eye opening. It’s pretty much like you see on American television shows, but what they don’t show you are the metal detectors when you walk in and the police on campus!”

Brodie achieved 27 victories in USAC and would go on to win three National Championships – not bad for a 12 year old in what is recognised as a very competitive feeder series.

Brodie says that racing on dirt in a high powered Sprintcar helps hone his driving skills.

A young Brodie (left) during his NASCAR stint in the United States.

(Below)Brodie is driving the blue 43 Camry, here pictured at Iowa Speedway.

When Brodie left Perth, the dream was to race NASCAR and that’s exactly where the next chapter began when, in 2013, the family bought a secondhand racecar, prepared it and started racing in the second tier pro-series.

In typical Brodie Kostecki fashion, he announced his intentions from the outset, running in seventh place at the three-quarter mark of his very first race before a tyre blew. Brodie was just 14 years old.

“It just sounds outrageous when I say I was in my early to mid teens and driving a full bodied NASCAR with 600 to 700 horsepower against people who were luminaries of the sport,” he says. With Brodie now based in the home of NASCAR, Charlotte in North Carolina, his mother and two sisters joined the rest of the family until the girls reached high school age.

“We just wanted to initially see how things would go, but it all worked out pretty well and we ended up staying and racing in the US for three or four years before returning to Perth.

“I am so thankful I had that opportunity in the States because I think it has been a real benefit to my Supercar career as well as being the most amazing experience.

“I have always really loved NASCAR and the fact that we raced over 30 times a year was pretty awesome. If you want to be a racecar driver you want to be driving cars as much as possible to stay sharp and focussed,” Brodie said.

The relatively low number of races in Australia’s premier class is an issue that he says Supercars needs to address.

“While I think Supercars is the best category in the world, it could be better and we should be racing a lot more than 12 times a year in Australia. You find yourself sitting around a lot wondering what you’re going to do next,” he says.

However, Brodie, by his own admission, is not a driver to sit around reflecting on past glories while undertaking an ever-increasing number of media commitments.

“I do a lot of driving training with (former Supercars driver) Paul Morris at his Queensland-based academy which I love and I like to race in as many different categories as I possibly can, particularly dirt Speedway cars,” he said.

“Versatility is such an important skill to have as a racecar driver, particularly given that Supercars have undergone such a dramatic change from last

year to this with increased horsepower and a 60 to 70 percent reduction in downforce.

“Going back to my karting days, I’ve always been pretty good in the wet and with a car that is a little bit skittish and I think that skill is honed on dirt where you live on the edge of crashing and producing a lap time. I love the risk versus reward part,” Brodie says. Aside from his undeniable skill as a driver, there is a telling quote from his current race engineer at Erebus which further explains Brodie’s success in a variety of categories.

George Commins has had extensive experience with teams at the highest level throughout Europe and having worked with 11 drivers who made it to Formula 1, he rates Brodie at the top of the list “in terms of engineering nous, understanding the race car and driver feedback.”

There is no doubt that Brodie has been pivotal to the early success of the Erebus Motorsport Camaros under the new-for-2023 Gen 3 Supercar regulations.

“When I first signed for team in 2021 it was all about getting to this moment with Gen 3 and less about the old car,” he said.

“When we rolled the new car out for the first test day earlier this year we were pretty fast straight out the box and most of that is due to the preparation that goes into the car in the months beforehand.

“We are now just slowly refining rather than chasing problems and this is where the consistency has come from so to some extent I’m not surprised that we’ve been at the pointy end of the field right from the beginning of the season,” Brodie said.

As much as he wants to win the Championship, Brodie is not only a racer through and through but also a fan and he hopes that the new Gen 3 cars will produce closer and more entertaining racing.

Reflecting on an exciting battle with Shane Van Gisbergen in Perth, Brodie enthusiastically stated “I absolutely love racing and that’s what it should be all about.”

“With three laps to go we had a real ding dong battle which was so cool. It was great that we could put on a

great show like that for all the fans who came out to watch because we owe them that.

“We’re professional racing drivers and at the end of the day it’s entertainment. That spectacle has been missing for years in the sport.

“It doesn’t really matter what it feels like inside the car or how you think the car should feel, it’s what it looks like for the spectators sitting in the grandstand or on the grassed bank and Gen 3 is definitely a step forward from what we’ve had for the last 10 years,” Brodie said.

Regs introduce a new era for V8 Supercars

much less downforce. Both cars also feature identical front-end components.

Engines are far more closely based on the manufacturer’s product, with the Chevolet being a 5.7litre pushrod and the Ford featuring a 5.4litre quad cam. For parity, both engines produce identical horsepower and are randomly allocated to teams from two homologation engine builders.

2023 has seen the introduction of a new model on the v8 Supercar grid, the Chevolet Camaro, and a brand new set of regulations designed to improve racing.

The new cars now share the dimensions of their roadgoing brothers (the only interchangeable components on last year’s Mustangs were wing mirrors, tail lights and the front badge!), more power, less weight and

‘‘

I’ve now worked with 11 drivers that have made it to Formula 1 and in terms of engineering nous, understanding the race car and driver feedback Brodie tops the list.

George Commins, Erebus Motorsport race engineer

Another podium place in perth in May kept Brodie at the top of the v8 Supercar Championship table.

Electric future for crash repair stalwart

Reneew’s ‘League of Nations’

Affectionately known as the ‘League of Nations’, the specialist workforce at Reneew is made up of many nationalities.

Hailing from countries as diverse as India, South Africa and Mozambique, Aaron Scagliotta has literally scoured the world to find the highly trained qualified technicians his new venture required.

“We use recruiters and a migration agent to find the right people to bring to Australia to fill the skills shortage,” Aaron explained.

Arriving on a short stay Highly Specialised Stream (400) visa, designed for highly specialised workers invited by an Australian organisation, Reneew offers these people the chance to make a new life in Australia.

“The arrive without their families and it is absolutely heart-breaking when I witness the emotional outpouring when they are talking with their loved ones,” Aaron says.

“The Government is making it so hard, but we aim to have all our workers achieve permanent residency which then means their families can join them.

South African Dale Cooper, who Aaron describes as perhaps the best technician it has ever been his pleasure to work with, will be one such success story when he will very shortly be reunited with his wife and young child.

If Reneew Collision Repair Centre were a cutting edge brand of car, it would be a Tesla – which is totally apt given this state-of-the-art paint and panel shop in Bibra Lake is one of just four accredited Tesla repairers in Western Australia.

Following an extensive building refurbishment, completed about six months ago, Reneew CRC is the very embodiment of the technical excellence, advanced efficiencies and future focused thinking of the world’s most popular electric vehicle manufacturer. Designed from the ground up and with a focus specifically tailored towards providing electric vehicle owners with the highest quality service delivery possible, director Aaron Scagliotta has spared no expense in realising this dream.

“We wanted to utilise the world’s most advanced technology in the collision repair space and assemble the very best technicians we could find in order

to create a paint and panel shop unparalleled in Western Australia,” Aaron said.

All technicians have completed training with Tesla in order to meet the company’s exacting standards of repair process and Aaron and many of his team have also completed the MTA WA’s five day EV training course.

“That course is excellent and I would highly recommend it to anyone with designs on entering this new industry space,” Aaron said.

The ultra-modern workshop space features the latest in aluminium repair technologies, a state-of-theart composite repair room in order to ensure a sterile environment with no potential contamination during the repair process and an highly efficient advanced paint line system.

“The system we have invested in means that once the car is ready for paint, it is prepared, painted, dried

and polished in a continuous line without the vehicle needing to be driven,” Aaron explained.

The system is designed and built in Italy by Symach and Reneew is one of only two repairers in Western Australia to employ this cutting edge technology.

Known as FixLine, it is quite simple in its application. The car wheels sit on dollies in the preparation bay and, once ready, is then transported on tracks through the various paint processes as part of a ‘conveyor belt’ production line.

“It allows us to work very quickly but to an extremely high standard and revolutionises the efficiency of the shop by giving us the ability to take a car from a prepared state to completion in approximately 15 to 20 minutes,” Aaron said.

Aaron said that the amalgamation of these operational efficiencies

“It’s an expensive process, but given the shortage of workers and the highly specialised skills this job requires, it is absolutely essential for the business,” Aaron said.

“And they are just the most terrific bunch of people you could ever could wish for.”

WORDS : PAUL ROBERTS

into the paint and panel world somewhat mirrored the approach of Elon Musk and his Tesla brand.

“I love the technological advancements and innovative processes that electric vehicles use to deliver their highly efficient outcomes and when I started this journey to establish Reneew several years ago, it was with the aim of creating a state-of-the-art shop with maximum operational efficiencies.

“And coming from a hands-on panel beating background, I am now really excited to take on more of a management role in the business in order to introduce even more standard setting technology and processes to create the best outcomes for customers and greater profitability,” Aaron said.

As one of only a handful of accredited Tesla parts suppliers, this will include approved aftermarket accessories, such as coloured brake caliper upgrades, and the customising of cars.

The connection with Tesla was first born about three years ago when one of the state’s busiest and most successful accident repairers, Gino’s Panel and Paint,

also owned and run by Aaron following his father’s retirement, was approached by the EV giant.

“Gino’s is a totally different operation – extremely busy and very stressful with up to 80 to 100 cars coming through the workshop every week,” Aaron said.

“The desire to work with Tesla and, looking further ahead, specialising in EV repairs in general, required a new approach and I think what we have created here reflects this very exciting automotive future.

“Don’t get me wrong, I am the biggest V8 revhead out there and I love my twin turbo V8 Mercedes and the tactile sensations you feel with such a car, but 0 to 100 in three seconds and next to nothing to run and service the car are very convincing arguments as to why the future is definitely electric,” Aaron said.

With Australian demand for EVs increasing in line with worldwide trends and government incentives making ownership more affordable, Aaron Scagliotta’s investment in a specialised EV repair shop would appear to be as full-proof as the technology built into the cars he is repairing.

MTA WA working with hosts to deliver apprentices

Labour shortages in the automotive industry continue to be one of the most pressing problems being tackled by the MTA WA. Although shortterm answers continue to be hard to come by, the significant shortage of skilled technicians has seen a dramatic rise in the number of apprentices being sought through the MTA WA’s Group Training Organisation (GTO) Program.

A record number of 331 apprentices are currently ‘on the books’ with the MTA WA but Paul Harvey, Assistant Apprentice Employment Manager, says that demand continues to outstrip supply.

Aaron Scagliotta, director of Gino’s Panel and Paint in Fremantle, one of the largest employers of apprentices in this industry, and Reneew Collision Repair Centre in Bibra Lake, agrees.

“The industry did not take on enough apprentices in the last decade or so and we’re paying the price now with the skills shortage. We need to take on as many enthusiastic young people as we can,” he said.

Proactive in future proofing his own business, Aaron has been on the front foot of recruitment for many years and Gino’s currently employs nine panel and paint apprentices and one mechanical apprentice.

“We actively promote the industry to young people in schools and via social media and hold open days with a seminar at the workshop so the kids get to see and feel what a career in this industry looks like,” Aaron said. Parents are especially welcome. “You want the parents to be a part of the process because I think it’s important that they see the opportunities that apprenticeships can offer their children.”

Following this initial introduction to the industry, an interview process weeds out the wheat from the chaff and it is the young people who show a genuine passion for the

automotive industry who go on to be given a chance to turn their enthusiasm into a career.

“The kids have got to have the passion,” Aaron says. “You can teach the skills but you can’t instil the enthusiasm which is the most vital attribute anyone embarking on a career in this industry needs.”

The ones who tend to succeed, Aaron says, are those constantly tinkering with cars, watching YouTube videos and television programs on car modifications and restorations or those kids working on and riding dirt bikes every weekend.

Aaron will generally select five or six potential apprentices out of 25 to 30 applicants and then provides two weeks paid work experience in the workshop.

Utilising the depth of knowledge available to him, it is actually his technicians who hand pick which of the young people will be offered the opportunity to take their passion to the next level.

“I don’t have a number I’m looking for,” Aaron says. “If there is more than one right kid, we’ll take them because this is the future.

“At the end of the day, all you need is a kid with a good attitude and a passion for all things automotive prepared to put in the effort over four years.”

Following selection of his new charges, Aaron then utilises the MTA WA Group Training Organisation Program to manage his apprentices.

Explaining the process, MTA WA’s Paul Harvey describes the GTO as almost like a labour hire organisation or employment agency looking after host employers.

“All applicants have to pass an aptitude test before we interview them to further discuss, amongst other things, their motivation for wanting to get into the industry,” Paul said.

“We manage all the paperwork, wages, superannuation, sick

leave, etc and any issues that may arise, including worker’s compensation for example,” Paul said.

As the host employer, not having to deal with the administrative aspects of taking on apprentice is a massive benefit says Aaron Scagliotta and he would never consider employing an apprentice directly again.

“We had an experience many years ago with an apprentice we had taken on ourselves directly and drugs were a major on-going problem,” Aaron explained.

“This was just a nightmare for it is almost impossible to sack an apprentice, regardless of the issue, and if we had had the MTA WA on board, this would have been managed by them.”

Paul Harvey is well aware of the problems that can create an issue for host employers.

“We have many great hosts, like Gino’s, who continually take on apprentices year on year and the other side of our job is to also ensure they are happy and any issues are dealt with,” Paul said.

Full of praise for the MTA WA’s program, Aaron outlined that the mentoring and encouragement the apprentices receive from the dedicated MTA WA field officers is almost as important as the skills the kids are gaining from the technicians in the workshop.

“I also think it’s vital to ensure they feel part of the ‘family’ and that they are nurtured and feel valued because at the end of the day, you want them to have success, not failure, and you absolutely want them to stay with you and continue to excel,” Aaron said.

Workshops and dealerships interested in finding out more information about the MTA WA’s Group Training Organisation can contact Paul Harvey on 0409 299 654.

As a host employer, having the MTA WA deal with all the administrative aspects of having an apprentice is a massive advantage and I would never consider employing one directly.

AARON SCAGLIOTTA, DIRECTOR GINO’S PANEL AND PAINT AND RENEEW COLLISION REPAIR CENTRE

Apprentice Jacob up for the challenge

COMING

After 10 years as a light vehicle technician, Jacob Zurzolo is thoroughly enjoying the challenges he now faces in his new role as an apprentice heavy vehicle diesel mechanic.

And in keeping with his attitude of embracing every opportunity with open arms, the first year Swan Transit apprentice recently took on one of his biggest tests yet – representing Western Australia at the 2023 HVIA National Apprentice Challenge at the Brisbane Truck Show in May.

Acknowledged as the heavy diesel industry’s peak national apprentice competition, two participants from each state, nominated as the best and brightest by their training organisation, were paired together to undertake a series of challenges.

“I was honoured to have been selected as the MTA WA representative and to share this amazing experience with a fellow West Aussie from TAFE,” Jacob said.

The six teams’ skills were evaluated on their ability to identify and repair a series of faults on three all-new 48X Western Star X-series trucks in four 45-minute sessions over two days.

“I don’t work in a dealership where time constraints are critical but at the Challenge I tried to work out how long things should take and approached the tasks with the view of getting it fixed as quickly as possible in order to get the truck back to the ‘customer’,” he said.

“Since the Challenge I feel I approach analysing faults and problems slightly differently and I now tackle them more efficiently.”

Swan Transit managing director Brian Thompson said that the entire Swan Transit team was extremely proud of Jacob and what he has already accomplished so far in his career.

Self motivated

“Jacob is very self motivated and it’s great to see him embracing challenges like this, especially so early in his career, and having the opportunity to showcase his talents in this prestigious competition,” Brian said.

Funnily enough, Jacob’s journey to being one of the State’s top heavy diesel apprentice mechanics had its beginnings in the world of light vehicles.

Growing up in a car obsessed family, he credits his father as the major influence

in developing the passion he has for all things mechanical.

“My early childhood memories are of dad’s HQ Monaro and when I was in high school, I helped him rebuild his 1968 Chevrolet Camaro before starting to tinker with my first car, an early 70’s Mazda 808,” Jacob said.

Staying with Japanese marques, he has been developing his Subaru GC8 WRX for the last 10 years and regularly competes in competition events, including Targa West.

“The passion for cars and engines has been there since day one and it’s a dream come true that I have been able to turn that passion into a career, beginning after completing high school with a light vehicle apprenticeship at Kalamunda Toyota,” Jacob said.

A technician at the dealership for 10 years, Jacob then worked for a few years with a large fluid systems company, Trident Australia, before deciding he’d like to get back on the tools.

With the assistance of the MTA WA Group Training Organisation, Jacob was offered a heavy diesel apprenticeship with host Swan Transit and hasn’t looked back.

“I was looking for a new challenge with

a bigger scope of jobs and bigger nuts and bolts and I absolutely love it,” Jacob enthused.

“After one year, I’ve pretty well proved that I can do most things a qualified technician does and I now undertake the bigger jobs such as replacing head gaskets and general repairs as well as servicing the gas and diesel bus fleet.”

Jacob says the best part of his job is knowing that once he’s fixed a problem, the bus will literally go on for another million kilometres “for that’s what the buses do and it’s a great feeling knowing we’re keeping this vital public system going.”

As a heavy vehicle technician, he is also enjoying the lifestyle afforded by the increased remuneration this brings and he sees no reason why he would leave Swan Transit to chase the bigger bucks offered by FIFO work.

“I get to go home to my wife and young child everyday and my advice to anyone thinking about making a similar move from light vehicle to heavy would be to investigate the opportunities in Perth before getting on the FIFO train because there is nothing better than being home every night with your family,” Jacob said.

Describing the Apprentice Challenge as a massive baptism of fire, Jacob explained that, prior to this experience, he had never previously even looked inside a large truck, let alone worked on one.

“I was thrown in deeper than the deep end,” Jacob explained.

“These trucks were brand new and no-one in Australia had even seen one prior to the show.

“I must admit that we struggled a bit with the first test mainly because we had to quickly try and familiarise ourselves with the truck and where everything was which meant we were in a constant battle against time.

“However, in the subsequent tests we did really well, probably only failing to resolve one or two faults per session,” he said.

Ultimately, the team from Queensland won the competition but Jacob said he learnt a lot from the experience and believes it has given him a greater insight into understanding the processes involved in fault finding.

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I ndustry support for flood affected member

Six months after the devastating Fitzroy River flood destroyed homes and businesses in Fitzroy Crossing, the small Kimberley town’s only mechanical workshop is back on its feet thanks in part to the generosity of a group of MTA WA members.

Crossing Auto, an indigenous-owned mechanical workshop employing five mechanics and several apprentices, was inundated by flood waters when record rainfall from Cyclone Ellie caused the Fitzroy River to break its banks in January this year.

Considered a once in 110 year event, the flood destroyed major road infrastructure, completely isolating the town, as well 92 homes and countless businesses.

Painting a picture of complete devastation as he described the layers of mud covering everything, Crossing Auto manager Dayne Benn said: “The office and workshop was under a metre of water which pretty well destroyed all the equipment and tools as well as most of our stock.”

“I’ve lived in this town for over 25 years, establishing the business 23 years ago,” said Dayne. “Never have I witnessed anything like this and we’ve certainly never had water through the workshop before.”

The only salvageable equipment in the workshop were the hoists, although Dayne and his team were able to get a few things up and running such a compressors and a tyre changer “before they too slowly died due to the water damage.”

The business is the only mechanical workshop in the Fitzroy Valley and as such provides an essential service to the town and the vast surrounding area.

Upon learning the news of the devastation, a Member Alert was sent

out by the MTA WA with a list of parts and equipment that the business would need to get up and running.

In a show of fantastic community support, tens of thousands of dollars worth of new equipment was donated by a group of MTA WA members.

In May 2023, the donated equipment, which included everything from MIG welders and air compressors to vehicle diagnostic tools and tyre changing machines, arrived in Fitzroy Crossing as part of a wider Government donation drive.

“The MTA WA help was very unexpected but absolutely awesome and we are extremely grateful,” said Dayne.

“I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who donated.”

Overwhelming generosity

The MTA WA would like to acknowledge the following members for their donations:

Bridgestone Services Centre in Bunbury

Driveshafts Australia in Kewdale

Goodchild Enterprises in Cockburn Central

Offroad Trucks Australia in Maddington

RAC WA

Wilf Chambers Jaguar & Land Rover in Osborne Park, who donated over $5,000 worth of brand new equipment.

RIGhT: Each of the MTA WA donors received a signed letter of acknowledgement from the then premier Mark McGowan, thanking them personally for their help. Wilf Chambers proudly shows his letter, accompanied by MTA WA CEO Stephen Moir.

BELOW: Crossing Auto Manager Dayne Benn with some of the donated equipment.

Pens replace spanners...

Yoga teacher Ally embracing mid-life adventure

When tools are downed for the 20-minute morning tea, you’ll find Ally with a pen or pencil in her hand, drawing the things she sees around her.

“I started to do the drawings because I was a bit shy at morning tea and the process of drawing helped me keep calm, relieved stress and helped me learn a little more how things work,” Ally said, outlining that at high school technical drawing was her favourite subject.

“I can see a lot of beauty in these amazing things that have been designed.

“Most people never get to see a clutch or the inside of an vane oil pump and they are absolutely fascinating.

“I’ve got an overactive imagination and when a transmission is being dropped out of car, it looks like something really cool out of Star Wars and I just want to draw it,” Ally said

ALLY HATELY HAS ENJOYED A DIVERSE AND INTERESTING LIFE THROUGHOUT HER 45 YEARS. TRAINING TO BECOME A MECHANIC IS JUST ANOTHER NEW CHALLENGE TO EMBRACE FOR THIS BUSSELTON-BASED YOGA TEACHER.

They say life is what you make it and in the case of 45-yearold first year apprentice Ally Hately, life is a rich tapestry of ups and downs, unique experiences and a never-ending opportunity to embrace new challenges.

“I’m impulsive and being open to experiencing as many different situations as I can is definitely part of my personality, as is throwing myself in at the deep end,” Ally explains. And that’s exactly what she did last year when the Busselton-based yoga teacher-turned mechanic enrolled in TAFE to begin her light vehicle preapprenticeship.

“A lot of people thought I must be having a mid-life crisis when I embarked on this journey,” says Ally with a laugh.

“Friends and colleagues thought I would have gone into counselling, which would have been a logical progression given the care work I was doing, but that would have been essentially still marching to the same tune and where’s the fun in that?”

Sadly losing three close friends to cancer over the past five years, including nursing two of them until the end, gave Ally an insight into how preciously short life can be and galvanised her motivation to embrace a new challenge.

apprenticeship TAFE course in July last year and her friend sadly lost his battle in November.

“While it was a very up and down six month period, it was also a cathartic parallel path in life where you knew where you were but you also could see what the future could look like,” she said.

Describing her decision as a mid-life adventure rather than a mid-life crisis, she said that embarking down this mechanical road “has been one of those fabulous outcomes that comes from taking a risk.”

having “had more accidents and destroying more cars than anyone I know.”

“My first car was stolen from outside the front of a police station in Victoria and then set on fire and I’ve also written off borrowed family cars by accidently driving off gravel roads.

“And then there was the time I was returning from the north of Western Australia and the car caught fire.

There have been a few mishaps in the four months that Ally has been at Muir’s and in Ally’s own words “oil has been spilt.”

“One of the hardest things for me about this job is the concept of learning from your mistakes,” Ally explained. “I’ve come from a background where you learn from practice, hard work and discipline, not from making mistakes, but it’s interesting how we all perceive success and failure in different ways.

WORDS : PAUL ROBERTS

Successfully completed, she is now thoroughly enjoying this new challenge as one of several apprentices learning their trade at Muir’s, a Ford and Nissan dealership in Busselton managed by MTA WA President Ray Mountney.

Ally’s implusive personality could have taken her in any career direction and given her total lack of a mechanical background, even she admits it does seem a strange choice.

“Going through the cancer with my friends was a very intense and personal journey,” Ally said.

“Last year I needed to focus on something for myself while also supporting a friend through his final months and that led me to start investigating books about cars, challenging my brain and discovering things I did not know.”

Ally enrolled in the pre-

“If there’s a couple of times in your life when you have the opportunity to throw yourself in the deep end, then you should do it because life is really so short and you just don’t know your abilities without pushing your boundaries a little bit,” Ally said. She is the first to admit that her mechanical abilities prior to embarking on this adventure were limited at best.

Outlining some of her self-inflicted motoring disasters, Ally thinks her mechanical journey could be Karma

“Until recently I thought cars only ran on petrol and you didn’t need to worry about water and oil so let’s just say I’m learning the value of servicing a car,” Ally said with a laugh.

She is also learning the value of working in a team environment.

“Previously I have predominantly worked on my own but I am loving the fact that I can see a fellow mechanic approaching a problem in a way that I had never thought of or been shown before and I’m like ‘wow’ and I know I can then build from this experience and become a better technician.

“The student-mentor relationship is really incredible and I value that so much,” Ally said.

“I am really enjoying it, but at the end of the day I do sometimes beat myself up a little bit and feel a little out of my depth. However, this is pretty much what I signed up for and I know that building off that experience will make me a better mechanic over time,” she said. Coming from a world perhaps as far removed from a mechanical workshop as is possible, Ally’s personal reflections on the industry are enlightening.

As an outsider, she said it was interesting to witness the different attitudes people seem to have to different professions based on bias or stereotypes and she felt the general opinion of mechanics was not high.

‘‘Until recently I thought cars only ran on petrol and you didn’t need to worry about water and oil so let’s just say I’m learning the value of servicing a car.

“No-one thanks you for working on their car but everyone falls in love with their yoga teacher and I’m learning that you’ve got to give yourself credit even if you don’t feel it coming from the customers,” she says.

“Sometimes I feel customers are very hard on mechanics, believing that they can solve everything but, as I’m very quickly learning, it is not that straight forward.

“The world I’ve come from, while very spiritual, can also be a little ‘fluffy’. It feels really grounding to go into an industry where maybe no-one is constantly patting you on the back but you know that the skills are hard-earned and once you’ve got them, you’ve got them.

“One of things that has really surprised me in my short time in the industry is the human capacity to quickly learn new skills and I just could never have imagined how many different challenges and interesting problems to solve there are on a daily basis,” Ally said. One of the challenges Ally has not had to face at all is any hint of sexism in what is often described as a male dominated industry.

Ally’s desire and, by her own admission, wild optimism was in evidence one month into her preapprenticeship when she responded to an advertisement from Ray Mountrey (pictured below).

Ray was looking for an apprentice for Muir Marine and “with daydream images in my head of Jacques Cousteau, Alby Mangles and ocean adventures” Ally thought ‘yeah, I could work on boats!’

Successfully completing an aptitude test (“that was interesting – I had never had to do anything like that before in my life”), she met Ray for an interview and was immediately convinced that her future was with Muir’s.

“This may seem a little old fashioned, but it was as simple as Ray holding open a door,” said Ally.

“Male dominated is just a numerical reference to the number of men in the workplace and I see the workshop as a place where men and women can actually learn a lot from each other,” Ally says.

“I work with fantastic guys and if there were more girls, I’d be working with fantastic people.

“A shared workplace is a great place for men and women to develop respect for the opposite sex and I have a lot of respect for these men for they care very much about what they do and they are so willing to share their knowledge.”

Her advice to other women thinking about entering the industry is an emphatic “jump in feet first – there is nothing to lose.”

“Due to my spontaneity, I jokingly say that this was a five minute decision but I’ve backed out of many of those in the past,” Ally said.

“I feel very committed to this one. I took a chance on something that was way out of my comfort zone and it looks like it is going to work out well for me.

“It wasn’t a gender thing, it was the knowledge that Ray displays so much courtesy and respect for the people working for him and I know that when I have completed my apprenticeship it will be thanks to those people, including Ray, who have held those doors open for me, both metaphorically and literally.”

Explaining that it was quickly obvious that she would be learning the mechanical workings of cars and boats, Ally said that part of the appeal of the job was the scope of work.

“I love the fact that there is so much versatility in this industry and that I am not going to be pigeon holed into doing just one thing.”

Ray opens the door for Ally’s new career

With Commissioner for Consumer Protection Trish Blake

Cracking down on wrong contract cancellation fees

New approach to conciliating complaints

Consumer Protection has a new dispute resolution service that allows dealers and repairers to become aware of a consumer’s concerns and attempt to fix the issues before we become formally involved.

The ‘Conciliation Light Touch’ process involves us advising you of the consumer’s complaint and suggesting a reasonable outcome to consider, before asking you to contact them to discuss the issues and attempt to resolve the matter.

Stamping out illegal behaviour

Anyone in Western Australia who buys and sells motor vehicles for commercial gain must hold a valid dealer’s licence, and we continue to take action against those who fail to comply.

Consumer Protection has successfully prosecuted four unlicensed dealers in recent months, as part of ongoing efforts to protect the interests of both consumers and those licensed businesses that bear the cost of doing the right thing.

One of those most recent convictions involved repeat offender Jayde Al-Defeari, who was ordered to pay $30,208 in fines and costs by the Perth Magistrates Court for buying 18 vehicles and selling 22 of them in less than a year. This latest case represented Ms Al-Defeari’s fourth conviction for unlicensed dealing.

In the other prosecutions, Samuel Pihl of Thornlie was fined $7,500 by the Armadale Courthouse for selling 24 vehicles in 12 months; Indrek Veskioja of Nollamara received a $5,000 fine for selling 18 vehicles over two years; and Van Vinh Tran of Beechboro was fined $5000 for selling 36 vehicles in just under a year.

Odometer tampering is another serious issue Consumer Protection continues to tackle by prosecuting sellers who engage in this illegal conduct. Most recently, Wesam Hamed Mohammed of Balga was fined $3,200 by the Perth Magistrate’s Court for misleading two buyers by falsifying odometer readings. One vehicle sold by Mr Mohammed had 100,000 fewer kilometres on its odometer reading than when he bought it a month earlier, while the other vehicle had 52,000km less on its odometer reading than official records showed it having four years earlier.

Repairers who fail to complete work after accepting payment are also in Consumer Protection’s sights, with Chris Hall (former Director of 5XH Logistics Pty Ltd [deregistered] formerly trading as The Barra Shed) penalised almost $50,000 for this offence. Between May 2019 and June 2020, Mr Hall accepted payments totalling $47,691.25 from three vehicle owners for mechanical work that he failed to complete. For this reason, we have been advising consumers to only pay small deposits upfront for expensive work like engine conversions, or to consider negotiating progress payments once stages of work have been confirmed to be completed.

At the same time, we will advise the customer of the complaint referral and to expect contact from you about the concerns.

If a resolution is reached, we encourage you to provide the consumer with written confirmation of the agreement. If not, Consumer Protection will proceed with the formal Conciliation service in due course. If you don’t believe a remedy is required, you can let us know why in writing, which we will review and make contact if we need to discuss your position further.

Conciliation Light Touch is an opportunity for dealers and repairers to become aware of a consumer’s concerns early on and allows for issues to be fixed without the need for more formal processes, such as Consumer Protection’s conciliation service or legal action in court.

If you’ve already taken part in our ‘Conciliation Light Touch’ service, we are inviting feedback.

CONTACT US

Consumer Protection has zero tolerance for dealers who continue to use outdated and illegal sales contracts containing a higher cancellation fee than what is now allowed.

Since 1 January 2022, the maximum amount dealers can charge a consumer who cancels a purchase contract is five per cent of the contract’s value. Previously, sellers could charge up to 15 per cent as “pre-estimated liquidated damages” (PELD).

A dealer in Perth’s northern suburbs has been issued with two infringement notices after buyers signed outdated contracts which

stated the old 15 per cent PELD fee. Since the reduction came into force, Consumer Protection received 47 complaints in 2022 relating to disputes over fees charged after contract cancellations, double the number lodged in 2021. Most complaints have been resolved. Our officers will be taking enforcement action against dealers who break the current laws by getting their clients to sign sales contracts that contain the higher amount, or worse, charge them the higher amount when they cancel. Dealers should not automatically charge the maximum five per cent fee, as the amount needs to realistically reflect the actual costs of the cancellation to the business. They may need to demonstrate how the fee has been calculated if a complaint is received.