A note from our Managing Director...
The Christmas holiday greeting is a perfect time to remind you how much I appreciate your hard work on behalf of the TASCO group.
It takes a multitude of different skills and efforts across the variety of administrative, retail, logistical and wholesale tasks that go into making each day a success in safely serving our customers across the vast regional footprint we now trade across.
So, to each and everyone across the length and breadth of TASCO's territory please accept that your efforts have again combined in 2024 to ensure a safe and successful year as we are about to embark on our sixty ninth year of operation in 2025.
I hope you enjoy a wonderful Christmas and new year season filled with the people and traditions that mean the most to you.
Wishing you some well-deserved downtime over the holidays. You’ve earned it!
Merry Christmas to you and yours,
- Ross Lake, Managing Director
A note from our General Manager...
Hi & welcome to the 5th edition of our Network News.
I’d like to begin with acknowledging the passing in October of a long-term staff member of ours, Belinda Perry. Belinda started with TASCO, way back in 1988. As our Accounts Payable Manager for most of those years, her work ethic and organisational skillset were second to none. With 36 years of service, Belinda leaves behind a legacy of consistent contribution and for that we thank her.
In the last 12 months we have seen some significant change. From an IT perspective, we have now fully migrated into the cloud with both our Microsoft Office and accounting system platforms. Retail has seen us busy with new branding, site upgrades and a full Point of Sale rollout. Our Carrier’s division is also expanding, highlighted by the addition of some new prime movers & trailer sets. Our Carriers Manager Steve Rose explains more on page 22.
Our wholesale arm has some head wind this year with the challenges thus far. With a dry growing season combined with patches of frost and hail, then late unseasonal rain, harvest has generally been below average across the board.
From a growth perspective, we have been working with Ampol to expand our Distribution area which exists in and around Murray Bridge, to now include the Adelaide Hills, Adelaide Metro & south throughout the Fleurieu Peninsula.
These are exciting times. It’s the first foray for our business into a metro area. There will be challenges ahead, and to this point, I’d like to thank Steve Cheriton, our Murray Bridge Depot Manager & his entire team for their efforts thus far.
Our annual conference was held in Melbourne this year in October. Our awards ceremony & gala night was well represented. Worthy award winners were..
• Wholesale Depot of the year, Benalla Depot
• Retail site of the year, St Arnaud
• Business Innovation, Ronan Ban (Retail Area Manager) and Emma Hamence (Marketing Co-Ordinator)
• HSSE Champion, Benji Seers (Benalla Driver)
• Service Excellence, Drew May (Regional Manager)
• Community Engagement, John Carra (Regional Manager)
I’d like to congratulate these winners, along with honourable mentions to all other nominees.
As we approach the festive season, please take this opportunity to down tools and spend some time with family & friends if you’re able. To our staff, we thankyou for the effort put in this year. To our business partners we pass on our appreciation for the last 12 months and look forward to the year ahead.
Stay safe, enjoy this edition and thanks again for reading.
Evan Newell
General Manager
Staff achievements
Since our last edition, we have had a number of staff celebrate some incredible years of service with the TASCO Group.
We would like to congratulate the following staff on their incredible milestones..
20 Years Margaret Cram, Tailem Bend
25 Years Annette Harris, Albury
30 Years Alistair Head, Murray Bridge
35 Years John Condon, Wagga
40 Years Trevor Bryant, Naracoorte
Celebrating Retirement
On the 1st of July 2024, we wished Tony Prosser, our Depot Manager at Murray Bridge, all the best as he enters retirement.
Tony began employment with TASCO through the acquisition of Barrett Petroleum in 2013 and remained an integral part of our business in South Australia ever since.
With Tony's retirement, we would like to introduce and welcome our new Depot Manager of Murray Bridge, Steve Cheriton.
Steve has already became a valued member of our business through his role as we expand with further fuel supply in South Australia expanding his role and responsibilities. Welcome to the TASCO family Steve!
We wish Tony all the best as he enjoys his retirement with his family and wife Judy.
As part of this years R U OK day, we invited our staff to host a morning tea on Thursday the 12th of September to help spread awareness and ask the simple question R U OK?
Sites were encouraged to get creative using resources from R U OK, and enjoy a morning tea together.
R U OK DAY
R U OK is a national suicide prevention charity that encourages people to stay connected and have conversations that can help others through difficult times.
Their work focuses on building the motivation, confidence and skills of the help-giver – the person who can have a meaningful conversation with someone who is struggling with life. R U OK? contributes to suicide prevention efforts by encouraging people to invest more time in their personal relationships and building the capacity of informal support networks – friends, family and colleagues - to be alert to those around them, have a conversation if they identify signs of distress or difficulty and connect someone to appropriate support, long before they're in crisis.
How can you create the conversation?
R U OK? Inspire and empower everyone to meaningfully connect with the people around them and start a conversation with those in their world who may be struggling with life. You don't need to be an expert to reach out - just a good friend and a great listener.
Use these four steps and have a conversation that could change a life:
1. Ask R U
Our donations are growing..
The current total TASCO Petroleum donations by our staff to lifeblood is 44. Lives saved, 132!
Thank you to our donors, hold your head high. Great work!
How can I become a donor?
For all information on how you can become a donor, please visit: https://www.lifeblood.com.au/
We were proud sponsors of the 2024 Ford NSW OPEN Tournament held at Murray Downs Golf & Country Club.
The tournament was an incredible event for the Swan Hill community, with it being the third richest golf tournament in Australia and televised nationally with coverage on channel 7Plus.
With the addition of Cameron Smith playing in the tournament, Golf NSW declared it "the biggest golfing event since Norman played in the 80’s!”.
A hugely successful event for Swan Hill and the wider community.
On Friday the 8th of November, Compass Group finalists gathered for their Star Awards ceremonies.
The Star Awards ceremonies recognise the outstanding talent that makes Compass Group Australia a leader in food and support services. We would like to congratulate Anne Parker, from our Ampol Narrandera site, who won the NSW/ACT Service Champion Award!
This award recognises individual employees who directly engage with customers, clients, employees, residents or guests and those that create multiple, memorable service experiences. Anne is pictured below (centre) with Riley and Elias (NSW Operations Manager) at the Awards Night held at WestHQ in Sydney with her Award. Congratulations Anne!
On the 8th - 10th of October our Annual TASCO Conference was held at the Amora Riverwalk Hotel in Richmond.
Melbourne Newport Terminal
The conference began with TASCO's Ampol Business Manager, Peter Moran taking a group on a tour of the Ampol Newport Terminal.
An incredible experience for our staff to get first hand knowledge of the operational aspect of fuel transport and handling, prior to drivers collecting.
At the end of the tour, staff were then shown the Newport operations hub for Ron Finemore Transport. Scott Cooper from Ron Finemore Transport introduced staff to Cameron Kempson, Operations Planner for Ron Finemore Transport Bulk Liquids Division. Cameron's responsibility is to effectively and efficiently plan and execute deliveries to fuel customers, utilising metro and regionally based fleet and drivers. He manages, monitors and maintains fuel leaves as per customers requirements, TASCO Petroleum included. Staff were amazed at Cameron's skill and also the technology and knowledge he has at hand.
On conclusion of the Newport Terminal tour, all staff assembled in the conference room at the Amora Riverwalk for a team session, TASCO's Lego Masters.
TASCO Lego Masters was a team building activity that challenged small groups in design thinking, problem solving, iterative learning, effective planning and rapid deployment of ideas. It is was enjoyable, engaging and specifically designed to enhance our staff connections and interactions with one another. A great afternoon indeed with some fantastic creations by staff and the winners crowned.
Day one.
The conference commenced with presentations from external guest speakers and also internal staff presentations.
Speaking to the group about all things finance was Joel George & Praveen Gounder from Commonwealth Bank, Danielle Jones from William Buck presented on superannuation and Dr Tim Driscoll from the Royal Flying Doctor Services spoke to the group about supportive conversations within the workplace.
After morning tea the group session panel commenced with internal speakers Steve Rose TASCO Carriers Manager and Jason Wells TASCO Lubricants & Marketing Manager joined by external guest speakers Kevin Rodda from Ron Finemore Transport and Peter Moran from Ampol to discuss all things wholesale, TASCO business and industry related.
From the group session panel, internal presentations commence with internal training tips from Wayne Hatcher on our Octane accounting system which was then followed by a presentation from guest speaker Elle Lancaster from our Acacia Employee Assistance Program, addressing the group about the services all TASCO staff have access to as members of Acacia EAP.
After lunch the group then settled in for a presentation on all things retail with our Retail Director Mark Hughes and Retail Manager Pete Jessup. To compliment the retail focus, Kosta Soldatos from New Sunrise Group presented afterwards, going through each TASCO operated site and giving further information about what New Sunrise Group is currently working on.
To conclude the day, Rob Watson and Donella Corbett from Ampol presented. Rob gave an update of Ampols projects they have been working on and insights on industry related topics. Donella then presented on a hot topic for many businesses, customer service.
That evening, staff and external guests and business partners were invited to TASCO's annual Gala Evening that is held at a surprise location each year...
Day two.
After an incredible night at the Gala Evening, the final day of the conference had come around quickly!
Zac Amos from ASI started the day off with a presentation about Cyber security, followed by Daniel Simko from Credit Watch complimenting the Cyber Security presentation with an informative presentation about the current trends shaping credit risk management.
Elisha Radwanowski, Executive Manager of Employment and Compliance at ACAPMA then presented on the Employment Landscape within our industry.
Following on from Elisha's presentation, we then delved into the health, safety, security and environment side of the business with our HSSE managers Rob Bond & Lannette Hunstone presenting.
TASCO Carriers and Brad Johnson from Johnsons Trucks followed on from HSSE, presenting on the plans for TASCO Carriers fleet, with discussion on the increased efficiency the new equipment and trucks provide to our business.
Before the day concluded, a final presentation was made by Naomi Frauenfelder and Mark Parry from Healthy Heads in Trucks and Sheds. Naomi and Mark discussed the work that Healthy Heads focuses on, being a registered not-for-profit foundation that provides a national approach to improving mental health and physical wellbeing for people working in road transport, warehousing and logistics.
Overall, our 2024 TASCO Connect Conference was a great success in connecting with our staff and external business partners. We thank our staff for their attendance and also our guests who joined us throughout.
Our annual TASCO Gala Evening was held on Wednesday the 9th of October, 2024..
Welcome to Crown!
At approx 6.00pm guests arrived at one of Melbournes finest venues for our Gala Evening with the event being held in the incredible Horizon room at Crown Towers. Overlooking the city of Melbourne, Horizon provided an amazing backdrop to the night that followed, with great company, site awards with thanks to Ampol combined with our TASCO staff excellence awards were presented.
Presentations
During the evening we farewelled Tony Prosser and thanked him for his service to TASCO Petroleum as he now enjoys retirement. There was many fond memories and words of appreciation, while a few laughs were also shared when reminiscing on Tony's time with TASCO Petroleum since the acquisition of Barrett Petroleum in 2013.
Next up for presentations was our annual Retail Site of the Year and our Depot Site of the Year.
We would like to congratulate the following:
Retail site of the Year: St Arnaud
Depot of the Year First Place: Benalla
Depot of the Year Second Place: Mildura
Depot of the Year Third Place: Bunnaloo
Staff Awards
After the site awards it was then time for our Staff Excellence awards. The staff excellence awards being:
• Service Excellence
• Business Innovation
• Community Engagement
• HSSE Champion
We encouraged all staff to get involved and make nominations via a nomination form that was sent out. Nominations were unlimited and all awards could be applied to both retail and wholesale aspects of our business, giving all staff within our network the opportunity to be recognised.
We would like to congratulate the following winners:
• HSSE Champion: Benji Seers, Benalla Depot
• Business Innovation: Ronan Ban & Emma Hamence, Mildura
• Service Excellence: Drew May, Albury
• Community Engagement: John Carra, Mildura
Once all formalities were complete, guests enjoyed their final course while taking in the incredible atmosphere and city views.
Thank you to all who attended our Gala Evening. We look forward to 2025!
Monday the 2nd of September marked the beginning of TASCO Petroleum’s seventh annual Safety Week.
During the week all staff across the network participated in daily activities and were given informative resources to promote the continued conversation of safety throughout the network.
All staff were encouraged to get involved and have their say, making TASCO Petroleum the safest possible place to work.
Safety Week 2024 Plan
Admin:
Monday 2nd September 2024 Spot the Hazards
Tuesday 3rd September 2024 Fall prevention
Wednesday 4th September 2024 Electrical safety
Thursday 5th September 2024 Fire safety
Friday 6th September 2024 Hi Vis Day
Wholesale & Retail:
Monday 2nd September 2024 Spot the Hazards
Tuesday 3rd September 2024 Fall prevention
Wednesday 4th September 2024 Spill prevention
Thursday 5th September 2024 Fire safety
Friday 6th September 2024 Hi Vis Day
What’s was on offer?
The Safety Week winning site was once again presented with the Safety Week perpetual shield to immortalise their success as "Safety Week Champions”. Team members from the winning site also receive individual prizes. Safety Week packs were posted out to all sites to get creative and have fun throughout the week.
Safety Week Photo Challenge
Coming in first was a photo organised by Jill in Murray Bridge netting her a $50 fuel card.
In a very close second, we had a photo organised by Maddie in Mildura winning a $25 fuel card.
Safety Questionnaire
This year we included the Safety Questionnaire as part of Safety Week, thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the questionnaire. Being drawn first and as such receiving a $100 fuel card, congratulations to Darren Khoo at Kerang.
The following 10 staff were subsequently drawn winning a $50 fuel card each:
• Geoff McConnell Wodonga Depot
• Jane Wilkinson Carpenter Street
• Charlie Hedley Carpenter Street
• Emily Wooley Kerang
• Samuel Payne Carpenter Street
• Maree Morris Wodonga Roadhouse
• Katie Gorman Albury Admin
• Anthony Daniliuc Wodonga Roadhouse
• Valerie Brown Bendigo Depot
• Nicole Byers Carpenter Street
Congratulations to all our winners!
Safety
Week Champions
Overall we were thrilled with the staff engagement throughout the week. The sites that championed safety through the week were:
With a great level of engagement with things such as a morning tea (attempted bribery) Wodonga Depot managed to take the runner up slot. Good work team.
Our champions were a site that have consistently ranked highly in these Safety Week challenges over the years and have often only just missed out. This site shows a great culture and really took the initiative engaging their staff throughout the week.
Our new Safety Week Champions for 2024 are... Bendigo Carpenter Street!
The Champions each took home a $50 fuel card and the coveted trophy to display in their store for the next 12 months. The runners up also received a $25 fuel card each for their efforts.
Thank you to all staff for participating in Safety Week 2024!
SPOT THE HAZARDS
In August, TASCO joined the Farm Angels "Flanno for a Farmer" campaign, donning "flannos" in conjunction with major corporate sponsors of Farm Angels and the Flanno for a farmer cause, Ampol Australia Pty Ltd.
Who are Farm Angels?
Farm Angels was established as Drought Angels in 2014 to respond to the needs of primary producers impacted by prolonged drought, initially in Queensland. Since then, the organisation has expanded to provide financial assistance, food hampers, care packs, and mental wellbeing support to over 4,700 primary producers affected by all natural disasters (drought, flood, fire, and plagues) in over 1,300 communities across Australia. The frequency and severity of natural disasters mean many are at risk of losing their farm or walking away. According to a 2021 study, one farmer completes suicide every 10 days (59% higher than the rate among non-farmers). Farm Angels seeks to reduce this through phone conversations and on farm visits. By supporting these farmers to stay on the land through assistance tailored to their individual needs, Farm Angels contributes to Australia’s regional economies, food security and the social wellbeing of rural communities.
What is Flanno for a farmer?
"We're asking fellow Aussies to support their Aussie farmers by donning a "flanno" and donating a fiver because we always need our farmers to sustain our nation, but it's important to recognise that sometimes they need us too!
Through drought, floods, fires, plagues and more; the conditions are tough and so are our farmers, but just because they can handle a heck of a lot, doesn’t mean they should have to.
The frequency and severity of natural disasters mean many are at risk of losing their farm or walking away, and according to a 2021 study, one farmer completes suicide every 10 days which is a staggering 59% higher than the rate among non-farmers,
This is not something that we can ignore and we ask for your help to show farmers we care, we stand by them and we support them. Every dollar raised goes to Farm Angels who provide tangible support for farmers through financial assistance, food hampers, care packs, and mental wellbeing support to over thousands of primary producers affected by all natural disasters (drought, flood, fire, and plagues) in over 1,300 communities across Australia."
While there's never an easy day on the land, Farm Angels help make the really tough days a little easier.
Fuel & Lubricants
As we reflect on the year 2024, I’m very thankful for the opportunity, assistance & achievements we've reached together as a company.
This year has been marked by change & growth. We have expanded our services, strengthened our team, whilst continued to support our customer base, making us better equipped to face future challenges in the lubricant industry & become a go to location for all your lubricant & equipment needs.
I want to take a moment to express my gratitude & say thanks to our dedicated staff, loyal customers & the continued support we have received from our valued business partners. Your hard work and support has been invaluable over the last 12 months.
As we celebrate the festive season, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May this time bring happiness to you and your loved ones (perhaps even a sneaky beverage or 2).
I look forward to building new & strengthening our current partnerships in 2025!
Jason Wells Lubricants & Marketing Manager
FIELD DAYS 2025
Southeast Field Days (Lucindale) Friday 21st & Saturday 22nd March
Mallee Machinery Field Days (Speed)
Wednesday 6th & Thursday 7th August
Henty Field Days
Tuesday 23rd, Wednesday 24th & Thursday 25th September
Elmore Field Days Tuesday 7th, Wednesday 8th & Thursday 9th October
