Secretary’s Report 2007-2008

The Directors present for your approval the Seventh Annual Report of the Tasmanian Bus Association Limited covering the activities during the 2007/2008 year.

Directors Meetings

During the year eleven directors meetings were held in various locations in the state with Launceston being the venue for most meetings, with all meetings being well attended.  The Directors are to be commended for their dedication in giving up a part of their working week from their business to assist members of the Bus and Coach Industry in Tasmania during this time of change.  Due to personal reasons Robin Holmes resigned from the board and due to ill health Malcolm Fenton has been on leave since October. 

2007 Annual General Meeting Conference and Dinner

The 2007 Annual General Meeting was held at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hobart with 70 members in attendance.  In addition to the members present, there were a number of associate members, observers and guests.

During the evening the annual dinner was attended by 114 members, guests and sponsors.

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Sponsorship

The Association wishes to record its appreciation for the support it received from the following organisations:

Custom Coaches, Mercedes Benz, Scania Australia, Stan Biega Bus & Coach Sales Pty Ltd, Lumley General Insurance, CapitalCorp Equipment Finance, Australian Bus & Coach Underwriters, BusBiz Tasmania, Island Batteries, Iveco Bus Sales, Volgren, Bridgestone Tyres, Air International Coachair, Volvo, Styleride Seating, Toyota, King Long Australia and CJD Equipment.

Annual Charity Auction

The Annual Charity Auction was held during the Annual Dinner.  Bidding for the items was most spirited with a record total of $5762.00 being raised during the auction and raffle.

The success of this auction is dependent on the donation of goods and the involvement of delegates attending the dinner being involved in this activity for worthwhile charities.  To all we extend a big thank you.

The Board has this year donated $11,000.00 for the purchase of equipment to the pediatric units of the Royal Hobart Hospital, Launceston General Hospital and the North West Regional Hospital Burnie.

Membership

Membership of the Association as at 31 March has reduced by four during the year to 204 financial members.

The review of Rural School Bus Contracts by DIER resulted in six member operators leaving the industry after receiving a compensation payment.  To those operators we wish them all the best in their future endeavors.

Association Finances

The Associations finances are in a sound position as can be seen by the enclosed financial summary of activity statement for the year ended 31 March 2008. This summary in no way is to be construed as a replacement for the audited financial statements.  A copy of these statements may be obtained from the Secretary.

The Association has purchased major capital items during the financial year.  These being a second brake testing unit for use at Devonport together with a truck to transport one unit statewide. The units have been purchased by Tasmanian Bus Association Limited and are leased to TBA Services Pty Ltd.

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Dividends

The Company’s constitution prohibits the payment of dividends to members of the Company.  The income and property of the Company however derived is to be applied solely to the objectives of the Company.

Core Passenger Services Review

The release was made of the Core Passenger Services review by the Minister for Infrastructure during December 2007. The review had in total 122 recommendations to the government with all recommendations except for one being accepted.  The non accepted recommendation was that $3m per year be spent on upgrading the bus fleet with new large school buses.   At the release the Minister announced that all replacement rural school buses on Rural Contracts of <25 seats would be required to have lap sash seat belts fitted.

Rural School Buses

The Rural School Bus contracts were issued by DIER early February this year. The Association in the lead up to the offer of the contracts was involved in the negotiations towards the new contract through the Associations legal advisers who specialise in passenger transport contracts. The Association understands that in excess of 95% of contracts have been signed and returned to DIER by the end of April 2008.

All new Rural School Bus contracts are now being adjusted monthly for fuel and labor with all other areas being adjusted quarterly.  The monthly adjustments will see the index move regularly each month when changes occur in the components.

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General Access Services Urban Fringe

DIER has been holding meetings regularly for the past six months with all operators who provide these services to urban areas.  The discussions have almost concluded with service provision costs now being established.

Student Only Urban Fringe Services

DIER will be holding the first meeting with operators who provide these services late in May. 

TasBus

Following the re-branding of the organisation during 2006/07, the Directors resolved that for the Association to grow it was required to know how the Association was perceived by industry stakeholders, members and Directors.  The Association employed Birkett and Associates to undertake the review.  The result of the surveys has now been received by the Directors with the key findings being presented to the Annual General Meeting.

TBA Services Pty Ltd

TBA Services Pty Ltd as the wholly owned subsidiary of the Tasmanian Bus Association Limited has now been trading for the past twelve months.  The company set up primarily to be responsible for vehicle inspections, has exceeded the original projections in all areas of its business.

The growth of the vehicle inspection business unit is in a large part due to the effort of the senior vehicle examiner John Eustace. John has traveled to all areas of the state where there is a facility that meets the companies OHS requirements and has delivered to the industry an inspection program that is consistent throughout the state.  The success has also only been possible by the support of operators who have made their facilities available, and in many instances undertaken additional works to ensure that OHS requirements were complied with.

The decision by the Board mid 2007 to purchase a second brake testing unit to be positioned at Devonport has also contributed to the success of the venture in having a unit available for bus operators bringing vehicles into the state to have the vehicle inspected before it leaves Devonport.  The facility at Devonport has also been used regularly by other heavy vehicle road transport operators for new registrations or defect clearances.  Phoenix Coaches, where the unit is based, has also gone well beyond the original scope to ensure that the inspection part of the business has gone from strength to strength.

Industrial Relations

With the new Federal Government, major changes in the industrial relations area are to occur.  The Association, through the Bus Industry Confederation as the convener, has attended preliminary meetings with all member associations to pursue the possibility of the private passenger transport industry having their own award and not being in general transport with other heavy vehicle operations.  The process will be over a period of time, with a new award being in place by 2010.

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Tour and Charter

During the past year the Association has formed a working group headed by an Association Director to assist with the concerns of tour & charter operators.  The Association has had several meetings with the Tourism Industry Council Tasmanian with regard to the modules that are common to the passenger transport operator accreditation scheme and the National Tourism Accreditation Scheme. 

The Bus Industry Confederation has convened a working group to work through the issues to have national tour and charter standards. There has been one meeting of this group, with the states now to review their accreditation schemes as compared to the National Tourism Scheme.

Accreditation

The Association has continued to supply an auditor to members for compliance audits, together with system audits for new members entering the industry.

Vale

To all Association members who lost a member of their family, please accept our condolence in your loss.

Conclusion

This has again been a very busy year for the Association, with a lot of behind the scene activity required to work through the business of the industry, combined with establishing a new business entity in TBA Services Pty Ltd.  The forthcoming year will now see the recommendations from the Core Passenger Review being implemented.

I wish to acknowledge the support given to me as Secretary by the President, Vice President, Directors and Association members.

G A Lewis

Secretary

24 May 2008