Distance isn’t a barrier for this Indigenous father and son duo who travel more than 2625km to receive training at TAFE Queensland SkillsTech. Click the link to read about this inspirational story.

As another year draws to a close, the OPE season is experiencing huge variation from region to region throughout the country. Victoria remains mostly green and is operating relatively well compared to Queensland, which is suffering from drought resulting in slower consumer demand for new product.

Workshops across the country appear to have had a very busy start to the season, with weeks of repairs and maintenance scheduled.

The last report from our weather partners at Weatherzone stated that we are on the cusp of an “el nino” in spring and summer –warmer and dryer conditions than the average for this time of year.

We look forward to sharing the next weather report with our members early in 2015, and hope for some more positive news for Queensland and New South Wales and those regions badly hit drought.

Mid-year the OPEA commenced re-evaluating its industry statistics service – reviewing the current contract and to nominate a supplier for the new contract. I am pleased to confirm that the review has been completed with Strategic Data being awarded the new contract for monthly reports. I would ask all supplier members to ensure that any outstanding information be urgently returned to Stephen Clarkestephen clark@husqvarnagroup.com, so we can provide the details to the new supplier. Dealer members will have access to quarterly reports including the number of units per product category.

Our new training program is progressing and the development of a Certificate II course with increased content into each module. Training will be further discussed at the next boarding meeting on December 9 with the view to finalising modules and timeframes. We will continue to update members through our website.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Executive members for their commitment and support this year. I must also extend my thanks to Mr Rob Ross who has recently stepped down from the executive committee and has been a much valued contributor to the OPEA for many years.

A special thank you also goes to you, our OPEA members. Without your support and investment we could not create and deliver services to you and your business.

The OPEA Executive wishes you and your families a very merry Christmas, good health and success in 2015.

You can view the November 27th AI Group Newsletter here.

This issue includes:

• Senate urged to reject Auto Scheme cuts
• Plug in to Ai Group’s new Blog
• Australia should participate in AIIB
• Blog: Advancing Australian Manufacturing
• The collaborative leader
• Blog: A smoking gun for 3D Printing laws?
• Gender Equality Scorecard – benchmark your performance
• ACA names new President