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ADVOCACY
PROGRESSING THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY’S PRIORITIES The MTA is actively pushing the industry’s priorities with the new State Government. Meetings have been held with the Premier and Ministers during May and will continue into June. In attendance were MTA Chair Frank Agostino, CEO Paul Unerkov and Industry and Government Engagement Manager, Kaes Cillessen. “We will meet with all the relevant ministers across the new Cabinet,” said Kaes. “And we’re also going to be working with the Opposition and the crossbench as well. We represent our industry, we don’t represent a certain side of politics. We’re about delivering outcomes and making sure the priorities of our industry are progressed and are acknowledged by government.” The following is a summary of discussions with each Minister. Andrea Michaels, the Minister of Small Business and Consumer Affairs. •
Reiterated that vast majority of our members are small, medium and family run businesses. Thanked her for the government’s decision to make the changes to close contact rules, which has been a major issue for our industry, which is already facing skill shortages.
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MTA is keen to see progress in the reform of the Second Hand Vehicle Dealers Act (the Act). It has been in the pipeline for three years and many members have had significant input in terms of cutting red tape, streamlining processes and update forms, and modernising the Act to reflect modern business practice. “We were pleased that Labor promised that they would push through with the update of the Act. We don’t want to see that body of work, go to waste,” said Kaes. Body repair legislation. Minister worked on this in Opposition and understands the issues. MTA stressed the point that as the legislation has been passed, there should be more urgency finalising the implementing the new regulations, including: o the ability to issue penalties for breaches against the code, as well as the disclosure of choice of repair and insurer relationships with repairers. o a stronger role for the Small Business Commissioner in terms of mediating and resolving disputes between insurers and repairers.
Stephen Mulligan, Treasurer •
The importance of the automotive industry in terms of its contribution of more than two billion to the South Australian economy through the approx. 5000 businesses that employ more than 27,000 employees.
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A key topic was making sure South Australia remains a competitive place nationally to do business.
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Labor’s election promise for no new taxes and what that actually means in detail. We’re pleased to hear that they’re committed to it, and that we’ll be watching it closely in terms of that commitment,” said Kaes.
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Land tax: general message from the Minister was ‘no changes planned’.
Blair Boyer, Minister for Education, Training and Skills •
A key portfolio, given industry skill shortages and the fact that the MTA trains 900 apprentices and employs 475.
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Stressed the importance of promoting trade pathways for young people
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Minister reiterated election commitment to deliver an automotive apprentice mentoring program. MTA working through the
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