World Plumbing Day 2020

WORLD PLUMBING DAY CELEBRATIONS Inspire Industry

Keynote Speaker Michael Crossland

11 March, Every Year, Everywhere

On Wednesday 11 March, MPAQ once again celebrated World Plumbing Day by hosting the industry’s biggest breakfast at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. With over 300 attendees from the plumbing and gas industry, it was humbling to see the support and appreciation that individuals have for their industry.

There were a number of government representatives in attendance, with special guests including the Honourable Mick de Brenni MP, Minister for Housing and Public Works, Digital Technology and Sport and Brett Bassett, Commissioner of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission.

Guest speaker – Michael Crossland

The event’s guest speaker was Michael Crossland, an extraordinary man who has defied the odds of life-threatening cancer to build a life of exceptional achievements. An accomplished businessman and an elite sportsman, his life is a remarkable success. Despite spending nearly a quarter of his life in hospital, Michael has forged a highly successful career in the corporate world, represented Australia in his chosen sport and featured regularly across all forms of media. He also runs a school and orphanage in Haiti and has been presented with the Australia Day Ambassador role for eight consecutive years.

Safe to say there wasn’t a dry eye in the room when Michael was talking!

This is a Conversation Starter (TIACS)

The MPAQ team sold raffle tickets throughout the breakfast for the 2020 MPAQ Events Charity Partner, This is a Conversation Starter (TIACS). Thank you to everyone who donated; over $4,000 was raised from your contributions! A special thank you to Ed Ross and Daniel Allen, TIACS founders, who attended.

Visit the Events Page on the MPAQ website (www.mpaq.com.au) for more information about TIACS or how to donate.

Glen Reid, Southern Downs Regional Council (centre), with Ed Ross (left) and Daniel Allen (right) from TIACS

Event Partners

Events like these are not possible without the generous support of all our partners.

Platinum Event Partner

2020 Ambassadorship Presentation - L-R Kent Vickers, Ben Featherston, Dan Pasfield, Sam Hickey, Helen Robinson, the Hon. Mick de Brenni MP, Penny Cornah

2020 Plumbing Ambassadors Announced

With a combined 60+ years of industry experience, this year’s ambassadors were chosen to represent MPAQ and promote our trade to school students and career-seekers across the state. They were announced during the World Plumbing Day celebrations.

Meet the 2020 Ambassadors: • Ben Featherston is a licensed plumber and drainer with CC P & D Pty

Ltd on the Gold Coast. He has been involved in many different aspects of plumbing in his 20 years in the industry, including mechanical services, maintenance, civil, heavy industry and mining sites, roofing, major construction projects and even being a business owner working in the maintenance and rehabilitation field employing several plumbers and apprentices. • Sam Hickey is a licensed plumber, drainer, and a supervisor with

Hollywood Plumbing in Brisbane, a company he has worked at for 16 years! Sam understands that traditional schooling doesn’t suit everyone and wants to help people see what else is out there. • Daniel Pasfield is a licensed plumber, drainer, gasfitter, and owner of Pasfield Plumbing in Beenleigh. He has been a part of the plumbing and gas industry for over 10 years and wants to give back to an industry that has given him purpose in his life. • Helen Robinson is a qualified cabinetmaker and has run a plumbing and gas fitting business, Gainsite Pty Ltd, in rural Bundaberg for the last 20 years with her husband, Dale. Helen feels strongly about giving back to the industry and just wants to see people succeed.

The Hon. Michael de Brenni MP

Autodesk Construction Cloud

Autodesk Construction Cloud includes three core elements that give construction companies a competitive advantage in the industry: Advanced Technology: Best-in-class software solutions built for simplicity and power – uniting headquarters, office and field teams from design to construction and operations. Builder‘s Network: The industry’s largest network of owners, designers, builders and trades, enabling each to connect with the right partners and projects. Predictive Insights: AI-driven analysis of previously siloed project data provides builders with powerful insights to predict outcomes and reduce risk. Built with BIM 360’s common data environment (CDE), Autodesk Construction Cloud ensures the whole team is collaborating on an integrated record set. Beyond the current capabilities, Autodesk is investing in supporting our customers in meeting ISO-19650.

Keynote Speaker Partner

MC Partner

The Service Trades College

Barista Coffee Partner

Toyota

Supporting Partners

BUSSQ

The Association of Hydraulic Services Consultants Australia Queensland Chapter

Backflow Prevention Association of Australia Inc.

Bunnings Trade CSQ Dial Before You Dig

A note from the Events and Member Services Manager about MPAQ Events

The events MPAQ run are an important part of how we engage with our members, and like many other organisations, we have had to reconsider our delivery of these for the foreseeable future. This has meant a postponement of some of our larger events, including the annual Plumbing and Gas Awards. This event will not be held in 2020, and will instead be combined with next year’s awards in July 2021. The Awards is one of the highlights of our year, the only plumbing specific industry awards program in Queensland, which we’ve proudly organised for over 20 years. Our decision to postpone this event was not an easy one; however, we felt it was the right thing to do. Right now our members’ focus should be on getting through COVID-19 and coming out strong on the other side of it. In July 2021, we’ll have the biggest party of the year as a reward for all the hard work that went into surviving this crisis. Another large event that has seen a 12 month postponement is the Trades Industry Conference, originally scheduled for September 2020. Held in conjunction with six other associations, we all agreed that delivering this event in the capacity it was first intended is the best option for our members, and in the mean time we will all focus tirelessly on supporting our members to the other side of COVID-19. Keep an eye out for the virtual events we are running in the coming months and get involved if you can. You can find out more below. It’s important to stay connected and strong as an industry, communicate with each other and lean on your association and other members for support at this time. We’re all in this together! Lisa Ross

MPAQ will be conducting a number of online forums over the coming months to help keep the industry up to date. Speakers will be relevant to that region with topics focused around COVID-19 and how the crisis has impacted the industry plus general updates from QBCC and the local council. Speakers and times for these events are still to be confirmed.

Upcoming Dates

June 11 - Mackay July 14 - Brisbane 16 - Toowoomba 28 - Fraser Coast 30 - Ipswich August 11 - Sunshine Coast 13 - Logan 18 - Moreton Bay 20 - Rockhampton 25 - Townsville 27 - Gold Coast At this time we will still be running our remaining Golf Days for 2020. These dates have all been postponed to October and will be reassessed if necessary.

Upcoming Dates

October 16 - Brisbane 23 - Gold Coast

MPAQ are also hosting a range of online events including webinars, networking and learning events for our Women’s Plumbing Alliance and workshops for employers.

A note from the Technical Services Manager about MPAQ Training

During this unprecedented time, MPAQ made the difficult decision to postpone all face to face training courses as a measure to protect students, trainers and the public. Unfortunately, this has made access to training somewhat difficult, especially for regional members. In light of this we are now providing access to additional training courses online. The first new course added was COVID-19 Awareness, this short course provides information for businesses, employees and their customers about the virus and methods of mitigating contamination i.e. PPE, disinfection, etc. Additionally, the course includes a collection of resources that can be utilised throughout the business. This course is free to MPAQ members and their employees. There are also a suite of information and awareness courses available at reduced cost as a benefit not only to people on the tools but office and admin staff as well. You can find out more about these on our website: www.mpaq.com.au/training. When all this finally blows over, face to face training will recommence and things will get back to a very welcome normal. In the mean time, check out the online courses we have on offer listed below. Ernie Kretschmer

QLD334SWH01A Evaluate and plan the installation of solar water heating systems

The Solar and Heat Pump training offered by MPAQ is the QBCC Commissioner Approved online course required for all plumbers who wish to gain an endorsement on their plumbing licence to install solar and heat pump water heating systems.

Backflow Revalidation

The Backflow Revalidation course is required for all plumbers who need to renew the backflow endorsement on their plumbing licence. The revalidation is required to be successfully completed every five years in order to maintain the backflow endorsement on your license. This a QBCC Commissioner Approved online course.

BSBSMB401 Establish Legal and Risk Management Requirements of Small Business

This online course covers current legislation and best practice relating to the legal requirements required to identify and comply with all regulations affecting a business. Specifically, it covers the skills and knowledge required to identify and comply with the regulatory, legal, taxation and insurance requirements, and risk management needs of small business.

MPAQ MEMBERS ONLY - COVID-19 Awareness for the Plumbing Industry

The COVID-19 Awareness for the plumbing industry course has been designed for plumbers and gasfitters to further their knowledge about the safety requirements needed on a day to day basis within their role.