I am very pleased and thankful to be elected Chairman following the CMEIG Annual General Meeting. First, I wish to acknowledge and thank my predecessor Ranil Tennakoon, for his extensive contribution and the legacy that I now look to take forward.

In many respects the work that CMEIG undertakes on behalf of our industry can be viewed against the following pillars of engagement:

People & Safety – Endeavouring to keep people safe is an area our members individually work very hard on. As an industry we train, develop and support a lot of people, so collectively our members have a lot of knowledge and skills that we could collaborate on and use to improve the WH&S for our industry. So, to enhance and share this knowledge we have formed the CMEIG Health, Safety & Environment Working Group, which has now had several meetings and is already at work on “Injury Classification and Working at Heights” papers.

Environment & Sustainability – Environment and Sustainability responsibility is rightfully a key requirement for business. CMEIG will increase value for our members through the WHS&E working Group plus our direct representation working closely with the Federal Government. For example, we will continue to work with the Department of Agriculture, Water & Environment on their Non-Road Diesel Emissions Paper to ensure smooth introduction of low emission engines for our members and ultimately our customers. We are also looking at other areas we can bring to our members to enhance their E&S activities.

Engineering & Standards – The Engineering & Standards working group have done some incredible work over the years and naturally this is one of our important pillars for CMEIG. Noting an incredible achievement by the E&S working group for our CMEIG members last year, where 120 ISO standards have now been direct text adopted as Australian standards.

Engineering & Standards as a pillar is central to ensuring that Australian requirements are aligned to our multinational OEM equipment supply.

Information & Communication – Information & Communication are important for any organisation. As a pillar I&C brings balance and clarity on our objectives, activities and outcomes. As an example, the recent presentation by Carsales on new report formats to CMEIG’s industry statistics group, guiding our supplier on what is best for our members. Our web page and recently added LinkedIn page will add to communication improvement and information sharing.

With a four-pillar focus, our new exec team, the working groups & David Birrell will continue to work hard for our members. I am excited for the rest of 2021, and I honestly feel it is a privilege to be entrusted with this role and to be working with a team of experienced and dedicated people who are driven to represent and add value for our membership group.

I trust that you find this edition of the CMEIG newsletter informative.

Regards,
Dean Gaedtke