CMPA Annual Report

GAVIN MOREIRA, CMPA Member Services Manager, provides a summary of the CMPA Annual Report.

Chairperson’s Report – Garry Cranny

Following is a summary of the Chairperson’s report by Garry Cranny prepared by Dr Elizabeth Gibson.

The most important set of issues confronting the Extractive Industries sector remains those pertaining to the identification, security and certainty of access to Victoria’s abundant supply of extractive resources.

The last financial year (2020/21) has continued to be one of great uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions put in place by Government. Social distancing plays an important part in preventing the spread of the virus, but this has affected many CMPA activities, such as cancellation of simple face to face meetings through to the 2020 Annual Dinner with the AGM being held by Videoconference. Despite this uncertainty CMPA has continued to support and advocate for the construction material industry. The CMPA has/is:

• Continued to successfully lobby Government for the inclusion of the construction material industry as an essential service during the pandemic;
• Video conferencing on topics such as Slimes Management and the release of the CMPA Guideline; Fire Management and the release of the CMPA Bushfire Response and Readiness Template; Dust Management Workshop and the release of CMPA Respirable Crystalline Silica Dust Guideline and associated medical guidelines; CMPA Blast Management workshop and General Meeting.
• An in-person workshop on Critical Incident Response and Pest Animal and Weed Management with associated CMPA Guidelines being released with a site visit to Batesford Quarry; the Service and Maintenance workshop was again postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Consistent with previous years and its core function, the CMPA has continued to represent and service the needs of Members through the provision of advice, advocacy in the domain of industry-regulator relationships, and business networking opportunities. The Association has also continued to produce and make available to Members, educational materials to assist with industry best practice training, in conjunction with improvements in the vital area of occupational health and safety (OH&S).

In so doing, the CMPA, has simultaneously sought to improve not only the performance, but also the public perception of the Extractive Industries sector, an essential service in Australia’s highest performing state for population and economic growth, to a wide range of various stakeholders throughout Victoria.

The CMPA continues to regularly meet with relevant Ministers from the State Government (most importantly, the Minster for Resources, The Hon. Jaclyn Symes MP and their opposition Shadows). In this regard, the CMPA has and will continue its policy of being non-partisan and taking an even-handed approach to consultation with Ministers, Shadow Ministers and politicians more generally. This policy has enabled the CMPA to establish effective relations, whereby we are afforded adequate access to key Minister’s and parliamentarians within each of the major political parties in Victoria.

At present ERR is publishing statistics that demonstrate statutory time frames for the approval of Work Authorities and Work Plan Variations are being achieved. However, the CMPA contends this performance data would be far more meaningful and credible, if accompanied by the additional tonnes per annum of actual construction materials made available to the market, courtesy of these approvals.

OH&S remains a vital component of the sustainability and the employment risk profile attached to the extractive industries. All industry sector participants be they business management colleagues, extractive and plant operation employees, mobile plant, haul, or highway truck drivers, who in many CMPA Member instances, are friends and relatives, rightly have the fundamental expectation they will return safely home from their day’s work.

The CMPA will strengthen its endeavours to work hand-in-hand with Members, their employees and WorkSafe to continually improve safety in our workplaces through the development of necessary educative tools, training, consultation and guidance such as the release of the CMPA RCSD Management Guideline and medical forms.

Guidelines produced by the CMPA are aimed at supporting Members to meet industry best practice and thereby improve both OH&S practices and business sustainability.

The CMPA Secretariat continues to tirelessly represent Members’ interests to State and Federal Government on a broad range of industry related issues, copies of these submissions are available on www.cmpavic.asn.au.

The quality of submissions made by the CMPA to Government, agencies, various enquiries and others are a credit to our small, efficient and tremendously motivated Secretariat with expert support from the Association’s modest in number, but highly valued list of consultant advisors.

The CMPA remains committed to supporting responsible, balanced legislation and community engagement that is in the best interests of the State while also appropriately acknowledging Victoria’s Aboriginal communities and cultural heritage.

Ongoing and future State and Federal Governments’ Extractive Industries sector regulatory reform issues that are forecast to occupy a substantial part of the Association’s effort in the ensuing year, include, but are not limited to:

• Simplification and cost reduction of Extractive Industries Work Plan applications including the Risk-based Work Plan process;
• Working with DELWP regarding native vegetation and planning issues;
• CMPA Review of Extractive Industry Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation Policy and Bonds in Victoria
• Development of various submissions for Government Policies, Regulations and Codes of Practice that impact the future of the industry.
• Lobbying for the continued separation of Extractive Industries (quarries) from the mining, coal mining and coal seam gas sectors covered by the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) (MR(SD)) Act and its extensive set of related regulations;
• Working with Government to develop mechanisms for identifying and protecting current and future extractive resource assets in planning mechanisms, such as Strategic Extractive Resource Areas (SERAs);
• Continued development of the following Training Manuals: Conduct Sand Wash Operations, Conduct Blending Plant Operations, Service and Maintain Screens, Service and Maintain Conveyors, Service and Maintain Bulk Feed Bins and Hoppers;
• Development of:
  • Water Management Plan template for Quarries;
  • Review of Working safely with geotechnical risk guideline;
  • Review of Noise Management Guideline;
  • Social Procurement training.
• Providing input to VicRoads on a range of strategic issues such as introduction of recycled materials where fit for purpose and technical issues through the CMPA/VicRoads Technical Committee.

In closing and as this is my last year as Chairperson (2021 (ex officio), 2017-2020 and 2014-2017), I would like to acknowledge and thank the Management Committee and the Secretariat for their diligent work and valued support throughout the year. My appreciation, on behalf of the Management Committee, is also extended to all of those Voting, Associate and Workforce Members who have actively participated in training, or other CMPA organised industry related events throughout the year, including other information sharing, or networking opportunities.

Associate Chairperson’s Report – Jason Rudge

Refer to page 4 for extracted report

Education Committee Report – Dr Elizabeth Gibson

CMPA has continued to maintain its representation of members’ education and training requirements to government, peak training bodies, RTOs, and other industry organisations.

A number of educational events by CMPA were conducted throughout 2020/21:

• Slimes, Fire, Dust (RCSD) and Blast Management webinars
• Critical Incident Response, Pest Animal and Weed Management workshops

Additionally, Dr Elizabeth Gibson as Chair of the Extractive Industry Reference Committee (Federal VET Education) has been active in progressing a number of units such as Construction Material Testing (a skills set that allows for supervision of a NATA accredited construction materials testing laboratory); Geotechnical Risk in quarries and Dust Management units.

The following units have since been approved and released by www.training.vic.gov.au.

RIIMEX303 – Conduct local geotechnical risk control in surface operations (Release 1) 23.09.20

RIISTD401 – Monitor quarry laboratory operations and the quality of results (Release 1) 23.09.21

The Future

The Secretariat is planning to hold workshops in:

• October 2021 – Conduct Blending
• November 2021 – Water Management
• March 2021 and May 2021 are to be determined in consultation with Members

Treasurer’s Report – John Pititto

With the 2020/21 finacial year coming to an end I am pleased to present my Treasurer’s report on the Audited Financial Statements for the CMPA.

The association has seen a decrease in total operating costs for the year, the decrease in expenses was related to lower employment costs, cost of sales and newsletters. Reduction in meeting expenses including no Annual Dinner held and membership visits impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Total Income was down on last year. This decrease in revenue is manly due to the CMPA not able to host the annual dinner event due to COVID-19 restrictions. The CMPA was eligible for a number of COVID 19 Government subsidies in the year. This was a mixture of payments from the Cashflow Boost Scheme and JobKeeper payments.

The major source of income was membership subscriptions, with contributions from meetings and events, newsletter advertising and operator document sales.

Employment expenses were the single largest expense in the period. This covered one full time employee and two part time employees. Other expenses included publications, consultants and the cost of holding meetings and events.

COVID-19 has continued to place significant stress on many busineses with continued extended lockdowns. The CMPA has and will continue to assist our members by allocating significant funds to provide support and legislative guidence to hopefully ease some of these burdens going forward. These funds will be used to continue to support members of the CMPA and to be a vocal voice in the industry.

We would also like to recoginise all the asscociate members that continue to be part of the CMPA and are still willing to support the association through membership renewals for the upcoming year.

Secretariat’s Report – Sarah Andrew

This year has seen the CMPA run six very successful events including one workshop and five webinars with 197 people participating in these activities. We would like to thank all participants for their contribution.

Alissa continued in her role as the Administration Support Officer until January 2021 on a part time basis, she was thanked for her contribution to CMPA after 3 years in her position. Abby Eager commenced in April 2021 in the role of Administration Officer and has already fitted into the Secretariat really well.

Elizabeth and Gavin have continued in their respective roles with Gavin representing the CMPA on the Earth Resources Tripartite Safety Committee (Chaired by WorkSafe Victoria). Elizabeth invests considerable time and energy representing the CMPA to Ministers, Shadow Ministers, advisers and senior public servants; and on the following committees:

• Earth Resources Regulation Stakeholder Reference Group Steering Committee and associated working groups focused on resolving issues arising from the introduction of the risk-based work plan, Resource Management System Vic, Public Reporting. Unfortunately, work plan approvals remain low with the tonnages of construction materials approved per annum not yet published.
• The Extractive Strategy Taskforce focused on ensuring the security of access to construction materials.
• Elizabeth was appointed to the Heavy Vehicle Consultation Group to advise The Hon Ben Carroll MP – Minister for Public Transport, Minister for Roads and Road Safety and The Hon Melissa Horne MP – Minister for Ports and Freight on Victorian freight issues.

Elizabeth, Gavin, Alissa and Abby have been supported in their duties by a number of Voting Members – their assistance is, as always, greatly appreciated and we look forward to their continued support and welcome any others who may be able to assist.

Site visits have not taken place 2020/21 due to COVID-19 restrictions, however, more frequent phone calls have been made to Members and Elizabeth is keeping everyone updated with the restrictions. The Management Committee approved the advertisement for a Business Development Manager (temporary, contract).

Information Flow

Sand & Stone continues to be the primary means of keeping Members informed of the CMPA’s activities throughout 2020/21. Newspaper House in Kilmore continue to design Sand & Stone whilst Enviroprint group publish the magazine. We of course extend our sincerest thanks to Newspaper House; Sand & Stone’s many contributors, especially those who present articles for every edition; and those Associates who advertise making the magazine possible.

CMPA Updates via Mailchimp have been distributed throughout the year keeping recipients informed of recent industry specific accidents and incidents, along with information on upcoming events. The purpose of the updates is primarily to provide its readers with a summary of the incidents that have occurred across the state, nation and internationally to improve the state of knowledge in the industry.

The CMPA’s LinkedIn account has received considerable attention this year, with regular posts being made by the Secretariat. All Members would have received an invitation to follow the CMPA’s account earlier this year and we thank those who chose to.

Once again, I would like to highlight the essential support received by the CMPA from our valued Associate Members whose continued support is greatly appreciated. We cannot stress how much this assists the association and I would again ask Voting Members in return to use the skills of our Associate Members when possible.

Membership

Membership numbers over the last financial year remained stable. However, it should be noted that some Members have exit strategies in place due to the onerous requirements of ERR and referral authorities not being conducive to their continuing in the marketplace. The Secretariat is determined to ensure that the future make-up of the industry will not be a decline in small to medium businesses.

We thank all our Members for their continued support and look forward to working with them over the coming year.

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