But this brightness is dimmed somewhat by continued doubt over the structure of the new economic regulatory framework. Two years ago the then APIA Chief Executive welcomed two major, independent reports – the Parer Review and the Productivity Commission’s Review of the National Access Regime – and since then there has been a PC Review of the Gas Access Regime. All of these reports have supported the introduction of a less intrusive regulatory framework.
However, at each point along the way positive change is being resisted by entrenched ideas. Proposals for what masquerades as “˜lighter-handed’ regulation often end up requiring even more input from business and involve even more intrusive rules and requirements. The words we hear are “˜less intrusive’ and “˜light-handed’, but the actions we see often do not reflect this.
Nevertheless, there has been some good news along the way. The word is that our strong lobbying of Ministers and their officials to maintain access to appeal rights has succeeded. We understand that the Ministerial Council on Energy meeting is likely soon to agree to Merit Review remaining part of the gas transmission regulatory regime.
Also, APIA’s presentation to the Senate legislation committee and our representations to Treasurer Peter Costello and his Parliamentary Secretary, Chris Pearce, have seen the successful amendment of Trade Practices legislation to include pricing principles. By the time of publication, this legislation is expected to have successfully passed through both Houses of Parliament.
APIA will continue to negotiate with the Government and bureaucracy for a better, more realistic and economically responsible deal for the pipeline industry.
In the meantime, 2006 might become the pipeline industry’s “Year of Young People”, with the planned Young People’s Forum in Canberra between 5 and 6 May. More information on this event appears on page 14. Also, there will be a networking session or two specifically targeted towards our younger generation.
We are well on the way to developing a construction training course that will ensure that skills are transferable between construction projects. There will also be important developments regarding safety issues, with fatigue management being this year’s target. The Construction Safety Guidelines are now in place, after much work by the APIA Safety Committee.
And, after a successful 2005 event in Adelaide, the APIA 2006 Annual Convention will be in Alice Springs and promises to be at least as much fun and at least as informative as last year’s.
In my first year at APIA the members have been more than helpful and, as well as getting to know the industry experts at our various events, I’ve also enjoyed visits to the SESA pipeline, Bredero Shaw, BlueScope Steel, OneSteel, APC Socotherm, Rosen, Orrcon, APT’s meter station and trunk receiving station near Canberra, and the latest visit with Delco to the Central Ranges Project.
Cheryl Cartwright
Chief Executive