Thank you to the members who returned me to the Board with their votes at the 2010 Annual General Meeting. I’d also like to thank the Board for electing me to the position of Vice President two years ago and for entrusting me with this role for the next two years. I would also like to thank Peter Cox for his excellent work at the helm over the past two years, and congratulate Mark Cooper on his appointment as Vice President. Thanks too to Richard Robinson for agreeing to continue as Treasurer.
I would like to welcome the new Board Members, Shaun Reardon and Brent Jones. It is important for APIA that we continue to evolve with new Board Members and industry representation. I certainly look forward to participating at this level and ensuring that APIA continues to provide excellent service to its dedicated members.
The pipeline industry is a wonderful industry to be involved in and as the Federal Minister for Energy and Resources Martin Ferguson said at our Conference, we are in a “˜golden age of gas’. How long is that golden age, you may well ask? Certainly this will be for the short and medium term – and perhaps even the longer term – but who can actually predict the future that far ahead? Pipelines – for gas, oil, water or slurry – will be an important part of this age.
What we can do to a large extent is control our own destiny and manage the issues either wholly or partially within our control. The opportunities for APIA, your companies and you are huge. We need to navigate the association and the membership through this period carefully so as to maximise the benefits to the industry and its members.
With opportunity comes responsibility. It is imperative that we do not waste this opportunity and that we ensure we navigate the industry through the ever-increasing number of issues, to create a truly safe, environmentally responsible and sustainable industry. There are many challenges ahead and it is imperative we do it right.
We have much activity planned for 2012. The Pipeline Engineer Training Project will move into its next stage. Project Manager Chris Harvey is well on the way with the task of identifying a range of courses that offer some or many of the competencies that have been identified as those required to be a pipeline engineer. While the most urgently required competencies have been described in detail, we expect that some (or many) of the remaining 100 or so will be detailed over the next year. Chris is also working with the upstream industry to include skills relating to offshore pipelines, as well as with the plastics industry to ensure the skills relating to polyethylene pipe can also be included in the formal Competency Standards, as published on the APIA website.
I am particularly pleased that, under the direction of APIA Director Mark Twycross, the Environment and Safety Committees have been combined to become the Health, Safety and Environment Committee. We expect good things from this group, the first task being a review of the Code of Environmental Practice, particularly including regulators and their views. This review will be of great benefit to the industry.
Late last year we also saw the establishment of the Western Australian Policy and Issues Committee under the chairmanship of our (now) Vice President Mark Cooper. This group will assist APIA in the west, helping to raise APIA’s profile and ensure that the Secretariat is kept informed about WA developments, so that the Chief Executive or the Policy Adviser receive early notice of the need to visit Perth to talk to policy makers. The Committee will also ensure a better understanding of the impact in the west of national policies that are developed in Canberra.
The Pipeline Operators Group continues with its excellent work and the Research and Standards Committee and Energy Pipelines Co-operative Research Centre is providing useful research that is of benefit to the industry.
This is an exciting and challenging time for our industry, but we are ready. The Secretariat is continuing to argue its case to the Australian Government and the Board is committed to the industry. My contact details are on the APIA website. Please feel free to contact me at any time. I look forward to working with the Secretariat and the members over the next two years.
KEVIN LESTER President
President’s Message