Load & Haul

Members, suppliers embrace ‘The Future of Quarrying’

Well, it’s hard to believe that we’re approaching the end of the year. With the footy season coming to a close and Bathurst just around the corner, it’s an annual reminder that the festive season is almost upon us.

October is also conference month for the IQA. Our annual conference will be held from 1 to 3 October at the prestigious GMHBA Stadium (home of the AFL Geelong Cats) in Geelong, Victoria. The conference theme – “The Future of Quarrying” – has generated a great deal of interest and much effort from the organising committee has gone into designing and executing a speaking program to support this conference theme.

The speaking program includes industry leaders and experts presenting on topics such as the construction outlook to 2024, inclusion and diversity, improving regulation, chain of responsibility, addressing climate change risk and 3D imaging to maximise product yield – just to name a few. The conference program also includes a site tour of Boral Deer Park and Barro Point Wilson and for many the highlights of our conferences are the “sought after” networking and social gala events sponsored by Hitachi, Komatsu and Caterpillar.

{{quote-A:R-W:175-Q:"It’s great to see our valued suppliers get behind the conference and support the event by showcasing their products and services and providing valuable information to delegates"}}The 2019 conference also sees a slight change to the conference format, directly as a result of member feedback from previous conferences, particularly the 2017 conference in Toowoomba. Being held on a Tuesday to Thursday will allow delegates to travel home on the Friday after the conference or to engage in local business activities in the region with their teams, customers or suppliers.

We are pleased to be able to respond to the overwhelming feedback from conference surveys and look forward to hearing delegate comments on the new format.

The response to this year’s conference exhibition has also been an indication of solid support for the industry and the IQA, with all exhibitor spaces (more than 50) selling out well in advance! It’s great to see our valued suppliers get behind the conference and support the event by showcasing their products and services and providing valuable information to delegates. With a focus on professional development and the future of quarrying, I’m certain the delegates will get maximum value from their attendance at this year’s conference.

My sincere thanks go to the organising committee for their effort and commitment. Having such a team of dedicated local IQA members involved makes a significant difference to the event and assists in its success. The committee members are: Brad Rooney (chairman), Frank Grech, Jason Rudge, Brad Dawson, Craig Summerfield,

Ken Jarvis, Steve Seal, Chris Prowse, Kylie Fahey, Gemma Thursfield, Ryan Spence, Tara Varley-Milgate and Hayley Metcalf.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the conference and catching up over the week. As many of you know, the IQA conference also includes the Presidential handover ceremony and will bring my two-year term as President to a close. Fortunately, I still have the November issue of Quarry to share my thoughts and achievements of the past two years and the future ahead, so this won’t be my last column in Quarry!

Have a safe and productive month!

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