Hatchets Buried, New National Body For Motor Industry Trades

AUSTRALIAN MOTOR INDUSTRY FEDERATION

The Australian retail motor industry has a new unified national representative body, the Australian Motor Industry Federation - AMIF.

Representing the commercial, political and industrial relations interests of motor trades businesses (mechanical repairers, crash repairers, tyre dealers, new and used car dealers, etc.), the new body replaces the former fragmented Motor Trades Association of Australia, MTAA.

The former body, besides representing the state motor trades bodies to Canberra, had a significant role in the management of the motor industry superannuation fund - MTAA Super.

Disagreements over MTAA's management and direction however, after simmering for some years, came to a head when VACC representing Victoria, and  MTA-Q, representing Queensland, withdrew their memberships from the national body. When MTA-NSW followed soon after, MTAA was all-but isolated without an effective membership. 

The new federated body, AMIF, was launched this week at the Australian International Motor Show, attended by representatives of all member states and territories. After years of disunity in the sector, new CEO Richard Dudley was at pains to highlight the renewed sense of purpose and unity in the new body.

“This is an important occasion for the Australian Motor Industry. To have representatives of the Motor Trades Associations of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia; VACC and the Tasmania Automobile Chamber of Commerce and ACT and Northern Territory present at the launch, demonstrates the unity within the Federation,” Mr Dudley said.

“The Australian Motor Industry Federation is important because the RS&R industry is the nation’s largest small business industry sector representing 100,000 businesses, 310,000 employees and an aggregated turnover of $160 billion per annum.”

"We are confident this is a turning point for the retail, service and repair sector," VACC Executive Director David Purchase said.