b'NEWS A nother year hascommitment with the utmost professionalism to our FROM FWDV cause, with the running of the office and every other CEO thing we do and undertake. She will be sorely missed by all of us, and her knowledge of all things related come and gone withto the association will take some time to replicate. a quickness of timeWe wish her well in her newfound freedom and trust which seems to getthat we will still see her in and around the place from faster and faster! It seemstime to time. like only a short time ago thatAs was mentioned earlier, we are looking to we were planning what weacquire permanent premises for ourselves and in would like to achieve this yearconjunction with the Land Rover Club of Victoria, a and whack, it is gone! Whatjoint venture is being pursued at present to try to we have achieved I am pleased to say is anotherbring this about. The goal of course is to alleviate any year of government funding, which was honestlyborrowings which was not looked at favorably by unexpected, from the then newly appointed Ministeryour board and we are moving closer to the point of for the Environment, Minister Stitt. As I write thisfinding the right location and premise presently with report, I can inform you that we now have anotherthe aim to bring this about as soon as possible. Many new Environment Minister as the portfolios havemeetings and discussions have and are taking place been changed due to the recent retirement of ourto accommodate this desired plan and hopefully it then Premier. The Minister now responsible for our will conclude shortly.pursuits is the Hon. Steve Dimopoulos,Your association would not be in as good a Minister for Environment, Tourism, Sport andposition as it is without the dedication of the staff Major Events and Outdoor Recreation. We areemployed by you and I once again would like to looking to try to set up a meeting with him topay my respects and thanks to those who work discuss our position and outline who we are andalongside me on a day to day basis. Apart from what we represent as we have done with thoseAlison who I have previously mentioned, Daniel before him. Whitby our project officer has made my life easier We move on and try to keep things rolling,with his social media and computer knowledge, certainly it has been a very busy year regardingensuring our communication efforts have been sent our RTO and the training we have beento the correct channels and who also looks after conducting. Once again, we are only hampered bythe production of our Trackwatch magazine. He has the lack of qualified accredited instructors andalso been an important player with the shows and training facilities that stops us from providingevents we have been involved in this year, taking a more positive outcome in the delivery of ourcontrol of managing the sites and construction of the specified units we deliver. It is very pleasingdisplays for those events, assisting clubs taking part to report that the quality of the training beingin these also. Di Hodgson has also played her part in delivered brings about more and more clientele,this team of ours with regards to looking after the which is testament to those performing the tasks.bookkeeping and accounting duties involved in the We are proud of this fact and will strive to makerunning of the business, paying the wages and all sure it continues into the distant future. We havethe respective accounts as and when required. I cant conducted 54 training sessions throughout thethank them enough for making the association keep last calendar year made up of 25 proficiencymoving forward in the most professional way. Glenn courses and 26 accredited courses, 2 first aidArkell has quietly been looking after our website for courses (outsourced) and 1 chainsaw course.many years now and I should also thank him for his With so much training occurring throughout thededication to this task and the many changes he has year, it has been difficult to find time to conductmade over the journey. I would also like to thank other functions such as update days. We apologizeDave Roberts who has been on our board for 6 years for this and look to rectify this soon.now and has been an enormous help in all things we As you should all be aware by now, Alisondo as a volunteer to the association. He has taken on McLaughlin, our office Manager for the last almostany task I have asked him to do and we are certainly 8 years has decided to retire and look after familyWayne Hevey, CEOmatters and to do things with her husband thatbetter for his efforts.they have planned for some time. I cant thank her enough for her unwavering support andTRACKWATCH|December 2023 7'