“I am extremely honoured to receive this award of Honorary Life Membership of ALGA; it really means a lot to me to receive this honour from an organisation that is very close to my heart.
When I joined the newly formed ALGA back in 2007, there was no single body that represented all of the contaminated land industry. But other industry bodies like the Waste Management Association and Australian Water Association would include contaminated land elements in the annual conferences, but these were added to the side; and those associations were focused on their core issues and really didn’t embrace, represent or provide anything for the contaminated land industry. While ACLCA had been around for some time they were restricted to consultants. So there was no group representing all parts of the contaminated land industry. The formation of ALGA, under the vision and direction of Peter Nadebaum, gave the contaminated land industry an organisation that represented all parts of the industry.
At that time, membership of ALGA was less 50 people, and a lot in the industry were initially standing back and watching to see what happened to this new organisation – would it survive or fail. In those early days I recall teleconferences with the whole membership invited, but under the leadership of Peter Nadebaum and with the tireless and always positive attitude of Elisabethe Dank and support of the early members (who all contributed in their own way), there was an excitement about what we were doing and what it could become. But I don’t think in anyone’s wildest dreams we ever thought it would become what it has, and especially not grown to its current size with its achievements in a bit over 10 years – truly phenomenal. It makes me very proud to have been able to contribute a little to what is now so significant.
Speaking of significant I recall one of the big decisions when I was President was the opportunity to purchase EcoForum, an organisation that was closely linked to ALGA and which had provided a lot of support to ALGA in the early days. At the time the ALGA funds were not significant but there was unanimous support amongst the Board to acquire EcoForum – and it is gratifying to see how ALGA has grown EcoForum to the success that was EcoForum 2018 – growth parallel to the growth of ALGA.
I would not have received this honour without support or a large number of people who have supported ALGA over the years. The list is too long but some who deserve particular mention are: Peter Nadebaum; John Hunt; Jon Miller; Simon Hunt, Stephan Pawelczyk and many more, too many names to list…. including all the early local organising committees.
While on early local organising committees, it is really pleasing to me to achieve this award with Tracy Berger. Tracy was working with me at Coffey when I her into setting up the Brisbane Branch of ALGA. There were some real struggles in getting things off the ground in Brisbane but not only did Tracy persisting, she actually increased her involvement taking on other roles in ALGA. It is really good to see her contributions recognised.
I also want to personally thank Elisabethe Dank for all the support she has provided to me in various roles in ALGA over the years. Elisabethe doesn’t know the word “no”, whatever she was asked to do (and much more) she always did it …. Absolutely amazing support and she really is the heart and soul of ALGA.
I would also like to thank my employer, Coffey who were always supportive of me, and still are, in taking on roles or doing tasks for ALGA. Without that support I would not have been able to achieve what I did. And it wasn’t just me that Coffey supported; Coffey were one of the earliest supporters one of the first Gold Sponsors of ALGA; and have maintained their sponsorship of ALGA since those earliest days.
Lastly, and importantly, I need to thank my family, in particular my wife Anna for all the support and encouragement they have given me. When I first got involved in ALGA we had 2-year-old twin girls and soon after we had three girls under three. Anna provided fantastic support allowing me to do my normal job as well as the ALGA roles on top of that – I know it wasn’t easy but there was always total support at home and without that support I wouldn’t have been able to put the time into ALGA and I wouldn’t have achieved this honour.
In conclusion it is so great to see ALGA the organisation it is today. It will always be close to me and I am truly honoured to have received this award.
Thank you.”