
Connecting people is an important part of what BIA is about as a member association and it also a fundamental pathway in our mission to support members build thriving marine businesses.
Our recent member events in Adelaide, Coomera, and Sydney had the best combined turn out in years and proved the value of connections across members and our supporters, and sponsors. These events gave us a valuable platform to deliver updates on key achievements of the past year and talk about key priorities for 2025.
BIA realises the importance of having strong connections with members but also with key stakeholders who can add value to our efforts to support a vibrant marine industry. It is by demonstrating our relevance through positive and constructive engagement with stakeholders, and decision makers that we can achieve good results.
This is why the BIA is focused on building its reputation for being informed, collaborative and solution focused on efforts to advance positive outcomes for industry.
Our close relationship with the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) is a case in point. ACCI is a powerful voice for industry and business across Australia, and has direct access to government leaders at the highest levels. Our connection with ACCI brings a wealth of benefits not the least of these being the ability to keep abreast of priority business issues where BIA is contributing to influencing government to support the marine sector.
I recently had the honour of representing BIA at the ACCI Business Leaders’ Summit in Canberra with the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. What a great opportunity it was to talk about the economic and social benefits being delivered every day by our members and the wider the marine industry.
Then there was a meeting with key members of the NSW Government this week where BIA was able to discuss some of our significant priorities for 2025 to 2027. While we also sat down with the leadership of AMSA and members of its National Safety Committee to talk about key issues. AMSA is fully aware of the importance of boating and light commercial sector, where their roles in areas such as Search & Rescue, EPIRB, marine communications, survey, hire and drive, emissions, share economy and decarbonisation all have relevance across our marine sector.
Next week we are meeting with members of the Qld Government with the same intent but obviously tailored to match some of the specific issues for industry in the Sunshine State. The 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games will be on the agenda.
These are connections that matter for our industry now and into the future. It is also why we put energy into representing the marine industry in more than 40 committees that range across State, national and international sectors.
We will continue to maintain and build our reputation and relevance, and one way to achieve that is through connections that support boating.
See you on the water,
Andrew Scott