Page 30 - Australasian Paint & Panel magazine May-June 2022

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
30
PAINT&PANEL MAY / JUNE 2022
40 YEARS OF PAINT & PANEL
THIS ISSUE WE’RE CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF KEEPING THE COLLISION INDUSTRY INFORMED. SAM STREET LOOKS BACK AT WHAT HAS CHANGED AND WHAT REALLY, REALLY HASN’T.
ADLY THE FIRST EVER ISSUE
of Paint & Panel doesn’t seem to exist. Yaffa Media bought the magazine in 1984 for $2 as a deal sweetener when it acquired a diving magazine, long since closed down. It seems the previous owners didn’t file copies with the national li- brary. Over the years there have been many editors, it looks like I am the fifth female editor and certainly the longest at the helm at 11 years and two months
at the time of publication.
While researching back issues at the
state library I came across the 20th an- niversary issue. They thought paint had come along way back then – can you im- agine what they would think of today’s products?
The issues that have plagued the in- dustry since our first issue rolled off the presses essentially haven’t changed all that much over the course of 40 years. It occurred to me that you could chop out a headline on: Real time, real money; funny time, funny money; repair vs re- place; genuine parts vs aftermarket/sec- ond hand/grey import; OEM data shar- ing (after 10 years at least there has been some progress on that); chronic skills shortages; lack of apprentices, hourly rates – and paste it into practically any issue. Royal commissions, parliamenta- ry enquiries and any number of official reviews have taken place over the years and although the Code of Conduct was eventually born, it was born without any teeth. The recent legislation regard- ing the Code in SA was the most signifi- cant step forward since it was launched in 2006.
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