Page 6 - Australasian Paint & Panel magazine May-June 2022

Editorial
6
EDITOR
Sam Street (02) 9213 8334 samstreet@yaffa.com.au
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Lynette Rochford (02) 9213 8331 0407 241 554 lynetterochford@yaffa.com.au
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EVERYONE’S
PAINT&PANEL
MAY / JUNE 2022
WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
HAPPY, RIGHT?
I
’VE SPENT A FAIR BIT OF TIME IN
the NSW State Library reading back issues of Paint & Panel for our 40th anniversary issue and it has left me with some mixed feelings. There is a slightly depressing feeling that more has stayed the same than has changed. Skills shortages; hourly rates; FTFM; original versus aftermarket; repair ver- sus replace... the list of issues that are
still issues goes on and on.
What has changed is that the industry
really used to try to resolve those issues and apathy did not seem to reign. I’m not just talking about the NSW repairers marching down George Street in 2005, there were many other active industry bodies as well.
AMBRA (Australian Motor Body Repair- ers’ Association) – and I had to look up what it stands for exactly again because I haven’t heard a peep from them for ages – used to hold industry conferences. Then there was the Australian Automotive Re- pairers Association which still has a web- site within MTA that took on the insurance companies on behalf of the industry.
“After all, if you do not resist the appar-
ently inevitable, you will never know how inevitable the inevitable was,” says author Terry Eagleton.
Now I’m not advocating a revolution but it seems to be that the shit is hitting the fan right now with the double whammy of COVID and the war in Ukraine. Energy costs are spiralling – we import every- thing and those costs have blasted off into the stratosphere which means consuma- bles prices, among other costs, are ridicu- lous – and let’s not even get into the labour market. MTAA has issued a plea on your behalf (p20) but the whole industry needs to raise its voice if it is to be heard.
Surely it’s time to ask your work pro- viders for more because if you aren’t making any profit on a repair then you may as well stay at home. The insurers aren’t unaware but they would be chumps to just offer more without being asked – which in turn would make you a chump for not asking.
Sam Street – Editor
WHAT’S COMING UP IN 2022
• Meguiars MotorEx, Melbourne, 30 Apr-1 May 2022
• Hot Rod & Custom Auto Expo, Sydney, 28-29 May 2022
• 2022 Wire & Gas Conference, Gold Coast, 9-31July
• Capricorn Collision Repair Conference, Perth, 16 August 2022
• Capricorn Collision Repair Conference, Queensland 19 & 20 August 2022 • Motorclassica, Melbourne, 7-9 Oct 2022
• Paint & Panel Bodyshop Awards, Melbourne, 11 November 2022
If your company has any exciting new products or is involved in any innovative projects, contact Australasian Paint & Panel editor Sam Street on samstreet@yaffa.com.au.