Another month goes by and one more month closer to the end of 2023. For most of us, we won't want to be putting this year into our memory bank. It's been a tough gig and a long road to travel but there will always be some learnings from it.
With the confirmation of funding we have put into place two seperate workshops that we hope our industry, members or non-members will pick up in the Tairawhiti and Hawkes Bay regions. Take a day out of your working week and give back to yourself, upskill and share with others these tools that will take you into 2024. Check out the programmes for both - Future Proofing Contractors and Be a Mate : Hei Hoa te Ngahere below. If you are out of those regions you are still very welcome to come along. FREE and open to everyone. REGISTER TODAY.
The Election is this Saturday and whether it be the party you vote for that leads the country into 2024, there is a definite air of change required. The last few months have been difficult to work with any government agencies, as they also wait in limbo to see what party will take up the Beehive. Let's hope that we get back onto making things happen collectively and proactively with better policies in place, particularly with forestry. The introduction of the ETS fee and the change to the NES-PF regs recently have contributed to further challenges for our sector.
Last week we held our FICA AGM and welcomed in new Board members which will move the organisation onto another level. Led now by our new Chair Nick Tombleson and new executive board members Blair Cooper, Mandie Skipps and Christine Axtens, they join the seasoned team with Dale Ewers, Nathan Taylor, Steve Yeoman and Kevin Ihaka. We thank Tony Gamble, Matt Winmill and Sonya Elmiger for their time given to the organisation over the last few years and to Ross Davis for his huge involvement with FICA over many years. We wish them all the best for the future and are sure we will see them around.
Lastly I want to allude to the joint project that we have engaged with ACC on the Recovery at Work trial - there has been a whole of supply chain approach to this, including transport, processing and forestry. We will be looking for businesses to register their willingness to be part of this new approach. Read more below but next week a full and complete request will come out to all members.
Finally, I have decdicated this newsletter to Dr Tom Mulholland. He was a friend foremost, a larger than life personality and was an expert that gave so much of his time and his knowledge to the forest industry. His connections are far and wide, advocating for wellbeing in the food and fibre sector so his tragic passing will be touching many hearts. There will be a few of us that will make it to his funeral next week in Lower Hutt to represent our industry and celebrate the life he led, while he also fought his demons.
Take a moment to tell a few people around you just how you are feeling, what they mean to you and continue supporting friends and whanau every day - you can do a lot for a mate just by taking 5 minutes to hear how their day is going!
Be a Mate in Forestry - hei hoe te ngahere
