Over the past year there have been a number of times where we have asked fabricators to contact their local members of parliament or the speak to the media in relation to key issues such as building materials and insurance.
As a former lobbyist, I can say with hand on heart that political leaders don’t want to hear from the lobbyists, they want to hear from the business owners and workers and the message is always more powerful when spoken by those directly impacted. For example, members who spoke to politicians around the disgusting behaviour of QBE last year saw great results when QBE reversed their cuts to trade credit.
In the past fortnight we have seen two FTMA Members speak to the media. When Richard Willingham of the ABC contacted me about the shortage of building materials, I was interstate and couldn’t do the interview. I reached out to Andrew Clements of AAA Advanced Trusses in Victoria and he was happy to help and did an outstanding job.
The article appeared on the ABC newsfeed where they interviewed a number of key industry people which you can read at here.
It can be a daunting task doing a TV interview, but Andrew did it with ease and represented the frame and truss industry with grace and his interview aired on ABC News Sunday 20th June and can be viewed via the link (right).
George Prothero was contacted by the Wangaratta Chronicle on the shortage and George set them straight on the facts of the issue. It is not just about timber and not just an Australian issue, it is a worldwide building materials shortage.
FTMA Australia would like to thank Richard Willingham at the ABC and Simone Kerwin of the Wangaratta Chronicle for their outstanding work in reporting on these issues and for the Wangaratta Chronicle for allowing us to reproduce George’s story in FTMA News today.
Finally, FTMA encourages other members to reach out to their local media outlets and we are always here to assist with the contact or content.
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