FWPA held its 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday 26 October via video conference, during which all items on the agenda were passed by company members.
The FWPA team would like to extend its appreciation of the important work delivered by the FWPA Board, including Craig Taylor, Chair, Christine Briggs, Stephen Dadd, Katie Fowden, Nick Roberts, Yvonne Pengilly, Tony Arnel and FWPA CEO Andrew Leighton. The Board is ably supported by Dr Chris Lafferty, Company Secretary, and the wider FWPA team.
FWPA also appreciates the ongoing support of numerous industry associations, in particular our three national representative bodies: the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA), the Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia (EWPAA), and the Australian Timber Importers Federation (ATIF).
We are also grateful for the ongoing support of the Australian Government through the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
During the meeting, Craig Taylor highlighted the many contributions of John Halkett, GM of ATIF, to the success of FWPA throughout his life. John recently passed away at his Sydney home and will be greatly missed by many in the industry.
FWPA Board updates
The FWPA board and wider team extend a warm thank you to Christine Briggs, who completed her final three-year term as Non-Executive Director. We are appreciative of Christine’s many valuable contributions, and ongoing support throughout her nine years of service, and wish her all the best.
- Craig Taylor was re-elected as Chair by the directors for a further one-year term during the board meeting held immediately after the AGM.
- Stephen Dadd will Chair the Finance Audit and Risk Management Committee for the next year, with Yvonne Pengilly and Tony Arnel as Committee Members.
- Nick Roberts will Chair the Human Resources and Nominations Committee, with Craig Taylor and Katie Fowden as Committee Members.
FWPA program updates
Craig Taylor highlighted a number of pertinent items during his AGM address.
“Our new Strategic Plan was finalised and published in May 2023, and we thank the FWPA members for their input and suggestions in developing the plan,” Taylor said.
“Reporting of our performance against this plan will be included in the next annual report. We will continue to seek and incorporate feedback from our stakeholders, assess the operating environment and, where necessary, adjust our strategy and priorities in response to the needs of the industry we serve.” You can view the new Strategic Plan by clicking here.
Taylor went on to say it has been encouraging to witness FWPA’s CEO Andrew Leighton continue to lead the organisation towards its new era with a clear vision, informed by his commitment to building and maintaining strong relationships with industry stakeholders.
“We conducted our first ever Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) in May of this year for the adoption of a new Constitution, which has resulted in changes to Director selection and renewal processes,” Taylor said.
“These changes reflect new technology and processes for member engagement as well as modifications to governance measures needed to recognise our not-for-profit status.”
“The directors thank our members for unanimously supporting the proposed constitution. Amongst other benefits, these changes will save a significant amount of money which can be diverted to more productive investments.”
“During the year, FWPA committed $11.2 million to new grower-focused projects that were recommended by the Grower Research Advisory Committee (GRAC).”
“We worked with the Australian Forest Contractors Associating to identify best practice methods to deploy the Forest Fit training package to the industry.”
“In 2022 we undertook research on the effectiveness of the previous The Ultimate Renewable™ campaign. This program was then reviewed and led to the development of the new campaign launched in July 2023. The results of these campaigns will inform future investments in consumer advertising and promotion.”
“We renewed our commitment to fund the National Timber Durability Centre and initiated the search for the next Director which resulted in the appointment of Professor Tripti Singh in August 2023.”
“We also launched a new Resilient Timber Homes Project.”
“Our WoodSolutions and ForestLearning programs continued to thrive and reach a broader audience in promoting the importance forest and wood products.”
“By any measure 2022-23 was a busy and successful year for FWPA.”
If you would like to find out more about the accomplishments of FWPA, please read our 2022-23 FWPA Annual Report, which includes our program activities, achievements and finances.
