AAAA Welcomes Craig Laundy’s Appointment as Minister for Small Business
The Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA), the national industry association representing thousands of small and family businesses in the automotive repair and servicing sector, along with automotive component, tools and accessory manufacturers, welcomes the appointment of the Hon. Craig Laundy as Minister for Small and Family Business, Workplaces and De-regulation. Mr Laundy brings a highly experienced Small Business pedigree to the Ministry that will resonate strongly with AAAA members.
The AAAA wishes to sincerely thank the Hon. Michael McCormack who, during his tenure as Federal Minister for Small Business, supported the AAAA’s efforts to achieve a fairer playing field for the nation’s independent automotive repairers and more than 17 million Australian vehicle owners during the AAAA’s seven year Choice of Repairer campaign.
Mr McCormack’s intervention led to the 18 month Australian Competition and Consumer Competition (ACCC) investigation into New Car Retailing with the detailed Final Report released on December 14, 2017.
In a major win for the vast majority of Australian car owners who select independent repairers to service and maintain their cars, the ACCC’s Final Report recommended the establishment of a mandatory scheme that will compel all car companies operating in Australia to share the same repair and service information that they currently share with their dealerships, with independent repairers, on fair and reasonable commercial terms.
“We thank Mr McCormack for following through on the Coalition pre-election promise and assisting us in our fight to achieve fairness for our many small and family owned automotive repairers across the country and for millions of Australian car owners,” AAAA Executive Director Stuart Charity stated.
“We welcome Mr Laundy as he takes on this new and expanded Federal Ministry Portfolio and look forward to working closely with him to ensure that the ACCC’s Final Report recommendations are fully implemented, ensuring a much fairer deal for many thousands of small and family owned automotive repair and service businesses, along with their millions of customers across the nation,” Mr Charity added.