Both industry associations look to the future

The presidents of SPASA Australia and the Swimming Pool & Spa Alliance have both expressed relief that an agreement has been reached regarding the Federal Court action.

Lynley Papineau, President of the Pool & Spa Association of Australia, says it is a positive thing for every member nationally that the court case has been resolved.

“I hope that it’s a step towards resolving some other issues and perhaps working towards being one untied body again in the future,” she says.

“We are a small industry and we should be represented nationally by one single body. There’s been a lot of damage done in the past but we have to put that behind us. There are enough big issues in business that our focus has to be working on those issues for our members. We look forward to being able to have further discussions with the Alliance.

“The door is open.”

Rob Guthrie, President of the Swimming Pool & Spa Alliance (SPASA) is also pleased the action is over.

“We are pleased to see the Federal Court action brought by four state associations against our organisation settled at mediation. As the respondent to the action both my predecessor Peter Moore and I had proactively sought a formal mediation to bring what could only be described as a distraction to members to a conclusion,” he says.

“We are delighted that we are now able to move forward as the Swimming Pool & Spa Alliance (SPASA), representing the industry as a national peak organisation. Our mandate of servicing members and delivering the best possible representation for industry will continue without distraction.”

The court case had been an impediment to negotiations between the parties since it was launched by the four non-NSW state SPASAs nine months ago, following the establishment of the Swimming Pool & Spa Alliance of Australia, as it was called at the time. However, the state bodies that now consist SPASA Australia believed it had been a necessary action to protect their brand.

Under the mediated agreement, the Swimming Pool & Spa Association of Australia (SPASA Australia) and the Swimming Pool & Spa Alliance (SPASA) will continue to operate under those names.

SPASA Australia comprises SPASA Queensland, SPASA South Australia, SPASA Victoria and SPASA Western Australia. SPASA NSW operates as the Swimming Pool & Spa Alliance.

Keep informed with the free SPLASH! newsletter or follow SPLASH! on social media:Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+.