Other associations respond to SPASA announcement
The Swimming Pool & Spa Alliance and the Swimming Pool Retail Association Australia have responded to the announcement that the four SPASA states plan to become a single national entity.
The Alliance
In an open letter to the swimming pool and spa industry, The Swimming Pool and Spa Alliance president Rob Guthrie commented on the announcement by the four state SPASAs and SPASA Australia.
“As members may be aware, the Alliance, SPRAA and SPASSA AU (representing four state-based SPASAs WA, QLD, SA & Vic) entered into high level discussions in September 2013 to explore a merger with the number one aim of creating a single entity national body,” he says.
“The discussion came about as a consequence of the fragmented landscape of multiple industry bodies offering varied service levels to 1200 members with 16 staff, via seven locations, boards and entities, collecting five million dollars of member revenue yearly.
“All three parties to the project executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in November 2013 which opened the way to move forward with the formation and launch of a single entity national body by 1 July 2014.
“A detailed Position Paper followed and outlined the critical path that the Alliance, SPRAA and SPASA AU committed to. The unexpected introduction of SPASA AU’s alternative proposal on the 19th February effectively ended the project with the Alliance and SPRAA. The Alliance’s position is and has always been to navigate towards a properly structured and active single entity national peak body. We strongly believe that unless and until we are in a position to move away from a federation of states and develop a true industry based national body, this progress will be hindered,” says Guthrie.
“In the meantime, we remain committed to our members and will focus on delivering and further developing the services that this industry needs. The Alliance will continue to engage with any and all willing like-minded bodies to achieve this goal.
“I encourage members to request a copy of the executed MOU and the Position Paper that would have seen the Alliance, SPRAA and the state bodies deliver the swimming pool and spa industry a powerhouse national organisation in 2014.
“I am happy to discuss any aspect of what has occurred with industry stakeholders at anytime.”
SPRAA
Greg Every, executive director of the Swimming Pool Retail Association Australia (SPRAA) says that SPRAA is aware of the discussions and very supportive of them.
“It makes a lot of sense that ultimately there’s only one industry body,” he says. “At the moment it’s a case of wait and see how SPASA Australia and their states are able to progress their agenda – because there’s a lot of complex details to be worked out between now and the 2017 deadline.
“Discussions have been taking place on the SPASA side of things – they’ve obviously got a way to go and have a number of issues to work through, and when they get to some agreement we’re happy for them to come and talk to us.
“At some stage they’ll get to a situation where they’re happy to engage with others, but they’ve got a fair bit of work to go through for themselves first, with their legal structures et cetera.”
Every stresses that past differences should be put to one side.
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