As I reach my first 100 days as CEO, I’d like to thank the generosity of our members, who have warmly welcomed me into Roads Australia and the industry.
My priority over this period has been to meet as many of our members as possible. I’ve also taken the time to meet with state and federal government officials.
Throughout these conversations, it was clear that RA is well regarded in a crowded field of industry bodies but that it is ripe for modernisation.
That is exactly what we have embarked to do.
The last few weeks have been a significant chapter in this modernisation, with the PIARC World Road Congress being a highlight.
Across a busy week in Prague, leading the Australian and New Zealand delegation alongside our partners at Austroads, we delivered invaluable opportunities for our members to deepen connections with one another, while facilitating government-to-government conversations with key global partners.
Our Delegation Dinner, held by the backdrop of Prague’s historic Charles Bridge, provided delegates an opportunity to network, share notes and unwind in what was a busy week of technical sessions, site visits and workshops. The event symbolised well our value proposition at RA: well curated and enjoyable forums for industry colleagues across the private and public sectors to connect and collaborate on shared policy priorities.
We hosted multilateral roundtables with the Australian and New Zealand delegation and key transport officials from the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom.
RA and our members have gained so much from Prague, not just in official events but through critical networking and collaboration opportunities on the sideline.
Our focus now is to ensure we follow up these conversations, and continue facilitating opportunities for partnerships and collaboration – something that will be at the very core of RA’s work into the future.
Following Prague, I had the opportunity to open the National Roads & Traffic Expo this week, outlining the most pressing challenges across our industry following extensive engagement with our membership over the last few months. The themes of decarbonisation, roads as public spaces and building a sustainable workforce will be a strong focus of RA’s policy work as we continue our transformation agenda. I look forward to testing these policy ideas with you as I get around the country over the coming weeks and months.
Please reach out to me if we haven’t yet met. I hope to see many of you at our upcoming events and Annuals.
Ehssan Veiszadeh
Chief Executive Officer