Photo: Shipping Australia. NOTE: all of the people in this photograph are, in fact, socially distanced. See our explanatory note at the foot of the article.
Shipping Australia farewelled our outgoing CEO, Rod Nairn, who retires from the role on 31 December.
Rod recalled that he joined the organization in January 2013 on a six-month contract… but he’s only now leaving Shipping Australia approximately eight years later!
Rod came to the industry after 38 years in the Royal Australian Navy and he remarked that it was a steep learning curve to come to grips with the idiosyncrasies of international commercial maritime trade.
He thanked many people for helping him in the role, including successive chairmen, Ken Fitzpatrick and Scott Henderson, and the SAL Board, particularly Geoff Greenwood, Kevin Clarke and Eddy deClerq for their technical insights and guidance, which enabled him to adapt to the commercial world.
Rod told our lunch guests that Shipping Australia’s members employ more than 3,000 people in this country. He noted that they perform a crucial role in enabling Australia’s vital maritime trade which underpins our economy.
“I have been privileged to work with so many wonderful people from our close-knit staff, SAL’s Policy Council and associate members, suppliers and customers, other industry associations and government regulators. It is the people you meet and relationships that you develop along the way that make work and life worthwhile. The Catch 22 is that it is those relationships that make it hard to let go, but with Shipping Australia on an even keel and in safe hands the time is right,” he told guests.
Rod then concluded with the traditional maritime industry farewell: “I wish you all fair winds and following seas”.
SAL Chairman Scott Henderson also paid tribute and thanks to Rod for this service as CEO.
“On behalf of SAL’s NSW State Committee, I would like to thank him for his contributions and leadership over the last seven years.
“During that time, he has helped create a more favourable policy environment for the shipping industry and he has had many achievements.
“Of late, and which was particularly noteworthy, he led the industry advocacy response to the Federal Government’s proposed Biosecurity Levy,” Scott Henderson said.
He concluded by wishing Rod every happiness and safety in his retirement.
** NOTE: our photographs were shot using a long-lens. A long-lens has the effect of compressing and flattening the image which creates an optical illusion that objects which are in reality far away from each other appear to be close together. Or, to put it another way, our pictures appear to show people close to each other even though they are in fact socially distanced.
You can read independent explanations about this effect here or here or here and also here.
There were were in fact only four people on a table. Guests were socially distant from each other on the table and the tables themselves were also spaced out from each other.
