AUSTRALIAN Peak Shippers’ Association stalwart Robert Coode has announced his retirement to commence at the end of this month.
Mr Coode was the APSA executive president, succeeding Frank Beaufort, who was the first to fill the role.
As a part of a succession plan to ensure the stability and growth of APSA, Mr Coode was instrumental in introducing and contracting the secretariat services of Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) to manage the association’s compliance, administration, advocacy and Part X statutory obligations.
On 1 January 2017, FTA commenced the APSA secretariat role under the leadership of former chair Paul Blake with Mr Coode staying on board in a business development and consultancy capacity.
In a formal presentation before a local and international delegation at the Global Shippers Forum (GSF) and ICHCA International Conference in Melbourne (April 2018), Mr Coode was recognised for his services to APSA on his semi-retirement.
Mr Coode’s extensive experience in shipping matters (through more than 40 years as shipping manager at Murray Goulburn and in leading Part X negotiations with shipping line consortia) has been critical to the success and longevity of APSA which is now heading towards its 31st Annual General Meeting (refer 2021 APSA Conference and AGM).
Mr Coode is a passionate and effective advocate for Australian shippers. While he would never shy away from confrontation, his preference was always for collaboration.
His work during the privatisation of the Port of Melbourne was a great example of this, where he helped rally together different interest groups (shipping lines, stevedores, government stakeholders and Australian shippers) to a common purpose. Mr Coode is generous, knowledgeable and has left a positive legacy.
The Australian Peak Shippers’ Association (APSA) is the designated Peak Shipper Body granted status by the Federal Minister for Infrastructure & Transport under Part X of the Competition & Consumer Act 2010 (formerly the Trade Practices Act 1974) to represent the interests of Australian Exporters/Shippers generally in relation to outward liner cargo shipping matters).
