Pooling together for success with water

waterAUSTRALIA has a mission to create growth and international business opportunities for companies that supply to the water sector. Les Targ*, CEO waterAUSTRALIA, talks to Sustainability Matters about the organisation’s achievements to date and what he sees for the future of the water industry.

The paradigm shift for the water industry in Australia will be about creating water-smart cities. In fact, the Corporate Research Centre (CRC) for Water Sensitive Cities has been established around this concept.

Water-smart cities will result from smaller, local decentralised plants that don’t require a vast amount of energy to distribute the water. Not huge, central, carbon-intensive water supply and treatment facilities but rather smaller, more regional water supplies to make clever use of water. Stormwater recycling and water-smart building precincts look set for the future, but the industry must also realise there is more than one stakeholder when it comes to water. It’s not just the consumer; it’s about balancing the needs for recreation, aesthetics, consumers and industry.

Many water infrastructure and technology supply companies in Australia complained that they missed out on contracts associated with the recent boom in desalination plant construction, but that boat has now sailed. It’s unlikely that there will be any further construction of desalination plants in the near future in Australia. To form closer collaboration between utilities and the companies that supply the water entire supply chain, a ‘compact’ was launched in April. Called the Australian Water Supplier Compact, it is the first of its kind arising under the government’s ‘Buy Australian at Home and Abroad’ and the related Supplier Advocates program. The focus is on future utility needs, not the past, and how Australian suppliers can form an invaluable industrial base tuned to those future needs. Water-smart cities are an important aspect of this future.

The compact is an agreement between Australia’s urban water utilities, represented by the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) and Australian companies that supply into the water sector, represented by waterAUSTRALIA and the Water Supplier Advocate. Bob Herbert, former CEO of the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group), is the current Water Supplier Advocate. He was appointed to that position by the federal Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, in 2010.

Success in Singapore

waterAUSTRALIA’s close collaboration with Herbert and government agencies has been instrumental in our many achievements, including the recent success at this year’s Singapore International Water Week (SIWW). For us, it is more than just providing companies with exhibition space - we worked with our participating companies before the event to understand the outcomes they were seeking and to identify what sort of contacts they would like to meet to facilitate those outcomes. Together with Austrade Singapore, business matching was organised. The Parliamentary Secretary for Urban Water and Sustainability, Senator Don Farrell, provided important high level support to our Australian exhibitors. Consequently, the nine SMEs that took part were surveyed after the show and they identified in excess of $50 million worth of opportunities and strong leads, which they are now closing into orders.

For a large exhibition such as SIWW, standing out in the space is important and by pooling together the resources of 20 organisations, including SMEs, R&D, the AWA and WSAA, this was achieved. Our stand was a highly visible, which created great interest and plenty of traffic.

US strategy

Our US strategy is a still major component of what we are working on now. It all started back in January 2011 with our first outing to the US during the G’day US Water Week. We showcased six SMEs and $150 million worth of opportunities were identified. Some of those opportunities are now underway.

On the back of this success, we have been awarded funding under the SAMP (Supplier Access to Major Projects) program administered by Industry Capability Network (ICN). This funding has been complemented by contributions from four state governments, other commonwealth agencies, including SEWPaC, waterAustralia and industry to provide around $1.5 million over two years to implement the US strategy.

Australian companies cannot win contracts in the US sitting at their desks back here and filling out tenders. They must have a geographical presence and this is what waterAustralia is facilitating. We have now appointed Rubin Mallows Worldwide as our US representative. Ken Rubin is the managing director and he recently participated in a series of capital city forums in Australia. Our next mission in the US is a pavilion at WEFTEC, New Orleans in October. We’re hoping to achieve the same success as we achieved in Singapore.

Water and coal seam gas

Australia’s coal seam gas (CSG) industry has several major water issues to address. Industry Capability Teams have identified CSG as a market they wish to access, but for most of our team members a substantial amount of preparation is needed for them to understand the requirements.

CSG companies have advised us that they would like to be introduced to Australian companies that may be able to help address the water issues, but only to those companies that understand their requirements.

Workshops will be conducted to prepare team members, and those companies assessed as ready will be given the opportunity to present to CSG customers, perhaps as soon as November.

In the face of sharply reducing utility capital expenditure programs, the waterAUSTRALIA initiative is more important than ever.

Background to waterAUSTRALIA

waterAUSTRALIA was formed to fill a gap in Australian industry’s attempts to win international business on the back of Australia’s successful water achievements. It is the industry’s promotion and business facilitation body, is part of the private sector and is purely geared to facilitating more business domestically and internationally for Australian water technology, infrastructure and services suppliers. As such, it engages in range of programs based on members’ priorities. These include international promotion of the Australian water sector behind the waterAUSTRALIA brand, helping companies access new and difficult markets and undertake advocacy on business development and facilitation matters affecting the industry.

The Australian Water Association (AWA) is a major supporter and funder of waterAUSTRALIA. AWA provides this support so that its corporate members are afforded every opportunity to maintain sustainable businesses which, in turn, ensures that the industry’s world leading professional capability can be retained and developed.

*Les Targ has over 30 years’ experience as a CEO, director and senior executive, both in the government and private sector. In the earlier part of his career, he was part of the small team that transformed the then government-owned defence industrial base into highly effective commercial companies. He joined the largest of those, Australian Defence Industries, as Group General Manager International Business and then, briefly before its privatisation, CEO. During this time, the company emerged as the number one defence company in Australia.

He then joined Australian Wool Innovation, the R&D and marketing body of the Australian wool industry, carrying out a series of major projects, including acquiring and managing the iconic Woolmark brand.

Les also operates his own business providing strategic management advice to small business owners. He is Chairman of the National Auction Selling Committee for the wool industry.