December 2025 WATERLINE | 5 CEO UPDATE December 2025 It’s hard to believe we are here already! This time last year, we delivered the ‘new look’ Waterline! How good is this magazine now? Our aim has been to provide technical articles focussed around a couple of key topics each publication. It is a great read, and I thank all who contribute to it and submit articles for editorial consideration. A huge thanks to Kellie McMillan for her efforts to continually improve the quality and grow the size and reach. Waterline is produced on a ‘break-even’ basis and its production is entirely funded by the advertisers. Recent increased advertising has allowed us to improve the quality and size of the publication. Please recognise our advertisers by examining their offerings and supporting them. We are settling into our new offices in Mona Vale, partitioning has been installed, and a kitchenette is soon to arrive. We look forward to putting our marina artwork on the walls. Once we are all set, we will mark the occasion with an ‘open house’ and if you happen to be around, we’d love you to joins us - watch out for the invitation. In the meantime, if you happen to be travelling to or working in the Northern Beaches marine precinct, please drop in and say hello. We have plenty of space if you need to pull up a desk for a few hours and knock out a bit of work. We have already had more visitors in three months than we had in three years in North Sydney which shows the value of being near a marina precinct. This year has been one of the busiest training & education programs on record. More management courses were conducted outside of Australia this year than within the country. Two Intermediate Marina Management (IMM) courses were held in Phuket and Sydney and two Advanced Marina Management (AMM) courses in Dubai and Auckland. Congratulations to all attendees of these courses and a huge thanks to all the volunteer presenters who generously shared their experience and knowledge and gave of their time. Five Straddle Carrier Operations & Management Courses were delivered, three Oil Spill Response, three Emergency Preparedness courses, six webinars and 77 attended our online anytime courses (WHS, Environmental Best Practices & Weather Preparedness). Lily has reworked (and renamed) the old Marina Attendant’s Course and has done a great job. What is now known as the Introductory Dockhand Course, was piloted at Shellharbour Marina where Les Binkin CMM and his team delivered it to 17 high school students with an interest in the industry. This course is now available for marinas to license and deliver at their marinas. The resources include a PowerPoint presentation, course workbook, facilitator manual and template marketing materials. Read more about it on page 35, but we hope marinas will use it to train their new-comers and/or deliver it to local school students. The new Negative Forklift & Drystack Operations course has just about been completed and we look forward to piloting in 2026. Participants will need to have completed their Forklift license as this course will focus on the specific considerations of negative fork operations and dry stack management. Thanks to those who helped in preparing this course content, particularly the team at Sydney Harbour Boat Storage – no wonder they are Marina of the Year Hall of Fame!! Education is such an important function of the MIA, and it is critical that we continue to refresh our course content and consider new courses that will benefit industry. All of our online anytime and virtual course content was updated this year. The content of the IMMs & AMMs is constantly being refreshed and our alignment with our Global Marina Institute (GMI) partner, British Marine was completed this year also. The program for 2026 is now drafted and you can see it on page 38. Thanks to Lily for all she does on this program and to Chris who provides support, strategy and guidance. It’s conference and show season. In September I attended the NZMOA Marinas & Boatyard Conference in Queenstown. What a great event and so nice to spend more time with our Kiwi counterparts – they are always so welcoming. You can read more about the success of this event on page 25. In October I attended the World Marinas Conference in Venice (I know, tough, but someone had to go). As a result, we have three new members and three new exhibitors for Marinas26 who will showcase new products. Importantly, and one of my key goals was to learn more about the new ‘smart marina’ technology entering the market. As you are aware our theme for Marinas26 is Future Smart so these learnings and contacts I made will help to create a great program around this theme. I also had a meeting on the sidelines with our GMI partners which focussed on the delivery of our management training and recognition of our Certified Members. We have had several engaging member meetings recently. Thanks to everyone who comes along to these events to share their updates and discuss regional matters. Special thanks to our venue hosts, Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Birkenhead Point Marina and Bellerive Yacht Club. We couldn’t quite get enough people to attend the scheduled Victorian meeting, possibly too close to the BIAV Boatshow – but Chris got around to visit many members. It has been a big year, with a few ‘milestone’ achievements, so thanks to my team, Chris, Lily, Silvia and Kellie who work hard in the best interest of our objectives and members. Thanks also to the support from our volunteer directors. With the purchase of the office this year, we had a lot to do. Thanks to all who volunteer their time to help us deliver what we do, particularly the education program. We look forward to 2026 and delivering Marinas26 which will be the biggest exhibition and conference ever. Exhibition space is now sold out. While we can’t fit in anymore booths, we will try to find some smaller opportunities for suppliers to ensure we can showcase as many supplier products and services as possible. Best wishes for the festive season. While it will be a busy time for some, I hope you get some quality time with family and friends. Thanks again for your support and friendship. Suzanne Thanks to all MIA members for their engagement, support and friendship throughout 2025. The contributions of MIA sponsors and partners are appreciated and on behalf of industry, thank you for your support. Very best wishes to everyone for a safe and happy festive season as we all look forward to a successful 2026. The MIA office will be closed from Monday 22 December and will re-open Monday 12 January 2026.
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