Paul Peterson has been elected to the role of Chairman of MTA Queensland.

Taking over from long-serving leader David Fraser, Mr Peterson began working in his new role in November.

No stranger to MTA Queensland, Mr Peterson has been deeply involved with the association for more than 20 years since first becoming a committee member of the motorcycle division in 1994.
In the years since then, his commitment to the association and its growth and development has seen him take on the positions of chairman of the motorcycle division in 2005 as well as the secretary role in 2009. In 2016, he also joined the board of the MTA Institute.

Mr Peterson, 44, has spent his entire working life in the motorcycle industry. In the early 1990s, he began working as a salesman for Moorooka Yamaha in Brisbane – a dealership owned at the time by his future father-in-law John Oliver, who had himself been chairman of MTA Queensland’s motorcycle division in the 1980s.

In 1996, Mr Peterson, in partnership with his father, founded Pro Honda, a business that would grow to become Pro Motorcycles and include eight dealership locations. Today, after concluding an agreement with the Team Moto motorcycle dealership group, Pro Motorcycles comprises two dealerships – one in Brisbane and another on the Sunshine Coast.

A young and energetic leader, Mr Peterson’s election heralds a new era for MTA Queensland – one marked not only by an understanding of the changing nature of the industry, but of the need for the association to adapt to those changes so it can successfully continue its role as an industry peak body and voice for its members.

“Considering the disruption that is coming the industry’s way, and which we can feel the beginnings of now, MTA Queensland‘s role is more important than it has ever been,” said Mr Peterson.

“MTA Queensland is there when you need it, offers great services and support and, through education and communication, is preparing for that disruption. An example of this is the development of training packages so that apprenticeship training keeps up to speed with advancements such as electric vehicles.”

MTA Queensland’s move – through initiatives such as the MTAiQ innovation hub – to engage in the technological and innovation culture that underpins the developments within the industry was, said Mr Peterson, critical to the future of the industry and the association. That future, he said, could mean significant changes within the association’s divisional structure.

“To be involved in innovation now is extremely important,” he said. “Being proactive opens doors and allows us to talk to and work with government and other like-minded businesses and organisations as the industry evolves.

“A result of that evolution may be a change in the MTA Queensland’s divisions. For example, the service station division may become the ‘service station and renewable power’ division; the rental division may evolve and incorporate the ride-sharing vehicle sector; and as electric vehicles become more popular, perhaps there will be an EV division within AADA Qld. We really don’t know where we will be in 10 years, but we do know that times are changing and we will change accordingly.”

With more than 20 years of service to MTA Queensland and its members, Mr Peterson said it was an honour to become chairman, to take over from the association’s longest-serving leader, David Fraser, and to lead MTA Queensland as a new era for the industry begins to take hold.

“It’s a big job, and to follow David, who is highly respected and did such excellent work through some very challenging times, means there are big shoes to fill,” he said. “But I feel I have a lot to offer and I am very proud to have been elected as chairman.

“I am proud of MTA Queensland, of its history and where it now sits, and I am excited to be a part of it as the industry evolves.

“Change is coming. We need to embrace it and move into the future investing wisely and delivering for our members.”

Source: Motor Trader E-Magazine (December 2018)

17 Dec 2018