Tyler Redway
A LIFETIME Achievement Award was the last thing OGR director Peter Roberts was expecting to receive when he was invited to what he thought was a dinner function in Sydney.
The Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA) recently held a Chairman’s Dinner and took the opportunity to recognise members of the industry, like Mr Roberts, who had given more than 50 years of service to the automotive industry.
Mr Roberts said his son Bryce, along with several of his Sydney-based associates, were the ones who broke the news.
After taking over as the dealer principal for OGR Mount Gambier in 1979, Mr Roberts continued to follow in his father’s footsteps as a faithful servant of the industry until passing the reins onto his son Bryce in 2018.
He said he was humbled by the award and said he was “surprised” by the sudden announcement he would be receiving the honour.
“I would like to say I have appreciated being given this award, particularly alongside my peers and the industry to be awarded in front of 400 people in Sydney which was very humbling,” Mr Roberts said.
Serving as the president for the Motor Trade Association (MTA) SA/NT for more than 10 years, as well as other senior roles, Mr Roberts said a highlight of his experience was being able to negotiate at a federal level of government concerning franchise matters.
“I also spent time at three senate inquiries at federal level when I was only one of three dealers nationally to be involved,” he said.
“That’s where I feel I have done a lot of my industry work and it’s where I felt my award for the achievement came from because I spent time at an industry level.
“Dealing with government is very difficult, when you get a change of leaders and of government, you have to start all over again which is probably the most difficult thing to get change happening and confidence with one particular bureaucrat.”
Mr Roberts said the automotive industry was exciting due to its large variety of roles and operations, such as parts and service and the infrastructure of running a business.
“You don’t do these things for a reward, my work on the board of the MTA has been purely voluntary all these years, so there has never been any monetary aspects of it,” he said.
