Ron Patterson, former Victorian state secretary of the PIAA, will return to the association following his election to the board as representative for Victoria.
Patterson won the Victorian seat at this year’s election, defeating Finsbury Green CEO Peter Orel 33 votes to 28.
“I’m very very happy about what’s happened, and looking forward to working with the rest of the board,” Patterson said. “I’ve been in the industry for almost 50 years. There’s a lot of things that need to be done, generally in Victoria. Hopefully we can work with other states to put the PIAA back where it needs to be.”
Patterson replaces Kellie Northwood in the Victorian seat, while former AIW Printing director Peter Clark has defeated Martin Guilliamse, GM of Mark Media in Hobart, six votes to two to replace Craig Pearce in the Tasmanian seat.
“The members have spoken, and I look forward to working with them,” said PIAA CEO Andrew Macaulay. “They add to the diversity of the board, which is good. The board is holding out its hand to welcome them, and looking forward to collaborating with them for the good of the industry.”
The AEC will be communicating with the nine members of the board as soon as possible so they can elect next year’s officers as laid out in the PIAA constitution, who will commence their terms on January 1. Current President Kieran May has welcomed the election of both Clark and Patterson on behalf of the remaining board members, who were re-elected unopposed. “We know they will both bring a fresh perspective to the considerations of the board as we lead the association and the industry into the future,” May said. “We will work to bring both successful candidates into board conversations as soon as possible.”