After less than six months at the helm of the Australian Trucking Association, Andrew McKellar has resigned and will leave the organisation to take the role of CEO of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).
McKellar is due to leave the ATA on 6th August and will start at the ACCI three days later.
McKellar was chosen for the ATA role after an extensive executive search by a leading industry executive search ‘head hunter ‘ and came to the organisation after a stellar career in a range of peak industry bodies and in government.
Immediately before joining the ATA, McKellar was the Paris-based Secretary General for Mobility at the peak global motoring body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA). Before joining the FIA, he was the well known CEO of the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) and prior to that the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).
Prior to those positions he worked in government as a senior adviser to successive Australian industry ministers from 1996 to 1998. He also worked as an economist and research officer in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Commonwealth Treasury and the Queensland Treasury.
One can only imagine that McKellar’s short tenure at the ATA would have caused some gnashing of teeth with the ATA board, given the high cost of executive searches which it will now have to repeat after just six months.
ATA Chair David Smith said that Mr McKellar would leave the ATA with key strategic achievements, including work on its new strategic plan and a start to reviewing the ATA’s governance arrangements.
“During the weeks before he leaves the ATA, Andrew and I will firmly focus on maintaining the momentum on dealing with these important priorities and on progressing a transition plan,” Mr Smith said.
Outgoing CEO Andrew McKellar thanked the ATA board and council, and the trucking industry, for their warm welcome, support and encouragement.
“Despite my short time in office, I will leave the role with a far greater appreciation of the critical role that the road transport sector plays in the Australian economy and the many great people and personalities that populate the industry,” Mr McKellar said.
