Become a Member & Benefits

The AQA represents members on all manner of industry, government, health and safety, technical and other issues.

What being an AQA member brings

The AQA is continually focused on delivering outcomes that are important to you as AQA members and supporters.

We are your organisation, collectively funded by you, and our CEO Wayne Scott is answerable to the Board you elect. Wayne has been the Chief Executive since September 2018, sharing offices/resources with MinEx and New Zealand Minerals Council to the benefit of AQA members and enabling us to deliver on our strategy at modest costs.

Our Board has developed a plan through to 2026 covering five key strategies:

1. To provide sustainability advice for our members on managing climate change and environmental and social impacts our activities have on iwi and the communities in which we operate.
2. To provide planning advice for our members and to lobby councils and Government to ensure they are planning for future aggregate resources and protecting future and current aggregate resources from sterilisation.
3. To improve the technical knowledge of New Zealand aggregates for our members and users of our products and assist members to attain best practice in complying with operational, environmental and regulatory requirements.
4. Through engagement with MinEx, develop an industry view on health and safety matters and advise and assist our members with improved health and safety practices.
5. Through engagement with IOQ and MITO, improve our industry’s competence through initiating, promoting and supporting industry training, and youth recruitment initiatives.

This strategy is reviewed at an annual Industry Leaders’ Forum to ensure we are meeting the needs of our members.

Planning

Our Planning Committee provides quarry owners/operators with input into every council plan and Government consultation process affecting quarries. We make submissions on behalf of the sector on each and every district and regional plan and can assist members with their own submissions if required.

Technical

AQA Technical Adviser Mike Chilton is our lead on technical issues including proposed changes to pavement specifications, use of marginal aggregates, use of recycled products, etc. all of which the AQA has taken up on your behalf. Mike also manages enquiries from AQA members with particular technical issues.

Communications

With support from our Communications Manager Brendon Burns (a former MP), we have regular meetings with key government ministers and their officials to ensure they understand our sectors issues and your concerns. We also have established links with fellow industry bodies including Civil Contractors NZ, ConcreteNZ, Building Industry Federation and InfrastructureNZ as well as working relationships with GNS Science and the Infrastructure Commission.

Brendon provides you with six editions of Aggregate News which is published in your free copy of Q&M magazine, and you will also receive our regular From the Quarry Face newsletter. Brendon is also available to you for one-off advice on government, community engagement and media issues.

Member’s webpage

Our website includes your logo and website link on the Members page which demonstrates your membership of a well-respected organisation and we encourage members to network and discuss common issues. Members are provided with access to our Members only section which provides resources and information which you will find useful, eg: technical information sheets, key points for submissions on resource management policy and district plans. A new section on Sustainability has recently been added.

Discounts

Wayne is also continuing to improve our industry’s health and safety in his joint role as MinEx CEO. Now well established, MinEx regional health and safety workshops provide CPD hours and as an AQA member, your staff will receive a member discount to these workshops. Wayne also provides one-off H&S advice to AQA members.

Significant discounts are available on the member conference package registration to the annual AQA & IOQNZ QuarryNZ conference which also offers invaluable CPD hours. We also have our nation-wide Rock Our Future school competition and we would like as many quarries on board as possible to help any participating local school to help showcase what goes on inside a quarry.

You can print the benefits of being an AQA Member here.