New job ‘ideal fit’ for Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA boss Peter Cock

Peter Cock reckons his new job as chief executive of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA is his ideal fit, combining a love of business with a passion for advocacy. Dr Cock — he has a PhD in environmental science from Murdoch University — joined WA’s peak business body nearly three weeks ago, taking over from Chris Rodwell after nearly 10 years running and growing Newcastle Airport in the Hunter Valley of NSW. It is a timely homecoming that sees him take a key role in promoting the interests of large and small business in WA as State and federal elections approach, the energy transition takes shape and plans are progressed for expanded defence spending at Henderson. “I understand business, I am a business person, and that’s a really important thing to bring, but I’m also passionate about advocacy,” he said. Joining Newcastle Airport after 10 years at Perth Airport, including a tenure as chief operating officer, Dr Cock threw himself into advocacy in Newcastle, building relationships with regional businesses and bodies to enable the city to be promoted on a unified basis to government and investors. He’s particularly keen on bringing more defence work to WA, having worked in Newcastle with the Royal Australian Air Force, whose Williamtown base shares the runway at the locally-owned Newcastle Airport. At CCIWA, he takes responsibility for 200 staff, 7000 members and a revenue stream of more than $30 million drawn from subscriptions and a portfolio of businesses that provide services to members across legal and tax services, industrial relations and workplace health. On his appointment in early January, CCIWA president Nicki Ivory cited Dr Cock’s “significant expertise in strategy, leadership, commercial acumen, and government engagement”. “Membership and stakeholder engagement are front and centre for Peter, having successfully built Newcastle’s airport’s annual revenues in Australia’s largest regional economy,” she said. Dr Cock said he would like to see CCIWA take a longer-term planning view, but there is no intention to change policy positions. With the State election set for March 8, the group has stepped up its push for payroll tax relief and reduced red tape. At a national level, it remains opposed to Labor’s ditched “nature positive” plan to overhaul federal environment protection laws and what BHP sees as increased union activity in the Pilbara. However, Dr Cock emphasised that the CCIWA is not just about representing the big end of town, calling out its long-running support for payroll tax reductions as an issue that was particularly important for small business. “I’ve been doing a lot of deep dives into our membership, and we have a lot of members at the smaller end, and they may pay less individually, but they’re really important to us.” He said the CCIWA’s deep heritage — it was founded in 1890 — had built trust with its membership and WA business, citing 2022 research that found companies were 39 per cent more likely to still be in business after three years if they were members.

New job ‘ideal fit’ for Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA boss Peter Cock

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