Red R Australia Welcomes Thiess as a Major Corporate Sponsor

Issue Date:  16 October 1997
Issued By:  Thiess Contractors Pty Limited

The Chairman of Red R Australia, Mr Bruce Sinclair AM, today welcomed the Thiess organisation into the family of Red R Major Corporate Sponsors.

Red R Australia (Registered Engineers for Disaster Relief) provides experienced engineers to assist United Nations and other agencies working for disadvantaged communities in Australia and overseas.

Mr Sinclair warmly accepted Thiess' support, and contemplated the changes to the challenges facing young engineers over the years.

"Forty years ago the frontier was the Snowy Mountains Scheme. Twenty years ago it was the resource boom in Queensland and Western Australia. Today the frontier is international, and the challenges and difficulties facing Red R engineers today are every bit as exciting and as worth-while as those faced by Australia's earlier generations of engineers," he said.

Thiess Managing Director, Martin Albrecht, said Thiess is only too pleased to provide its support to Red R Australia.

"Australia has a bank of engineers with an enviable reputation for excellence, particularly in infrastructure engineering", Mr Albrecht said.

"Red R Australia provides an opportunity for these engineers to apply their skills in difficult and trying conditions. We join Red R Australia in fully supporting these initiatives", he said.

Red R Australia has a database of Australian engineers with suitable qualifications and training to provide engineering assistance for humanitarian aid, emergency management and disaster relief.

Since the incorporation of Red R Australia in 1994, some 25 Australian engineers have been deployed by Red R to places as far afield as Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, Bosnia and Chechnya. Their work has provided water supply, sanitation, access and shelter, all carried out under the most difficult and trying conditions.

For further details contact:

Ms Elizabeth Stanic
Executive Officer, Red R Australia
PH: (02) 6273 6544

Barbara Ferry-Smith
Thiess Communications Manager
PH: (07) 3275 8578