Green fingers: another day at the office for Fox and friends

Instructive also was the list of Australian Labor Party ministers and other political luminaries – present and past – who also turned up, as did about 300 staff, family and friends.
Former prime minister Paul Keating joined trade minister Simon Crean, Victorian premier John Brumby, former union boss and Fox estate executor Bill Kelty, parliamentary secretary Bill Shorten and Victorian industry minister Martin Pakula.
In opening the $20m, environmentally state-of-the-art building, Mr Rudd said that the government would be “saddling up Fox and Kelty Enterprises again”.
“The great relationship between Lindsay Fox and Bill Kelty will be a potent weapon in the fight against unemployment as Lindsay and Bill work directly with our local employment coordinators across the country, and advise employers in disadvantaged communities on practical ways they can keep on their workers and even take on new apprentices and employees,” Mr Rudd said.
Founder Lindsay Fox highlighted the company’s green credentials, saying the new building complemented Linfox Logistics’ industry leadership.
“Our new head office’s five-star environmental rating is in line with the business’s strategy to reduce its rate of carbon emissions by 15% by 2010,” he said.
“Our Vision Zero safety program, drug and alcohol testing, pioneering parental-leave policy and the Linfox College employee education centre are groundbreaking initiatives in our industry.
“This new building is designed to minimise power use and optimise water and waste recycling.
“Lighting is controlled by movement sensors and a massive rainwater tank system waters the garden and supplies bathrooms.
“These features complement our initiatives that are reducing fuel and power use in our transport and warehousing operations.”
Recounting why Linfox had decided on such an environmentally-sustainable design for the building, chairman Peter Fox spoke of a recent visit to the US, where he had been questioned by American executives about the company’s carbon footprint.
This had brought home to him the importance of environmental concerns.
While a special concern for the company had been safety, it would add green issues to that, he said.
Mr Brumby praised the company for its investment in the state.
“In these tough times it is encouraging to see major Victorian employers like Linfox continue to invest to grow their businesses, providing employment opportunities for so many Victorians,” he said.
Mr Brumby thanked Lindsay Fox for his work at the head of the bushfire logistics task force and for the use of Linfox warehouses, along with the help of wife Paula Fox in the disaster’s aftermath.
Lindsay Fox also mentioned his personal dealings with the likes of former Liberal Party minister Peter Nixon, Mr Kelty and Mr Crean, describing them as people for whom “a promise made is a debt unpaid”.