Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to acknowledge that the Brown & Hurley Group, a family business which started in my community, is celebrating their 75th birthday this year. The business was started by two mates, Alan Brown and Jack Hurley, after their discharge from the Army after the Second World War in 1946. On 1 June 1946, Brown & Hurley opened for business as a bike shop in Kyogle. They began selling and servicing bikes, but eventually word got out that they both had experience in working on trucks, and, from 1948, just two years after opening as a bike shop, they began selling trucks. The business kept growing, and other branches started to open. In 1965, the Brown & Hurley Group sold their first Kenworth truck. To date, they've sold 17,000 Kenworth trucks across their 13 locations around the country. This once small country garage now employs over 460 staff.

The strong working partnership between Alan Brown and Jack Hurley became the Brown & Hurley Group, which is regarded as one of the country's biggest and most respected suppliers in the road transport industry. Family has been at the centre of everything the business has done. Both the Brown and Hurley families are still central to the day-to-day running of the business. Jack Hurley and his wife, Thelma, had five children: Joan, Doug, Kevin, Jim and Una. Jim took over the role of the Kyogle dealer principal in 1986, with his wife, Clare. Jim's son Paul is the CEO of Brown & Hurley, and his other son, Tony, is the general manager of sales. Doug Hurley was the dealer principal at Coffs Harbour, and Kevin was joint managing director of the group. Doug's son Dylan Hurley is also involved in the business. Alan Brown and his wife, Lil, also had five children: Rob, Jan, Carole, Bev and Joy. Rob has been the joint managing director for Brown & Hurley Group, and Carole's son Jack is now a diesel fitter in the business alongside Jai Slater.

The Brown & Hurley Group and the families have also always been strong community contributors. In 2017 they hosted their 44th annual charity golf event. The tournament raised $30,000 for a number of local charities. Since the inception of the golf day 44 years ago, they have raised in excess of $400,000, which has all been given back to local community groups and charities. Along with Brown & Hurley celebrating their 75th birthday this year, Kenworth are about to celebrate the 70,000th truck made in Australia this Friday, and Jim will be handed the keys to that truck. I'm looking forward to being there to celebrate with you, Jim. Congratulations to the entire team and all the staff that have worked at Brown & Hurley over many years and congratulations on the jobs and the contributions that the group has provided to our community.