DCN September Edition 2019

CUSTOMS BROKING & FREIGHT FORWARDING
AM for industry legend:
Kent Heazlett
Kent Heazlett was recently made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to customs
broking. He spoke with DCN editor David Sexton about his background in the industry and thoughts
on the future.
When and how did you get into customs broking?
It was 1968. I started with a company called George Cornish Pty
Ltd. I got into it because my father was at the time the shipping
manager of department store David Jones in Sydney.
What are your early memories?
Back in those days it was very much paper-based. We had
to attend Customs House in person to lodge customs entry
documents and pay customs dues etc so it was a lot of leg
work. As the industry evolved, the electronic side of things
came into play. I saw a couple of ads in the newspaper for what
was called, back then, a customs agent. I applied for two jobs
and was offered both. I got home and said, ‘what do I do now?’
My parents asked, ‘who did you like?’ It was Cornish so that was
that. I started working at Cornish and lasted about 14 years. I
left there and later worked for a couple of the multi-nationals
for 10 years or so. Then later on, with a friend, we bought
Cornish in 1989. We held it for 25 years and then sold it in 2014.
What was your first task?
The first task I was given was to do what was called ‘a survey’
down at the wharves in Sydney. It was an importer of South
American multi-coloured woollen cardigans. I went to the
wharf and spoke to the fellows who looked after the damaged
cargo, I went into what was called the ‘dead house’. I saw this
guy in there wearing one of the cardigans (laughs). It was fairly
obvious where they were damaged, probably here in Australia.
With containerisation, all of those issues of damage and loss
largely became a thing of the past.
So when did the electronic revolution take place?
The first electronic system that was introduced was a thing
called COMPILE (late 1970s, early 1980s). That was the first
electronic system for preparing customs entries. Customs
entries probably took three or four days back then to be
processed by the department. Today it’s like 30 seconds.
You have a long connection with air cargo, what are some
early memories?
When I was starting out it was very early days of air cargo. The
air cargo industry was going in Sydney. There was a block of
buildings no longer than 100 yards outside the airport and that
was it for the air freight industry. Nowadays you’ve got DHL
and others with hundreds of acres of warehouse space.
What are some of the other big changes you’ve seen in
your time in the industry?
I think the ‘customs’ part of the job has become easier with
the electronic revolution whereas the focus on biosecurity
has increased and that’s understandable. Overall the biggest
changes have been in the area of converting what was a paper
process into electronic systems. Containerisation was the
other, it was equally as big a change as the electronic side.
You were made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).
What was that for and what does it mean to you?
The AM was for significant service to business and
international trade. Some of my colleagues and peers got
together – why they picked on me I don’t know (laughs). They
made the submission unbeknownst to me. It revolved around
my time working with the industry associations over probably
a period of 30-something years. Back in the early days I taught
at TAFE part-time after hours and became involved in the
Customs Agents Institute which was basically the training side
of the industry associations. Later I became chairman of the
NSW Customs Brokers’ Council.
Is the current working environment a good one for
customs brokers?
Good customs brokers are still doing very well. They have
had to change their service to encompass the provision of
freight forwarding services and the like. They have done that
pretty well. But there are still a large number of successful,
Australian-owned businesses that started out as customs
brokers alone and then have developed into trucking or
warehousing businesses as well as international freight
forwarding. The business has changed a lot but the need
for a customs broker is certainly still there. An experienced
customs broker can save a client a hell of a lot of money, not
just in customs duties. With free trade agreements I think we’ll
eventually find customs duties are a thing of the past.
Image supplied
36 September 2019
thedcn.com.au