In recent years Phil Buckland has become widely known as the 'helicopter man' as he campaigned for a 24/7 fully-equipped rescue helicopter service for the Illawarra.However, much of what Mr Buckland - who died on Saturday after a battle with cancer - has contributed to the community over the past four decades has been done out of the spotlight.When he decided to sell his business of 43 years, it was a good opportunity to reflect on a career that saw Mr Buckland become one of Wollongong's great corporate citizens.
Helicopter man Phil Buckland aimed high for good causes Mr Buckland has lived by the code that in service there is dignity.Mr Buckland went to great lengths to gather community support for a helicopter with trained trauma doctors and available 24/7.He supported Peter Mangles and Arthur Rorris in the drive for a better service because from his point of view a helicopter that was only in the region now and then was not a proper rescue service."I put my hand up and said I believe in this, I would like to help. Politics aside, all we wanted was 24/7 for the Illawarra with doctors because the steelworks doesn't shut down at three in the afternoon; neither do the mines or the coal trucks," he said."We were told in the beginning there is no way you are ever going to get 24/7 in the Illawarra and there is no way you are ever going to get doctors."It was a very lonely road at first and I had two visits from those opposed to it. We kept the pressure up and we got the doctors and the day the doctors pulled into Albion Park was when the bus crashed on Jamberoo Mountain Rd."They were onsite and had the first patients packed up and ready to go off before (the) Sydney (helicopter) even got there. "With trauma the first few minutes are the critical time. That was why when we got the doctors we kept fighting, fighting and fighting for the helicopter and eventually they caved in. That is what I regard as my best achievement."Mr Buckland said it would not have been achieved without the people of Wollongong and the Illawarra getting behind the campaign and media support.Mr Buckland's drive came as no surprise to many business people who had witnessed his decades of community work with Rotary, Lions and The Illawarra Connection.He was a founding director of TIC and served on the board for the first 10 years."When it kicked off the pundits all said TIC will only last 12 months," Mr Buckland said.He attributes much of its longevity to former president Peter Kell.Mr Buckland became president of the Figtree Lions Club in the 1970s and joined Rotary in the early 1990s. He was president for Wollongong Rotary Club's 75th anniversary.Through Rotary, he has participated in projects including Mt Keira lookout, Summit Tank, Greenhouse Park, annual Christmas shopping trips for the elderly and people with disabilities, Breakfast on the Beach and the food tent at the Cancer Council's Relay for Life."Rotary has been a big part of my life because there is dignity in service," he said."It is a shame today that young people are not tending to join up to service organisations. Their time is too short. They have kids to look after and there is a lot more pressure on families today. The demographics of service clubs these days are that members are mainly in their 60s and 70s and that is something we have been trying to reverse at the Rotary Club of Wollongong." Mr Buckland encouraged people who don't have time to join a structured organisation to consider becoming a friend of Rotary and just participate in some of the projects.His interest in community service started when he joined the Scouts."I credit Scouts with teaching me values, leadership, self-confidence and to stand on my own two feet," he said."I was in the Scouts from age eight to about 18. I loved every minute of it. We had a scout master who was a captain in the Army Reserves. We went everywhere. I remember going to WIN Television when it was still an active fort with two 9.2 inch guns and live ammunition. There was a resident sergeant there and in the early 50s those guns were supposedly able to be fired within 24 hours. They were only ever fired a couple of times for practice rounds and they broke all the windows in Coniston."Mr Buckland recently returned to the Scouts as a leader himself.It came after he talked his oldest grandson Mackenzie Logan into joining the Scouts after he showed an interest in participating in Rotary projects. Mr Buckland was 15 when he started his auto-electrical apprenticeship and established his own business six years later.He had no business training but the business now known as Buckland Auto Electrical Service quickly carved a niche providing a mobile field service for heavy industry after its young owner knocked on doors presenting himself to potential clients.He recalled the boss of one firm said: "You look a bit young to me son. Do you know what you are doing?".Mr Buckland's reply was: "Yes sir, and I am prepared to work hard".The manager told Mr Buckland how hard he was to work for but the young business owner proved himself on the job.And it prepared him well for everything that comes with managing a small business."He drove me mercilessly. He really forced me to perform," Mr Buckland said. "Then he became a mentor and then he became a good friend. I ended up a few years ago doing the eulogy at his funeral." The business grew from many cold calls and once a new client agreed to use Buckland Auto Electrical Service the company tried to go the extra yard and set a pace that no-one else would be prepared to achieve."I made every mistake there was to make but I was able to attract highly skilled tradesmen who were disillusioned working in other places," Mr Buckland said."My strength all the way through has been the quality and expertise of my tradesmen. But it took me a lot of years to learn how to manage. I was employing people twice my age and it was not all smooth sailing. I kept doing technical courses and business training courses myself and I have kept that going all my business life and that eventually rolled into The Illawarra Connection."Then there is the School of Hard Knocks in business itself. You learn fast when you have got to sink or swim by your own decisions. People who haven't been in small business will never understand the pressures that exist in small business."Mr Buckland said he had some great mentors during his early career as a business proprietor."Where I really got my business training was in the old Wollongong Businessmen's Club," he said."I was on the board of that for 14 years and I was president for five years. That was the toughest school that you would ever imagine."Every professional and businessman in town who was at the top of his game was a member of that club and when I came in as a little snotty-nosed auto electrician I put my hand up to stand on the board and I got elected. "People used to say to my wife 'why does he do it? No-one appreciates what he is doing'. But I learned so much because I had top solicitors, top accountants and the top businessmen who I was able to sit down with ... and I learned so much. I was like a sponge. That really gave me the confidence to do the things that I have done."One of the great business lessons he learned along the way came during an Australian trade delegation to China 16 years ago."The thing I learned was the Asian philosophy of long-term business plans," he said."They look up to 30 years out. I adopted this philosophy of looking long-term and applying it with my customers by being content to make a little bit over a long period rather than make a big bit and lose them. "Gradually over the years I also put all their inventory in stock so they didn't have to carry the parts and I made sure that it was sharply priced so they were happy to buy it here." Early projects included servicing equipment working on the F6 freeway, Maldon-Dombarton railway and off-shore oil and gas platforms. Mr Buckland worked with many of the same people on other projects over the decades.On his last day at work old friends from companies such as Brambles came in to say goodbye and there was a collection of cards in the office from people he had known and worked with for up to four decades."I have said to them all 'let's keep in touch because I am going to need it," he said. There are plenty of other reasons to stay busy in retirement too."We have got six kids between us and nine grandkids who are hugely supportive," he said."And there is a huge circle of support out there in HARS, Rotary and The Illawarra Connection."Mr Buckland plans to retain an interest in historic aircraft and boats in his retirement.But he will miss his work family including employee of 38 years Gary Woodward .Through Mr Woodward, Mr Buckland became a patron of HARS and was able to provide inkind support with electrical work. " I would be proud to call employee Luke (Plekan) my son," he said."He has just had his second baby. He has just bought a modest house at Dapto and is doing it up. I am just so proud of him."Staff are your most important asset. You have got to treat them right. If you look after them it comes the other way. "Skilled personnel are in such demand these days you have got to form that relationship with them and make them feel they belong. That is a two-way street because you get a lot out of it yourself too. Those bonds that you build, they help pull you through the hard times."Mr Buckland said he admired all the team he worked with at Bucklands over the past four decades including present employees Clint Leary and Bruce Wood."They work out in the freezing cold, in the pouring rain and in stinking hot conditions," he said.During his last day on the job recently, it was obvious the feelings between Mr Buckland and his staff were mutual and that Mr Buckland was a much-loved boss who would be missed by his employees.He was so concerned for his close-knit team that when his doctor told him it was time to retire he said he wanted to sell only to an owner who would provide them with respect.In Ian Buckley, whom he has known for 30 years, Mr Buckland found his man.Mr Buckley said the acquisition was a perfect fit with his business, Buckley's Plant Maintenance, at Unanderra."I saw this as a smart business choice for an established company that has got a long and proud reputation. It has a great team of people that I want to partner and hopefully they will be happy to stay with us for many, many years."Buckley's Plant Maintenance is a family business that began when Mr Buckley operated a mobile service truck out of Albion Park in 1990.He now has 16 employees and recently opened a state-of-the-art workshop.Mr Buckley said Buckland Auto Electrical Service would complement his heavy plant maintenance operation.The two companies have worked alongside each other for almost two decades and Buckland Auto Electrical Service will continue to trade under the same name.Like many of the companies Buckland Auto Electrical has worked with, Buckleys has been a regular employer of apprentices.Mr Buckland said he would miss befriending new apprentices working for his clients and encouraging them."I give them my phone number and if they are in the field and have a problem they can talk to me," he said."I build relationships with them to the extent now that some of them have become my bosses. It is a relationship you can't buy. I have had tremendous enjoyment out of mentoring and helping these young guys." WHAT THEY SAIDRotary Club of Wollongong president Geoff Goeldner:Phil's is always the first hand to go up when there's a worthwhile job to be done or if someone needs help. His belief in and support for the community of Wollongong and the Illawarra is unrivalled.Rotary Club of Wollongong member and past president Brian Reid:Phil had the knack with his team, young and old, of wielding them into an effective force for the project in mind, for example, the Breakfast on the Beach function at North Beach. He quietly but firmly organises the 'troops' and equipment so that within less than a couple of hours barbeque breakfasts are being cooked and served to thousands of people. Not only that, he also has the workers' welfare in mind in what can be very hot and trying conditions.South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris:Phil came out of the blue at a time when the chopper dispute was being fought in the trenches with paramedics, construction and maritime workers fighting the Sydney empire for a 24-hour emergency helicopter service for the Illawarra. Phil could see the enormous injustice of the situation. What impresses me most about Phil is that he had the guts and the commitment to follow this campaign through and to work with unions and business to ensure a united and strong message was always being projected to the Government.Access Business Lawyers co-founder and former The Illawarra Connection vice president Rod Cunich:Phil and I worked together with others to launch The Illawarra Connection and he worked tirelessly on the board for many years. In more recent years Phil approached me on behalf of the Guardian Rescue team. I and my colleagues contributed legal expertise to the project but Phil contributed his heart and soul, driven by a desire to help our community and a passion to see it achieved with honour and without fault. A perfectionist, a gentleman and a person anyone would be honoured to call a friend. Fox Consulting director Rod Oxley:I have known Phil Buckland for about 40 years. He and his family have had a long and unsung association with the city over a long period of time. It is impossible to chronicle all of the projects, issues and causes that Phil has been involved with other than to say that a number of those would have been far less successful had it not been for the dedication of Phil Buckland. Phil has never sought any personal recognition or reward for his efforts. He deserves every praise and recognition that comes his way.TIC president Roger Summerill:Phil Buckland is one of the unsung heroes of the Illawarra. His work in leading the charge to obtain the helicopter medical service for the region ought never to be forgotten. What are not generally known are the many contributions he has made to so many sectors of our region. Phil's record shows that when something needs to be done and he can do something about it he steps in to make it happen.Dr Allan James, Director Paediatric Services - Illawarra:Over 30 years I have maintained a close association with Phil and regard him as one of my closest friends. Phil joined The Wollongong Club in 1971 and it was in this situation that I got to know very well the enthusiasm, integrity and conscientiousness that make up Phil's character. He was an invaluable friend and support to me during that time. Phil has been associated with many ventures in Wollongong and has approached each venture with enormous enthusiasm and energy. ADD YOUR TRIBUTE - via a reader comment.
