The research project was initiated by the UCG IA home office to see if freight costs could be reduced.

As mentioned in the December 2005 issue of United News ("Media Area Makes Cuts to Deal With Sharply Higher Shipping Costs," page 2), U.S. shipping costs to international areas have recently risen sharply.

After favorable quotes were obtained, the Australian National Council suggested the South African, Malaysian and Indonesian Good News copies be included in the Australian print run. The total circulation of The Good News for all these countries is around 35,000 per issue.

Analysis of the printing and shipping quotations received shows the home office will potentially save US$8,400 for every issue of The Good News printed in Australia . This is an annual cost reduction of around US$50,000.

The Australian National Council was able to draw on the extensive printing and publishing experience of Roy Hickford of the Gold Coast congregation, and the international shipping contacts of Sal Anastasi of the Brisbane congregation in putting the cost structure together.

As you can imagine, this potential cost reduction aroused real interest in the United States, and Media and Communications operation manager Peter Eddington asked if the Australian National Council would oversee the printing and shipping of the magazine to the offshore locations. The Australian National Council readily agreed.

It was agreed that the United Church of God in Australia will have no technical responsibilities other than as a liaison with the printer and the shipping companies.

The advantages of going ahead with this project are: the substantial savings to UCG IA ; more timely delivery of The Good News to areas in the region because shipping times will be shortened; and the strengthening of the already strong Australia/home office relationship.

Plans are to test the new arrangement for a couple of issues, excluding Malaysia and Indonesia, to see how it goes. The March/April edition of The Good News will be the first one printed and shipped under the new arrangements. UN

Bill Eddington is the chairman of the Australian National Council. This report is excerpted from the January-March issue of United News Australia .