Bruce has been working in the water and natural resource sectors for over 25 years in a variety of government, consulting and industry roles. His career has included leading the successful delivery of large, complicated water resource management programs, always promoting innovative and efficient methods to achieve desired client outcomes. This includes collaborations between multiple levels of government, research organisations and business, effectively "bridging the gap" between policy and technical concepts, to delivery of outcomes on the ground. He has an excellent understanding of water issues in a variety of industry sectors including drinking water, agriculture, mining, wastewater, transport, maritime and defence.

 

Rowena Abbey is a professional Director experienced with listed, unlisted and not-for-profit companies and government boards. She has over 30 years’ experience in finance, risk management, governance and leadership. She is an experienced Chair of Audit, Risk and Governance Committees. She is prequalified to be a Chairman or Member to sit on State Government Audit and Risk Boards. She has extensive business, finance and strategic management skills across a wide range of industries including banking and finance, oil and gas, infrastructure, agriculture and government.  She is a team leader and builder and is also able to negotiate across all levels of business as well as all levels of government.
 

Rowan Moffitt is an experienced private and public sector senior leader with a lifetime in leadership roles.  In recent decades he has been focused on strategic organisational matters, mostly characterised by complexity.  He is an accomplished strategic thinker skilled in operations management, government engagement, operational planning, leadership at the senior executive level, professional coaching, mentoring, and career transition spanning all ages, genders, cultures of origin and orientations.
 

Harry Henderson has worked with some impressive organisations throughout his career including Myer, Apple and Dell. His career in the IT industry began as a result of a career transition from the Australian Defence Force where he served as a Solider and Officer for 12 years. With Harry’s personal experience in migrating from a successful career in the ADF to a globally successful business career, business professionals will find Harry’s experience, candour, and mentorship invaluable. His specialities include general management, business development, IT infrastructure solutions, electronic engineering and negotiating across cultural boundaries.
 

David Dowling is a talented leader and project manager, with over 20 years’ experience in defence, aviation, education, mining, and rail industries at senior management level. David’s Operations Management, Project Management and Consultant experience has contributed to the successful delivery of a significant number of infrastructure and associated logistic support services projects.  These projects have been diverse and include an Order of Magnitude Study Report for a 40 Mtpa coal mine project in the Bowen Basin for Rio Tinto, various projects for GHD and the Lord Howe Island ATC Infrastructure Upgrade for Airservices Australia.
 

Michael Kneipp is a highly capable senior manager with over three decades of practice in government and private consultancy in a range of situations including public administration, agriculture, natural resource management, small and medium enterprises, transport and corrective services. As Administrator for Dubbo Regional Council Michael oversaw the integration of two very diverse entities in a very challenging environment. He is also a skilled facilitator and keynote speaker, having delivered AusAID Leadership Programs in Bougainville and Solomon Islands.
 

Jane applies her leadership, strategy, and consulting skills to regional economic development. She is passionate about economic prosperity in rural and regional Australia, with a keen interest in identifying and promoting the unique tourism offering for individual rural communities and delivering meaningful outcomes that go beyond the financial target. She is an experienced Director and Executive Manager with a demonstrated history of working in management consulting. Returning to Regional NSW 6 years ago, gave Jane the opportunity to apply her consulting skills to regional economic development. Recent projects have included workforce development and diversification, tourism strategy and project management of investment initiatives. She has worked with all levels of government, local industry and not-for-profit. 

Combining more than 25 years of executive experience, the focal point of Jocellin’s work is building engagement and leadership capacity. Bringing business leaders, government and communities in rural Australia together, she facilitates advisory groups that inspire and support individual, organisation and community-wide growth, innovation, and leadership. Jocellin consults to a wide variety of clients across infrastructure, education, local-state-federal government, not-for-profit and community sectors. She supports organisations to build brand, enhance reputation, improve stakeholder engagement, and build stronger advocacy platforms.
 

Julia Spicer built and runs her business, Engage & Create Consulting from Goondiwindi, South West Queensland. Julia works with regional communities across the country on a range of projects, with the focus on identifying needs in business and implementing creative solutions to address them. Her passion lies with small businesses, sustainable agriculture and regional women in leadership.  In 2018, Julia was honoured to be one of the 100 Faces of Small Business for Queensland Government and listed as one of the Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence Award. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a past board member on Regional Development Australia for Darling Downs South West Queensland, and the Queensland Small Business Advisory Council.

Kelvin Templeton is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. He served for five years as Chairman of the Australian Business Group in Abu Dhabi. Prior to founding Templeton Galt, Kelvin served as Chief Executive Officer of the Sydney Swans Football Club and as General Manager of the Medical Clinics Division of Australia’s largest private health insurer, the Medical Benefits Fund of Australia. Kelvin is a former elite sportsman, and a winner in 1980 of the Brownlow Medal, the highest individual honour in Australia’s most popular national sport, Australian Football.
 

Kim combines a strong technical background with financial and the softer people skills. He is a strategic thinker and offers extensive sales, marketing and business development experience, with strong technical and personnel application. Kim has in-depth understanding and application of infrastructure delivery, project management, operations & maintenance, asset management, construction, manufacturing and program delivery, providing a sound customer relations foundation. He has a positive attitude with a can-do philosophy, loves networking and enjoys building businesses. Kim enjoys working with people and achieving positive results.
 

Greg Conkey is an awarding winning journalist and talented photographer who has had more than 30 years experience working in rural and regional Australia.

In 2005 Greg started his own public relations and media consultancy, specialising on his extensive media background and project work for numerous humanitarian causes.

In 2012 Greg was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for services to the Wagga Wagga community. Later that year he was elected as a City of Wagga Wagga Councillor and was re-elected as Mayor in 2018, retiring from Local Government at the end of 2021.  During his five years as Mayor, Greg worked closely with state and federal governments as well as private enterprise to secure hundreds of millions of dollars worth of funding for the Riverina region.

Len has been a manager and director of banking, investment and health care businesses over a period of 40 years. His previous roles included as a director and member of the credit and equity underwriting committees of Bankers Trust, Chair of the Investment Committee of the property investment group AsheMorgan and director and chair of the audit and risk committee of the listed retirement and health care group, Aveo Limited. Len is broadly experienced across a wide range of financing and investment transactions, including leveraged and corporate finance, asset and infrastructure, including PPP projects (including transport and health and public and community assets) and property development and investment. He has established and managed specialist property investment funds.
 

Dr Mary Murray has worked for over 40 years in Australia, in many low and middle income countries and global arenas to develop and implement equitable and effective National Medicines Policies (NMP). She chaired the inaugural Ministerial Advisory Committee to establish and implement Australia’s Quality Use of Medicines Policy.  Over 10 years, she assisted the Philippines, Vietnam, Samoa and other countries with NMP. Coordinated by the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, she and others wrote the stories of the cultural, political, technical and economic forces behind NMP development in 7 countries.  In 2004 she completed a PhD in Cultural Psychology, exploring the cultural roots of scapegoating, prevalent everywhere and certainly in long standing conflict over medicines.
 

Michael is an experienced transformational leader with over 25 years’ experience successfully leading and improving organisations across multiple and varied industries including education, regulated infrastructure, and complex supply chains. He has extensive management experience in the rail transport and logistics industry including Operations, multi-commodity supply chain analysis, major project, and business case development across both the resources and agricultural sectors. Michael is a recognised and established leader within his field, with exceptional ability to provide leadership, oversight and facilitate complex stakeholder relationships across Government, Community, and commercial enterprises.
 

Born in the UK, Nick White worked as a toolmaker for the Dowty Group a large engineering company working in mining, aircraft and railroad equipment industries. Emigrating to Australia in 1991, Nick founded and established his 25 year business in the allied construction industry. Nick was responsible for procurement, construction estimation and tendering processes, the logistical coordination of large, multi-phased and multi-site allied construction projects, contract negotiations, costing controls, project scheduling, management of employees and contractors within safe and compliant working environments. Nick White holds key skills in project management, planning, managing technical and logistical projects amid multi-phased programs of work, always leading from the front with problem solving perspectives and excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
 

Patrick is a professional operations and senior executive. He has developed a mix of experience in the logistics, transport, maritime, technology, manufacturing, engineering, communications and defence sectors at senior executive and operations levels. He has extensive experience in leadership, general management, strategic incident management, supply chain operations, strategic planning and implementation, operations management, training and project management, with a record of driving profit and improvement, within sensitive and complex stakeholder environments. He is recognised for his ability to deliver business and project outcomes, identifying operational improvement opportunities and being critically attuned to risk and cost.
 

Peter was for a decade the Executive Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, recognised as one of the world’s top defence and security think tanks.  He left the position in May 2022.

With a career in defence and security, Peter was Deputy Secretary for Strategy in the Defence Department (2009-12); Chief of Staff to the Minister for Defence (1996-98) and Senior Adviser for Strategic Policy to the Prime Minister (2002-03). Peter led the ‘External Expert Panel’ appointed in 2014 to advise on the Defence White Paper, released in February 2016. Peter was a member of the Australia-Germany Advisory Group, appointed by the Prime Minister and German Chancellor in 2015 to develop closer bilateral relations. He has been a member of the Advisory Group on Australia-Africa Relations advising the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Peter is a columnist for The Australian newspaper, writing on defence and international security, and a frequent commentator in print and electronic media. In February 2016 Peter was awarded the French decoration of Knight in the Order of Legion of Honour. In 2021 he was awarded a commendation by the foreign minister of Japan for services to the Bilateral Relationship.

Rod has more than 25 years experience as an economist, shared evenly between the public and private sector. He has worked for the public sector in Treasury, infrastructure and utility roles, and for the private sector in banking and consulting roles. He is a specialist water resources economist, including having undertaken many roles with a particular focus on project audit and water utility capital program development and justification. He has been a NSW Gateway reviewer for over a decade and has conducted or responded to a number of IPART pricing submission audits
 

British by birth, and now with dual British and Australian nationality, Rob Remnant is the Founder and Managing Director of QFB Pty Limited. He spent almost 40 years developing his career with two highly regarded multinational corporations (Jardine Matheson and the LVMH Group) predominantly in the Australasia region. He has extensive experience in the strategic development of premium brands and multi-unit retail/foodservice operations. Rob is a non-executive director of two highly acclaimed Australian wineries, Taltarni and Clover Hill, as well as of Wine Tasmania and of Stepathlon. He sits on the Advisory Boards of Laava Pty Ltd and of Sesion Pty Ltd.
 

Vice Admiral Russ Crane’s 40 years of service culminated on 4 July 2008 with his appointment as Chief of Navy. For his distinguished service, he was elevated to an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2010. More recently, he was invested at the direction of the President of the Republic of France as a Commander in the Order of National Merit. Since retiring in June 2011, Russ has become a member of the Defence South Australia Advisory Board working with the State to optimise its position in maintaining current Defence activity and preparing for new opportunities. He is also a sole trader in his own business, trading as Bowline Consultants, providing advice in areas such as strategic leadership and reform as well as Defence planning.
 

With more than 20 years of global construction experience, Shannon has helped lead the delivery of complex mega-projects across several industry sectors including tech, hospitality and gaming, banking and consular in Australia, Asia and North America. Recently returned from USA, Shannon has experience in commercial and contract management, project delivery, program management as well as alternative delivery (PPP) transaction advisory. Shannon is adept at finding solutions and values diversity of thought, teamwork, innovation and continual improvement. Shannon is an active member of several industry organisations including RICS, NAWIC and Chief, a private network of women business leaders in North America.
 

Stein Falster has 48 years’ experience working as a Civil Engineer. He has worked in the capacity of Consulting Engineer, Developer and predominately as a Construction Engineer. He has experience in design and construction of Concrete Gravity Oil Platforms in the North Sea, Wharf extension in Bundaberg, Gas Turbine Power Station in Morwell and for the past 27 years he has managed the day-to-day operations of a Civil Construction Company in Sydney. He is familiar with the tendering processes involved in both Private and Government projects and knows what is required to ensure timely completion of projects and what is required to deliver projects to the required budget
 

Wayne Haynes is a highly regarded senior manager with broad international experience. He has accumulated an extensive background in commercial, operational, government and diplomatic roles. He has experience in managing large and culturally diverse teams. Excellent communications and stakeholder engagement skills complement a solid background in training and evaluation across several organisations. International executive experience includes assignments in the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Norway, South East Asia and the Middle East.
 

Michael has worked in the power industry for four decades and has extensive and diverse contacts across regional New South Wales. With 25 years experience working in local government as a Councillor and Deputy Mayor, Michael is approachable, adept at finding solutions, and committed to a culture of strategic thinking and process driven outcomes. Michael retired from local government at the end of 2021. During his years as a Councillor and Deputy Mayor on Yass Valley Council, Michael worked closely with the community to secure services and infrastructure as well as supporting local businesses in order to grow the regional economy. He has a passion for local government, regional development, and energy and climate policy. Michael is a specialist in community and stakeholder engagement. He enjoys working and engaging with people so the community can reach its full potential.

James has had a career filled with many “first of a kind” achievements. James is a consultative, energetic and driven leader with a distinguished track record within Consulting, ICT, Outsourcing, Staffing, and Environmental industries: a strong, balanced commercial background, gained through operating in Sales, Delivery, Marketing and Strategy roles at numerous organisations across both European and Asian markets. The diversity of James' work experience has given him the opportunity to develop & place new offerings in new markets, upgrade traditional operations to embrace digital technologies, and lead outcome-based transformation programs across a wide variety of markets and customer segments, and varying levels of complexity. In late 2009 James launched the Goodes O’Loughlin Foundation (along with former AFL Stars Michael O’Loughlin and Adam Goodes), a Not-For-Profit organisation that exists to enable a brighter future for Indigenous Australians. The Foundation’s aim is to encourage and empower the next generation of Indigenous role models across Australia, focusing on Education as a primary enabler. Today the Foundation supports more than 1000 students across 3 States. James has a passion for success, a client first focus, an ability & determination to achieve challenging targets and goals, a strong creative streak, a focus on creating mutual value and above all the ability to lead and inspire those around him to higher levels of achievement.

A grazier for over 40 years, Helen has seen the extensive biosecurity impact of invasive species on Australian agricultural enterprises prompting her involvement in the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre (IACRC) & in establishing the enduring Centre for Invasive Species Solutions (CISS). Recognising the potential of the CRC structure Helen joined others in the development of CISS taking that strong industry, government and science collaborative model and melding it with the flexibility of private enterprise. Helen has held many industry positions at the local and state levels through the NSW Rural Lands Protection Boards (now the Local Land Services LLS), and through the wool industry at the local and national levels. As President of the Australian Superfine Wool Growers Assoc Helen represented the Australian superfine wool industry to mills and retailers through Europe and Asia.
 

Grace is an experienced engineering consultant who creates a delivery-focused environment while maintaining productive business relations. Grace comes to The Stable with a Bachelor of Engineering from Griffith University, alongside over twelve years’ experience in engineering project management, strategic planning, and quality assurance. Today, Grace is a Principal Consultant and Director of Lillee Applications, a strategic and concise consulting firm that creates the driving force to slipstream projects. Since Co-Founding the company in 2018, Grace has directed the entire build and launch of Enhance the Care Hub and is currently in the conceptual phase of the Cudgen Multi-Dwelling Project. 

Ian has spent his entire life living on the land. His family grazing enterprise led him into a strong focus on animal health and welfare taking up representational positions at a state and national level. Rural downturns and droughts necessitated the grazing enterprise diversify into other areas. This led to manufacturing sheepskin products and exposed him to all the difficulties that a secondary industry in a rural environment entails. It also was an eye opener when in 1985 he had the opportunity to spend 6 weeks in North Korea teaching manufacturing techniques. Having taken part in an environmental stewardship program over the last 13 years and dedicating over 500 hectares into the NSW Bioconservancy Trust, Ian’s focus is now on the changing world environment and the changing climate.
 

Jennifer White’s professional working life encompasses diverse health, construction, and infrastructure sectors, engaging with community and industry stakeholders, planning, steering, and updating projects within public and private sectors. Working with constantly changing groups of people whose support and participation are essential to project success, is facilitated by Jennifer’s invaluable cross-cultural competencies, training, and experience. Jennifer White is currently undertaking postgraduate studies in Public Health at UNSW and holds a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Indigenous Studies from Macquarie University. Jennifer is a former Registered Nurse working in the NSW and United Kingdom health sector.
 

Louise Cross is a leader skilled in governance and strategic planning operating strategically at executive and board levels, leading organisations to achieve and maintain compliance to the following Australian and International Standards: NDIS Quality and Safeguarding framework, ISO 45001, ISO 14001 Environmental Management systems and ISO 9001 Quality Management systems. The diversity and extent of her industry sector experiences span utilities, infrastructure, construction, mining, manufacturing and social services. The sector experiences have included NFP, government/ public, private and ASX listed organisations in global, multi-national and multi-sited organisation settings.
 

Beth is a Registered Environmental Assessment Practitioner with over 25 years of experience in strategic planning, environmental assessment, environmental management and stakeholder engagement. She is highly regarded for her project management skills and ability to navigate complex, multi-disciplinary issues and processes for private and public sector clients. Beth is the Founder and Principal of Restore Environmental Consultants and has led projects across NSW, Queensland and the ACT.

Don's lifetime in leadership has taught him that a person’s defining achievements are invariably linked to the efforts of others. His professional focus has, over the years, gravitated towards helping people to mobilise, amplify and align their efforts with those of others, to serve a purpose. Don specialises in leadership development, improving individual and team capacity to mobilise people and make progress on the important challenges. He also facilitates team building to balance the competing needs of team learning and performance, while developing the team's capacity to work as one. Through his coaching of individuals and/or teams, he has assisted in their progress towards achieving set goals and realising their potential.

Sarah is an expert in change management, team building, cultural shifts, coaching, and organisational adaptation with more than 20 years of human resources and executive experience behind her. Sarah's primary focus is to help organisations improve their performance through people; including linking change strategy to business strategy, evaluating change management systems, team health, adaptability for evolution, and assessing organisational culture. Sarah is an dynamic consultant who thrives on solving complex people-oriented organisational challenges.

Tony Murray, the founder and managing director of Murray Trading Company, has significant experience in the fishery sector, focusing on the importation and exportation of prawns, and the processing of marine products in Hainan and Bangkok for 25 years. Through Tony's cadetship with Gollin Kyokuyo, a Japanese and Australian Joint Venture that developed Australia's Northern Prawn Fishery in the Indonesian Waters, Tony gained proficiency in Japanese languages. He also has experience skippering trawlers for both his own vessels and other companies.