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Speakers

Dr Neil Barr
Neil has been conducting social science research in the agricultural sector for more than 25 years. He has focused on structural change in agriculture and natural resource management issues for the vast majority of that time. He has extensive research experience in the adoption of sustainable farming practices and a long-standing interest in water reform and restructuring in irrigation communities. He is co-author (with John Cary), of the widely read ‘Greening a Brown Land: The Australian Search for Sustainable Land Use’ and is about to publish a new book, 'The House on the Hill', a personal examination of the social transformation of rural Australia over the past 30 years.
   

Professor Andrew Beer
Andrew Beer is a Professor in the School of Geography, Population and Environmental Management at Flinders University. He is also the Director of the Southern Research Centre of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. 

He has been at Flinders University since 1993 and previously worked in the Australian Public Service in Canberra within the Social Justice Secretariat of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet; the Department of Health, Housing and Local Government; and the ACT Government Service.
   

Carolyn Brennan
Carolyn joined the regional research team at the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) in 2006. Her current research project, due for release mid year,  investigates the geographic distribution of welfare payments throughout Australia. She also assisted with the soon to be published report on Tasmania’s Economic Development. In 2007 she managed the update of BITRE’s annual statistics booklet, About Australia’s Regions.

Carolyn has a first class honours degree in Arts and Music, University of Western Australia.  She has almost completed a PhD (part-time) in Ethnomusicology at the University of Melbourne.
   

Dr Gary Dolman
Dr Gary Dolman is the General Manager of Regional Research and Transport Statistics at the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics.

Gary has almost 20 years experience in the Australian Public Service, including leadership roles in regional development, freight logistics, transport technology, forestry policy and corporate planning.  He has also led Australian delegations at international transport and forestry meetings and has extensive research, policy and program management experience.

Gary’s formal qualifications are in applied geography (UNSW) and ecology (ANU).
   

Geoff Frost
Geoff Frost has been a Principal Research Economist with the Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics, the research arm of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport Regional Development and Local Government, specialising in analysis of regional economic issues, since the Bureau’s inception in 2000. He has spent the last nine years developing and administering rural and regional policy and programmes with DOTARS and the former Department of Primary Industries and Energy following an earlier career in farming.

Major research outputs have been Focus on Regions 3: Taxable Income (2005) and Investment Trends in the Lower Murray Darling Basin (2003).

Educated in economics and science at the Australian National University.
   

Professor Rolf Gerritsen
Rolf Gerritsen the Research Leader, Central Australia, at Charles Darwin University and is the Outback Livelihoods Project Leader in the Tropical Savannas CRC.

Previously, Rolf has been the Director of the Australian Centre for Regional and Local Government Studies; Director Social/Economic Policy in the Chief Minister’s Department in Darwin (2002 & 2006), a Ministerial staffer and ran his own research consultancy.

Rolf’s research interest is regional development, with a focus on disadvantaged and Indigenous areas.

Rolf’s taught at various Universities, spending a decade at ANU in the Graduate Program in Public Policy.  He is a graduate of the Universities of Western Australia and Ghana and has a doctorate from the ANU.
   

The Hon Gary Gray AO MP
The Hon Gary Gray AO MP was elected as the Member for Brand, Western Australia in 2007 and is the Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Northern Australia

Prior to becoming a Federal Member, Gary was a senior executive at Woodside Petroleum and Executive Director of the Western Australia Institute for Medical Research. He has held numerous positions within the Labor Party including National Secretary and National Organiser.

He holds a Batchelor of Economics from the Australian National University and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in January 2003.
   

Professor John Handmer
John Handmer is RMIT’s Innovation Professor of Risk and Sustainability and is Research Leader for the Bushfire CRC in the area of community safety.

Previously he held positions at CRES at ANU Canberra and the Flood Hazard Research Centre in London.  John Handmer has played a leading role in major research projects in Australia, Europe and North America dealing with hazards, crisis management and policy and institutional design.

He has published research on the economics of recovery in Australia and elsewhere. His most recent books are "Community bushfire safety" (with Kat Haynes) and "The Handbook of disaster and emergencies policies and institutions" (with Steve Dovers)
   
Professor Ann Harding
Ann Harding is Professor of Applied Economics and Social Policy and the inaugural Director of the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) at the University of Canberra.  She is an internationally recognised expert in the fields of microsimulation modelling, income distribution, and tax/transfer policy. Ann has played a key role for the past 14 years in constructing sophisticated data and models that can be used to assist policy makers assess the revenue and distributional consequences of possible policy options.   
 

 

Dr Anthony Hogan
Dr Anthony Hogan is Senior Social Scientist in the Social Sciences Program of the Bureau of Rural Sciences, based in Canberra.

Anthony is presently leading the Bureau’s large quantitative study on farmers’ perceptions to and responses in regard to climate change.  He has also recently been working on changing patterns of food production in the peri-urban environment. 

Anthony received his doctorate in sociology from Macquarie University in 1996.
   

Leanne Johnson
Leanne is a Regional Research Leader in the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE). Since joining BITRE in 2002, Leanne has authored reports on industry structure and social capital in Australia’s regions. She is currently responsible for managing research on household wealth, income support payments, industry trends and Tasmania’s economic development, as well as the About Australia’s Regions booklet.

Prior to joining BITRE, Leanne worked at the Bureau of Tourism Research and spent about five years undertaking economic research at the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Leanne holds an honours degree in economics from the University of Melbourne.
   

Professor Philip McCann
Philip McCann is Professor of Economics at The University of Waikato, New Zealand.

Educated at Cambridge University, his academic career includes: Professor of Urban and Regional Economics at The University of Reading UK; teaching at Cambridge University and the University’s of Pennsylvania and Reading,

He has published some 75 books, articles and book chapters covering economics, regional science, geography and engineering journals and volumes. His 2001 Oxford University Textbook, Urban and Regional Economics is internationally the best selling book in the field, being used in over 20 countries.

Philip has acted as an advisor/consultant to the OECD; European Commission; UK Department for Trade and Industry; the UK Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and  Group of Thirty, Washington DC.
   

Susan Page
Susan joined the Australian Public Service as a graduate in 1980.  Susan’s career has included work in the former Department of Transport, the Department of Transport and Communications, the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts and the Department of Finance and Administration.

As Deputy Secretary, Susan has particular oversight responsibilities for Local Government, Regional Development and Investment Infrastructure.  Susan also shares a range of corporate governance responsibilities in the Department.
   

Phil Potterton
Phil has been Executive Director of the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) since July 2004, having joined the Bureau and the Department in November 2001 as General Manager, Transport Research, following two years with the Northern Territory Treasury.

Phil held General Manager positions in the Commonwealth Government Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs and its forerunners.  He has also been with the Department of Finance, AusAid and with predecessors of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.

Phil holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) majoring in history (University of Cambridge 1974), and masters degrees in international relations (Australian National University 1976) and public policy (Harvard University 1985).
   
Amy Ruddock
Amy Ruddock is CME’s Executive Officer, NW Region, responsible for provision of support to the Pilbara Industry’s Community Council & to act as a regional liaison point to facilitate communication of initiatives and issues to and from the NW Region.

Amy worked for the Department of Industry & Resources (2002-2007), holding a number of key positions including areas of Business Development, Office of Major Projects & Infrastructure, responsible for managing resource-related projects (overseas & domestic proponents) & working with Industry & Government on various inquiries into Mineral Exploration at both State & Commonwealth levels.

Amy holds a Bachelor of Business from Edith Cowan University & the Centre d’Etudes Supérieures Européennes de Caen, France.
   

Kate Sutcliffe
Kate Sutcliffe is a Senior Consultant at Kleinhardt Business Consultants, Cairns and previously CEO, Gulf Savannah Development. She is currently a board member of the Cape York Peninsula Development Association and Secretary of the FNQACC Management Committee.

Kate’s special skills interests include; Regional and community development
Community engagement, Tourism planning, Policy development, negotiation and facilitation.

In 1984 she completed a study of indigenous policies race relations and cultural resource management in Japan, Hawaii and Canada

Kate has a BA from University of Adelaide and a Post Graduate diploma, field

Archaeology, University of Amsterdam.
   

Michael J Taylor AO
Mike Taylor is currently Secretary, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government (appointed October, 2004). Prior to his current appointment Mike had had more than a decade of extensive experience at chief executive level, managing Commonwealth and Victorian State Government Departments.

Mike has had a broad range experience on committees, boards and statutory authorities.  He is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), the Australian Institute of Administration, and the Institute of Public Administration of Australia, and also currently Chair of the Commonwealth/State Standing Committee on Transport, and Chair of the Commonwealth/State Standing Committee on Regional Development.