Speakers

Biographies on all speakers participating in the National Farmers' Federation 2010 National Congress are included below.

Check out the full Congress Program.

Keynote Speakers

Mr Bernard Salt

KPMG partner, futurist and advisor on consumer, cultural and demographic trends

Keynote address: the changing face of farming

Bernard Salt is a compelling and entertaining speaker engaged by both the private and public sectors to present a perspective of how social, cultural and demographic change might shape the future business environment.

Bernard is a best-selling author of three popular books on demographic change. He is a columnist with The Australian and Melbourne Herald Sun newspapers. He is a Partner with KPMG and heads a group of researchers providing demographic advice to business. And he is one of Australia's most in-demand corporate speakers having spoken to audiences in all parts of Australia as well as New Zealand, the US, the UK and South East Asia.

Bernard is also one of Australia's most quoted social commentators. He is regular on many radio and television programs including Sunrise, Today Tonight, A Current Affair and many others. He manages to combine an astute observation of human behaviour and change with hard data.

Bernard Salt is an experienced and high-profile presenter who is especially well connected into the business and social issues of the day. His speaking topics consider key issues viewed from a demographic perspective and include the impact of the Global Financial Crisis; the Rise of Big Australia; Workforce Trends; Consumer, Social & Generational Trends and Urban & Regional development.

Confirmed Speakers

The Hon Tony Burke

Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and Minister for Sustainable Population

Session 1: Congress Opening
Session 2: Great Debate - Priorities for Agriculture

Tony Burke was elected to Federal Parliament in 2004 as the Member for Watson.

With a background in small business and in industrial relations, Tony was a founding
director of Aticus Pty Ltd and later worked as a union official.

He was appointed Shadow Minister for Small Business in 2004 and later took over as the Shadow Minister for Immigration in June 2005. In December 2006 Tony’s portfolio was expanded, as the Shadow Minister for Immigration, Integration and Citizenship until the 2007 election.

Upon forming a new Labor Government in November 2007, Tony was named Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, taking his place in the Rudd Government’s first cabinet. In early 2010 he was given added responsibilities as Minister for Sustainable Population.

Before entering Federal Parliament, Tony served as a member of the NSW Legislative Council. During this time, he chaired the NSW State Development Committee, conducting inquiries into Ports Infrastructure and Science and its Commercialisation.

Tony has degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Sydney and is a former National President of Australian Young Labor.

The Hon John Cobb

Shawdow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Session 2: Great Debate - Priorities for Agriculture

John Cobb was born at Bathurst and grew up on a family property near Mt Hope, about 100km north-west of Condobolin. He still operates a farm in the region.

John began his working life as do many farming sons - he went jackarooing in Queensland, spent some time as an overseer, worked on a mine near Mt Hope, spent 12 months on the Sydney to Moomba gas pipeline and, of course, worked the family property. This gave him a solid grass roots grounding in rural life.

In the 1980s John became increasingly frustrated at the way policies affecting regional NSW were being made, by politicians and bureaucrats in the city with no knowledge or regard for regional areas. He joined the NSW Farmers Association with the drive to do something about it, and began a 15-year agri-political career that culminated a three-year term as Association president.

In 2001 John decided to take these passions to the federal arena and stood for the federal seat of Parkes, and in 2007 stood for the seat of Calare following a redistribution of federal electorates. Over the journey, John has enjoyed a varied career.

In Government, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services in October 2004. In this capacity he was responsible for administering the highly successful Regional Partnerships program, and heavy vehicle transport policy.

In 2005 he was appointed the Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. In 2006 John became the Minister for Families and Community Services. In 2007, as part of the Australian Government's $10 billion plan to address the problems of water availability in the Murray-Darling Basin, John was appointed Assistant Minister for the Environment and Water.

After the 2007 election, John was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet position of Shadow Minister for Regional Development and Water Security. A Shadow Cabinet reshuffle in September 2008 saw John appointed to the portfolio for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

With the reshuffle of the Shadow Cabinet on 8th December 2009, John has now gained the responsibility of ‘Food Security’ within his portfolio, hence John is now Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Food Security, Fisheries and Forestry.

Senator Christine Milne

Deputy Leader and Climate Spokesperson for the Australian Greens

Session 2: Great Debate - Priorities for Agriculture

Senator Christine Milne, Australian Greens Deputy Leader and spokesperson on climate change, was elected to represent Tasmania in the federal parliament at the 2004 election. Until recently, Christine was one of four Global Vice-Presidents of the International Union for the Conservation for Nature and represented it at the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention at Montreal, Nairobi and Bali.

Christine is a leader in the environment movement in Australia and overseas. She was appointed to the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global 500 Roll of Honour in 1990 and in 2003 The Bulletin magazine named her one of Australia’s Smart 100.

Mr Nick Stace

CEO, CHOICE

Session 3: New Wave Consumerism
Topic: Tomorrow's consumers today

Nick Stace joined CHOICE as CEO in February 2009.

Before joining CHOICE, Nick worked as the British Prime Minister’s Special Adviser on strategic communications. This involved representing the PM in high level discussions; influencing Ministerial departments; developing policy and leading the timing/positioning of all Government announcements.

Prior to his role at No.10 Downing Street, Nick was Deputy CEO at Which?, the largest independent consumer group in Europe. He was also on the board of Which?, BEUC (representing Europe’s consumers) and Consumers International (representing the world’s consumer movement).

Nick has also been a director of a PR consultancy, and has founded and chaired two charities: the Sheila McKechnie Foundation, which encourages campaigning in Britain and beyond; and The Squad, a charity for children with learning disabilities.

Mr John Durkan

Merchandise Director, Coles

Session 3: New Wave Consumerism
Topic: Retail response to new demands

John Durkan joined Coles in early July 2008 as Merchandise Director. He brings with him a wealth of retail experience, having worked for 17 years with UK retailer Safeway Stores, a 500-store network including convenience and supermarkets.

In his last three years as Trading Director, he was responsible for devising and executing strategies around format, range, house brand development and pricing and promotions.

John’s most recent role was as Chief Operating Officer with UK’s largest mobile phone retailer, Carphone Warehouse. The business, which spans ten European countries from Sweden to Spain, presents a different retail experience for John. It has a smaller range, smaller supplier base, extremely high growth and a fast paced, entrepreneurial culture.

“The culture was one of the defining attributes of Carphone Warehouse and I’m keen to see how we can bring some of the fast paced innovation and entrepreneurial style to Coles,” said John.

John has responsibility for range, quality, pricing, promotion and presentation strategies, as well as supply chain and logistics.

Ms Felicity Robson

Corporate Marketing Manager, OneHarvest

Session 3: New Wave Consumerism
Topic: Farmers at the cutting edge

As Corporate Marketing Manager for the OneHarvest group of companies, Felicity is responsible for all communication and marketing activities, including consumer marketing, government and industry relations. Felicity is a third generation family business member, following her father and grandfather in the world of fresh produce.

An inaugural board member of PMA Australia-New Zealand, Felicity is amongst this year’s recipients of Produce Business’ 40 Under 40 – the first Australian to receive this accolade. She currently sits on the US based Produce Marketing Association’s Membership Taskforce as the representative for Australia and New Zealand.

Felicity is a graduate of the Australian Rural Leadership Program and is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

The Australian produce industry faces the same challenges as the rest of the modern world – price deflation and flat-line or decreasing consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Felicity has a goal of changing the way Australian kids eat. In her words ‘if we are to build a sustainable, vibrant and viable industry, we must motivate young people – future shoppers and consumers – to savour fresh each and every day. To do so, we have to be able to deliver the freshest, most flavoursome, value for money products … quite a feat! (if it was easy, everyone would be doing it)’.

OneHarvest now employs over 1,000 people in peak production and supplies fresh mangoes, watermelon, avocados and freshcut salads to major supermarkets, independent retailers, green grocers and processors across the country. The level of sophistication and professionalism in the operations today requires new thinking, new skills, new investment and new governance … and a fierce, unrelenting focus on delivering what the consumer wants.

Dr Megan Clark

CEO, CSIRO

Session 4: On-Farm Climate Action
Topic: Carbon offset - fact, fiction or in any way practical

Dr Clark began her career as a mine geologist and subsequently worked in mineral exploration, mine geology, research and development management, venture capital and technical strategy areas with Western Mining Corporation and was a Director of NM Rothschild & Sons (Australia).

She held the roles of Vice President Technology and Vice President, Health, Safety, Environment, Community and Sustainability with BHP Billiton.

Dr Clark is a member of the St Vincent’s Hospital Foundation Board, a member of the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, a member of the Automotive Industry Innovation Council and on the Australian Advisory Board of Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Dr Heather Burrow

CEO, Cooperative Research Centre for Beef Genetic Technologies

Session 4: On-Farm Climate Action
Topic: Livestock: practical abatement and mitigation

Dr Heather Burrow is Chief Executive Officer of the Cooperative Research Centre for Beef Genetic Technologies, Australia's largest integrated beef research program. Beef CRC aims to increase competitiveness of Australia’s beef industry by:

• improving capacity to deliver high quality beef to Australia's domestic and international markets without compromising animal welfare or the environment; and

• enhancing throughput and efficiency of resource use and reducing production costs, methane emissions and avoiding chemical and antibiotic residues through precise application of knowledge about the genes controlling these attributes in cattle, their rumen microorganisms and parasites that affect herd productivity.

Mr Bruce Watson

Nuffield Scholar and Parkes (NSW) farmer

Session 4: On-Farm Climate Action
Topic: Cropping: practical natural resource management

Bruce Watson is a Director in his family’s grain growing business Kebby & Watson based at Parkes. Prior to returning home Bruce completed a Bachelor of Agricultural Economics from the University of Sydney and also worked in the transfer pricing practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Bruce is the immediate past chairman of Partners in Grain (PinG), is Chairman of the Australian Controlled Traffic Farming Association (ACTFA) and was also awarded a Nuffield Scholarship in 2009. Bruce is married to his wife Karina and has a son William.

Mr Laurie Arthur

Chair, NFF Water Taskforce and Commissioner, National Water Commission

Session 5: Water in the Murray-Darling Basin

Laurie started his farming career with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science from Melbourne University. Laurie was “waylaid” for a time while he learnt the obscure skills of stock saddle making.

For over 30 years, Laurie has been a rice grower at Moulamein (now operating eight properties; 4200 ha land and over 7000 ML of water) and has recently “gone west” to Kununurra to successfully trial commercial rice production – with success and having avoided the geese!

In his farming operations, Laurie makes extensive use of precision farming technology, water trading and does his own irrigation surveying and farm plans using GPS and Terramodel, as well as managing his farms using Arc-view Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

However, Laurie is probably just as well known and respected for his agri-political career over the past 15 years having been involved with a number of organisations, such as the Ricegrowers’ Association of Australia, NSW Irrigators’ Council, Southern Riverina Irrigators, Irrigators’ Australia Ltd and Wakool Landholders’ Association.

Laurie has also been on a number of Government Committees, including those relating to Snowy Hydro, the Commonwealth’s Water Entitlement Purchase Program and the Living Murray.
Currently, Laurie holds positions as Chair of the National Farmers’ Federation Water Committee, is a Director of SunRice and is a Commissioner of the National Water Commission.

For fun, Laurie owns and operates an R22 helicopter – to shoo the birds away from the rice of course!

Mr Rob Freeman

CEO, Murray-Darling Basin Authority

Session 5: Water in the Murray-Darling Basin

Rob Freeman was appointed the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority in September 2008.

Prior to this appointment, he was Chief Executive of the South Australian Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation, which involved participating in numerous national and inter-jurisdictional committees.

Rob was South Australian Commissioner and Deputy President of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission and Chaired the Natural Resources Policy and Programs Committee. From 1998 to 2002 he was Deputy Director General of the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines.

In addition to his extensive public service experience, he has held positions in the academic sector and undertaken domestic and international consultancies.

Senator Nick Xenophon

Independent Senator for South Australia

Session 5: Water in the Murray-Darling Basin

Nick first became involved in politics in the 1997 South Australian election, where he campaigned on a ‘No Pokies’ platform. He ran to simply make a point. Nick scraped in with a little under three per cent of the statewide vote due to a large number of preferences being directed to him.

Nick was re-elected to the State’s Upper House in 2006 with just over 20.5 percent of the state’s vote.

Over the next eight years, Nick worked to fight the spread of poker machines. He also campaigned on issues where individuals and communities weren’t getting a fair go, including asbestos victims, victims of crime and land tax.

Nick made the decision to leave state politics and run in the November 2007 Federal Election because he believes that he can do more for South Australians in the Senate on key issues such as gambling regulation and water.

Nick was elected to the Senate with just under 15 per cent of the vote. He is the first Independent to be elected to the Senate in a generation. Nick currently shares the balance of power in the Senate with the Greens and Family First.

Since assuming his role in the Senate in July 2008, Nick has continued to push for changes in the key areas of gambling reform, the water crisis, consumer law and food labelling.

Some of Nick’s biggest achievements to date is negotiating the fast tracking of $900 million in funding for the Murray Darling Basin, river communities and stormwater harvesting as part of the 2009 stimulus package; his campaign for victims of Scientology; consumer rights; and the many Private Senator’s Bills he has introduced on gambling, consumer law and water management.

Nick believes the most important part of his job is speaking up for people who might not otherwise have a voice.

His approach to politics is perhaps best summed up in his First Speech in the Senate when he simply said:

I would rather go down fighting, than still be standing because I stayed silent.

Mr Askin Morrison

Partner, Bain and Company

Session 6: Feeding Ourselves and the World
Topic: Future food trends

Askin Morrison is a partner in the Australian practice of Bain & Company. He is based in the Melbourne office, having joined the firm in 1998. Askin has previously worked in the Seoul and San Francisco offices.

Askin leads Bain’s Australian Industrials practice and is a leader in the global Organisation practice. He has worked extensively in the Resources, Industrials and Private Equity industries, involved in corporate and business unit strategy, performance improvement, organizational design and effectiveness.

Askin recently supported a high-level forum on Food Security drawing on Bain’s global experience and his experience supporting agri-business clients.

He received a B.Sc in Chemistry & Immunology from Monash University. He earned an M.B.A. from Melbourne Business School.

Mr Andrew Hewett

Executive Director, Oxfam Australia

Session 6: Feeding Ourselves and the World
Topic: Australia's place in the world

Andrew Hewett became Executive Director of Oxfam Australia in October, 2001, having worked with Oxfam Australia since 1991.

Andrew’s previous positions with Oxfam include leadership of the agency’s advocacy program and the direction of Oxfam International’s response to the crisis in East Timor from 1999 - 2001.

Andrew has extensive international advocacy experience, was a member of the World Bank-NGO Committee for four years and has participated in and observed numerous international conferences, including those of the World Trade Organisation and the World Bank.

Andrew is the vice-president of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), the peak council of non-government development agencies. He is also Co-Chair of the Make Poverty History Campaign.

He is a member of the BHP Billiton Forum for Corporate Responsibility.

He has visited Oxfam Australia programs in East Asia, South Asia, the Pacific, Central America, Southern Africa and the Horn of Africa as well as its programs working with Indigenous Australians.

Mr Igal Aisenberg

Global CEO, Netafim

Session 6: Feeding Ourselves and the World
Topic: More crop per drop

Mr. Aisenberg served in a variety of management and sales positions including manager of Western Europe and Africa, and corporate Marketing Division and member of Netafim's Board of Directors.

Between 2002 and 2009 Mr. Aisenberg served as CEO of Netafim USA (NII), Netafim's largest subsidiary. Mr. Aisenberg also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Irrigation Association (IA).

Mr Michael Deegan

Infrastructure Co-ordinator, Infrastructure Australia

Session 7: Breaking the Shackles
Topic: Infrastructure: the missing nuts and bolts

Mr Deegan was appointed Australia’s first national Infrastructure Coordinator in July 2008. Prior to that appointment he was Chairman of Australia’s National Transport Commission. He has extensive public and private sector background in road, rail, ports and construction.

Mr Keith Perrett

Deputy Chair of the Council of Rural Research and Development Corporations

Session 7: Breaking the Shackles
Topic: The gaps in agriculture R&D

Chair (Non-Executive)
Appointed 1 October 2007 until 30 September 2010
Member: Remuneration Committee

Keith farms his 1,000 hectare Gunnedah property in northern New South Wales. He produces wheat, barley, cotton, sunflower, sorghum, sheep and cattle.

He is the Chairman of the National Rural Advisory Council, which advises the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry on rural issues, including Exceptional Circumstances declarations.
Keith was President of the Grains Council of Australia between April 2001 and April 2005. He is a past Chairman of the New South Wales Farmer’s Association Grains Section, and has represented the grains industry at state and federal levels.

Keith was the Chairman of the Wheat Research Foundation of New South Wales between 2000 and October 2007. He was also a member of the Governing Council of the Plant Breeding Institute of the University of Sydney between 1997 and 2003 and Chairman from 2000 to 2007.

Ms Jodie Goldsworthy

Co-owner & Director of Beechworth Honey

Session 7: Breaking the Shackles
Topic: Population: people power in regional Australia

Jodie Goldsworthy is a fourth generation apiarist. Steven and Jodie Goldsworthy commenced as commercial apiarists in their own right in 1992.

Since 1992, Beechworth Honey has grown from a small primary production partnership producing bulk honey and selling it as a bulk commodity to a rapid growth value adding business.

The brand is now one of the 'majors' in the Australian honey category. Beechworth Honey is the country's largest independently owned specialist honey company.

Jodie has expanded the company's products into a range of growing overseas markets and developed the highly successful visitor education centre 'the Beechworth Honey Experience'.

Jodie has been responsible for developing Beechworth Honey into a trusted, 100% Australian, national and international food brand. She has developed the company's Food Safety program from its beginnings and this program and the companies quality achievements were awarded a national HACCP Food Safety Award in 2007.

She holds a post graduate degree in Strategic Marketing, along with a Bachelor of Applied Science, and is passionate about regional business development, Australian agriculture and food and the environment.

Jodie was a member of the two previous Deputy Prime Ministers' 'Regional Women’s Advisory Council' from 2002 - 2007, appointed to give advice to the Australian Government about issues affecting rural and regional Australia. She was an attendee of Prime Minister's 2020 Summit.

Jodie has just released here first book Cooking, Tasting, Living Honey, which takes you into a world of eating, living, sleeping and breathing honey as has been her life.

Jodie is an accomplished and highly sought after speaker and her latest projects involve broadening the publics awareness of the link between food production and worlds last remaining 'Varrao free' healthy bees managed here in Australia by around 2000 commercial beekeepers.

Prof George Williams

Professor of Law, University of New South Wales

Session 8: Property Rights
Topic: Land and water rights and the law

George Williams is the Anthony Mason Professor and Foundation Director of the Gilbert & Tobin Centre of Public Law at the University of New South Wales. He has written and edited 25 books, including Australian Constitutional Law and Theory, and as a barrister has appeared in the High Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of Fiji.

In 2005 he chaired the Victorian Human Rights Consultation Committee that lead to the enactment of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities. In 2007 he chaired a NSW Government inquiry into Options for a New National Industrial Relations System, and was also a member of the High Level Advisory Group on Federal-State Relations to Kevin Rudd.

Mr Mitch Hooke

Chief Executive, Minerals Council of Australia

Session 8: Property Rights
Topic: Mining and agriculture

Mr Hooke has been Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) since June 2002. Over the past two decades, he has spurred Australia’s trade, economic and industry policy, across the rural, food and grocery and mining industries. Before joining the MCA, he served as inaugural CEO of the Australian Food and Grocery Council from 1995 to 2002. Mr Hooke has played a prominent role on the Australian Trade Minister’s World Trade Organisation (WTO) Advisory Council and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Export Advisory Panel and been a member of the official Australian delegation to every Ministerial Meeting since the WTO’s formation in 1994. He chaired the first APEC Mining Industry Leaders Forum held in conjunction with the Ministers Responsible for Mining meeting in Perth during 2007. Mr Hooke is currently a member of the Full Council of the International Council of Mining and Metals and its Executive Working Group, based in London.

Dr Don Henry

Executive Director, Australian Conservation Foundation

Session 8: Property Rights
Topic: The environment and agriculture

Don Henry has been executive director of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Australia’s leading national, not for profit environment organisation, since 1998. Previously based in Washington DC, he served with The World Wildlife Fund as director of the Global Forest program (1996-98), and as director of the WWF Asia-Pacific and South Pacific programs. In Australia, Don Henry has held the post of director at both WWF-Australia and the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland. His honorary positions have included commissioner with the Australian Heritage Commission and president of both the Australian Committee for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Moreton Island Protection Committee. He holds a Global 500 Environment Award from the United Nations Environment Program for his services to conservation. In 2008, Don was named Equity Trustees’ ‘Not For Profit 2008 CEO of the Year’. The prestigious award recognises outstanding leadership and is the pre-eminent award for the not-for-profit sector.

Opening Address

David Crombie

Session 1: Congress Opening
Topic: Congress Welcome

David Crombie was elected President of the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) on 16 June 2006.

With over 30 years commercial and representational experience in agriculture, David’s early career began with Sir William Gunn (now GRM International), managing agricultural projects across northern Australia.

Under his leadership, GRM expanded to include breeding properties, irrigation farms, feed mills, live export and meat supply chains supported by feedlots internationally.

GRM also managed beef breeding properties for independent investors in Australia. After the sale of GRM by the partners to the Consolidated Group in 1994, David continued as Managing Director until 2000.

Between 1995 and 2000 David served on the Board of Grainco Australia until its amalgamation with Graincorp. He then joined the Board of the Meat Industry Council and served as inaugural Chairman of the National Steering Committee for Meat Standards
Australia.

David later joined the Board of the newly-established Meat and Livestock Australia, serving as Chairman from 1998 to 2005.