The Hon Greg Combet AM MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement and Member for Charlton, is married to Petra and they have 3 children.

Mr Combet grew up in western Sydney and worked as a trades assistant, in coal mining, and in a range of community organisations.

He has university degrees in mining engineering and economics. He also has a graduate diploma in labour relations and the law.

Mr Combet joined the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) in 1993 and was leader of the ACTU from 1999 to 2007. In his work at the ACTU, Mr Combet oversaw numerous national wage cases to secure pay rises for low-paid Australian workers.

Mr Combet also led the union movement in the high profile 1998 waterfront dispute, the union campaign that secured employee entitlements for 16,000 workers after the collapse of Ansett, and the campaign that secured a multi-billion dollar settlement for Australian asbestos victims from James Hardie.

Mr Combet is a former director of Members Equity Bank and the $30 billion fund Australian Super. He was awarded a member of the Order of Australia in 2006.

Greg is Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement in the Rudd Labor Government.

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 The Garnaut Review will release its Supplementary Draft Report on Friday 5 September 2008 at the National Press Club.

The Supplementary Draft Report will provide the Review’s proposals for emissions reduction trajectories and targets for Australia within an international context.

The Report will be informed by the economic modelling undertaken jointly with the Australian Treasury as well as the Review's own, independent modelling.

Professor Garnaut CV

Prior to his appointment as ABC Managing Director, Mark Scott spent almost twelve years in a variety of editorial, editorial management and organisation development positions with John Fairfax Publications. From 2003 to 2005 he was Editor-in-Chief, Metropolitan newspapers, and during 2005 became Editor-in-Chief of Metropolitan, Regional and Community newspapers. From November 2005 he was Editorial Director, with responsibility for the management and editorial direction of the newspaper divisions and websites along with the editorial and commercial performance of the Fairfax newspaper magazine division.

From 1993-94 he worked in education policy research at the Centre for Learning and Competitiveness at the University of Maryland.

He was employed in the New South Wales Government from 1988-92 in the roles of Chief of Staff to the Education Minister, Director of Communications in the Education Ministry, and Policy Advisor to the Education Minister.

Mark Scott holds a Bachelor of Arts, Diploma in Education and a Master of Arts degree in Government from the University of Sydney. During 1992-93 he completed a Masters degree in Public Administration at Harvard University.

Members Only. 

The Costello Memoirs

Peter Costello with Peter Coleman.

The Costello Memoirs take us into the engine-room of the Liberal Party and the Howard Government in the Age of Prosperity. Revealing anecdotes and a little gossip about politicians, public servants, national figures and journalists, the Memoirs give readers a front-row view of life in government.

What were the backroom deals that made the GST possible? How did Costello transform the Australian economy from Asia's 'white trash' into the economic powerhouse able to withstand the financial meltdown of the late 1990s?

Here, for the first time, are the facts about the McLachlan memorandum on the leadership transition from Howard to Costello. Did Howard dishonour the agreement? How did the Liberal Party pass up the chance to make the generational change and revitalise a Government that had lost touch?

Is The Costello Memoirs an apologia of a man departing the public square or is it the platform of a politician about to launch an assault on the Rudd government?
No one can answer these questions without reading The Costello Memoirs.

Peter Costello was Australia's longest-serving Treasurer, and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party for more than a decade.

Peter Coleman has been a member of the Federal Parliament (1981-87) and the New South Wales Parliament (1968-78), where he served as Minister for Revenue, Chief Secretary responsible for Police, Prisons, Boxing and Pornography, and as Leader of the Opposition.

He is a writer/journalist and has been editor of The Bulletin and Quadrant. His many books include a study of the intellectuals in the Cold War, The Liberal Conspiracy: The Congress for Cultural Freedom and the Struggle for the Mind of Postwar Europe. He has also written biographical studies of the poet James McAuley, the film director Bruce Beresford, the comedian Barry Humphries, and an autobiographical Memoirs of a Slow Learner. Books he has edited include the mould-breaking Australian Civilization and Double Take: Six Incorrect Essays.

He was a foundation member of the Australian Council for the Arts (1968-73) and Chairman of the Australian Film and Television School (1971-73). He was Administrator of Norfolk island(1979-81.) He is Peter Costello's father-in-law.

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Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Education, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for Social Inclusion.

In May 2000, Sharan Burrow became only the second woman ever to be elected President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), representing nearly 2 million workers.

She has since played a pivotal role in many high profile union campaigns and negotiations, and has been a leading advocate for women’s equality in the workplace and society.

Most recently, Sharan led the union movement’s fight to overturn the WorkChoices laws in the lead up to the 2007 federal election through the “Your Rights at Work” campaign, credited since with influencing the election outcome.

The challenges for Australia are significant. High trust, high performance workplaces must underpin a growth in skills and productivity to enable us to manage an economic and social response to climate change, strong economic growth and workforce participation, without undermining the rights and security of working Australians.
 
The ACTU and unions are continuing to use the “Your Rights at Work” campaign to highlight and take action on these and other concerns of working people. A confident workforce needs to be underpinned  by a new industrial relations system and an economy that builds opportunity by enshrining a central role for collective bargaining rights along with the restoration of unfair dismissal laws, a national paid maternity leave scheme, work/care flexibility and other rights. These measures sit at the heart of a decent, modern society.

Robert D. McCallum, Jr. presented his credentials as the Ambassador of the United States of America to Australia on August 23, 2006. Ambassador McCallum previously was the Associate Attorney General, the third ranking official at the United States Department of Justice, from July 1, 2003. He had earlier served from September, 2001, as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, the Department’s largest litigating component.

Before entering government, Ambassador McCallum was a partner with the Atlanta, Georgia, law firm of Alston & Bird, specializing in trial and appellate practice. During his twenty-eight years with that firm, he was appointed by the Attorney General of the State of Georgia as a Special Assistant Attorney General, and he was the recipient of the Atlanta Bar Association Leadership Award in 2001. Ambassador McCallum has authored numerous legal articles and publications and also served as a lecturer on a variety of legal topics.

Over his career, Ambassador McCallum has been active in numerous civic organizations, including service as a Director of the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, North Carolina; President of the Yale Club of Georgia; State and District Secretary for the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committees; Georgia Representative of the Yale Law School Alumni/ae Association; and as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Choate Rosemary Hall School in Wallingford, Connecticut.

Ambassador McCallum was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1946. He attended Yale University as an undergraduate on a National Merit Scholarship, receiving his B.A., cum laude, in History in 1968. After graduation, he attended Christ Church at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, earning a B.A. in Jurisprudence with First Class Honors in 1971. He obtained his J.D. from Yale Law School on an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship in 1973 and entered the practice of law that same year.

An avid sportsman in his youth, Ambassador McCallum was captain of the Yale tennis team, the point guard on the Yale basketball team, and a member of the University sides in both at Oxford. He continues a keen interest in sports of all sorts but now only as a spectator.

Ambassador McCallum married Mary (“Mimi”) Rankin Weems McCallum in 1969. In addition to spectator sports, their interests include hiking, fishing, the visual arts, architecture, and the theater. They have two adult sons.

A retired daily newspaper editor and CEO, Peter has been associated with clubs since he was old enough to join a bush golf club as a child. Peter is chairman of the Illawarra Steelers in Wollongong where he has been a director for 15 years and he is also a director of the St George Illawarra Dragons.

Peter is devoted to issues reflecting the need for unity and stability in the Club Movement; ensuring clubs receive a fair go on all fronts, including taxation; honesty and transparency at both individual club level and at the hands of those whose policies regulate the industry; identifying a clear path forward for the industry so we can plan with confidence; and, continually educate and recognise the massive contribution clubs make in their immediate communities and NSW generally.

Peter is the Chair of Clubs Australia.

The Casella family has been making wine since 1820 – first in Italy and since 1965 in Australia. Filippo and Maria Casella emigrated to Australia from Italy in the 1950’s bringing with them their hopes and dreams and the know-how acquired through three generations of grape-growing and winemaking in Italy. Recognising the potential of the region, Filippo purchased a farm in the town of Yenda, New South Wales, in 1965. After selling the grapes from his farm to local wineries, he decided in 1969 that it was time for a new generation to put its winemaking skills to use, and the winery was born.

The Winery Today

Today the day to day operations of the winery are run by the three Casella sons – John, Managing Director and Winemaker; Joe, Australian Sales Director; and Marcello, Director and Vineyard Manager. Filippo’s grandson, Phillip is the sixth generation Casella to join the business as assistant winemaker and public relations executive. In 2002, Casella brought in Alan Kennett as Chief Winemaker. Alan previously worked with a number of other successful Australian wineries.

The Success

Casella Wines shot to the forefront of the export arena in mid 2000 with the hugely successful brand [yellow tail]®. Based in the Riverina and operating as a winery since 1969, Casella Wines has achieved remarkable success in the Export market and is now a key player in Europe, Asia, the UK, USA and Canada. Domestically [yellow tail] has been just as successful on home turf.

The [yellow tail]® brand has become the most successful launch of an Australian wine brand in the history of the Australian wine industry. State of the art vineyards and wine production together with a solid infrastructure has allowed Casella Wines to maintain key markets and develop growing markets.

In terms of volume, export sales have exceeded 12 million cases since 1998, and since June 2001 have seen considerable growth with the introduction of the export specific brand [yellow tail]®.

Dr Henry was born in Taree NSW on 27 November 1957. He completed a first class honours degree in economics at the University of NSW in 1979. From February 1980 to September 1984 he was a lecturer in the economics department of the University of Canterbury (Christchurch, New Zealand), where he completed his PhD in 1982. In September 1984 he returned to Australia, accepting a position in Treasury’s Taxation Policy Division.  He was a member of the Treasury team that put together the Government's draft White Paper on Tax Reform (published in June 1985) and contributed to the development of the Government’s tax reform package (Reform of the Australian Taxation System, September 1985).

From September 1986 to June 1991, Dr Henry worked as a senior adviser to the Treasurer, providing advice on taxation policy and administration, retirement incomes policy, industry policy and microeconomic reform (including telecommunications reform). In June 1991 he returned to the Treasury, becoming head of the Microeconomic Modelling Unit. In July 1992 he took up the position of Minister (Economic and Financial Affairs) in the Australian Delegation to the OECD in Paris.

Dr Henry returned to the Treasury in January 1994 as head of the Taxation Policy Division. In August 1997 he was appointed Chairman of the Government’s Taxation Task Force, responsible for providing advice to the Government on tax reform options. In October 1998 he was promoted to the position of Executive Director (Deputy Secretary) of Treasury’s Economic Group, and a member of the Treasury Executive Board. In that role he had executive responsibility for domestic macroeconomic policy advice, domestic economic forecasting, and advice on international economic issues (including Australia’s relationship with the multilateral international financial institutions).

On 27 April 2001, Dr Henry was appointed Secretary to the Treasury. Dr Henry was reappointed for a further 5 years from 27 April 2006. He is an ex-officio member of the Board of Taxation, member of the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Alternate Governor (for Australia) of the International Monetary Fund and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Australian Office of Financial Management.

Dr Henry was awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia General Division (AC) in the Australia Day Honours 2007.

Will Delaat is the Chairman of Medicines Australia, the peak body for Australia’s innovative pharmaceuticals industry.

In a career spanning 35 years with three different multi-national companies, he has worked in a variety of roles both in Europe and Australia, including sales & marketing and business development. He was Managing Director for Merck Sharp & Dohme Australia for 11 years, until his retirement earlier this year.

Will has been on the Board of Medicines Australia since 1997, and was previously Chairman from 2003 to 2005.  During this time he co-chaired the taskforce which implemented the pharmaceutical provisions of the AUS Free Trade Agreement.  He is currently chair of the Pharmaceuticals Industry Council.

He is also a member of the Pharmaceuticals Industry Strategy Group, which will report in December this year to the Minister for Innovation, Senator Kim Carr, on a blueprint for a sustainable pharmaceuticals industry in Australia.

Will  is co-chair of the joint Industry-Department of Health Access to Medicines Working Group (AMWG) which earlier this year presented its interim report to Government to improve timely access to medicines for Australian patients.

This year Will became a Director of Australian specialty pharmaceutical company, Pharmaxis Ltd.

Address date to be advised. 

Charlie Hargroves will address the National Press Club on how Australia can profitably create conditions to achieve a form of economic growth that is environmentally sustainable. In light of the impending Garnout Review, and recent changes in federal government and the international scene, the presentation will provide an overview of key opportunities for Australia’s future progress, developed as part of a formal response to the Brundtland Commission publication ‘Our Common Future’.

Mr Hargroves is a Co-founder and Executive Director of The Natural Edge Project (TNEP), an internationally recognised Sustainability Think-Tank, founded in 2002 and hosted in-kind by Griffith University and ANU. In 2004 he was seconded as a Chief Executive Officer to Hunter Lovins’ company Natural Capitalism Inc (Colorado). Mr Hargroves co-authored and co-edited the TNEP flagship publication, ‘The Natural Advantage of Nations: Business Opportunities, Innovation and Governance in the 21st Century’, published by Earthscan in 2005 with colleague Michael Smith. Launched in Australia by Sir Ninian Stephens and awarded the 2005 Banksia Award for Environmental Leadership, Education and Training, the book has been actively promoted at the National Press Club by speakers including Ian Lowe, Hunter Lovins, Janine Benyus, Norman Myers and Peter Taylor (Engineers Australia).  Recently Mr Hargroves was accepted as an Associate Member of the Club of Rome for his work in the area of sustainable development.

Mr Hargroves has most recently led the development of ‘Cents and Sustainability’, a next-generation response to ‘Our Common Future’, which laid the foundation for global sustainable development some 20 years ago. Carrying a foreword from both Dr Gro Brundtland (Former Chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development) and Dr Rajendra Pachauri (Chief, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and having accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC, along with co-recipient Al Gore) the new book has been supported by the Purves Environmental Fund.
TNEP have developed a range of projects focused on education, training and strategy for sustainable development, including working with international partners such as UNESCO, World Federation of Engineering Organisations, Natural Capitalism Inc, Chicago Climate Exchange, World Technopolis Association, Chicago Manufacturing Centre, and Rocky Mountain Institute. The team is currently working on an update of international best seller ‘Factor 4’ with Ernst von Weizsäcker to be released in early 2009. TNEP’s current Australian project partners include CSIRO, Engineers Australia, Purves Environmental Fund, Townsville City Council (Solar Cities), the National Framework for Energy Efficiency, VicUrban, the QLD EPA Sustainable Industries Division Hewlett Packard, KBR, Hatch, University of South Australia, QUT and RMIT.

Short Biography: www.naturaledgeproject.net/CharlieHargroves.aspx

Background – The Natural Edge Project
The Natural Edge Project (TNEP) is a not-for profit partnership for research and education on sustainable development. Formerly hosted by Engineers Australia (2002-2006), the project is now hosted by Griffith University and the Australian National University. TNEP’s mission is to contribute to and succinctly communicate leading research, case studies, tools and strategies for achieving sustainable prosperity across government, business and civil society. We receive mentoring and support from a wide range of experts and leading organisations in Australia and internationally, through a generational exchange model. TNEP believes that our generation has an obligation - and an exciting opportunity - to be part of the solution in restoring the balance. We rely on mentoring and collaboration, using knowledge and experience from our collective network to ensure that efforts to make a positive difference make our children proud.