Speakers

Hon Curtis Pitt MP

The Hon. Curtis Pitt is Queensland’s Treasurer, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships and Minister for Sport. He has previously served as Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, Minister for Disability Services and was Queensland’s first standalone Minister for Mental Health. In Opposition he was Labor’s spokesperson for Treasury, Trade, Energy, Water Supply, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Main Roads and Sport. Elected into the Queensland Parliament as the Member for Mulgrave in 2009, Curtis has dedicated his career to advocating on behalf of all regions of Queensland. Prior to Parliament he led the Queensland Government's business and skilled migration program and was head of the Indigenous Jobs and Enterprises Taskforce.

The Hon. Peter Beattie AC

The Honourable Peter Beattie AC served as the 36th Premier of Queensland. He also served as Queensland’s Trade Commissioner to North and South America based in Los Angeles from 2008 to 2010. Mr Beattie is Director of the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund, Ambassador for Life Sciences Queensland, joint adjunct professor at the University of Queensland’s Australia Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology Institute for Molecular Bioscience, and a national media commentator.

Miles Vass

As Deputy Director-General – Infrastructure Management and Delivery Division, Miles oversees the delivery of the integrated program of infrastructure projects and the maintenance and operation of the state-controlled road network.

Miles was appointed to the Deputy Director-General role and the Executive Leadership Team in January 2016. Prior to this appointment, Miles was appointed in 2011 to the role of General Manager for Program Delivery and Operations (within Infrastructure Management Delivery). He has been with TMR for the past 33 years.

As General Manager, Miles was responsible for delivering Transport and Main Roads’ capital funded projects, reconstruction projects, maintenance and preservation projects, and infrastructure works and services across the state. He oversaw an operational budget of $3.5 billion.

Miles recently led the State Government’s reconstruction program of Queensland’s transport infrastructure following the unprecedented natural disaster events. Beginning in 2011, the four-year program delivered more than $6.4 billlion in reconstruction works statewide, achieved savings of more than $400 million, finished six months ahead of schedule and involved reconstructing an unprecedented 8741km of state roads across the state. It was the largest reconstruction program of its kind in Queensland’s history.

Gavin Nicholls

Gavin is the Project Director of Cross River Rail. At $5.4 billion, Cross River Rail will be one of the largest infrastructure projects ever delivered by the Queensland Government.

Cross River Rail will deliver a new 10.2 kilometre, underground inner city rail link with five stations which will be the focus of significant economic city building opportunities. With South East Queensland forecast to grow to nearly 5 million people by 2036, Cross River Rail will give people better access to their places of work, entertainment precincts and connect businesses and communities.

As Project Director, Gavin has re-established Cross River Rail as the Queensland Government’s highest priority infrastructure project, and has played a vital role in securing more than $850 million in State Government funding for the project.

Currently, Gavin is overseeing the transition of the project to the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority. Together with the Delivery Authority, Gavin will lead the development, procurement and delivery of the project.

Gavin holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering, and a Masters of Business in Applied Finance.

Chris Wade

Chris Wade is a Director – Corporate and Project Finance at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, where he heads up Infrastructure and Property financing. Chris has nearly 20 years experience in the investment and financing in the infrastructure sector across a range of sub sectors including transport, utilities and social infrastructure. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation was established by the Federal Government in 2012 with a funding commitment of $10 Billion, with a focus on using this funding to accelerate the adoption of clean energy technologies across the Australian economy.

David Quinn

David Quinn was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Building Queensland in April 2015. Prior to this he led the Queensland Government’s commercial advisory and procurement arm—Projects Queensland.

David has gained over 20 years’ private sector experience across a range of industries including infrastructure, transport and logistics, energy, manufacturing, fast-moving consumer goods and mining.

He has held senior human resources, operational and general management positions with the Asciano Group, the APA Group, BHP Billiton and Kraft Foods International, and was also a major projects lawyer for Herbert Smith Freehills.

David holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honours from the University of Melbourne and Bachelor of Economics from the University of Queensland.

Bill Boyd-Law

Bill Boyd‐Law is the Associate Director of Construction at the University of Queensland (UQ). Bill has
been at UQ for six years managing the capital works program for the University. During this time Bill
has overseen over $700 million in capital works expenditure across UQ’s campuses that has included
feasibility studies, detailed design and construction works.

Prior to this Bill worked in Queensland State Government and played a key role in the design and
delivery of the Ecosciences Precinct at Boggo Road and the Health and Food Sciences Precinct at
Coopers Plains.

Bill is a long serving member of the Army Reserve and during this service has undertaken deployments
on Operation Catalyst (Iraq) and Sumartra Assist (Banda Aceh).

Bill is a graduate of the QUT Masters Program in Project Management and is enthusiastic about
personal fitness and cycles to work most days.

Paul Coughlan

Paul is the Project Director for Brisbane Airport’s New Parallel Runway (NPR) and has overall responsibility for the successful delivery of this $1.4 billion project. He heads up a Client Team of 30 and has led the Project since 2007.

Paul’s main accountabilities relate to project governance; design and programme; contract procurement; cost control; risk management; airline negotiations; government approvals; stakeholder and community engagement.

Paul has overseen the completion of all the detailed environmental studies, airfield planning, government approvals and the successful delivery of the Phase 1 Dredging and site reclamation works.

The Project has now commenced Phase 2 Construction with the release of the final Request for Tender on 29 July, 2016. Phase 2 is comprised of three, major Contracts including Site Access & Seawall Works, Dryandra Road Works and Airfield Works and is on schedule to open in 2020.

Clinton Parker

Clinton has 20 years’ experience in strategy, communications and innovation development.

Clinton and his team are currently working on innovative solutions in Smart Infrastructure and Drones.  
He has comprehensive local government experience in Australia and the United Kingdom and has worked with Councils across a range of issues including community infrastructure, water and energy strategy.  

Clinton has worked on some of Australia’s largest demand management projects including Queensland’s Home WaterWise Service and ClimateSmart Home Service.

Clinton has managed one of the UK’s largest innovative farmer engagement campaigns focused on education and stakeholder relations.

He is a Queensland and Australian award-winning marketing professional.

Stephen Webster

Stephen is an urban and environmental planner by training and has over 28 years planning and development experience gained in both the private and  public sectors.  He has worked throughout Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and Asia.  Stephen’s infrastructure experience ranges from upstream assessment and approvals through to the funding and delivery and includes all sectors.  In his role as Director Infrastructure Economic Development Queensland, Stephen’s team is responsible for the planning and funding of all social and physical infrastructure required to support Priority Development Areas and for the management of infrastructure funding programs such as the Catalyst Infrastructure Program.

Dyan Johnson

Dyan joined Master Builders as the Manager of Policy and Economics back in 2013, after having spent seven years in London working on urban regeneration projects for the east London, Hackney Council.  

Prior to London, Dyan as with the Queensland Department of Housing working to promote more sustainable housing in the private sector.

She has also worked on Capitol Hill in Washington DC as part of the FedEx Government Relations team that lobbied Congress and the White House for a fair and efficient regulatory environment.

With qualifications in Urban and Regional Planning, Housing Management & Policy and International Business, Dyan is an urban planner, housing professional and project manager who is always working to see how our urban places can be better delivered to make a positive contribution to communities.

Her role at Master Builders means that she stays on ‘top of the stats’ for the construction industry and coordinates the policy agenda for the Association.

Adam Beck

Adam is Founding Executive Director of Smart Cities Council Australia New Zealand, Cities Advisor to the Green Building Council of Australia, and Director of Centre for Urban Innovation, a consulting practice collaborating with urban leaders to build sustainable communities and cities.

Adam is also an Ambassador with Portland-based think tank EcoDistricts, where he was previously Director of Innovation. Before entering the non-profit world, Adam spent almost a decade with global consulting firm Arup, and five years with GHD.

Adam was also lecturer and studio lead in social impact assessment and community engagement at the University of Queensland, and maintains strong research interests in collaborative governance processes for city-building.

Adam Davies

Adam Davies is a Principal of international design and planning practice HASSELL. He is an urban planner/designer specialising in the higher education, science and health sectors. He has successfully led large scale master planning projects, urban design studies, visioning and briefing processes for major projects locally and internationally.  
 
He is the lead Urban Design for the Herston Quarter Redevelopment in Brisbane and is also currently delivering the master plan for Monash University Campus in Kuala Lumpur and a concept plan for the University of Wollongong Innovation Campus.
 
Adam’s position at HASSELL follows appointments in the United Kingdom at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment and Architecture and Design Scotland.
 
He is a strong advocate for user experience at a variety of scales. He is an urbanist who champions the value of good design for a sustainable future.

Matthew Schultz

Matthew is an accomplished and experienced professional with over 20 years of experience in the Information Technology, Telecommunications, Digital Economy, Geospatial and Civil Engineering fields covering project management, consulting, general management and technical roles.
 
Matthew has also positioned Ipswich as the first Australian City to be recognised as a Top 7 worldwide Intelligent Community by the Intelligent Community Forum and also a Smart 21 worldwide Intelligent Community by the Intelligent Community Forum for 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2016. Ipswich City was also recognised as a recipient of the 2011 Intelligent Communities Forum Founders Award in New York, the first time this award has been granted to an Australian city, organisation or individual.

As the City Digital Officer of Ipswich, Matthew is responsible for a City Digital Strategy encompassing Smart City, Data and Infrastructure, Innovation, Startups and Education and Digital Enablement, Technology Attraction and Development. As demonstration of this, Matthew has recently led the establishment of Fire Station 101 (www.firestation101.com.au), the 1st fully funded local government Innovation and Startup Hub in Australia and development of the Ipswich Smart City Blueprint and Implementation Plan, which seeks to entrench Ipswich as Australia’s most progressive Smart and Connected City.
 
In addition, Matthew is Vice President and Secretary of the Australian Smart Communities Association, a rapidly growing Australian peak industry association for Smart Community, Broadband and Digital Economic Development with members across Australia and New Zealand.

Flavio Menezes

Flavio Menezes is a Professor of Economics at  The University of Queensland. He was Head of the School of Economics from January 2009 to January 2015. He joined The University of Queensland in June 2006 after more than a decade at the Australian National University, where amongst other responsibilities he was the Foundation Director of the Australian Centre of Regulatory Economics. Flavio was also a part-time Vice President with the Regulatory Economics and Public Policy Practice at CRA International in Canberra until May 2006 and a Senior Consultant until May 2007.  He is the President  of the Economic Society of Australia (Queensland), a member of editorial boards and associate editor of a number of international journals, co-editor of the Economic Record, and an elected member of the Australasia’s Standing Committee of the Econometric Society .

Flavio Menezes has published over 50 journal articles on the economics of auctions, competition and regulatory economics, industrial organization, and market design. He is regarded as one of Australia’s leading auction expert and author of a well-known textbook on auction theory published by Oxford University Press.

Professor Menezes has a rich consulting experience. Overseas consulting includes being the main advisor on the determination of a privatisation model for utilities, reviewing government procurement practices, and providing advice on electricity regulatory reform and competition issues in telecommunications, banking, health and dairy industries. Consulting experiences in Australia include advising the Federal Government, AEMC, ACCC, IPART, QCA and the Victorian Government on market design issues in regulatory environments and providing economic advice to various private and public organisations on mergers, competition policy cases and regulatory issues in defence, energy, banking, health, transport and telecommunications.

Neil Horrocks

Neil Horrocks comes to CitySmart with over 25 years of experience in the energy industry specialising in energy sustainability. Neil has held a number of executive roles across Queensland and Western Australia. Having most recently served as Major Projects Manager for Energex, Neil led Energex' Demand Management activities across the corporate, commercial, industrial and small business sectors.

Archie Venitis

Northshore Hamilton is Queensland’s largest waterfront urban renewal project and its transformation will continue over the next 20 to 25 years to become a $5 billion iconic waterfront precinct.

Currently, Archie is overseeing the procurement, planning, design and construction delivery of all infrastructure and public realm for the project. In addition Archie is responsible for managing existing development management agreements with the projects development partners.

Archie holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering and a Graduate Diploma in Project Management and has gained 20 years’ of property development experience in both the private and public sectors.

Professor Paul Burton

Paul Burton is Professor of Urban Management and Planning and Director of the Cities Research Centre at Griffith University.  He leads the City of Gold Coast/Griffith University Urban Growth Management Partnership and is a founding member of Regional Development Australia, Gold Coast.  Paul's research interests include multi-level governance and metropolitan scale planning and the possibilities of a national urban policy in Australia.

Jason Deller

Owner and founder of "Engineering Your Life", Jason is an optimistic transport futurist with a passion for sustainable transport, road safety and personal growth. He has a degree in Civil Engineering and is a Ph.D. scholar exploring the relationship between lane widths, design and posted speeds on drivers speed selection.

The 2010 IPWEAQ Engineer of the Year, Jason was awarded the 2011 Institution of Civil Engineers James Hill Prize in London for the Best Paper published in the Municipal Engineer Journal.

In October 2015 Jason took on the role of Principal Project Manager for Toowoomba Regional Council working on the interface with the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing. He has moved his whole family up the range and settled into the regional Queensland lifestyle.

Chad Hardy

Chad Hardy is the Head of Public Policy and Expansion at GoCatch - the leading Australian based taxi and rideshare app. With an Honours LLB from the University of Queensland, Chad works closely with Municipal, State, and Federal governments to develop technologically integrated transport networks with GoCatch.

Prior to GoCatch, Chad was the Commercial Lead for Brisbane based technology company VroomVroomVroom where he negotiated global agreements with leading car hire companies and set corporate strategy and policy.

Chad has extensive experience in the rideshare space, having spent nearly 2 years at Uber growing the Queensland rideshare market.