Session 3

"Rottnest - Negotiating the Shifting Sands"

Laurie O'Meara AM - Rottnest Island Authority

Laurie O’Meara is the Chairman of the Rottnest Island Authority Board.  He is also a past-president of the Tourism Council Western Australia and champion of the Tourism Accreditation program. Mr O'Meara is a driving force in this area and was the inaugural President of the Australian Tourism Accreditation Association. Laurie is a member of the Perth International Arts Festival Board. Mr O'Meara's extensive experience includes operation of the Emerald Hotel in Perth and Emerald Colonial Lodge in Margaret River.

 

Scott Cogar - CEO & Director, Broadwater Hotels & Resorts

After entering the hospitality industry in Queensland in 1978, Scott built a diverse career in senior management with a number of the largest owners and operators of tourism related assets in this region, including leadership roles with high profile tourism enterprises listed on the Australian and Singapore stock exchanges.

Scott is CEO and Director of Broadwater Hotels and Resorts, one of Western Australia’s best known and rapidly expanding resort brands, after previous executive management roles with Hamilton Island, Qantas Airways (Australian Resorts) and Stamford Hotels and Resorts.

With a Masters degree from the school of business at Griffith University and tertiary qualifications in international tourism and hospitality management, Scott won the Griffith University Award for Academic Excellence for those studies. Scott is also Chairman of the Industry Education Advisory Board of WA for Southern Cross University and a Director of the Tourism Council of Western Australia.

 

"Water - the Flow on effect of the State's Water Plan"

Mike Hollett - Satterley Property Group

Satterley Property Group is Western Australia’s largest independent residential land developer.Mike Hollett currently is the Director of Property Operations and oversees all marketing and sales and administration of all land estates and seeks to implement leading edge initiatives in sustainability for the Satterley Property Group.  Mike was a Senior Executive for the Water Corporation for over 20 years and is a qualified Hydrographer who commenced his career in Water Resources Management in 1982.  From 1987 for a period of twelve years Mike had a close association with the land development industry in both the south west and metropolitan areas through water infrastructure servicing for subdivisions and strategic land planning roles.  In more recent years Mike led key sustainability initiatives for the Water Corporation in water recycling and water efficiency.

Mike has pioneered the State’s first residential third pipe scheme at Brighton north of Perth where a 56% saving in scheme water will be achieved together with significant greenhouse gas emission reductions.  The scheme launched by the Premier in March 2007 will service 1500 dwellings.

 

Ben Jarvis - Manager, Water Efficiency Branch, Water Corporation

Since joining the Water Corporation as a graduate Environmental Engineer in 1993, Ben has worked on a wide array of projects including the Dawesville Channel, Woodman Point Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade and the investigation and development of a model for “Asbestos Cement Pipe Corrosion” for which he won a National Asset Management Award, and later contributed towards his winning The Young Australian of the Year (WA) 1999 award – Science & Technology.

Ben returned to the country as the Regional Manager for Goldfields, overseeing assets, operations and general business for this area. In taking up this appointment at age 30, Ben became the youngest ever Regional Manager for the Water Corporation.

Ben returned to Perth to take up the position of Climate Response Manager, managing the Corporation's response to our drying climate. This requires involvement in everything from source development to demand management and communications/media. He was later also appointed as Director, Water Cycle Project to specifically focus on the Corporation's water recycling, education and water efficiency objectives. This area has recently undergone a transformation into the new Water Efficiency Branch which will focus on creating and sustaining water efficient communities.

"Riverside - Perth's Eastern Gateway"

John Burt - President, WA Trotting Association

John Burt is the President of the WA Trotting Association. John has had a lifelong interest in the administration of varying sporting bodies including pacing, racing and triathlon. These include:

Secretary of the TAB Clubs of New South Wales, Vice President of Triathlon New South Wales, Committeeman of Triathlon Australia, CEO of Newcastle Trotting Club, Chairman of the WA Racehorse Owners Association, Director of Carpet Expo.

During John’s time with the Newcastle Trotting Club he took the organisation from one that had closed its doors, to one of the most successful Provincial Clubs in New South Wales.  Through redevelopment Newcastle now boasts one of Australia’s premier tracks. Having competed for Australia in the 1992 World Triathlon Championships, he was part of the group that oversaw the sport being introduced as an Olympic event.

John’s term as President of the WATA, based at Gloucester Park, has seen the club become the highest stakes paying club in Australia and New Zealand. His latest efforts have seen the formation of a project committee that is overseeing the redevelopment of the Gloucester Park complex in East Perth. The committee have employed well-respected project manager Ray Purdy as Chairman and appointed Cox Howlett and Bailey Woodland to prepare the masterplan. Gloucester Park represents one of the last iconic pieces of real estate in the city of Perth.

Graeme Wood - CEO, Western Australian Cricket Association

Graeme Wood made his first-class cricket debut for Western Australia in 1977-78, turning his back on a promising Australian Rules football career with East Fremantle. After only seven first-class matches he was selected in the Australian Test team to meet India in Adelaide in February 1978.

Wood played 59 test matches, scoring 13 50's, including a top score of 172. He played 83 one-day internationals, including three centuries and 11 50's.

Wood is one of the most successful Captains in WA's cricket history. He led the State to three successive Sheffield Shield titles from 1986-89, and had a record of 17 wins and 6 losses from 47 matches. He played 125 games for WA over 14 seasons, scoring 24 centuries.

Following his cricket career,Wood took up a role with Carlton & United Breweries in Perth. He was General Manager of Marketing and Sales for WA from 1998 to 2004, and then filled various National roles including Business Development Manager and General Manager Fosters Beverage Services.

In March 2007 he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Western Australian Cricket Association.

 

Tony Morgan - Chief Executive Officer

East Perth and Subiaco Redevelopment Authorities

In his role as CEO, Tony places a strong focus on achieving sustainable outcomes in urban planning and redevelopment. He is also President of the Place Leaders Association of Australia, where he leads a team of industry members committed to place leadership and place activation within urban environments.

Prior to joining the East Perth Redevelopment Authority (EPRA), Tony was Director of Urban Operations at LandCorp. During his career, he has overseen the highly successful Joondalup City and Bunbury Marlston Hill projects, and currently presides over the Claisebrook Village, Subi Centro, New Northbridge, Riverside, East Perth Power Station, Perth Cultural Centreand Northbridge Link projects.

Through his ethos of ‘making it happen’ Tony is committed to delivering the EPRA Board’s vision of ‘Vital Perth’ by redefining the city’s inner urban areas, attracting new investment, and making them places that people want to be part of.

 

"Water in a Changing Climate - Implications for Western Australia"

Jorg Imberger - Director at the Centre for Water Research, UWA

Jörg Imberger is the Director at the Centre for Water Research and Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Fellow at the University of Western Australia (UWA). Imberger received his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley in 1970 and became Professor of Environmental Engineering at UWA in 1979.

His main research interest is in the motion and mixing in lakes, estuaries and coastal seas in response to both natural forces such as tides, meterological surface fluxes, river inflows and outflows as well as anthrogoneic forcings such as effluent buoyant jets, bubble plumes and mechanical mixers and the effect of such motions and mixing on ecological systems residing in the water bodies.  The application of this combined knowledge to the sustainable management of such water bodies.

Professor Jorg Imberger is an internationally recognised and respected environmental engineer.  Having recently been elected a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, Jorg was also inducted to the US National Academy of Engineering. The 2007 ASLO A.C. Redfield Lifetime Achievement was also awarded to Jorg for his work on physical limnology.  In 1996 he was awarded the Stockholm Water Prize and in 1995 the Onassis Prize for the Environment for his contribution to environmental issues.  Imberger has continued to work in the area of water quality management in lakes, rivers and estuaries. He leads a field operations group, a modelling group and a contract research group which in combination provide both the worldwide research community and industry with state of the art instrumentation and models to monitor and understand what is happening in a water body and therefore implement effective and sustainable water management strategies.

Imberger is the recipient of numerous local, national and international awards.  Locally he was awarded the WA Citizen of the Year Award “The Professions” and nationally he has received the Henderson Oration, James N. Kirby Award, the Kernot Medal, the Clunies Ross National Science & Technology Award, the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal and the ASL Medal (Jolly Award).  He is also a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, US National Academy of Sciences, Academy of Science – Argentina, International Water Academy (Stockholm), Institution of Engineers – Australia and Australian Academy of Science.