Conference Program & Speakers

Bridget McKenzie

Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development
Leader of the Nationals

Federal Government

Bridget is the Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, and the Leader of the Nationals in the Senate.

She is a former Cabinet Minister, and the first federal female Agriculture Minister and has held a number of portfolios including emergency management, national recovery and resilience, sport, regional communications, education and health.

Bridget was elected Senator for Victoria in 2010.

She holds a Bachelor or Applied Science and Education, specializing in mathematics and physical education. She lectured at Monash University.

Bridget is the author of a biography of former Country Party Prime Minister: John McEwen – Right Man, Right Place, Right Time.

Ursula Bryan

Chief Executive Officer

Institute of Asset Management

Ursula Bryan is the Chief Executive Officer at the Institute of Asset Management (IAM). Prior to this role, she spent 30 years as an asset management leader working at National Grid, an energy company operating in the UK and the US and the largest electricity transmission and distribution business in the UK. She is a past President of the IAM, has been a member of the IAM Board since 2009, and was made an IAM Life Fellow in 2022.

John Hardwick

Executive Director, Asset Management Branch
Transport for NSW

John is the Executive Director of the Asset Management Branch at Transport for NSW and is responsible for leading and enabling transport service outcomes for customers and communities through effective whole-of-life asset management. John was previously the Executive Director, Sydney Division for former Roads and Maritime Services where he led the division’s first Strategic Asset Management Plan and the implementation of full battery electric vehicles into Sydney division’s passenger fleet.

John has a background of over 30 years in asset management within the electricity and transport industries, is a passionate leader of organisational improvement in asset and operational risk management and has implemented world class asset management strategies and systems to manage risk and provide value for customers and communities.

John is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and serves as a board member for numerous global and Australian asset management organisations and co-authored the books Living Asset Management and Living Asset Management Maturity. In 2018 John was awarded the MESA Medal by the Asset Management Council. The MESA Medal is awarded to an individual who has personally contributed at the highest level to the advancement of the science and or practice of asset management.

Michael Shave

President
Local Government Finance Professionals Queensland

Michael Shave is an accomplished executive-level government senior consultant with an extensive 26-year background in financial strategy and operations. Specialising in providing strategic advice for the local government industry, Michael has garnered experience in both private and public sectors. For the past 3 years, Michael has served as President of the Local Government Finance Professionals Queensland, the key representative body for financial and accounting professionals in Queensland’s local government sector. Before that, he spent 5 years as an Executive member of the LGFP Committee. Michael plays a pivotal role in advocating for continuous innovation and improvement in the industry. Michael also facilitates a range of capacity building activities for the sector, including webinars, training sessions, masterclasses, and finance-related forums across Queensland. Michael strongly believes in articulating complex financial issues in a manner easily understood by executives, board members and elected representatives, irrespective of their financial literacy level. Michael holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting), Bachelor of Arts (History), is a fellow of CPA Australia and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Tanya Garost

City Manager
City of Martensville

Tanya Garost is the City Manager, City of Martensville, Saskatchewan. Martensville is a fast growing community with a population of 12,000. With 20 plus years in local government finance, her past positions include a progression from manager and director positions in Finance to Executive and City Manager positions. Tanya’s involvement with Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) started at the Provincial level when she joined the GFOA of British Columbia in 2013, eventually serving two terms as President. From there, Tanya started with the GFOA of US and Canada by sitting on the Canada standing committee on Canadian Issues in 2017 and then joining the Executive Board in 2020. She was nominated as President Elect for GFOA in 2023 and will become President at the GFOA’s 118th Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. Asset management and sustainable service delivery are a passion that Tanya has brought to all the organizations she has worked in.

Susan Freeman-Greene

Chief Executive Officer
Local Government New Zealand

With a professional career as a lawyer and mediator, belief in the power of community, and 20 years in leadership roles – twelve as a Chief Executive, Susan Freeman-Greene could easily have run as a candidate for council herself. But right now, she is happiest where she is, working hard for the membership body and the councils, to leverage the opportunity that is local democracy. Susan joined LGNZ in October 2020. She was drawn in by the opportunity for local government to achieve greater impact and the ability to do great things for communities in the face of some turbulent times. Susan says the role is at the perfect junction of all her life and career experiences to date. She has worked within many sectors and with many diverse groups of people, in cities, towns and rural communities both here and internationally. It’s led her to become pretty comfortable operating in a range of settings and adapting to change. She would love to see more participation in local government and for people to value its role more than they do today. She knows intimately of the enormous commitment and mahi done behind the scenes by passionate, committed, smart and caring people who put in the hard yards, day-in, day-out. And while more is needed to ensure people understand this work, she is proud of the environment that has been created to push firmly into this positive space for the betterment of communities.

Kieren Perkins

Chief Executive Officer
Australian Sports Commission

Few understand what it takes to achieve exceptional performance more than Kieren Perkins. With 11 world records, 2 Olympic Gold, 2 Olympic Silver and more than a dozen Commonwealth and World Championship swimming medals, Kieren's sporting achievements are legendary. During 2 decades in the pool Kieren performed remarkable achievements and cemented his place as a superb role model.

Kieren was also an integral member of the Australian delegation sent to Monaco in 1993 to bid for the 2000 Olympics. He and the bid team were successful and Sydney went on to host the 2000 Games.

Current Work
Since his retirement from swimming in 2000, Kieren has been transferring his knowledge and experience in creating sustainable elite performance to businesses around the world as a former Partner of Performance Global Pty Ltd and former Partner of RogenSi, a global consulting and training company.

Dr Emmanuel Ngcobo

President
Chartered Institute of Government Finance, Audit & Risk Officers (CIGFARO)

President of the Chartered Institute of Government Finance, Audit & Risk Officers (CIGFARO);
Chairperson of the Centre for Municipal Asset Management (CMAM-SA)
Academic Advisory Board Member for the Durban University of Technology (Public Management & Economics)

• Published a number of articles related to the Local Government sphere, and frequent subject matter presenter in Government Finance & Asset Management conferences, nationally & internationally

Written Books:

• The Road to the CFO Position
• Practice Guide to Foster Excellence in Municipal Asset Management
• Currently in progress
  • The Essential Municipal Asset Management Manual
  • Auditing Municipal Asset Management Guide
  • Building a sustainable local government revenue model

Motto: “Serve People wholeheartedly and People will elevate You to Serve more People”

Amy Crawford

Chief Executive Officer
Australian Local Government Association (ALGA)

Amy is the Chief Executive Officer at the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA). Her career has centred on the workings of federal government. Amy has over twenty years in the Australian Public Service, ten of which were at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

She is a former senior adviser to the Minister for Local Government, Regional Development and Territories. Amy enjoys the puzzle of policy development and delivery having worked across regional development, telecommunications, immigration, emergency management and social policy fields. Amy is a Board member for Austroads and the Canberra Youth Theatre. It will surprise no-one that her hobby is improvised theatre.

Dr. Raghuvir Pai

Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Manipal Institute of Technology

Raghuvir Pai is a Professor in Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal, India. He has held various administrative positions in MAHE, Manipal over the past 20 years. He was the Head of Department, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Joint Director at Manipal Institute of Technology, Director of International Centre for Applied Sciences and Director Research (Technical), MAHE, Manipal. He was the founder Dean of the School of Engineering at Manipal’s Dubai campus. He was also the founder Dean of the School of Science and Engineering at Manipal International University, Malaysia. His expertise in research is in the field of water lubricated bearings, externally-adjustable bearings, tribology of machining metal matrix composites, nano lubricants in bearings and Biomechanics. Fourteen students have completed their Ph D dissertation with him and currently there are 08 other students pursuing their PhD. He is the founder President of Asset Management Society, India.