Speaker Bios

Tim Wilson, Institute of Public Affairs
Tim Wilson is Director of Climate Change Policy and the IP and Free Trade Unit at the Institute of Public Affairs. He is also a Senior Fellow at New York's Center for Medicine in the Public Interest. He serves on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's IP industry consultative group and the Steering Committee of the Sydney Opera House's Festival of Dangerous Ideas. Tim's worked in international development across South East Asia and regularly appears on Australian and international television, radio and in print media.

Nathan Taylor, Committee for Economic Development of Australia
Nathan Taylor is currently the Chief Economist of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia. He has a life-long interest in human behavior and how this influences social dynamics, which has led him to study human behavior as understood by economics, psychology, personality and cognitive development theory.He has held a number of policy roles that have included Senior Researcher at the Reserve Bank of Australia, Business Policy Manager at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Western Australia, Economist at WALGA and has worked as an independent consultant.

Peter Kerr, Australian Financial Review
Currently the Perth Bureau Chief for the Australian Financial Review, Peter Kerr is an Economics Honours graduate of UWA who began his career in Sydney with the Reserve Bank of Australia. He spent two years in New York with the Bank, trading foreign exchange and US Government bonds. He also briefly worked for the IMF on a project to develop the Iranian wholesale money market. Following a break to pursue a career in cooking, Peter became the oldest cadet journalist in the history of The West Australian newspaper at 36. After covering state politics for The West he moved to his current role in 2010.

Jessica Strutt, Channel Nine
Jess joined Nine News after five and a half years with The West Australian newspaper. At WA’s daily newspaper she covered State politics for four and a half years before taking on the social and Aboriginal affairs round which had her travelling to many remote spots across the State. A recipient of a number of journalism awards, Jess graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in politics and history.

Mark Pownall, WA Business News
Mark Pownall is editor-at-large, a senior writing role at WA Business News aimed at trying to provide a more in-depth look at news and views in Western Australia. For seven years prior to this role, Mark was editor of the newspaper, charged with a brief to make the publication a ‘must read’ for the State's business sector. Mark has been a business journalist since 1991, mostly working in WA.

James De Leo, Comedian and Radio Producer
James De Leo is a stand–up comedian and broadcaster. He was a national finalist in Green Faces in 2006 and a state finalist in Triple J’s RAW Comedy competition in 2005 and 2006. His television credits include ABC-TV’s Fly TV, The New Inventors, Sunday Arts and AFI Award-winning comedy Double the Fist.

Organiser Bios

Ron Manners FAusIMM, FAICD – Chairman
Ron Manners is the Managing Director of the Mannwest Group. He is also Emeritus Chairman of the Australian Mining Hall of Fame Ltd. In 1955 Ron assumed management of the family mining/engineering business, W.G. Manners & Co. (originally established in 1895) which has evolved into the Mannwest Group. Between 1972 and 1995 Ron floated several Australian listed mining companies, before joining the board of a Canadian company with operations in Mexico, Brazil and Turkey. In addition to his mining interests, Ron has pursued an interest in economic education, establishing the Mannkal Economic Education Foundation in 1997. He is an active member of the Mont Pelerin Society and is on the Co-ordinating Committee for the Commonwealth Study Conference. He is the author and editor of four books - So I Headed West, Kanowna's Barrowman - James Balzano, Never a Dull Moment and Heroic Misadventures: Australia; Four Decades - Full Circle - as well as numerous papers and addresses.

John Hyde – Director
John Hyde held the Federal seat of Moore from 1974, when Whitlam was Prime Minister, until he lost the seat with the defeat of the Fraser Government in 1983. He remained on the backbench and was instrumental in the formation of that group of policy advocates that the press named the "Dries". John and his wife, Helen, then formed the Australian Institute of Public Policy, which in 1991 was amalgamated with the Institute of Public Affairs, which he directed until 1995. He was a columnist with the Australian Financial Review, The Australian and the Brisbane Courier-Mail, writing 745 regular articles for these papers, and has had many other articles published elsewhere. John Hyde's recently published book "Dry: In Defense of Economic Freedom" is an account of how the momentary re-application of the proper conduct of public policy in Australia during the 1990s managed to reverse the long downward trend of Australia's relative living standards.

Judy Carroll – Executive Assistant
Before working for several private enterprise and publicly listed companies, Judy commenced her career in the public service where she worked for some 18 years. In 1994 she joined the staff at the Ministry of Premier and Cabinet where she was Executive Assistant to the Chief of Staff in the Office of the Premier - Western Australia. It was here that she realized her passion for politics and the outcomes it can have on our community. She believes it was a privilege to have been so involved with the running of the State and still maintains a great interest in current affairs and believes in the ideals of Mannkal. Judy has worked with Ron since 2001 where she has witnessed, and enjoyed, being part of the expansion of Mannkal's activities and believes her breadth of experience in different workplaces gives her the ability to understand the free market system.

Andrew Pickford – Executive Fellow
Andrew Pickford is based in Perth, Western Australia and works in the area of policy and strategy. In January 2010, he was appointed as the inaugural ISSA Indo-Pacific Managing Director to create and lead a strategic think-tank with a focus on the Indian Ocean region. Mr Pickford also holds a number of other positions including Executive Fellow, Mannkal Economic Foundation, Senior Fellow, International Strategic Studies Association and project consultant, Committee for the Economic Development of Australia. Andrew is the Vice President of the Australia-India Business Council (WA Branch). He also sits on the management committee of the Australia Day Council of Western Australia and the Australian Institute of International Affairs (WA Branch), and serves as a councillor for the Royal United Services Institute of WA. He has a Masters of Accounting from Curtin University of Technology, and is completing a Masters of Studies focusing on defence and strategic issues from the Australian National University. In 2007, Mr Pickford completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors’ Company Directors Course. Mr Pickford was a co-author of FDI’s major 2007 study, Australia 2050: An Examination of Australia’s Condition, Outlook, and Options for the First Half of the 21st Century, and FDI’s 2009 study, Such a Full Sea: Australia’s Options in a Changing Indian Ocean Region. He also contributed the agricultural research and analysis to the Defense & Foreign Affairs Handbook on Pakistan (2008).

Emma Crisp – Research Assistant
Em is currently studying at the University of Western Australia where she is half way through a Commerce and Arts Degree. She is particularly interested in Political Science and International Relations and hopes to pursue a career in this area when she finishes her studies.