Speakers

The Business Council of Australia is the nation’s premier business organisation, advocating for a strong Australia that is competitive, productive, fair and inclusive.

Bran Black was appointed Chief Executive of the Business Council of Australia in September 2023.

Beginning his career as a corporate lawyer, Bran served as chief of staff in four NSW ministerial portfolios, including as chief of staff to the Premier and Treasurer.

Prior to this, Bran was Chief of Strategic Initiatives at the University of NSW and Chief Executive of the NUW Alliance between the University of Newcastle, the University of NSW and the University of Wollongong.

Bran is a director of PCYC NSW and continues to volunteer regularly as a patrol captain for his local surf life-saving club.

Bran has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Sydney.

Toni Erskine is Professor of International Politics in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University (ANU). She is recipient of the International Studies Association’s 2024-25 Distinguished Scholar Award in International Ethics, Associate Fellow of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at Cambridge University, and Chief Investigator of the ‘Anticipating the Future of War: AI, Automated Systems, and Resort-to-Force Decision Making’ Research Project, funded by the Australian Government through a grant by Defence. She recently served a five-year term as Director of the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the ANU (2018-2023). She also served as Editor of International Theory: A Journal of International Politics, Law, and Philosophy (2019-2023) and Academic Lead for the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific / Association for Pacific Rim Universities ‘AI for Social Good: Strengthening Capabilities and Government Frameworks in Asia and the Pacific’ Research Project (2021-2023).

Professor Erskine’s research is located at the intersection of International Relations (IR), international security, and moral and political philosophy. Her areas of research expertise include: the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on world politics and organised violence; the ‘institutional moral agency’ and responsibility of formal organisations (including states, intergovernmental organisations, and transnational corporations); the ethics and laws of war; human protection in the face of mass atrocity crimes; the role of joint action and informal coalitions in response to global crises and existential threats; cosmopolitan theories and their critics; and the prospect (she’s sceptical) of AI-driven systems as ‘synthetic moral agents’.

Ticky Fullerton joined the Australian British Chamber of Commerce as Chief Executive in March 2023 to lead the team as we look forward to the huge opportunity for our partners: the Free Trade Agreement, developments with AUKUS on the defence and security front and the exciting business generation around energy transition.

Ticky is a highly skilled and motivated thought leader with board and governance experience, an extensive network across governments, the top floor of business and the media.

She has a long-standing reputation as a highly credible voice in business. She is a trusted advisor to government, working closely with both Australian and UK government networks.

Most recently, Ticky was Business Editor at Large at The Australian newspaper. She is an award-winning journalist and a household name in Australian business circles with over twenty years at News Corp and the ABC.

She was Business Editor of Sky News in Australia and presented Business Weekend, the channel’s flagship business program for the ABC and was an investigative journalist with Four Corners.

Prior to journalism, Ticky spent ten years with investment bank CS First Boston in Britain and Australia.

She is a past director of the Australian British Chamber of Commerce and of the CRC for Irrigation Futures.

Ticky has a law degree from Oxford where she was also Treasurer of the Oxford Union.

Darren Godwell FAIIA is a proud descendant of the Kokoberren peoples of Cape York, who brings over 25 years of experience in Indigenous enterprise and economic development. Through his career, Darren has launched enterprises, led Indigenous companies to profitability and always believed in the transformative power of Indigenous inclusions in the economy. For 4 years he served as an advisor to the World Bank and also undertook executive education at both INSEAD (France) and MIT Sloan Management School (USA).

He maintains extensive networks in business and Indigenous affairs both domestically and internationally. Darren has pioneered negotiations for Indigenous inclusions into Australian trade agreements, supported DFAT, NIAA, APEC and the World Economic Forum. In 2022, Darren was appointed a Fellow of the prestigious Australian Institute for International Affairs in recognition of his efforts in international affairs. Former Ministerial appointments include co-Chair of the National Indigenous Reference Group (IRG) and Industry Champion to advise on Government’s Roadmap for Indigenous Economic Policy.

Philipp Ivanov is a leading strategist and advisor on geopolitical risk and foreign policy, with over two decades of executive experience across government, business, think tanks and universities in Australia, the United States, China, Asia and Russia.

He is the Founder and CEO of GRASP – Geopolitical Risks & Strategy Practice, a specialist advisory firm helping companies, governments and universities navigate global disruption, mitigate geopolitical risk and build institutional resilience.  Philipp is a trusted advisor to C-suite, university leaders and senior policymakers on risk, strategy, China, and major-power competition.

Philipp brings a rare, lived perspective — having worked in China, Russia and the United States — the three powers at the core of today’s geopolitical upheaval

A globally recognised expert on China and China-Russia relations, Philipp has been published in New York Times, Financial Times, South China Morning Post, Bloomberg, CNBC, and The Australian Financial Review. A passionate advocate for Asia literacy, he co-led the Business Council of Australia’s National Asia Taskforce, and founded and co-edited the 5-volume Disruptive Asia essay series.

Previously, Philipp was Global Chief Programming Officer and Senior Fellow at Asia Society New York, where he led global strategy across 16 international centres and founded the China-Russia Program. From 2015 to 2023, he was CEO of Asia Society Australia, which he transformed into Australia’s leading business and policy institution focused on Asia — tripling its revenue, expanding its policy impact, and securing a new national HQ in Melbourne, in partnership with the Victorian Government. Earlier in his career, he served as a diplomat and China policy officer at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, where he co-authored Australia’s first public China Country Strategy.

Philipp has deep sectoral experience in higher education. He was Deputy and Acting Director at the University of Sydney’s Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific, and advised the Vice-Chancellor on China offshore centre strategy. At La Trobe University, he led international scholarship and transnational partnerships across Southeast Asia and the Gulf.

Philipp is currently an Industry Fellow at UTS Business School and a Visiting Scholar at the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. He holds board and advisory roles with the Foundation for Australian Studies in China (FASIC), Global Women Asia, Geopolitical Strategy and the Office of Diplomatic Engagement and Training at the City University of New York. A Fulbright Scholar in US-Australia Alliance Studies (Georgetown, 2023), Australian Government’s Endeavour Executive Fellow (China National Academy of Education Administration, 2009) and a McKinsey Executive Leadership Program alumnus, Philipp has lived and worked in China, United States and Russia. He speaks fluent Chinese and Russian.

When off the grid, you’ll find him soaking in the raw majesty of the South Australian outback.

Hamish McDougall was appointed Executive Director of NZIIA in January 2022. Prior to this he completed a PhD in international history at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), on the topic of UK-New Zealand relations and European integration. This won the Michael Dockrill Prize for best international history thesis at a British university and is to be published as a book by Palgrave Macmillan in 2023. At LSE he also taught and designed courses on Twentieth-Century international history. His published research includes a chapter in the official history of the New Zealand foreign service, and articles on New Zealand’s involvement in the 1971 negotiations for European Community accession, and separately, international aspects of the 1981 Springbok Tour. Outside of academia, he has a successful 15 year career in corporate and marketing communications in New Zealand and overseas. This included leading communications for the launch of He Tohu, the exhibition of iconic New Zealand documents at the National Library of New Zealand, which won the PRINZ Supreme Award for best communications campaign in 2018.

Gary Quinlan was Australia’s Ambassador to Indonesia from 2018 to 2021.  Prior to that he was Deputy Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Australia’s Senior Official to ASEAN and to the East Asia Summit (2015-2018). He was Australia’s chief negotiator with Timor-Leste (East Timor) on maritime boundaries (2016-2018). He was Australia’s Ambassador to the United Nations, New York (2009-2015); and Australia’s Representative on the United Nations Security Council (2013-2014) and President of the Council in September 2013 and November 2014.

He was Senior Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security (2008-2009).

He has held senior positions in DFAT responsible for North Asia; the Americas; Europe; and in management.  He was in charge of Australia’s operational response to the East Timor crisis in 1999. He was a lead negotiator for Australia in international negotiations on Law of the Sea and on Antarctic matters. His overseas assignments, prior to Ambassador to the United Nations, have been as Deputy Ambassador in the Australian Embassy in Washington DC and as High Commissioner (Ambassador) to Singapore.  And assignments to the Australian Mission to the United Nations, New York; the Australian Permanent Delegation to UNESCO, Paris; and the Australian Embassy, Dublin.

He has also served as Chief of Staff and Senior Adviser to the Minister for Resources; the Minister for Industrial Relations; the Minister for Trade; and the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology.

Gary Quinlan holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Newcastle and an Honorary Doctor of Letters (Newcastle).

He was made an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) in 2016.

Maria Rost Rublee is Professor of International Relations at the University of Melbourne, with expertise in international relations, including nuclear politics, maritime security, and gender and diversity in national security. She is President of Women in International Security-Australia, an Executive Committee member of Women in Nuclear-Australia, and was recently named to the U.S. National Security & Foreign Affairs Leadership List (Top 50 selected globally), by the Center for Strategic & International Studies, Washington DC.

Professor Rublee’s research agenda on the social construction of national security is internationally recognized, leading to an award-winning monograph, two edited books, and over 40 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, in addition to non-traditional research outputs. The international esteem accorded to her work is underscored by her successful grant record, with almost $2 million in competitive external grants, and almost $700,000 as the sole or lead chief investigator, including with the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Australian Department of Defence, the Canadian Department of Defence, and the Japan Foundation, among others.

With a keen interest in national security policy, Professor Rublee engages in public policy discussions around AUKUS, Australian foreign policy, the impact on diversity in national security workforce recruitment and retention, and nuclear proliferation, nonproliferation and disarmament in the Indo-Pacific and around the world. She is a sought-after speaker and media commentator, providing dozens of media interviews each year, lectures and invited discussions with policy officials and experts, policy-related op-eds, and features on policy podcasts. She served as a Visiting Fellow at the Australian War College in 2024 and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Australian Royal Navy Sea Power Centre in 2022-23.

As a global leader in national security, Professor Rublee has created new research and professional collaborations, including with the Carnegie Corporation-funded Bridging the Gap program, and the creation of the Global Taskforce on Diversity in Security Studies through the International Studies Association. Her Ph.D. is from George Washington University.

Dr. Christian E. Rieck is an Associate Professor for Development and Defence at the Chair of War Studies at the University of Potsdam with a focus on German foreign relations and European defence, and Academic Coordinator for its programs in War Studies.

Kate Seward is a senior leader at Microsoft Australia and New Zealand, where she drives policy and strategic initiatives at the intersection of national security, economic opportunity, and the responsible adoption of AI and emerging technologies. In her role, Kate collaborates with government, industry, and community partners to advance digital transformation and ensure technology delivers broad societal benefit.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Kate was a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, advising both public and private sector clients on complex transformation projects. She began her career at Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, serving at the Australian Embassies in Beijing and Washington, DC.

Kate holds a Master of Business Administration with Distinction from London Business School. She is also Deputy Chair of the Board at The Substation, one of Australia’s leading venues for contemporary and experimental arts, reflecting her commitment to community and cultural leadership.

The Honourable Lisa Singh is a former Australian Senator and was the first woman of South Asian heritage to be elected to the Australian Parliament. She is also a former Tasmanian Member of Parliament and Minister in the Tasmanian Government. She is currently the CEO of the Australia India Institute at the University of Melbourne, a leading research and policy thinktank advancing Australia-India relations at the government, business, diaspora and academic levels.  She has previously served as Deputy Chair on the Australian Government’s Australia-India Council and currently sits on the advisory board of Asialink at University of Melbourne. She is also a Board director of Beyond Blue, Australia’s well known mental health organisation.

In 2014 she was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the President of India for building friendly Australia-India relations, the highest civilian honour for a person of Indian origin. Representing Australia as an influential professional, Lisa has been advancing Australia’s social and economic ties with the Indo-Pacific region for over a decade. And she is the recipient of the University of Tasmania’s 2024 International Alumni Award. In 2016, representing Australia, Lisa was seconded to the United Nations General Assembly as an Australian government delegate. She continues to actively participate in inter-country dialogues and hosts and co-chairs the track 1.5 Australia India Leadership Dialogue. She has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Social Geography from the University of Tasmania and a Master of International Relations from Macquarie University.

Peter Tesch is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Languages and Cultures at the University of Queensland and a Visiting Fellow at the ANU Centre for European Studies. 

As Deputy Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Industry in the Department of Defence (2019–2022), Mr Tesch led a group of more than 500 people, with a budget of over $700 million. He was centrally involved in the development and implementation of strategy and policy governing the Australian Defence Force’s activities in and beyond the Indo-Pacific region. The launch in September 2021 of the AUKUS partnership with the United Kingdom and the United States saw Mr Tesch take the Australian lead for AUKUS Advanced Capabilities under Pillar Two, focusing on generating warfighting advantages for our militaries in areas like hypersonics, underseas warfare, artificial intelligence, and quantum sensing.

After graduating from the University of Queensland, Mr Tesch joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1987. His roles included: Ambassador to the Russian Federation (2016–2019); head of the International Security Division (2014–2015); Ambassador to Germany (2009–2013); Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations (2002–2005); Ambassador to Kazakhstan (1997–1999); and Third Secretary in the USSR (1989–1991).  He also served in the Office of the Minister for Trade (1993-1994) and as Deputy Director of the department’s Victorian State Office (1994–1996).  He was project director for Australia’s participation in the world expos in Hannover (2000) and, until his appointment to Berlin, Shanghai (2010).

Mr Tesch has a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours and a Doctorate of Letters honoris causa from the University of Queensland. He speaks German and Russian.

Peter Varghese began as Chancellor of The University of Queensland in 2016, and is now serving his second term.

Prior to this appointment, Mr Varghese’s extensive career in public service and diplomacy spanned 38 years and included senior positions in foreign affairs, trade policy and intelligence. Most recently, he served as Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2012–2016).

Previous senior appointments included High Commissioner to India (2009–2012), High Commissioner to Malaysia (2000–2002), Director-General of the Office of National Assessments (2004–2009), and Senior Advisor (International) to the Prime Minister of Australia (2003–2004). Mr Varghese was the author of a comprehensive India Economic Strategy to 2035 commissioned by the Australian Prime Minister and submitted in July 2018.

Mr Varghese was educated at The University of Queensland, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours and a University Medal in history in 1978. He was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) in 2010 and received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from The University of Queensland in 2013.

Mr Varghese is Chair of the Asialink Council and sits on the boards of CARE Australia and North Queensland Airports. He is also on the international governing board of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

He was awarded the Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop Asialink Medal in 2019 in recognition of outstanding contributions to improving Australia-Asia relations. Mr Varghese is an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs.

Tim Watts is the Federal Member for Gellibrand and has served as the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Albanese Government since 2022.

Tim was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2013 and for a decade has served one of the most diverse electorates in Australia.

Before entering Parliament, Tim worked in the technology sector, as a Senior Manager at Telstra and a Solicitor at Mallesons Stephen Jaques (now King & Wood Mallesons). Tim worked on critical tech issues including the roll out of the National Broadband Network, the auction and distribution of sections of the radio communications spectrum and network pricing regulation. He also worked as the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Minister for Communications and a Senior Adviser to the Victorian Premier.

Tim is the author of two books, “The Golden Country: Australia’s Changing Identity” and “Two Futures: Australia at a Critical Moment” (along with co-author and fellow MP, Clare O’Neil).

Tim holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from Bond University, a Master of Public Policy from Monash University and a Master of Science (Politics and Communications) from the London School of Economics