Monthly Archives: June 2015

Dr Robinson from CSIRO to present on ‘Assessing Indigenous co-benefits from payment for ecosystem service schemes’

  By Regional Development Conference • June 30, 2015 , , , ,

Dr Cathy Robinson, Research Scientist at CSIRO to present at the Australian Regional Development Conference being held at the Commercial Club Albury on the 26– 27 August 2015.

The Conference is an initiative of the Association for Sustainability in Business Inc., a non-Government ‘not-for-profit’ organisation.

Dr Catherine Robinson

Dr Catherine Robinson

Speaker Introduction: Dr Robinson leads a team of researchers in the CSIRO Land and Water Flagship. Her work is in the field of collaborative planning regimes with a focus on in the design of decision-support frameworks that are capable of translating scientific and Indigenous and local knowledge systems (ILKS) into environmental policy decision-making. Cathy has applied her science to understanding the barriers and opportunities facing Australia’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in their efforts to contribute to regional planning objectives and receive negotiated benefits from the delivery of natural resource management policies and programs.


Presentation Title: Assessing Indigenous co-benefits from payment for ecosystem service schemes

Overview: This presentation draws on research conducted with Dr Glenn James and Dr Peter Whitehead (NAILSMA) and Aboriginal land managers across northern Australia to critically consider Aboriginal payments for ecosystem services and identify the most important challenges they face. We begin by sketching the historical context by which Aboriginal communities in Australia have sought to have their land and sea management knowledge and practices recognised and supported by environmental markets and programs. Recently this includes a concerted effort by Aboriginal communities to engage in payment for ecosystem service (PES) schemes. We draw on Aboriginal landscape burning practices and experiences to consider the possibilities for re-shaping the logic and assessment of PES negotiated with Aboriginal communities. This requires reconceptualising how payments are constructed to ensure that human and ecological rights are properly embedded each within the other, accounts for Aboriginal perspectives about how the complex relationship between Aboriginal benefits and PES goals can be assessed, and ensures PESs are appropriately integrated with existing Aboriginal land management activities and work

To view and/or download the Australian Regional Development Conference program please click here.

Dr Caroline Perkins to present on funding for regional universities at the Australian Regional Development Conference

  By Regional Development Conference • June 26, 2015 , , , , ,

Dr Caroline Perkins, Executive Director of Regional Universities Network will present at the Australian Regional Development Conference will be held at the Commercial Club Albury on the 26– 27 August 2015.

The Conference is an initiative of the Association for Sustainability in Business Inc., a non-Government ‘not-for-profit’ organisation.

Dr Caroline Perkins

Dr Caroline Perkins

Speaker Introduction: Dr Caroline Perkins is a geologist by training and has a B.Sc. (Hons) from the University of Melbourne, and a Ph.D in geology from the University of New England. She has worked as an exploration geologist in Australia and Fiji, and undertook post-doctoral research in geology at the Australian National University. She has 15 years’ experience as a senior public servant working for the Australian Federal Government in higher education, research, science and radioactive waste management policy and programs.

In February 2012 she was appointed as the first Executive Director of the Regional Universities Network, a group of six universities with their headquarters in regional Australia, outside capital cities. Since then she has worked to foster advocacy, facilitate collaboration, and enhance the contribution of the member universities to regional development.

Presentation Title: Regional universities – should they be funded by the regional development portfolio?

Overview: Regional universities play a critical role as one of the largest and most visible physical, intellectual, cultural and sporting assets in their regions. Their teaching and learning activities, research and innovation and service functions contribute to: human capital development; regional governance and planning; community development; health and ageing; arts, culture and sport; environmental sustainability; and industry and business development. They are looked to for leadership in stimulating positive change, and their staff and students play active and visible roles in their communities.

To view and/or download the Australian Regional Development Conference program please click here.

GM of Industry Strategy & Public Policy at Vodafone Hutchison Australia to present at Australian Regional Development Conference

  By Regional Development Conference • June 24, 2015 , , , , , , , , , ,

Matthew Lobb, General Manager, Industry Strategy & Public Policy at Vodafone Hutchison Australia will present at the Australian Regional Development Conference will be held at the Commercial Club Albury on the 26– 27 August 2015 .

The conference is an initiative of the Association for Sustainability in Business Inc., a non-Government ‘not-for-profit’ organisation.

Speaker Introduction: Matthew Lobb has overall responsibility for Vodafone’s government and stakeholder relations, regulatory affairs and public policy reform agenda. A key focus of this work is to advocate the need for a level competitive playing field in Australian telecommunications that fosters innovation and drives improvements to customer service.

Matthew joined Vodafone in 2011 after working as General Manager for Industry Engagement at NBN Co from 2009. Prior to this Matthew had an eight year stint in Telstra and held a range of roles including Director, Telstra Consumer Pricing, Group Manager, Commercial Development and Group Regulatory Manager, Telstra Wholesale.

Matthew also has extensive experience within Government having worked as an advisor to the Minister for Transport and Roads in NSW and to the Minister for Competition and Consumer Affairs in the Federal Government.

Matthew is a Rhodes Scholar and has Honours degrees in Economics and in Law from the Australian National University, a MA from Oxford University and a MSc (International Relations) from the London School of Economics.

Presentation Title: Utilising the NBN to deliver improved regional mobile telecommunications coverage and choice

Overview:

Regional consumers are demanding mobile coverage and 83 percent of regional consumers agree that being able to choose their mobile provider is important.

Overcoming the roadblocks to mobile competition in regional areas will ensure consumers and businesses receive more coverage, better value, better service, choice and innovation.

Australia’s telecommunications market has undergone a profound change in the last 15 years and Australian consumers have become some of the most technologically savvy in the world. These changes and the rapid uptake of new technology have fundamentally changed our lives and benefited our economy.

In many places in regional Australia the economy and consumers are being denied access to reliable mobile phone coverage and the benefits that flow from mobility. The Australian telecommunications market is not driving sufficient investment in regional mobile infrastructure to deliver the benefits of the mobility to all Australians. Incentivising investment and removing the roadblocks to coverage expansion is a policy challenge that must be overcome.

In many areas of Australia it is only economically viable to build one set of mobile infrastructure. The best approach to deliver improved mobile coverage and increase consumer choice is for Government to facilitate telecommunications industry collaboration that reduces costs by better sharing infrastructure.

This includes leveraging the substantial investments that the NBN is undertaking in regional Australia. There are also a range of other policy levers that can be used to encourage infrastructure sharing. This includes better utilisation of the $300m per annum Universal Service Obligation payments that are currently not directed to mobile infrastructure.

The needs of mobile networks are technically similar to other uses of the NBN. In regional areas the NBN can reduce the costs of building mobile networks to expand coverage by utilising the NBN’s fixed-line network for ‘access backhaul’ services. NBN’s fixed-wireless network which is currently being built can also provide a foundation for the expansion of mobile coverage across Australia.

To view and/or download the Australian Regional Development Conference program, please click here.

Chris Green of Crowe Horwath to present on ‘Creating Sustainability in Regional Tourism’

  By Regional Development Conference • June 22, 2015 , ,

Christopher Green, Principal – Business Advisory at Crowe Horwath will present at the Australian Regional Development Conference being held at the Commercial Club Albury on the 26– 27 August 2015.

The Conference is an initiative of the Association for Sustainability in Business Inc., a non-Government ‘not-for-profit’ organisation.

Christopher Green

Christopher Green

Presenter Introduction: With over 7 years experience, Christopher specialises in Strategic Planning and Business Plans for larger businesses in North East Victoria and the Southern Riverina.

Most recently, Christopher was the Director of a regionally based Strategic Advisory firm in Wangaratta where he provided a variety of high level strategic options to his clients.

Christopher combines the practical, commercial and technical experience needed to deliver positive outcomes with a unique understanding of the issues facing regionally based organisations. Additionally, he has a comprehensive knowledge of Government grants currently available that can assist clients in achieving their goals.

Christopher undertakes an active role in his local community through participation in a variety of community groups and boards.

Presentation Title: Creating Sustainability in Regional Tourism – a case study
Co-Author: Kylie Smith, Principal – Business Advisory at Crowe Horwath

Overview: Sustainability in tourism plays an important role in the overall ongoing growth and success of regional areas. Developing a process to understand what drives sustainability and leverage opportunities is a key aspect of successfully creating sustainability in regional tourism.

To view and/or download the Australian Regional Development Conference program, visit the website here.

David Gilbert from Murrumbidgee Irrigation Ltd to present on Govt policy challenges for rural water infrastructure service providers

  By Regional Development Conference • June 19, 2015 , , , , , , , , ,

David Gilbert, Executive Manager, Planning at Murrumbidgee Irrigation Ltd will present at the Australian Regional Development Conference being held at the Commercial Club Albury on the 26– 27 August 2015.

The Conference is an initiative of the Association for Sustainability in Business Inc., a non-Government ‘not-for-profit’ organisation.

David Gilbert

David Gilbert

Presenter Introduction: Dave commenced in 2008 and was appointed as Executive Manager Planning in March 2014, responsible for corporate and water resource planning, asset management and regulatory compliance functions. He has previously been responsible for delivery of major capital infrastructure projects.

Dave is an electrical engineer who has held management roles in the electricity supply industry and also within the Australian public service that has included implementation of the National Electricity Market, administration of Australia’s export controls and defence-related research projects.


Presentation Title: Government policy challenges for rural water infrastructure service providers

Co-Author: Karen Hutchinson, Customer Services Manager, Murrumbidgee Irrigation Ltd

Overview: Government water policy objectives typically seek to optimise economic, social and environmental outcomes, including from the sustainable use of available water resources and the promotion of efficient investment in water delivery infrastructure.

In establishing irrigation areas like the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA), which is located in located in the Murray-Darling Basin, the NSW Government undertook an enormous development effort that involved an entirely new agricultural enterprise for the state. This was supported by government efforts to divert the water resources of the Snowy Mountains as a means of supplementing the flow of the great inland rivers for irrigation to increase agricultural production and as a means for developing hydro-electric power.

Initial production within the MIA centred on horticulture, dairy and other pasture enterprises which led to the rapid expansion of the irrigation area into a diverse and highly productive agricultural region, rich in bird life and wetland habitats. The sustainability of the MIA, and other irrigation areas, is of local, state and national significance with the gross value of farm production, contributing to significant levels of regional value adding, and employment opportunities that underpin the regional community.

Government water reform efforts are focussed on the implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan to respond to threats to ecosystem health and sustainability in the Basin. This includes irrigation modernisation, environmental works and measures, and water purchasing. Investment in infrastructure and irrigation efficiency projects is expected to assist irrigation communities adjust to a future of reduced water availability and become more resilient to change. However, evaluation and reporting on the effects of these water reforms on communities and the environment continues to mature before flow-on effects will become apparent and unintended consequences emerge.

A number of indicators of the social and economic impact of the Basin Plan have been used to identify how irrigation communities are adjusting to less water, including on agricultural production and other local industries, community health and wellbeing, and wider social and cultural impacts.

Communities across the Basin are coping with water reform efforts differently. This paper includes preliminary assessments of water reform impacts from investment in irrigation infrastructure across the MIA, including on the productive capacity of the region.

To view and/or download the Australian Regional Development Conference program, visit the website here.