The International Property Conference 2010 will showcase highly credentialed and globally recognised speakers. The committee are presently inviting speakers to participate in the program and are pleased to confirm the following:
General Peter Cosgrove AC MC (Ret)
General Peter Cosgrove retired from the army in 2005. Four years earlier, he had been Australian of the Year: “In every respect Peter Cosgrove demonstrated that he is a role model. The man at the top displayed those characteristics we value most as Australians – strength, determination, intelligence, compassion and humour.” The son of a soldier, he graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1968. He was sent to Malaysia as a lieutenant in the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (RAR). During his next posting in Vietnam he commanded an infantry platoon and was awarded the Military Cross for his performance during an assault on enemy positions. In 1999 Peter Cosgrove became a national figure following his appointment as Commander of the International Forces East Timor (Interfet). He was responsible for overseeing East Timor’s transition to independence during, what was to become, a tense and uncertain period. He shone as both a soldier and diplomat. Always in his slouch hat, Peter Cosgrove was a strong and reassuring figure, appearing regularly in all forms of the media. Following his achievements and the international respect that he had achieved, he was promoted and made Chief of the Army. He went on to be promoted to General and was appointed Chief of the Defence Force.
In a long and distinguished career Peter Cosgrove has embodied that sense of duty and courage that Australians hold so dear to their hearts. After retirement from the Armed Forces, General Cosgrove has accepted positions on the Qantas Board, a consultancy with Deloittes and is preparing to write his memoirs. He has recently been appointed Chairman of the The General Sir John Monash Foundation.
Edward Cheung
CEO, Mainland China, DTZ.
M. Cheung graduated from the University of East Anglia, UK in 1986 with a degree in Urban and Environmental Planning. Mr Cheung started his real estate career with a major international consultancy in 1987. In 1993, he joined C.Y. Leung & Co. (now merged with DTZ) as Director of the China business, responsible for the planning and marketing of residential and commercial projects in China. In 1997, Mr. Cheung was appointed as General Manager to take charge of the C.Y. Leung & Co. Shanghai Office. He was responsible for all business activities including consultancy and strategic planning. Under his leadership, the office grew rapidly from only 30 people to more than 500 people by the end of 2006. With this outstanding performance, Mr. Cheung was named CEO of DTZ Mainland China in 2007. Now, he is overseeing 15 offices in Mainland with 5,744 employees.
Besides his professional work, Mr. Cheung also involves in the following activities: Member of the Hong Kong-Macao Committee, Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; Chairman, Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in China, Shanghai; Member of the Shanghai Luwan District’s Standing Committee of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), Shanghai Chapter Chair 2004; Executive Committee Member, Shanghai Overseas Returned Scholars Association; Non-Executive Director, Shanghai Young Entrepreneurs Association; Foreign Investment Consultant, Foreign Economic Commission of Huangpu District; Senior Consultant, Shanghai Hong Kong economic journal .
Elvin Fernandez
Managing Director of the Khong & Jaafar Group of Companies.
Elvin Fernandez is the Managing Director of the Khong & Jaafar Group of Companies established since 1965 involved in independent property valuations, property consultancy, property management, estate agency and market and feasibility studies.
He is a Councillor, Fellow and the Deputy President (2009/2010) and President-Elect (2010/2011) of the Institution of Surveyors Malaysia (ISM), a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, United Kingdom and a Former President and a current Executive Committee Member of the Association of Valuers, Property Managers, Estate Agents and Property Consultants in Private Practice Malaysia.
He was also a Member of the Board of Valuers, Appraisers & Estate Agents Malaysia (BOARD), the regulatory authority of the valuation profession in Malaysia, and its Executive for 14 years from 1993-2007. On 12 January 2006 he was conferred with “Property Consultant of the Year 2005” award in appreciation of his valuable contribution to the valuation and property consultancy profession.
He is the immediate Past Chairman of the International Valuation Standards Committee, a Life Fellow of the Institution of Valuers, India, a Honorary Member of the Institute of Philippine Real Estate Appraisers, a Honorary Member of The National Association of Valuers in Romania, a Member of the China Appraisal Society and its Valuation Standards Advisory Committee, a Council Member of the Governing Council of the ASEAN Valuers Association and a Honorary Member of the Practising Valuers Association (India). In May 2008, Elvin was appointed as a Consultant by the Securities Commission of Pakistan (funded by the World Bank) for the establishment of a Real Estate Investment Trust framework (valuation aspects).
Elvin is also a Member of the Investigating Tribunal Panel of the BAR Council Malaysia.
He has written and presented about 163 papers on property related topics for seminars and conferences since 1991 in Malaysia and internationally including Singapore, Japan, Australia, Thailand, New Zealand, Venezuela, Washington, India, Columbia, Vancouver, Greece, Rio de Janeiro, Romania, Philippines, China and Indonesia.
Graham Goerke
Partner, Jackson McDonald
Graham Goerke is a partner at Jackson McDonald and has been Chairman of Partners since 2001.
He has been practising in property law for 25 years and his areas of practice include: Commercial property buying and selling; Commercial property leasing; planning and property development; Environmental Law; Resource Development tenure; and property management.
Reg Howard-Smith
Chief Executive, Chamber of Minerals and Energy
Reg Howard-Smith was appointed Chief Executive of CME in November 2007. From 2002 to 2007 Reg held the role of Director at CME with responsibilities in the areas of Human Resources, Occupational Health and Safety, Education and Training, Immigration, Skill Shortage Initiatives and Finance.
Immediately prior to joining CME, Reg was employed by Woodside and throughout the early to mid 1990’s worked in a national senior management position with George Weston Foods. In the 1980’s Reg worked in advocacy positions in Western Australia and Victoria. Reg commenced his career with BHP in Perth. Reg is a graduate of the University of Western Australia with a major in Economics.
Mal James
Chief Executive Officer, Australian Employment Covenant
Mal James is a business graduate of RMIT University in Melbourne, with over 25 years experience in merchant banking, engineering, manufacturing, mining, energy and financing. Over the past 20 years he has played an active role in identifying, exploring, financing and developing a number of significant natural resource and energy projects in Australia, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and USA. Mr James has held executive and non-executive Board positions on several Australian and UK listed companies, business associations, sporting and not for profit organisations.
Mr James is the CEO of the Australian Employment Covenant, a national, industry-led initiative to secure 50,000 sustainable jobs for indigenous Australians- a project supported by the Commonwealth Government. Mr James is also the CEO of the Australian Children’s Trust, a large philanthropic organisation that assists disadvantaged Australians, especially children, in the area of health, education, employment and community activities – giving them the skills to provide for themselves.
John Nicolaou
Chief Officer of Membership and Advocacy and Chief Economist, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia (CCI)
John Nicolaou is the Chief Officer of Membership and Advocacy and Chief Economist at CCI, Western Australia’s peak business association. John has been with CCI since 2003, and during this time he has built a reputation as one of the state’s most credible economic and business commentators. John has been a strong advocate for key reforms aimed at fostering economic growth and development in WA.
He has responsibility for CCI’s core business functions of membership, marketing and communications, industrial relations advocacy, policy development and external relations. John is a member of CCI’s Leadership Team and is the Executive Officer of CCI’s General Council. He is also a member of the Curtin Business School Advisory Board.
Prior to joining CCI, John spent a number of years at the Commonwealth and State Treasuries, working on key policy issues such as the development and implementation of the GST and other taxation reforms and National Competition Policy.
He is a graduate of the University of Western Australia, completing a Bachelor of Economics with First Class Honours in 1996, and in 2007 completed a Master of Business Administration, where he received a Director’s letter for outstanding achievement.
Nick Perrignon
Chief Operating Officer, Satterley Property Group
Nick Perrignon first came to WA in 1986 having ‘cut his teeth’ in the construction of residential apartments. He was project manager, general manager and then managing director with Cedar Woods Properties and led its growth into the Melbourne market.
In 2000 Nick joined Australand as its State manager, expanding the landbank and growing projects in the Perth apartment field.
In 2002, he joined Stockland as WA manager. He boosted its business growth, increased its market share and established strong commercial relationships with local home builders.
On completion of his MBA at the University of Western Australia, Nick transferred to Queensland to manage Stockland’s biggest residential business in Australia encompassing major projects in Townsville, Sunshine Coast, Greater Brisbane and Gold Coast. With an expanded staff of 165, he led the strategic planning to secure zoning approvals for a new coastal city at Caloundra Downs of 2700 hectares incorporating 40,000 homesites, three town centres and a new CBD site for Caloundra.
In 2005, Stockland promoted Nick to Chief Operating Officer for Residential Communities. He headed a staff of 580 and planned the acquisition and delivery of 65 development projects throughout Australia.
Nick Perrignon returned to his home base in Perth in October 2009 as Chief Operating Officer of Satterley Property Group where he has focussed on strategic marketing and corporate restructuring. The Satterley team is well advanced on a program of expansion both within WA and the Eastern States.
Dr Richard Reed
Professor of Property and Real Estate, Deakin University
Dr Richard Reed is Professor of Property and Real Estate course at Deakin University (Melbourne). His research interests are varied include demography where his P.hD research examined the relationship between population trends and property values.
He is a Fellow of the Australian Property Institute and edited ‘The Valuation of Real Estate’ (2007) text for the API, as well as being consulting editor for ‘The Australian and New Zealand Property Journal’. He has received a research award from the Australian Population Association, he is a visiting Professor at the University of Regensburg, Germany and is widely published in international journals on the topic of demography and property mark.
Dr David Rees
Regional Director, Head of Research (Australasia), Jones Lang LaSalle
David Rees is currently the Regional Director and Head of Research (Australasia) at Jones Lang LaSalle, a company which maintains Australia’s largest and most highly rated team of property research analysts. As Head of Research, David is responsible for the preparation and dissemination of research market data, forecasts and strategic analysis.
Previous to this, Mr Rees was Director of Research at Mirvac Group, a leading Australian REIT with extensive interests across all real estate sectors – commercial, residential, hotels and funds management – in Australia, the US and the UK
He spent five years as Head of Research at Commonwealth Bank, during this time he conducted equity research for Comsec, Australia’s largest on-line share broker. At Bankers Trust he held the position of Chief Equity Strategist in the investment banking division. Mr Rees is actively involved in the academic programs at the University of New South Wales, as well as the education programs of the Property Council of Australia and the Australian Property Institute.
The Rt Hon Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi
Lord Mayor, City of Perth
Lisa Scaffidi was elected Lord Mayor of the City of Perth on 20 October 2007 with a mission to ‘get Perth moving’.
Ms Scaffidi first entered the Council in July 2000 and has served on a number of council committees as well as external boards and committees. While a councillor, she was also State Director of CEDA –– the Committee for Economic Development of Australia –– an independent think tank promoting economic development in a sustainable and socially balanced way.
Before joining the Council, Ms Scaffidi had a background in business and the hospitality industry. She is committed to enhancing Perth’s status as a city of regional and international significance. As part of that commitment, the Council initiated widespread consultation with the community and city stakeholders to develop a strategic plan to guide the city’s development. This resulted in the document City of Perth 2029: We Hear You.
Ms Scaffidi is a City of Perth resident and is a strong advocate of the inner-city lifestyle. She is passionate about sustainable city growth and ensuring a safe and secure urban environment.
One of her priorities is to add life and excitement to the city so that the Central Business District becomes a Central Activity District. Ms Scaffidi is working to strengthen the Council’s working relationship with the State Government so that major projects such as connecting the river foreshore to the city centre and removing the barriers between the CBD and Northbridge can be achieved. The Lord Mayor is also a passionate supporter of the arts.
Ms Scaffidi has been a member of the Council’s Marketing, Sponsorship and International Relations Committee, Works and Urban Development Committee and Employment Committee.
She has also served on the East Perth Crime and Safety Committee, the Taxi Council of Western Australia and the City of Perth Heritage Appeal Board. She is also the West Australian Public Member on the Australian Press Council.
Peter Studley
Head of Research, Dexus Property Group
Peter Studley works for DEXUS Property Group, a leading owner & manager of Australian Real Estate with around $15 billion of assets under management. As Head of Research he is currently responsible for the group’s view on property market’s globally. Mr Studley has worked in the real estate and financial services industry for fifteen years in a research capacity, providing investment support, strategic advice and forecasting services.
Mr Studley holds a Masters of Applied Finance from Macquarie University, an Associate Diploma in Business (Valuation), a Bachelor of Science (Agriculture) a Diploma in Fine Arts. He is involved in the education programs of the Property Council of Australia.
Allan Tranter
Director, Creating Communities
Allan Tranter has been involved in leisure and community wellness for over 30 years and has developed diverse expertise in social planning and social marketing, focusing on competitive advantage and mutual benefit, to provide solutions that deliver considerable commercial value for clients, and significant improvements in quality of life for communities. His ability to challenge and inspire is unsurpassed in the industry. Mr Tranter inspires people to focus on aspirations and outcomes, resulting in countless achievements throughout his career. He has a broad background in the public sector, having been the Director of Recreation in WA and a consultant to numerous public agencies on a wide range of issues. Mr Tranter also has extensive experience in the private sector and spent several years in Asia working for a Chinese/Malaysian company in shopping centre management and executive development. He is well published and an accomplished speaker.
