Dr Scott Prasser, , Director - Sunshine Coast Research Institute for Business Enterprise, University of the Sunshine Coast.

Scott Prasser is presently Senior Lecturer in Management at the University of the Sunshine Coast. In addition to academic appointments at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Charles Sturt University and the University of Southern Queensland, Scott has also worked in senior policy and research positions in federal and state governments.  Scott has published extensively on public administration and public policy issues. These include: The Menzies Era, Policy Making In Volatile Times, Corruption and Reform: The Fitzgerald Vision,and National Parks: Private Sector’s Role. During 2006 Royal Commissions and Public Inquiries in Australia, was released. Scott’s current research interests include best practice advice to ministers.  Scott gained his doctorate from Griffith University (School of Politics and Public Policy) in 2004.

Mr. Tony Charters, Director - Tony Charters & Associates.
Session Theme: Convenor's Welcome.

Tony Charters originally trained as an environmental scientist. He went on to specialise in protected area planning (at Masters’ level) and protected area planning management, specialising in nature-based recreation and World Heritage Area Management. For the past 15 years Tony has been closely involved with leading edge projects that have pushed the boundaries of protected area management and tourism – with outstanding results. Tony has many years experience in natural resource and tourism planning and management in both the public and private sectors.  In particular, he has a background in nature-based recreation and ecotourism developments. Tony was Director of the Brisbane Forest Park Authority - Australia’s first integrated nature-based recreation authority. He was Secretary of the Queensland Recreation Areas Management Board and also the start-up Executive Director of the Wet Tropics Management Authority. Tony left the public sector in 1991 to take up the position of Director of Environmental Management for Kingfisher Bay Resort and Village on Fraser Island for 5 years to 1995. From 1995, Tony was Managing Director of Ecotourism Management Australia, an ecotourism consultancy company specialising in the development planning, feasibility assessment and marketing of ecotourism enterprises. Tony rejoined the public sector in 1997 to take up the position of Director, Environmental Tourism, and from 1999 to 2004, Executive Director of Policy, Planning and Development with Tourism Queensland.  Through his considerable experience across protected area management and tourism – within both the public and private sectors, Tony has specialist knowledge in facilitating and developing ecotourism projects within icon sites.d developing ecotourism projects within icon sites.

Senator Andrew Bartlett, Chair, Environment Communications, IT & the Arts References Committee.
Session Theme: Inquiry into Australia's national parks conservation, reserves and marine Protected areas

Senator Andrew Bartlett has represented the people of Queensland in the Australian Parliament since 1997.  He provides a strong independent voice in the Senate, underpinned by the principles of honesty, tolerance and compassion.  Andrew is a member of organisations such as Greenpeace, Australian Conservation Foundation, Amnesty International.  In 1990, Andrew joined the staff of Cheryl Kernot following her election to the Senate in July that year. Three years later he joined the staff of Democrats' Senator John Woodley as an adviser and researcher after Senator Woodley's election in 1993.   He was Secretary of the Queensland Division of the Australian Democrats from 1990 to 1993. He was a Democrat candidate in the 1991 Brisbane City Council election, for the state seat of South Brisbane at the 1992 Queensland election, and for the seat of Brisbane for the 1996 federal election.   Prior to becoming a Senator, Andrew was a member of the Democrats' National Executive as editor of the party's national journal. He was also convener of the committee that formulates and reviews the party's rules and regulations. He was the Democrats' Queensland Campaign Director for the 1993 and 1996 federal elections and Federal Campaign Director in 1998 - all successful campaigns for the Party.  When Kernot resigned in 1997, Andrew, who had been pre-selected by the party's members as next in line on the Senate ticket, was appointed as a Senator for Queensland.  He went on to win the seat in his own right at the 2001 Federal election. After the resignation of then Party Leader, Natasha Stott Despoja, in 2002, Andrew was elected to the Democrats Party Leadership.  At the 2004 election there was a swing to conservative parties and a substantial drop in the Democrat vote. Three sitting Democrat senators were not returned, leaving four Democrat senators in the Parliament from July 2005.   After the election Andrew decided not to nominate for the leadership, so he could focus more on Queensland. This allowed Senator Lyn Allison to be elected unopposed by the party members. Senator Bartlett was elected Deputy Leader unopposed.

Mr Athicus Fleming, Chief Executive, Australian Wildlife Conservancy
Session Theme: New Challenges, New Partners: who are the new players in Parks and Protected Areas Management and what role could they play?

Atticus Fleming is the inaugural Chief Executive of Australian Wildlife Conservancy.  AWC now owns and manages 14 properties around Australia, covering more than 900,000 hectares and protecting more than 250 threatened species in the wild.  Prior to joining AWC in 2002, Atticus served as a policy advisor on the personal staff of Australia's longest serving Federal Minister for the Environment, Senator the Hon Robert Hill.  As advisor to the Federal Environment Minister, Atticus played a major role in the development of Australia's first national biodiversity law, described by some environment groups as "the biggest legislative win for the environment in 25 years". He also advised on a range of other matters including endangered species, world heritage, fisheries management, wildlife trade and climate change. Prior to working for Senator Hill, Atticus was a constitutional lawyer with the Attorney-General's Department in Canberra and a corporate lawyer with Mallesons Stephen Jaques in Sydney. In his spare time, Atticus has explored some of the world's great wildlife havens including the lowland rainforests of the Congo, the mountains of Madagascar and the deserts of Namibia.

Prof Ken Wiltshire, JD Story Professor of Public Administration, University of Queensland.
Session Theme: New Paradigms for Governance Integrating Partnerships into protected area management model.

Professor Kenneth Wiltshire AO has just completed a six year term as Australia's Representative on the Executive Board of Unesco and 14 years as Chairman of the Australian National Commission for Unesco. He is a former Chair of the Australian Heritage Commission and the Wet Tropics Management Authority. He is J.D.Story Professor of Public Administration at the University of Queensland Business School, and an Honorary Trustee of CEDA the Committeee for Economic Development of Australia. Professor Wiltshire serves as a member of the National Environmental Education Council to the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment. He is a National Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia and in 1998 was awarded the Order of Australia for services to policy making, public administration, and Unesco.

Mr Warren Nicholls, Environmental Consultant
Session Theme: Keeping Partnerships Green: conservation sector perspective.

Warren Nicholls worked in the Federal Government’s Environment department for over 25 years before leaving to work as an environmental consultant.  Within Government, his primary responsibilities related to Australia’s heritage, working for over 12 years with the Australian Heritage Commission and many years on World Heritage.  Since leaving the department, Warren has worked as a consultant to the Federal Government, State Governments, Unesco, IUCN and the ACF.  This work has been within Australia, but also in South Africa, South America and Asia.  The primary focus of this work has been on identification and evaluation of natural environment values and the management of natural resources.  Warren is a member of ACF Council and Executive as well as a past Vice President.

Mr Andrew Skeat, Executive Director, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
Session Theme: Optimising the Contributions of Partnerships to Park Management.

Andrew Skeat is an Executive Director with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority with responsibilities including Water Quality and Coastal Development, Tourism, Education and Science.  Andrew has more than 25 years experience developing conservation policy and managing protected areas.  He has been with the Authority since 1998 and previously held positions as a Regional Manager of National Parks in Queensland, Superintendent of Kakadu National Park and as a biologist.   He is a member of a small team of senior Australian and Queensland Government officials which developed the Great Barrier Reef Water Quality Protection Plan.  The plan aims to halt and reverse the decline in the quality of water entering the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon within 10 years.  A current key task is managing the interaction between the Authority and the tourism industry.  A new approach has been forged based on partnerships and cooperation, with recognition of industry contribution to management and reward for high standard operators.

Prof Jon Altman, Director - Economic Centre for Aboriginal Policy Research, Australian National University
Session Theme: Indigenous Communities: owners as partners - a policy perspective.

Mr Duncan MacKenzie, Chairman - Birds Australia Gluepot Reserve.
Session Theme: Tourism Partnerships in Parks and Protected Areas.

Duncan MacKenzie is a Board member of Ecotourism Australia. He is the Executive Director of the Nature Foundation SA, Deputy Chairman of the South Australian Tourism Accreditation Board, Chairman of Birds Australia Gluepot Reserve, and until recently, Chairman of the million hectare Riverland Biosphere Reserve.  Duncan works closely with the SA Tourism Commission (SATC) on the development of long-term strategies for nature based tourism and ecotourism in South Australia. He is a strong advocate of Eco Certification and has mentored a number of tourism enterprises through this process. He believes that the formulation of partnerships is the keystone to success in protected area management. Recent ‘partnership projects’ that Duncan has spearheaded include the development of an ‘Australian Sea Lion Research Trust’ with SATC and DEH and the purchase of Boolcoomatta Station in the north of SA, in partnership with the National Reserve System and the Australian Bush Heritage Fund.  Duncan has been the driving force behind the development of an “Ecotourism Strategy for the Riverland’ and helped develop Australia’s first TAFE Ecotourism Course that takes student through to diploma level.  He has been a senior manager with the Ford Motor Company, Alcoa of Australia and Tubemakers of Australia and was the Managing Director of Bell & Howell, an international technology company. Prior to holding these positions, he was a biological scientist working in Antarctica and Australia. He is the author of over 300 papers, articles and books.

Mr Bruce Leaver, First Assistant Secretary, Parks Australia Div, Dept of Environment, ACT.
Session Theme: Partnering Local, State & Commonwealth dimensions.

Bruce Leaver is First Assistant Secretary of the Parks Division within the Commonwealth Department of the Environment and Heritage. 
Bruce was a former Director of the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service and a Regional Director with the NSW NPWS.  He was the former Commissioner of Public Land Use in Tasmania and a former Executive Director of the Australian Heritage Commission. 

Ms Lois Peeler, Chairperson, Aboriginal Tourism Australia.
Session Theme: Indigenous Communities: owners as partners.

Lois Peeler is an Aboriginal woman from the Yorta Yorta tribe. She has extensive experience in the Aboriginal Affairs arena having worked at the community, corporate and public sector levels. This experience includes all facets of Aboriginal community development including government, policy development, program implementation, project management, employment and education.

Lois worked for sixteen years at the senior level of Federal and State Governments in the Aboriginal Affairs arena and has continually worked at the Aboriginal community level for over twenty years.  Lois was an elected official of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission for four consecutive terms with two consecutive terms as Chairperson of the Binjirru Regional Council.  She completed a four year term as a Director of the Board of the Indigenous Land Corporation and a Director of Land Enterprise Australia. 

Lois has had a lifetime of involvement in Aboriginal community development. Her experience has focussed on strategic change characterised by a changing environment, competing priorities and political sensitivity. Her experience includes introduction of strategic change in the management and operation of Aboriginal community organisations and community capacity building. Lois’ recognition of the fundamental need to work cooperatively across sectors has contributed to her special interest in Cross Cultural Education, she designs and presents Aboriginal Cultural Awareness programs for the corporate and education sectors. Lois is a certified Level IV Workplace Assessor and Trainer. 

Lois has worked in the tourism industry for more than a decade and is currently involved in all aspects of the Aboriginal tourism industry. She was  awarded a Centenary Medal for her work in Indigenous tourism.

In her capacity as Chairperson of Aboriginal Tourism Australia, Lois was a member of the Indigenous Advisory Committee to SOCOG and is involved in a number of tourism industry boards and committees, including the Australian Regional Tourism Network, the Indigenous Tourism Leadership Group, the Environment Australia, National Tourism and Heritage Task Force for the Environment Protection and Heritage Ministers Council. Lois was recently appointed to the Board of Parks Victoria.

Mr Tim Nevard, President, Wildlife Conservancy of Tropical Queensland.
Session Theme: Public & Private Protected Area Managers: partnering for collective outcomes.

Tim Nevard has been applying his skills to sustainable business development and conservation for over 20 years.  Having founded Europe’s largest independent environmental consultancy, the RPS Group Plc and established urban development studies at James Cook University, Tim is now a principal environmental scientist with consulting firm GHD (www.ghd.com.au) and Senior Research Fellow at Charles Darwin University; as well as holding directorships of a number of other commercial companies and charitable trusts.  He conceived the Mareeba Tropical Savanna and Wetland Reserve in 1995 (www.mareebawetlands.com), recently becoming the President of a new regional conservation NGO coalition, the Wildlife Conservancy of Tropical Queensland (www.wildlifequeensland.com.au).  He was awarded the Order of Australia and Prime Minister’s Centenary Medals for his services to nature conservation.

Dr Bill Carter, Natural & Rural Systems Management, Gatton Campus, University of Queensland
Session Theme: Plenary Workshop - Developing the Agenda.

R.W (Bill) Carter is the academic advisor for environmental tourism at the University of Queensland.  Before entering academia, Bill worked in Queensland parks, notably Brisbane Forest Park, before consulting in the areas of tourism and conservation planning and management throughout the Asia Pacific region.  Bill’s research focus continues to have an environmental perspective, especially in the related area of cultural tourism.  He has recently firmly re-established his park links with major involvement in NSW and Victoria’s assessment of management for state of the parks reporting.  This work has expanded with an ARC Linkage Grant to consider how management effectiveness information can influence adaptation of management practice.  In the tourism area he is working with the MacArthur Foundation funded project in Marovo Lagoon, Solomon Islands.

Prof Meredith Edwards AM, ARC Project Team, University of Canberra.
Session Theme: Governance & Partnerships.

Professor Edwards is an economist with a PhD from the Australian National University.  Through her career, Professor Edwards has been a lecturer, researcher and policy analyst.  Professor Edwards worked in the Commonwealth Public Service from 1983 until 1997 in many departments advising on some major social policy, education and labour market issues. She became Deputy Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in 1993 and held that position until 1997. Professor Edwards served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Canberra from August 1997, when she also became Professor, until August 2002.  She set up the National Institute for Governance in 1999 and was appointed its Director in that year, stepping down from this position in December 2004.   In 2001 she published a book “Social Policy, Public Policy:  From Problem to Practice” based on case studies she was involved in during her career in the Commonwealth Public Service.  In 2002 she was commissioned by the New Zealand government to undertake a review of Tertiary Education Governance, the report on which was published in May 2003.  Her current major research interests are:  a major ARC project on issues relating to the governance of public sector boards; university governance on which she is engaged in a comparative country study; and community engagement issues.  Professor Edwards was a member of the Wran Committee on Higher Education Funding (1988-1989).  She was also a member of the Australian Statistics Advisory Council (1988-90 and 1994-2001).  She is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management (FAIM), and was President of the Economic Society of Australia and New Zealand (ACT Branch) from 1994-1996.  Professor Edwards was awarded the Order of Australia (AM) in 1992 for services to education and welfare.