Chair

Mr Sean Edwards, Chair

Following a successful business career building up and leading private and public property and wine companies, Sean Edwards was elected at the 2010 federal election as a Senator to the Australian Parliament. Representing South Australia as a member of the Australian Senate until 2016, he worked extensively in the Economics, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and Rural Affairs and Transport Standing Committees, Chairing the Standing Committee of Economics between 2014 and 2016. As a Senator, he made a major contribution to the policy debate on Australia’s energy future, including a widely published submission to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission (2016). His prominent public advocacy during this time for the maintenance of a potent naval shipbuilding capacity continues to be lauded as a turning point, arresting the decline of federal government budget focus on Armed Forces spending in maintaining sovereign capacity.

Since then, as Chairman of Enterprise Corporation, corporate advisory specialists based in Adelaide, Sean heads a team that is focused on delivering concentrated guidance to clients in the areas of Government Policy, Business Strategy, Capital Raising, and Mergers and Acquisitions for a range of clients across various sectors, including technology, the space industry, defence related business, tourism, fishing and agriculture. More recently, Sean has worked with numerous established and start-up businesses in Australia to help them achieve local and international expansion and revenue growth.

directors

Dr Rod Lukatelich

Rod Lukatelich’s career has spanned academia, environmental consulting and industrial environmental management. As a lecturer/research officer (1982–89) at the Centre for Water Research at the University of Western Australia his research included studies on the impacts of eutrophication on algae and seagrasses in lakes and estuaries; development of ecological models; and the relationships between hydrodynamics and water quality in reservoirs, rivers and estuaries. In 1989 Rod joined Kinhill Engineers as Senior Aquatic Ecologist and in 1990 joined BP Refinery Kwinana as Environmental Manager. In various roles at BP he led a team of environmental engineers and was responsible for environmental management systems, monitoring and reporting emissions, wastewater treatment, environmental impact assessment for major projects, solid waste management, groundwater production, soil and groundwater remediation, dangerous goods management, and Major Hazardous Facility Safety Reports. He has also supported BP’s global refining businesses as a Senior Environmental Technologist (1995–97) and as Water Technology Advisor (2004–06) in the areas of contaminated site assessment and remediation, and wastewater treatment, respectively.

Rod has broad experience in regulatory systems, having completed major contaminated site remediation projects in Asia, Europe, the Americas and the Middle East. He retired from BP in 2014 and now works part time as an environmental consultant. He has published more than 50 refereed papers and book chapters in environmental science. He has been a director of CRC CARE since its inception and director of Perth Racing since 2017. He is a member of CSIRO’s Oceans and Atmosphere Strategic Advisory Committee. He chaired the Great Australian Bight Research Program Management Committee and was a member of the Environmental Protection Authority of WA (2009–14). Rod was appointed to the Northern Territory Environmental Protection Authority in January 2019.

Professor Alan Broadfoot

Director of Research

Professor Alan Broadfoot is the Executive Director of the Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources (NIER) at the University of Newcastle, a position he has held since 2010. At NIER, Alan leads an ambitious agenda linking industry and academia for transformational research in energy and resources. Alan holds a Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Engineering and Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (Honours) from the University of Newcastle. An Electrical Engineer in various roles from 1985, Alan joined electrical design and manufacturing company Ampcontrol in 1991 and held senior management positions, including Managing Director and CEO from 2005 to 2010. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia and was Chair of the Australian Industry Group Hunter Manufacturing Council from 2004 to 2009. He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of The Royal Society of NSW, and Director of the NSW Energy and Resources Knowledge Hub.

Ms Eliza Yuen

Profile to come.

company secretary

Cathy Cooper

Cathy Cooper has significant experience as a company secretary, having held a number of positions in both private entities and publicly listed companies. These roles have provided Cathy with extensive skills in both corporate governance and procedural matters. Incorporating her legal and business background, Cathy has strong expertise in areas including strategic planning, project management, business re- engineering and change management.

Cathy has a strong executive management background (with companies such as Elders LTD, Futuris Corporation, and Fosters Brewing Group) and has expertise in the specialist areas including IT, telecommunications, corporate services and contracts, banking and audit functions and all aspects of corporate governance. Cathy has enjoyed great recognition as an industry leader and to this end she was a finalist in both the 1997 and 1998 Telstra Business Womens Awards.

Cathy is able to share her executive level experience across a broad industry base. She is a highly successful executive who has particular insight into achieving work/life balance. Her board level experience also demonstrates her ability in the areas of people management, negotiation and strategic visioning.