THU 04 APRIL 2013
Prime Minister, Canberra
The Australian Government is pleased to announce it has appointed an additional three senior figures with extensive experience in Asia to the Strategic Advisory Board on Australia in the Asian Century.
Mr Hamish Tyrwhitt, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Leighton Holdings, Professor Margaret Gardner AO, Vice-Chancellor of RMIT, and Ms Rebecca Dee-Bradbury, President, Developed Markets, Asia Pacific of Kraft Foods, will advise the Government on how to best meet the challenges of implementing its Asian Century policies.
The economic rise of Asia is the defining development of the 21st Century.
The White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century, released in October 2012, sets ambitious goals for Australia to meet by 2025 and provides policy directions to help the country make the most of the tremendous array of opportunities arising from the region’s rapid growth.
Implementation of the policies flowing from the White Paper continues, with several initiatives in business, education, security and trade already announced or under way.
The Government today is publishing its Implementation Plan, which sets out White Paper measures already taken, action envisaged over the next 12 months and further policies that need development.
The appointment of the new advisory board members will help keep governments, business and the wider Australian community focused on the opportunities presented by the transformation of Asia.
Mr Tyrwhitt, who has extensive experience in Asia, will chair the board. Prior to becoming Executive Director and CEO of Leighton Holdings, he was Managing Director of Leighton Asia Limited and Leighton Contractors (Asia) Limited. Of the myriad projects and operations of Leighton in Asia, a trades school set up in India to train local recruits to basic Australian qualifications merited special mention in the White Paper.
Professor Gardner has been Vice-Chancellor of RMIT University since 2005, having previously held senior positions at Deakin University, Griffith University and the Queensland University of Technology. Professor Gardner also chairs RMIT Vietnam Holdings Pty Ltd, which established RMIT University Vietnam in 2000 on the invitation of the Government of Vietnam. It is that country’s first international campus.
As President, Developed Markets, Asia Pacific of Kraft Foods, Ms Dee-Bradbury leads an organisation with about 3,650 staff in Australia and New Zealand. Before joining Kraft, she held a number of senior positions, including CEO for the Asia-Pacific Region of Maxxium, a global spirits and wine distributor. In 2012, Ms Dee-Bradbury represented industry on the Prime Minister’s Taskforce on Manufacturing. She will again provide a strong industry voice, in particular on behalf of agricultural and food processing businesses.
Mr Tyrwhitt, Professor Gardner and Ms Dee-Bradbury will join those members of the board who advised the Government on the White Paper’s development. They are former Treasury Secretary Dr Ken Henry AC, Emeritus Professor Peter Drysdale AM from the ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy, Partner and CEO of Corrs Chambers Westgarth Lawyers Mr John Denton and Telstra Chairman Ms Catherine Livingstone AO.
Ex-officio board members include the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Dr Ian Watt AO, Secretary to the Treasury Dr Martin Parkinson PSM and Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Mr Peter Varghese AO.
The Implementation Progress Report, which also addresses the governance, monitoring, reporting and evaluation arrangements established to implement White Paper policy, is available at www.asiancentury.dpmc.gov.au.
