Speakers

Warwick Squire is an experienced executive specialising in change leadership, policy development, and operational efficiencies with more than 20 years in the government sector. He has extensive expertise in cultivating productive relationships, particularly throughout rural and regional communities in Queensland.

Warwick currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Coexistence Queensland, a role in which he leads and works collaboratively with landholders, communities, agricultural, energy and resource companies, peak bodies, and all levels of government to achieve positive coexistence outcomes.

His authentic leadership ensures team engagement and aligned focus within teams and across departments, driving change and delivering innovative projects in complex environments.

Warwick has built a reputation for taking on challenging roles and leading teams to deliver exceptional results.

Glenn Stockton AM became CEO on 3 August 2020. He has vast experience in leadership and successfully managing complex infrastructure projects. Glenn focuses on building strong relationships to achieve project goals.

He values the link between design, performance, and maintenance for optimal asset performance and returns. An advocate of safety, governance, accountability, and customer-focused outcomes, he actively works on enhancing business resilience and leadership capacity.

Previously, Glenn was General Manager Operations at Pacific Partnerships, Director and Board Chairman of Pulse Partnerships Consortium for Cross River Rail, CEO of ACT Light Rail, and served as a Colonel in the Royal Australian Engineers.s

Glenn is a Member of the Order of Australia, an Australian Institute of Company Directors graduate, and holds an MBA from the Universities of Southern Queensland and Canberra.

BE(Mech), MBA, HFIEAust, FAusIMM, MAICD

Nev is the Owner of Bushy Park Station, a family ran cattle station.

Nev is also the Non-Executive Chair of Future Battery Minerals, Director and Deputy Chair of Strike Energy Limited and he is also a Non-Executive and Lead Independent Director of employment services provider APM Human Services International Ltd.

With more than four decades of experience in mining, minerals processing, construction and steel making, Nev has accumulated a wide range of skills and knowledge across multiple sectors of the commercial and Not for Profit global business landscape.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nev was appointed by the Prime Minister to lead an expert advisory board, the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission (NCCC).  The Commission had two key roles: to help minimise and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 on jobs and businesses, and to facilitate the fastest possible recovery of the Australian economy and communities.

From 2011 to 2018, Nev was Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd, one of the world’s largest, lowest cost producers of iron ore. During his time Fortescue more than quadrupled its production to over 170 million tonnes per annum and positioned itself as the lowest cost supplier of seaborne iron ore to China.

Before joining Fortescue, he held Chief Executive positions at Thiess and the Smorgon Steel Group.

Nev also has an extensive background in agribusiness and aviation, holding both fixed wing and helicopter commercial pilot licenses.

Highly regarded industry leader, Janette Hewson, is the Chief Executive Officer of the Queensland Resources Council.

Janette is a born and bred Queenslander with more than 25 years’ experience in resources at a senior executive level.

Her past positions include Executive Vice President, Environment, Sustainability & Governance at Santos and senior positions with global resources companies South 32 and Peabody Energy.

Janette has served on the Climate Advisory Panel for the Minerals Council of Australia, and the Boards of the Queensland Resources Council, NSW Minerals Council and Low Emissions Technology Australia. She has a Bachelor of Laws degree from Queensland University of Technology, a Bachelor of Arts (Modern Asian Studies with a major in Japanese language) from Griffith University and is a former winner of Queensland’s Exceptional Woman in Resources award.

Janette is married to Scott and they have two sons and a daughter.

Brad has worked in the construction and mining industries for over 25 years with roles in project delivery, operational and customer account management throughout Queensland and the Northern Territory. Brads connection with the North West started in 2010 when he moved to Mount Isa as the Area Manager for Hasting Deering a role he held for 4 yrs before relocating back to Townsville but continued to work in the North West for key mining and government clients where his focus shifted to Construction projects with Fulton Hogan mainly based around road, airport and rail assets.

Joining GHD in 2023 as the Market Leader – Transport for Northern Australia, Brad continues to focus on front end enabling infrastructure and planning within the region aligned to the region's development and economic growth.

Ross is Founder and Managing Director of Impact250, which builds partnerships with traditional owners, establishes and operates business opportunities, creating positive impact for traditional owner groups.

He also has a depth of practical experience in mine repurposing/rehabilitation through the full mining lifecycle.

These activities are built on his strong working relationships with industry, Government and other stakeholders. The successful partnering with first nations Australians in post mining solutions has developed a deep understanding of the issue, and fires a passion to implement innovative post mining land use solutions.

Ross is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and completed a Master of Environmental Management.

Professor Rick Valenta is Director of the Sustainable Minerals Institute and UQ lead for the Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Trailblazer. He has been with the Sustainable Minerals Institute for 8 years, following a career of 25 years in the mining industry. He has held leadership roles in major research initiatives across Queensland’s Northwest Mineral Province, including the Strategic Resources Exploration Program, New Economy Minerals Initiative, and the Alliance for Critical Minerals and Circular Economy. He originated the Queensland Deposit Atlas program and co-founded a project that is developing a 3D Digital Twin of the state. Rick leads geoscience and exploration efforts that have supported new discoveries and regional development, and is co-leading a project scoping the possibility of establishing a Rare Earth and Critical Mineral Research Centre in Mount Isa to help drive economic prosperity in the region through innovative support of strategic and critical mineral development projects.

John Mavrogenes grew up in Chicago Illinois and majored in Geology at Beloit College (Wisconsin). He completed a PhD in Geochemistry at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1994 before moving to ANU for a three-year post-doctoral fellowship funded by Western Mining Corporation. Thirty years later he is still at ANU, researching and teaching ore deposit geology. He has supervised over 50 honours and 25 PhD students over these years covering a range of ore deposit types and experimental simulations of ore forming processes. For the past decade he has focused on the study of Australian rare earth deposits, including hosting the first two national conferences on rare earth deposits at ANU (REECON). LaRecently, he received the Joe Harms medal from and became a Fellow of the Geological Society of Australia for lifetime achievement in economic geology research.

Patricia (Trish) joined the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation as Director-General in November 2024. She has held significant senior executive positions over the past 15 years and has a passion for growing companies, communities and bettering the lives of people.

Trish has a wealth of experience in tourism, having previously served as CEO of Tourism and Events Queensland. Prior to this, she headed up Destination Gold Coast from February 2021 to December 2022; following nine years with Townsville Enterprise, first as General Manager for Tourism and Events before being promoted to CEO.

With extensive experience in strategy development, advocacy, corporate communications, government, stakeholder and media relations, and marketing, Trish has a proven record of working with communities to convert strategy into tangible outcomes.

Trish has previously been accepted into the Australian American Young Leadership Dialogue, was named 2018 BOSS Young Executive by the Australian Financial Review and was the recipient of the 2014 Australian Institute of Management – Young Manager of the Year Award for Queensland.

Allan Morton is an experienced consultant and company director / chair, having multiple advisory positions in private companies, non-profit and publicly listed organisations in Australia and New Zealand.

Holds degree in engineering (B.E. Mech 1st class Hons), business management (Operations Mgt), a graduate of Harvard Business School (PMD - Exec MBA) and company director (QAICD).

Has a career history and experience suited organisations that involve strategic business development (or restructure), particularly in manufacturing, mining, materials, logistics, IT, production and agri-business sectors.

Allan has been instrumental in building and refocusing cluster organisations to deliver shared value across all constituent groups. Typically, these include innovative SME Vendor companies, larger industry sector corporate entities, government agencies and industry related researchers / academics. He has a proven record of creating an efficient focused environment for bringing these different interests and cultures together to achieve enduring successful outcomes.

He is presently leading the transformation of an industry cluster, enviroMETS (Qld), an NGO associated on developing new value in post mining affected land and communities. The organisation has adopted new and more relevant goals for its stakeholder groups, whilst gaining the high value support of industry, government, and researchers.

It is presently progressing a strategy to establish itself, and Queensland as the go-to destination for innovative and sustainable post mining land use solutions for global markets. In time, enviroMETS will become self-sustaining.

Refer to LinkedIn Profile: http://au.linkedin.com/in/allanmorton/

Bronwyn is a distinguished leader in the global resources industry with nearly 30 years of experience across exploration and mining. She has worked extensively in Africa, especially West Africa, and held senior positions at BHP, Fortescue, and WMC. As President and CEO of Ivanhoe Atlantic since 2022, she leads projects under Robert Friedland’s Ivanhoe Group, including Ivanhoe Liberia. Bronwyn chairs ASX-listed Indiana Resources and Finder Energy, while maintaining close ties with investment agencies and governments to support infrastructure development. Her diverse board experience spans sectors including fishing, education, Indigenous affairs, and community development. She has served as Managing Director, Chair, and shareholder across multiple ASX entities. In 2019, she was inducted into the WA Women’s Hall of Fame, recognising her outstanding leadership and business impact. With deep governance expertise and a passion for sustainable growth, Bronwyn continues to influence the global mining sector through strategic development and transformative partnerships.

Gareth advises businesses on the economic and operational advantages of energy efficiency, on-site process heat, power generation and innovative industrial infrastructure. For our advanced process modelling of industrial and clean tech systems (or “Digital Twining”), the All Energy Pty Ltd team were a Telstra Business Awards QLD 2024 finalist for Sustainability. Providing strategic energy, emissions and sustainability advice to the private and public sectors, Gareth provides clarity on complex technical problems. All Energy Pty Ltd was part of the team that won the Australasian Industrial Project - Institute of Chemical Engineers for a circular economy multi-fuel biomass boiler that utilised a range of agri-residues to off-set fossil fuel usage at a food manufacturing facility.  Gareth is a registered greenhouse and energy auditor with the Clean Energy Regulator, a Registered Professional Engineer QLD (Chemical and Environmental Engineering), holds a BE(Chem) from UQ and a PhD (Engineering) from Cambridge University, UK.

Maria James is the CEO of MITEZ (Mt Isa to Townsville Economic Development Zone), a member-based regional development and advocacy group for the North West corridor.

Previous to this she spent more than a decade at Port of Townsville managing the trade and business development unit. Maria began her career as a graduate economist with the Commonwealth Department of Defence but then spent almost 20 years working in both the UK and USA in Further Education and International Rugby administration before settling in Townsville with her family.

A born and bred North Queenslander, Tully to be specific, Maria is passionate about Northern Australia and being part of its development. She sits on the RDA Townsville and North West Committee, Energy Queensland’s Customer and Community Council, the Athletics North Queensland Board and the CopperString Regional Reference Group.

Darren Cleland has over 30 years’ experience in industry and regional economic development, including 20 years in the private sector and more than 20 years in public service As Executive Regional Director - North with the Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, Darren oversees economic development initiatives from Gladstone up to the Torres Strait and west to Mount Isa. He and his team are focused on a broad range of projects encompassing the department’s priority sectors of defence, biofuels and biomedical as well as whole of government priority industries which include mining, agriculture and tourism. In 2024, he was awarded a Public Service Medal for his outstanding public service to regional and rural communities in Queensland. Darren has a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Queensland and leverages his expertise in financial and economic modelling and his understanding of business trends to drive regional investment and development.