Before his appointment, Ambassador Bleich had a distinguished legal career in the USA.

Mr. Bleich received his B.A. from Amherst College, his Masters in Public Policy
from Harvard University, and his law degree from the University of California at
Berkeley School of Law. He received his certificate in Public International Law
from the Hague Academy in 1993.

Ian Thomas was named President of Boeing Australia and South Pacific in March 2009. As the senior Boeing executive in the region, he is responsible for coordinating all Boeing activities and leads the Company’s government affairs efforts. Previously, Thomas was president of Boeing India.

Thomas has also served as vice president, Europe, for Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems.

From 2002 to 2005, Thomas served as vice president, Business Development, leading Boeing’s defence activities in the United Kingdom. Previously, he served as director of International Policy for Boeing’s Military Aircraft and Missile Systems division in St. Louis.

Charles has over 20 years experience in Australian and international business.

He has qualifications in economics and accounting and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a former member of the Australian Federal Parliament.

Jeremy Canham is the Regional Manager of Australia Pacific for Caterpillar. This portfolio includes the CAT Power, Resources & Construction businesses as well as the administration and management of the Dealer relationships.

He is also a Director of Caterpillar of Australia Pty Ltd, Caterpillar Financial Australia &
New Zealand, Perkins Engines America Inc. and JV Atlas Heavy Engineering Pty Ltd.

He has held a variety of management positions in Caterpillar & subsidiary Perkins with over 30 years of experience in Engineering, Operations, Marketing & Product Support. He has visited & conducted business in over 100 countries and has lived in the UK, USA, Switzerland, Singapore and Australia.

His background focuses on Marketing & Strategy, Brand & Distribution Development, Strategic Alignment & Performance.

Tony is a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers Mergers & Acquisitions/International Tax Services Group in Sydney and has been with PwC since 1978. He was admitted as a partner of the Taxation Division in 1986. Since 1988 he has been a Lead Partner of Australian Tax, Mergers & Acquisitions and International Group. He is currently a member of the firm’s Board of Partners.

Tony advises many Australian multinationals on their international business transactions. He is regularly included as an adviser on the largest transactions in Australia each year. Tony has been nominated by the International Tax Review as one of Australia’s leading tax advisers for many years.

He holds a Bachelor of Economics, Sydney University and was awarded the T.J. McGoffin Prize for Taxation Law. Tony is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and a Fellow of the Taxation Institute of Australia and a Member of the International Fiscal Association.

Harold is a Tax Partner in the Perth office of Deloitte and leads Deloitte’s Asia Pacific and Australian oil and gas tax team. Harold has over 27 years tax consulting experience, specialising in corporate and international tax.

Harold has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia and is an Affiliate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and a Member of the Tax Institute of Australia.

Mr. Richard is a practicing lawyer in both Australia and the USA, and is founder and Chief Executive Officer of the boutique advisory firm jdrlegal Pty Ltd, with 5 offices around the world.

Mr. Richard has specialist knowledge and expertise in the commercialization of intellectual property across borders, in particular between Australia and the USA.

Mr. Richard is also on the board of Australian New Zealand Technology Conference (ANZATEC) based in Silicon Valley, California.

Steve Sargent is President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Australia and New Zealand. He is responsible for all GE operations across energy, water, oil and gas, transportation, healthcare and financial services in the region. Australia and NZ is one of GE’s largest and fastest growing global markets.

Since joining GE Capital in 1993 in New York, Steve has held several global leadership positions spanning the US, Europe and Asia. In 1999 he became Chief Quality Officer for GE Capital globally and then President and CEO for GE Commercial Finance, Europe. He returned to his home town of Sydney, Australia in 2003 to lead GE Capital Australia & New Zealand becoming President and CEO GE Capital Asia Pacific in 2009.

In 2008, Steve was appointed a Vice President and Officer of the General Electric Company, a post held by only 190 senior executives of the global organisation. He is the first Australian to be appointed to this position.

A well-known Adelaide-based marketer, Ron operates his own strategic marketing consultancy specialising in branding, marketing communications and strategic marketing planning.

He also lectures in marketing in the MBA programs of the International Graduate School of Business at the University of SA and the Le Cordon Bleu School and is a Chair with TEC (The Executive Connection).

Ron was previously Executive Manager, Marketing with Adelaide City Council, Chief Executive of the Australian Institute of Management (SA) and Marketing Manager with ETSA Power.