July 2022 Newsletter

Growing SEQ: First Nations leadership

The Committee’s next major event, on Thursday 28 July, will be a panel to explore First Nations enterprises, opportunities for economic investment and jobs growth in SEQ.

With the support of the Committee’s First Nations Advisory Group, “Growing SEQ: First Nations leadership in enterprise and opportunity” will be a panel of five successful business people who will talk about economic investments/opportunities and identify barriers to success:

• Cassie Lang, Founder and Principal Solicitor, Parallax Legal
• Adam Williams, CEO, SupplyAus
• Karen Seage, Franchise Owner, Snap Underwood
• Jack Reis, Co-founder and Owner, Baidam Solutions
• Shannon Ruska, Managing Director, Tribal Experiences
• MC/facilitator: Cameron Costello, Deputy Chair, Qld Tourism Industry Council

Tickets are on sale here

Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!

The Committee for Brisbane had a lively table at this year’s NAIDOC breakfast hosted by the Queensland Tourism Industry Council (a CFB Affiliate).
We heard some strong and empowering messages from keynote speakers, the Hon Linda Burney MP, Minister for Indigenous Australians, and Koori Mail General Manager Naomi Moran.

Our management team and some of our Management Committee Members were delighted to be joined by Erin McDonald, Principal, Design and Interiors, Blaklash Creative; and Beau Hodge, Chief Operations Officer at Baidam Solutions (whose Co-founder and Owner Jack Reis is a panelist at the Committee’s 28 July event).

A Wheelie big challenge

CEO Barton Green will take part in the inaugural CEO Wheelie Challenge at the end of July, organised by the Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association (a CFB Affiliate).

He accepted a challenge to spend a day in a wheelchair to raise funds for this important organisation and awareness of the challenges faced by many members of our community. Barton won’t be given a chair until he raises $5,000.

If you’d like to support this worthy cause, please donate here.

Agendas for the Sunshine State

We had a stellar panel for our mid-June event, “Industry Leaders: Agendas for the Sunshine State”, moderated by Melissa Downes from Nine News.

• Priscilla Radice, CEO, Infrastructure Association of Queensland
• Rebecca Andrews, State Head – Queensland, Ai Group
• Kirsty Chessher-Brown, CEO, Urban Development Institute of Australia – Queensland
• Stacey Rawlings, General Manager, Qld, Engineers Australia

Thanks to Maria Rampa from Aurecon (a CFB Corporate Leader) for this excellent summary of the discussion:

• Queensland is the only place in the world with hydro, wind, solar and hydrogen renewable energy capability, but to achieve a faster energy transition we need more collaboration, significant system changes, better planning, enabling infrastructure, clear policies and investment in critical minerals to exploit this unique opportunity.

• Australia’s record on ESG is comparatively good so should give us a competitive advantage on the global stage, despite our often higher cost base.

• To alleviate the labour shortage and supply chain issues in industries and professions such as manufacturing, engineering and construction, we need to tap into under-represented groups eg visa holders in Australia unable to work due to restrictions; potential migrants, women, Indigenous Australians, older workers. We also need to invest in entire industries, not individual businesses, via long-term funding strategies and not one-off grants.

• While industry needs to provide solutions to government, communities (ie voters) need to also continue to demand change.

Exploring a new sports economy for SEQ

The Committee is considering a research project to identify opportunities for sports “pairing” in south east Queensland – collaborations between the operators of quality sports and recreation facilities and those sporting groups with limited resources and/or without regular access to training/sporting facilities.

SEQ has a unique opportunity to position itself as a competitive hub for professional and recreational sports participation.

The 10-year runway to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, various sports-economy activities of the Queensland Government, and a high level of competency and interest from the corporate sector provide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to grow the region’s sports industry economy:

As part of its Brisbane 2033 Legacy Project, published in 2021, the Committee for Brisbane nominated a goal to develop the sports industry economy:

(By 2032) Having attracted athletes, coaches, teams and officials to our region for Olympics and Paralympics training and competition, our reputation as a regional hub for high performance, sports technology and recreational development has secured commitments from leading national sporting organisations to permanently locate their primary operations to south east Queensland.

This ambition was publicly supported by then-Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates AO who launched the legacy project in March 2021.

The Committee subsequently established a Sports Hubs and Centres of Excellence Sub-committee – comprising former elite athletes and senior sports administrators – who have nominated a number of opportunities to pursue.

The Sub-committee has identified that a new sports economy opportunity would benefit from more definitive knowledge of the level to which the community is served by sports and recreation facilities in the region, as well as identifying opportunities for “pairing” – collaborations between the operators of quality sports and recreation facilities and those sporting groups with limited resources and/or without regular access to training/sporting facilities.

The Committee is proposing to undertake a research project to:
• Identify/map areas within south east Queensland where significant sports and recreation investments exist
• Determine the optimum level of utilisation and engagement at those facilities (from both a financial and wellbeing perspective), and
• Assess the extent to which actual usage reflects the optimum (ie whether there is a “gap” in facility utility/activation)

Corporate Leader exclusive briefing: Westpac Senior Economist

The next event in the Committee’s exclusive Corporate Leader briefings series will be with Justin Smirk, Senior Economist from Westpac on 9 August.
The invitation-only event will hear from Justin who will discuss the state of the economy and forecasts for the year ahead.

Corporate Leader members interested in attending the briefing can contact the Committee: admin@committeeforbrisbane.org.au

New Members

The Committee has welcomed 11 new Members, one upgraded Member and three new Affiliates.

Corporate Member
• Aruga PR
• Cred Consulting
• QAGOMA
• Esri (upgrade from Enterprise Member)

Enterprise Member
• Taylor Cullity Lethlean

Associate
• Leah Lang
• Rukshana Sashankan
• Russell Steele
• Liam Mills-Bishop
• Jacqueline Armitstead
• Anita Kharbanda
• Luke Borg

Affiliate
• Office of the Queensland State Architect
• Queenslanders with Disability Network
• Brisbane International Film Festival