Former NSW Premier, and a respected leader across business, sporting and cultural organisations, The Hon. Nick Greiner AC discussed his priorities as Australia’s incoming Consul-General to New York. In partnership with DFAT NSW, the roundtable provided an opportunity to reflect on the bilateral opportunities between Australia and the USA.
Yasmin Allen, Chair of Advance.org, opened the Advance Connect Roundtable noting it was the first in-person event for most guests since January 2020. Recognising the death of James Wolfensohn KBE AO — Australia’s pre-eminent global leader across international development, politics, philanthropy, finance and the arts. Yasmin noted the critical importance of Australia’s diaspora in a world facing de-globalisation pressures.
Lively discussion
Eager to hear the perspective of the roundtable participants, Nick Greiner sought input on key opportunities for Australia to pursue across the Consulate’s territory of northeastern USA. Topics raised included:
- Matchmaking to build robust supply chains and enabling Australian firms to export globally in industries of the future
- Building institutional relationships with universities to access translational research and collaboration opportunities
- Attracting R&D operations, talent and businesses to be located in Australia
- Identifying opportunities under a Biden administration, including infrastructure spending and environmental initiatives
- Navigating Australian interests in China as US-China relations evolve.
A cross section of leaders
The roundtable conversation, generously hosted by Co-Head Investment Banking and Capital Markets, James Disney and the team at Credit Suisse, included Trudy Witbreuk, DFAT State Director NSW; Ken Allen AM, Advance Founder and Chairman Emeritus; Andrew Liveris AO, global Chairman and Advisor to Presidents Obama and Trump and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison; Robyn Denholm, Chair of Tesla; and the winner of the 2020 Emerging Leader Advance Award, Dr Susan Graham.
We were also joined by Myra Salkinder, CEO Australia of the Abacus Property Group; Michael Cannon-Brookes, Board Member of the Garvan Research Foundation; John Williamson-Noble, Partner at Gilbert + Tobin; Ani Satchcroft, Senior Managing Director at Macquarie Group; Catherine West, Non-Executive Director at Nine Entertainment; Geoff Brundson, Non-Executive Director at Sims Metal and David Bluff, Managing Director at The Carlyle Group.
Further information
- The remarkable life of pre-eminent Australian, James Wolfensohn > More / More
- Australia’s National Manufacturing Priorities > More
- The Global Digital Town Hall on Building Resiliency and Seizing Opportunities in Advanced Manufacturing > More
- The Advance Connect Roundtable with Andrew Liveris AO > More
