NT Major Projects 2013 | Confirmed & Invited Speakers

Terry Mills was born into a farming family in Geraldton, Western Australia.

His early working days were spent on the land in the small agricultural town of Mullewa before he moved to Perth in 1983 to study education.

As well as teaching in Western Australia, Mr Mills worked as an army officer training cadets, as an education consultant with Indonesian families and helped to develop an international language school.

It is this interest in cross cultural relations that saw Mr Mills travel to Indonesia where he spent time studying the language and working to establish education and sporting exchange programmes as well as supporting a small import business. He also worked for a time in a refugee camp on the Thai/Burma border.

In 1989 Mr Mills, his wife Roslyn and his two children Kristen and Matthew decided to pack their bags and move to Palmerston in the Northern Territory.

Mr Mills became the Principal of the first non-government school in the city, a position he proudly held for ten years. During this time Mr Mills also took on active roles within a number of sporting and community groups, his contribution to the community later recognised with Australia Day and Citizenship awards.

This experience strengthened Mr Mills’ conviction that the strength of a community is determined by the quality of its grassroots organisations which survive through the spirit of volunteerism.

It was this passion and absolute commitment to serving the community that saw Mr Mills enter politics.

After hearing Paul Keating's 1993 election victory speech over John Hewson, Mr Mills joined the Country Liberals Party.

He was first elected to Parliament in a by-election in 1999, winning the seat of Blain in Palmerston. He has held the seat in each subsequent election and is now one of the two longest serving members in the Northern Territory Parliament.

On 25 August 2012 Mr Mills was elected as the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory.

The Country Liberals swept to power after 11 years of a Labor Government, winning 16 seats to Labor’s 8. It was an historic victory by the Country Liberals Leader, forcing just the second change in Government in the Northern Territory’s history.

Mr Mills still lives in Palmerston with his wife Roslyn. He has recently become a proud grandfather to Alexander.

Ian Scrimgeour has a PhD in geology from the University of Adelaide, and has nearly twenty years experience in the Territory’s resource industry, both in industry and Government. After working in gold exploration and mining in the Tanami and Pine Creek areas, he joined  the Northern Territory Geological Survey in 1995 as a regional mapping geologist based in Alice Springs, where he mapped the geology of  remote areas west and southwest of Alice Springs.

From 2002, he managed the survey’s geoscience programs, before being appointed Director of NTGS in December 2006. In this role, Ian has responsibility for the delivery of the Territory Government’s 7 year, $25.8 million Bringing Forward Discovery exploration initiative.

Terry was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Darwin Port Corporation on 12 August 2011. Prior his appointment, Terry had been undertaking the duties of CEO in an acting capacity since April. Prior to his current appointment, he was the General Manager Landside Operations at DPC.

Prior to joining DPC Terry had roles with Defence Maritime Services as Logistics and Facilities Manager and with the Australian Government’s Department of Transport and Regional Services as Maritime Specialist with the Office of Transport Security.

Terry was with the Royal Australian Navy until Jan 2004. He served in a variety of roles at sea and ashore as a Seaman Officer and Communications Specialist. He was recognized for his work as the Deputy Harbour Master and Port Control Officer in Dili, East Timor with a commendation of distinguished service.

Terry has a Bachelor of Business in Maritime and Logistics Management from the Australian Maritime College and also holds post graduate qualifications in IT Management.

Mike started as Deputy Chief Executive, Capital Works and Remote Infrastructure Program Office, in 2012 where he coordinates, on behalf of government, the infrastructure/capital works projects in remote locations to meet Whole of Government objectives. 

Previously Mike spent four years with as General Manager of Construction Division and then Deputy Chief Executive of Department of Construction and Infrastructure before which he had established a career in senior executive management roles implementing and managing major projects with organisations including Coles Myer, Thakral Property Holdings, the City Of Sydney and Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority.

One of his key achievements was managing operations and logistics for the City Of Sydney during the 2000 Olympics. Before joining the NT Government, Mike developed a successful consulting business in the private and public sectors, providing a wide variety of services including corporate strategic planning, business planning, major project management, asset management, property management and construction program delivery.

Mr Devereaux joined Power and Water Corporation in January 2012. He has over 16 years of experience in the energy industry and another 15 years in banking and pharmacy wholesale.

He has been the Chief Financial Officer and General Manager of Networks at Aurora Energy as well as the Acting CEO of the Energy Networks Association.

He has managed many projects including the disaggregation of Tasmania’s Hydro-Electric Commission into Hydro Tasmania, Transend Networks and Aurora Energy.

Mr Devereaux’s key skills are in financial management with expertise in organisational transformation and culture change. As General Manager of Strategy and Corporate Affairs he is responsible for the
Corporation’s operations of strategy, planning, stakeholder management and policy.

Brian commenced in the Mining and Construction industry in Australia in 1974. Over the 37 years, he has gained experience in operations of gold, coal and iron ore mines, the construction of highways, major dams and building projects such as the current housing program SIHIP, in the NT.

Throughout the 1980’s and 90’s, Brian developed a passion for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In February 2000 while working as a Project Manager for Henry Walker Eltin, he was requested by Frazer Henry to assist in establishing an Indigenous contracting company.

In April 2001, Ngarda Civil and Mining was registered with Brian taking on the role as General Manager. In 9 years the company grew from six employees and a turnover of $500k to 400 employees and a $200M turnover. During this time he also developed and fostered relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups around Australia including South Australia, Northern Territory and North Queensland with a view to further economic development opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from these areas. Brian is currently Leighton Contractors’ Manager Northern Territory and Manager nationally for Aboriginal Business Development. Brian is also General Manager Business Development for Ngarda.

Brian is a member of Leighton Contractors Indigenous Business Steering Committee, formed to help guide the company’s work with respect to Indigenous investments and commercial relationships and to oversee Leighton’s Indigenous Participation and Engagement Strategy.

Brian is a career public servant with over 25 years experience in fostering infrastructure and industry development on behalf of various Federal and State Governments in Australia.

His diverse career has encompassed: operational experience as an air traffic controller, significant experience in managing economic research & analysis projects for the Australian Government, and facilitating major industrial investment into the Northern Territory of Australia.

In the late 1990's/early 2000 - Brian was part of a core Northern Territory Government team that helped bring the long-held AustralAsia Railway dream to reality.

Brian is currently the Executive Director of Major Projects, Asian Relations and Trade within the Chief Minister's Department of the Northern Territory Government.

He plays a lead role in securing major projects for the Territory (such as the Inpex Gas Project) as well as facilitating new trade growth.

Brian holds a Bachelor of Science from Monash University and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Transport & Logistics.

Steve Tatzenko (generally known as “Tats” throughout the Northern Territory and Australia) has over 32 years experience in the mining industry, with 30 years of this in the Northern Territory. He graduated from Queensland University with a Degree in Agricultural Science and has extensive experience in environmental science and civil engineering. He has worked in both the private and public sectors in virtually all aspects of the mining industry, including exploration, planning, development, project management, construction, operations, environment, regulation and rehabilitation.

Having held several senior positions in the government for the mining industry, Tats has been the Director of Mining Development for the Northern Territory Department of Mines and Energy for the last 7 years. He is the primary contact for both government and industry in relation to any and all aspects of mining developments in the Northern Territory. His key role is project facilitation and project development of new mining operations, reopening of old mines and any expansions of existing mines.

Ms Noske has held senior positions across the Northern Territory public sector since 1988, including Deputy Chief Executive Strategic Policy and Futures with Department of Education and Training and Executive Director Strategic Services in the Department of the Chief Minister.

Ms Noske joined the Department of Lands and Planning in early 2010 as the Executive Director Strategic Planning to oversee the planning for the new City of Weddell.

In February 2011, Ms Noske moved to the Transport Group as the Executive Director, with responsibility for the road network, transport assets, transport services and policy reform.

I have been coordinating building services for 14 years, using 3d modelling. In 1998, we started using Autocad, BSlink and ADT with Navisworks then moved to CadDuct. When RevitMEP became workable we moved to full BIM and have completed 60+ RevitMEP projects to date. The completed Revit Projects are mostly to a Mechanical Shop Detailing level along with the typical lead coordination role. My company has been operating in Australia since 2001 (previously in the UK) and have worked on large coordination projects with consultants and contractors alike.

Kevin has been a resident of the Northern Territory since 1987. In 1998 he moved into the industry representation field with the NT Chamber of Commerce.

Kevin is currently the General Manager/Director of the ICN (NT), an organisation that promotes Territory companies in the first instance, and the broader Australian and New Zealand business capability on larger NT based projects such as ConocoPhillip’s Darwin LNG plant and the proposed INPEX Darwin LNG plant, via the ICN ‘network’.

Kevin is the immediate past Chairman of the Northern Territory Business Council and sits on a number of Boards and Committees including the Manufacturers Council, Master Builders (NT) General Council and the NT Government’s Gearing Up For Major Projects task force.

Wade is the Sales Manager for WA, NT & QLD at Aconex, the world’s largest provider of project-wide online collaboration systems for mining, oil and gas, construction and engineering projects.  Aconex has been used on over 12,000 projects worth over $260billion to improve efficiency and reduce risk. It is a secure, central internet-based system, allowing all organisations involved in a project to more efficiently access, distribute, track and archive its documents and correspondence in real time.

Over the past seven years, Wade has played a leading role to grow the industry’s adoption of the Aconex platform for the company to become one of Asia-Pacific’s fastest growing technology firms. 
Prior to Aconex, Wade worked with a consulting firm providing property development consultancy services in the area of tax depreciation, building certification, cost control, and technical due diligence.

Steven was principal author for the book “Complete Streets – Guidelines to Urban Street” Design published by IPWEAQ in 2010. He is an engineer and urban strategist with an extensive mix of public and private sector experience spanning more than 25 years.

Steven has been a major contributor throughout his career to major mixed use developments including town centre redevelopments as well as a major contributor to land use and transport policy integration.
Assessing the impacts of movement and access and its potential to progress and revitalise urban centres is key to Steven’s core capabilities.

Mr John Fitzgerald commenced his appointment as the new Chief Executive Officer of Tourism NT, a statutory authority of the NT Government, on 1 February 2011. He has inherent understanding of the Territory having lived here and worked as the Manager of Central Australia and later General Manager of Development Operations for the then Northern Territory Tourist Commission. His previous roles include Tourism Sunshine Coast CEO and Chief Operating Officer of the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre.

Scott is a Partner in the Finance and Projects team of DLA Piper and is a recognised expert in relation to all aspects of tendering and procurement, project planning and front end project documentation and negotiation.  Scott regularly contributes to industry and legal journals and publications and gives papers at projects and procurement conferences. Scott has practised in both the private and public sector in relation to large strategic projects and infrastructure projects as well as advising clients generally in relation to commercial issues, legislative interpretation and procurement and probity. Scott is well recognised for his work on complex infrastructure projects and his clients a wide range of government bodies at every level and top tier contractors and general commercial entities including a wide range of Universities.  Scott’s experience includes acting on some major projects including D&C, BOOT schemes, PPPs and ECI contracts.  Scott has also benefitted from long term secondments as Acting Procurement Manager at both the Sydney Catchment Authority and State Transit Authority.

Scott is a member of the NSW Law Society Business Law Committee, NSW Law Society Ethics Committee, the Law Council’s Building and Construction Committee, the Society of Construction Law and the National Association of Women in Construction, and is a Past President of NSW Young Lawyers.

John is Aurecon’s Global Leader for Programme Management and Project Delivery and is based in Brisbane, Australia. Before joining Aurecon in 2010, John advised Crossrail in London, at an Executive Board and Sponsor level, on Delivery Strategy, Delivery Organisation and the procurement of Programme and Project Delivery Partners.  Prior to this John held senior roles in Programme and Executive Management at PB; Project and Programme Management at Bechtel; and in Design Management at Arup.

John has significant international experience, having worked for the majority of his career in Europe, as well as in the USA, Australia and SE Asia.

Neville joined Minemakers as General Manager – Projects Development in August 2008.

He is a Mining Engineer and a graduate of the Camborne School of Mines in the UK, and has 29 years experience in the mining industry.

He has worked in the UK, Australia and New Zealand in both underground and open pit mines. His career has included experience in gold, nickel, zinc and industrial minerals operations in both technical and operational roles. He has spent much of the last fourteen years in senior operational and corporate management roles.

Previous employers have included WMC, ACM (Waihi Gold), Pasminco, Perseverance Corporation and Jubilee Mines. Immediately prior to joining Minemakers he was Vice President – Head of Operations for Gold Fields Australia. He was also a non-executive director of Northern Star Resources for two years.

Outside of work Neville has a passion for aeroplanes and flying and competes in aerobatic competitions at both state and national. He is also a keen runner.

Trevor has an extensive property and construction background in both the public and private sectors.  With a total of 38 years in the property industry, this experience includes some 26 years in the Northern Territory and 7 years in Asia.  A three-time resident of Darwin since 1976, he returned to Darwin in 1994 after spending the previous four years in Hong Kong and Beijing, People's Republic of China, where he carried out a variety of property development, consultancy, marketing and management projects.

Current positions held include Vice President - NT Division Property Council of Australia, Director - Charles Darwin University Foundation and Member - Valuation Board of Review.

Ron began his career in 1982 at Schenker in Stuttgart as a heavy lift transport specialist.  He then made a move to Australia in 1985 and continued his career in Sydney as an Export Manager for Schenker Australia Pty Ltd.

In 1995, Ron became Branch Manager for Schenker in NSW and retained his position until 1998.  Ron then became the World Olympics Manager where he earned the contract for Schenker to be the official international freight logistics provider for the Sydney 2000 Olympics Games. Ron’s achievements granted him a position on the Board of Management for Schenker Australia in 1999.

In 2001, Ron was appointed as Managing Director of Schenker Australia and New Zealand.
During 2006, Schenker’s shareholder DB (Deutsche Bahn - General Railways) acquired the Global Logistics provider BAX Global.  Ron was then appointed as the CEO of the new joint company under the name of Schenker. 

More than 25 years  project construction logistics experience on petrochemical / oil & gas / mining construction projects in Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Russia and China in 24/7 EPC construction operations.

A record of achievement in high pressure, time sensitive projects with expertise in the planning and management of multi-facet logistics operations of land, heavy lift and specialised vessel operations. Specifically “green field” projects lacking shipping infrastructure, with special emphasis on shipment management, including forecasting and management of budgets.

Skilled in contract management (i.e. shipping/freight forwarding/warehouse), database utilization for sourcing, analysis, budget preparation, materials management, cost control and facilities management.

Russell Mortimer is co-founder of QA Software, a company he started with partner Steven Joustra nearly 20 years ago.

Prior to this Russell worked as an engineer, with his practical working knowledge in the Construction and Engineering industry spanning two decades. His experience has helped QA Software become one of the leading suppliers of software solutions to this sector.

With a passion for innovation and high-level service delivery to the company's global client base, Russell, known as the founding father of document control, believes that Document Management - the life-blood of any project - needs to be comprehensive, intuitive and simple to use.

His holistic and practical understanding of the industry being serviced as well as having the right team to execute implementation, training and support has made QA Software the origin, and, the future, of Document Control.

James Dorrat has 20 years’ experience in the design and delivery of architecture, master planning, interiors, landscape architecture and urban design in Brisbane and internationally. As a Director of Design at AECOM, James has worked on a diverse range of projects ranging from across a range of scales in the mining, transport and infrastructure sectors.

James has specific experience in mining sector projects, including master planning and design for camps and associated infrastructure buildings. More recently, James has been leading the master planning and design of the Ichthys Onshore Accommodation Village, a 3,500 person village in Darwin. Utilising city-shaping principles, this village will signal a new standard of resource sector accommodation when complete.

Neil Cass has undertaken a wide variety of management roles, ranging from heading up a Royal Australian Navy Meteorological Office through to developing requirements for future defence projects, and testing defence equipment.

Neil then moved on to manage different aspects of civil and structural engineering projects. More recently, Neil has worked on the Gorgon and Browse LNG Projects and currently the Ichthys Onshore LNG Project. In the LNG sphere, he has worked in engineering design, logistics and procurement. Neil’s current role is based in Darwin. Neil is a Certified Practicing Project Manager (CPPM), and has a BSc, DipEd and Grad Dip in Management Studies.

Kim came to the NT in 1987, starting his career as a science teacher at Casuarina Secondary College and then Darwin High School where he held roles as the Science Faculty Senior and as the Assistant Principal Senior School.

After a year in the private sector in 2001, Kim returned to the Government as the General Manager, Employment and Training. In 2008 he moved to the Department of Business and Employment as the Executive Director, Employment and Policy Coordination.

In January 2011 he took on the role of Executive Director Training and Higher Education. Currently Kim is the Executive Director Employment and Training NT and his major focus is to ensure training, employment and skilled migration initiatives are aligned to respond to the needs of industry and individuals both now and into the future.

Paul has held a variety of positions within the Commonwealth, Northern Territory and Western Australian Governments in valuation, commercial leasing, land administration and land development roles.  Prior to rejoining the Land Development Corporation in Darwin last year, Paul was involved in the planning of strategic industrial areas in the Pilbara, including Onslow, Karratha and Port Hedland to accommodate major LNG and Iron Ore export facilities.  He is currently the Acting General Manager with the LDC.

Al Wagner is an outcome-driven leader focused on developing a flexible, innovative and responsive department. Since 2010 Al has coordinated the Northern Territory’s Capital Works program, delivering thousands of key projects for Territorians.

With a background in engineering, project and strategic asset management, Al aims to continue the department’s program, successful project delivery, keeping clients happy and achieving financial targets.

Liz has had a long career in the Australian health system.

Since September 2011 Liz has managed the Northern Territory Department of Health’s significant capital and infrastructure program. She joined the Department in 2010 as General Manager, Royal Darwin Hospital.

She was the Chief Executive at Launceston General Hospital for seven years before spending two years in Canberra with the National Health and Hospital Reform Commission.

She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and prior to her career in the Australian health system worked with Deloitte and Coopers and Lybrand.

David is the Executive Director for Strategic Planning within the Department of Lands and Planning. That Group provides land use planning, economics, demography, engineering, design and sustainability services to the Department. It has carriage of the development of Weddell and Kilgariff, as well as the early development works for a range of lands based projects.

Previously, David has led the Team that managed the development of Territory 2030, the Northern Territory’s Strategic Plan, as well as being Executive Director for the Office of Territory Development, Major Projects Asian Relations and Trade and Regional Economic Development.  From 1996 to 2002 he was also the General Manager of the Territory Construction Association, now known as Master Builders NT. David has an economics degree.

Owen Hayford is a partner in the Construction & Major Projects Team of Clayton Utz.  He is a specialist 'front end' construction and projects lawyer with extensive experience in the structuring, tendering, documentation and contract administration of complex infrastructure projects.

Owen has had significant involvement in a number of major infrastructure projects, both locally and internationally, including the Alice Springs to Darwin Railway project, the Waratah Train PPP project in Sydney, and every Australian toll road deal in the last 15 years.

Owen's clients say he is responsive, efficient, creative and commercially savvy.  He has a "can-do" attitude and his drafting skills are described as first rate.

Ashley Harrison is an expert in offshore logistics supply chain with over 30 years’ experience. He first became involved in the offshore industry working for a supply vessel owner in the UK and then moved to working on the offshore gas platforms in the UK Southern North Sea.

Since Joining ASCO in 1991 Ashley has held various senior management positions in offshore supply base operations supporting the offshore industry in the UK and provided significant input to the creation of UKOOA Cargo Guidelines.

In 2010 Ashley relocated to Darwin to take up the position of Managing Director of a newly acquired business in the Northern Territory and in 2011 the company was awarded a contract by NT Government to develop and operate the Darwin Marine Supply Base.

Kerry Osborne is Managing Director of Osborne Family Holdings, a private  Northern Territory business established in 1988. The group is primarily involved in  Property Development but also has interests in, Construction ,Electrical contracting, Communications and IT, Retailing and Property Management with offices in Darwin, Alice Springs and Brisbane. Kerry has administrative, professional and trade qualifications. Kerry was a founding member and current president of the UDIA (NT).

Ingo has over 20 years of construction experience in Australia on projects ranging from commercial and residential high-rises in Sydney and Brisbane CBD's, shopping centre redevelopments through to project management of large greenfield projects in Queensland regional areas.

Experience in all aspects of  management from commencement through to completion, including project setup, staffing structure, development and implementation of project control protocols, programming financial administration, safety and IR management and client liaison.

The “Northern Territory Secure Facilities” project is the third correctional facility Ingo is involved in having previously delivered the redevelopment of the Townsville Men’s Correctional Centre and more recently the newly constructed “Southern Queensland Correctional Precinct” at Gatton.