Ngangki Warra is a Kaurna female led cultural group that aims to elevate and amplify the voices of women through language, culture and dance.

Tony Hopkins is the Chief Executive Officer, Regional Australia Division of ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia (CDC), one of the country’s largest urban, school, and charter bus operators and part of the international ComfortDelGro group. A transport, tourism, and logistics expert and bus industry veteran of 40 years, Tony has delivered comprehensive passenger transport solutions for some of Australia’s most renowned bus brands including Greyhound and Buslink VIVO. He has served as a chair, president, vice president and committee member on the executive of various state and national industry associations for the past 14 years including the Bus Industry Confederation (BIC), Australian Public Transport Industry Association (APTIA), Queensland Bus Industry Council (QBIC) and the former National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) Taskforce. Tony is an active contributor to the community and wider industry, lobbying state, and federal governments to create improvements for with various bus operators across the country. Tony’s lifetime commitment to the bus industry was recognised in 2021, when he was presented with QBIC’s Outstanding Achievement Award. The same year, his division was honoured with the QBIC Environmental/Innovation Award, as well as a High Commendation in the 2021 NSCA Foundation/GIO National Safety Awards of Excellence.

The Hon Catherine King MP, is the Federal Member for Ballarat and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. She was first elected in 2001, Catherine King represents the electorate of Ballarat in the Australian Parliament. Following the 2022 Election, Catherine was sworn in as the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government – a key portfolio that reaches into the heart of every community across the country. Catherine held a similar portfolio in the previous term of opposition, as well as serving six years as Labor’s Shadow Minister for Health and Medicare. Catherine has previously held the Cabinet portfolio of Minister for Regional Australia, Local Government and Territories, as well as serving Minister for Regional Services, Local Communities and Territories, Minister for Road Safety, and before that as Parliamentary Secretary for Transport and Parliamentary Secretary for Health. Catherine holds Bachelor Degrees in Social Work and Laws and a Masters’ in Public Policy. Prior to entering Parliament, Catherine was a senior manager at KPMG’s Consulting Practice. As a regional MP, Catherine is a strong advocate for the seven million Australians who live outside our capital cities.

Stephen Yarwood is passionate about cities and innovation, and is one of Australia’s best-known and respected contemporary Urban Planners who consults internationally on future city trends, urban innovation, leadership and creating positive change. He is considered an international specialist on the future citizen and the relationships between people, technology, infrastructure, society, cities and quality urbanism. Stephen has worked, researched and attended events throughout Australia and in New Zealand, Taiwan, Europe, the Middle East, China, India and the USA. Stephen has a Bachelor of Arts in Planning, Graduate Diplomas in Regional & Urban Planning and Environmental Studies and an MBA from Adelaide University. He is an adjunct lecturer at the Adelaide University Business School and has worked for the University of South Australia, Canberra University and Flinders University. He has also lectured at universities in Japan, Singapore and Thailand and is an award winning member of the Planning Institute of Australia and a member of the exclusive Academy of Urbanism During his time as Lord Mayor (2010-2104), his emphasis on collaboration with the private sector and State Government delivered many outcomes and saw Adelaide recognised internationally as an innovative destination by Lonely Planet, National Geographic and The New York Times. Prior to being Lord Mayor, Stephen worked in the South Australian Government and Parliament, in Local Government and internationally as a planner, researcher, educator and speaker. His planning experience is exceptionally diverse; from strategy to implementation on many large projects dealing with most land use types and a diverse range of environment, economic, community, design and development issues.

Carol Brown understands the many daily challenges faced by Tasmanians. Her passion and dedication is driven by her life experiences and her strong values. Her drive to fight for equality and equal access to employment, education, health and other community services led to her to join the Labor Party at 20 years old. She has remained dedicated to this fight her entire working life. Carol’s commitment to equality and fairness and her determination to ensure all Tasmanians have equal access to opportunities regardless of their background led her to the Senate in 2005. Since joining the Senate Carol has been a tireless advocate for her home state, worker’s rights, the LGBTIQA+ community and women’s access to reproductive health. Carol has held shadow portfolios across a diverse range of areas including families and payments, disability and carers, infrastructure and regional tourism. Carol is honoured to have been appointed Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.

Since joining the NHVR as Chief Executive Officer in May 2014, Sal has focused the NHVR to becoming a customer-centric, risk-based, data-driven modern regulator. By driving a significant program of reform across Australia’s heavy vehicle industry, he has enabled a more streamlined approach to service delivery, education, compliance and enforcement, and a greater degree of consistency in how heavy vehicles are regulated. He has led the NHVR far on its journey to becoming a single national heavy vehicle regulator, successfully transitioning, to date, regulatory services from four states and territories improving compliance and safety outcomes. From a Portal where the heavy vehicle industry can conduct all service transactions, to the automation of identification of the operators and vehicles who pose the greatest safety risk, Sal has championed data-sharing, new technologies and innovative practices to deliver enhanced productivity and safety outcomes for governments and industry. Sal brought to the NHVR extensive knowledge of heavy vehicle policy, strategy, regulation, and business reform, having held senior leadership roles in transport, freight, ports and logistics, strategic land use and transport planning, business process improvement and innovation across state and local government and the private sector.