Past Seminars
2013
Date: 5th Feb 2013
Speaker: Nick Greiner, Chairman, Infrastructure NSW
Topic: Infrastructure NSW: A Chairman's View
Bio: Nick Greiner was Premier and Treasurer of New South Wales from 1988-1992.
Since his retirement from politics he has been heavily involved in the corporate world as Chairman of several large companies and as the Deputy Chairman and director of others.
He is currently Chairman of Infrastructure NSW as well as holding several other board commitments.
Nick is a Member of the Board of Governors, Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) and a member of the Corporate Council, The European Australian Business Council (EABC). He is also a Trustee of the Sydney Theatre Company Foundation.
Nick holds an Honours Degree in Economics from Sydney University and a Master of Business Administration with High Distinction from Harvard Business School.
In the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 1994 he was awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia for public sector reform and management and services to the community and in 2001, the Centenary Medal.
He is a Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, an Honorary Fellow of CPA Australia and a Life Member of the South Sydney Rugby League Club.
Date: 19th Feb 2013
Speaker: Michael Kilgariff, CEO, Australian Logistics Council
Topic: Boosting productivity through supply chain efficiency. How the COAG seamless economy agenda is critical to advancing the national productivity agenda.
Abstract: An effective indicator of a country's economic and social prosperity is the health of its supply chains. Whether it be across the city, around Australia or throughout the world, high performing supply chains are a key component to the smooth flow of goods from production to consumption.
Inefficient supply chains not only restrict growth and productivity, they deter investment which is critical for a modern growing economy. Seamless supply chains, where goods can be moved safely and efficiently from point to point is critical to a nation's future economic growth and development.
But are Australia's supply chains up to the task and do we have the right regulatory settings in place to support growth? The Australian Logistics Council's Michael Kilgariff will discuss this issue, with a focus on the important role the COAG Reform Agenda is playing in unlocking productivity benefits for the freight logistics sector and the broader Australian economy.
The Australian Logistics Council is the peak industry body for the major and national companies in the freight transport and logistics supply chain industry.
Bio: Michael Kilgariff holds a degree in Economics from the Australian National University and is also a Graduate from the Australian Institute of Company Directors Diploma and Advanced Diploma courses. Michael has a diverse background and leadership experience in industry, industry associations and government at the national and state/territory level. He also has experience in dealing with public policy issues across a range of internal and external stakeholders. This background has given Michael a highly developed understanding of how industry and government interact and how key public policy issues can be successfully developed and progressed.
Date: 5th Mar 2013
Speaker: John Morandini, Author of "Watch the Road"
Topic: Transport Policy in Large Cities: From Mediocrity to Mentor
Abstract: Traffic congestion is progressively worsening and spreading along urban and interurban corridors, and the official prognosis is that delays will only continue to get worse in large cities globally.
Contemporary responses are unable to turn the situation around, giving rise to the question: What else can be done to better resolve traffic congestion and public transport issues in a timely, affordable and sustainable way?
Roads are the dominant transport infrastructure worldwide by a huge margin and it emerges that roads have the potential to be the solution rather than the problem; and they are pivotal not peripheral to successful public transport.
A Sydney transit scenario is explored, with extraordinary possibilities unfolding over a decade, including a reduction in car travel and an increase in metro-wide transit capacity and use. Success hinges on ramping up bus service networks, so comprehensively as to halt congestion growth and free up sufficient road space on the existing road system to run the services efficiently.
In essence, rather than a preoccupation with what billion-dollar rail line or roadway to build next, the focus in coming decades ought to be on how to use the existing trillion-dollar road infrastructure more efficiently.
Although everyday precedents have yet to be implemented, transport strategies for very large events, especially the Olympic Games, have already demonstrated full-scale variants of the concept and of the planning and decision making involved. These experiences leave valuable legacies for everyday transport operations in large cities.
The concept presented here is detailed in an eBook written by John Morandini: 'Watch the Road: Solving Transport Issues in Sprawling Cities: Sooner Rather than Later'. Visit www.transportstrategies.info for more.
Bio: John Morandini has a lifetime of experience working on urban development policies, plans, projects, services and infrastructure, in various public authorities (including Transport New South Wales, Olympic Coordination Authority, Olympic Roads and Transport Authority, Premier's Department, Public Works Department and Dubbo City Council).
He started out as a project engineer, held senior management positions, worked as a policy advisor to a former Deputy Premier and to the Minister for the Olympics, and served on many forums, including as Chairman of the NSW Air Transport Council and NSW representative on a number of State-Commonwealth working groups.
His long career revolved around the areas of urban roads and public transport, aviation services, urban master planning, land rehabilitation and redevelopment, event management, freight transport, airports, ports, transport security, water conservation and town and country utility services.
This pathway offered insights into the strengths and weaknesses of decision making and the potential opportunities available for improving urban services.
Based on these experiences and his belief that urban transport planning and policy making in particular need rethinking, he has written an eBook titled: 'Watch the Road: Solving Transport Issues in Sprawling Cities: Sooner Rather than Later', published by Australian eBook Publisher in June 2012.
John holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering with Honours and a Master of Business Administration, both from the University of New South Wales, Sydney.
Date: 19th Mar 2013
Speaker: Charlie Macdonald, General Manager, Industry Executive: Manufacturing, Transport and Logistics
Topic: How emerging technology can help address the issues of productivity in the supply chain
Abstract:
In February 2010 the ALC published a discussion paper on 'A Smarter Supply Chain using Information and Communications Technology to Increase Productivity in the Australian Transport and Logistics Industry'.The white paper will revisit the recommendations and actions in light of significant changes to the business and technology landscape. The industry continues to report low levels of productivity improvement although companies in isolation have been significant cost saving post the GFC. On the technology side there have been dramatic changes to the environment namely Cloud computing becoming main stream, Smart phone and tablet computing has change the way people shop and work, and there has been a significant adaption of machine 2 machine (M2M) solutions in industry. This presentation will describe how these recent changes in technology and importantly the acceleration of adaption of new technology will drive innovative solutions to increase productivity through the Supply Chain.
Bio: The industry executive is responsible for the thought leadership within the Manufacturing Transport and Logistics sectors within Telstra. This role works closely with Telstra customers as well as major industry stakeholders to bring business solutions to address the main issues and challenges of the industry.
Charlie Macdonald joined Telstra Enterprise and Government in January 2012 as the General Manager for Manufacturing Transport and Logistics with the objective of providing business solutions to the connected eco systems of the Supply Chain. Charlie acknowledges a key to improving supply chain efficiency is the availability of timely, accurate and complete information from order to fulfilment to payment. Prior to joining Telstra, Charlie held a number of senior business and IT roles spanning more than 25 years in the transport sector. Charlie was recently the CIO of the Parcel Direct Group (PDG) managing the implementation and integration of the transport businesses within the Group across Australia. Before PDG Charlie held leadership roles in DHL Express in Oceania, Asia and Europe pioneering innovative Mobile, Reverse Logistics, Global Trade and Supply Chain Visibility solutions. Charlie is the chair of the ICT working group for the Australian Logistics Council (ALC), the ALC is the premier industry body in Australia representing Transport, Logistics and Supply Chain businesses.
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Date: 9th Apr 2013
Speaker: Professor Mark Wardman, Visiting Professor, ITLS-Sydney; Institute of Transport Studies, University of Leeds, UK
Topic: Business travel value of time savings - So what did Hensher do for Europe?
Abstract: The value of travel time savings is one of the most important parameters of transport planning and has preoccupied the profession for over forty years. It is commonly claimed that up to 80% of the benefits of transport investment schemes accrue from time savings. Even though business travel tends to form a small proportion of overall travel, because of the premium valuation of business travel time savings they form around a half of the time saving benefits.
The conventional approach is to value business travel time savings at the wage rate plus the additional costs of employing labour. The potential shortcomings of the cost savings approach have long been recognised and are well rehearsed, yet it is only in Sweden, the Netherlands and previously Norway where there have been any departures from it in official appraisal practice relating to so-called briefcase travellers.
With a pedigree almost as long is the so-called Hensher equation. This has considerable intuitive appeal, allowing as it does for the productive use of time while travelling, the relative productivity of time in the normal workplace and while travelling and the use to which the time savings will be put which permits inclusion of benefits to the employee.
Another approach is to use a company's expressed willingness to pay for time savings as a direct estimate of the benefits to them of time savings for their employees while travelling. Such valuations might be obtained from Revealed Preference evidence or else from Stated Preferences.
We are aware of only one study, reported by Fowkes in 1987, that has compared the various approaches in a single study. This seminar is based on a recent study for the UK Department for Transport where we have reviewed the existing evidence in this area to enable the Department to make decisions as to how it will develop policy. After briefly summarising appraisal practice in the main developed countries, the worldwide evidence (principally European) relating to the Hensher parameters is reviewed. The implications of this approach for official values is demonstrated. We then review a large amount of European willingness to pay evidence on business travel valuations and contrast this evidence with the cost savings and Hensher approaches. Finally, some specific studies providing important insights into business travel are briefly summarised.
Our conclusions are that the empirical evidence is not telling a consistent story, with some notable differences between the values derived from willingness to pay and the Hensher equation, and there is clearly a need for further investigation of this important area.
Bio: Mark Wardman is Professor of Transport Demand Analysis at the Institute for Transport Studies (ITS), University of Leeds. He was Director of ITS between 2006 and 2011 and prior to that Director of Research. He has been involved in travel behaviour research for over 30 years, since being involved in the UK Department for Transport's pioneering national value of time study. His main research interests have been the use of Stated Preference methods to value travel attributes and environmental factors and the analysis of rail demand data. In recent years, he has conducted extensive reviews of values of time, price elasticities, time elasticities and time multipliers. He is interested in the reliability of SP data and means of improving it, and the consistency of demand paramaters obtained from different types of data (RP, SP) using different methods (demand modelling, choice modelling) and how they conform to or indeed challenge economic theory. He has published over 50 papers in international journals.
Date: 7th May 2013
Speaker: Kerrie Mather, CEO Sydney Airport
Topic: Maximising Sydney Airport and Port Botany
Abstract: One in every 10 dollars generated in NSW comes from a six-kilometre area comprising Sydney Airport and Port Botany, just eight kilometres from the city centre, but the area suffers chronic congestion following years of governments. More than 120,000 people use Sydney Airport - the nation's most significant piece of transport infrastructure -daily, yet transport options are limited, whether by road or public transport. Kerrie Mather has been advocating short and long-term solutions to enhance ground transport around the precinct and deliver a better experience for passengers and other airport users by providing more choice for travelling to and from the airport.
Bio: Bringing more than 15 years of aviation sector experience to Sydney Airport, Kerrie was appointed as chief executive officer in June 2011. Her focus has been on strengthening the airport's relationships with airlines, government, industry and community, taking a leadership role in growing tourism. Welcoming close to 37 million passengers a year, Sydney Airport is Australia's busiest airport, serving a network of 99 destinations across 35 international, nine domestic and regional airlines and 10 dedicated freight carriers. The Sydney Airport precinct contributes $27.6 billion to the economy each year and its location just eight kilometres from the city centre is a competitive advantage to business, particularly the tourism sector. Sydney Airport has invested more than $2 billion in improving the services and infrastructure since 2002, delivering 40 per cent growth in passenger movements with virtually no increase in aircraft movements. Kerrie is committed to working with industry and the community on achieving further sustainable growth in the decades to come. Kerrie brings to Sydney Airport a broad international perspective and demonstrated ability to develop strategic alliances with airlines, commercial partners and tourism bodies. She is a director of Airports Council International, the peak global body for airports and the Tourism & Transport Forum in Australia as well as a member of the Australian Gulf Council (AGC) of Distinguished Advisors and a member of the Australian School of Business Advisory Council.
Chair: Dr Rico Merkert, Senior Lecturer in Aviation Management
Date: 22nd May 2013
Speaker: Professor David Hensher, Director and Dr Rico Merkert, Senior Lecturer (ITLS-Sydney), Peter Koning (Chairman of the CILTA NSW Section), Peter Humphreys (Vice President of Global Transit, AECOM), Gen Okajima (General Manager, Central Japan Railway Company, Sydney Office) and The Hon John Alexander MP (Federal Member for Bennelong),
Topic: High speed rail for Australia - Is it value for money?
A high speed rail link connecting the large centres of Australia's east coast is an exciting but costly undertaking. With Sydney-Melbourne being the fifth busiest air route in the world and Sydney-Brisbane not far behind there would appear to be sufficient demand and a high speed rail link would be competitive in providing a journey time of under three hours between Sydney CBD and Melbourne CBD. However, as Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese has commented recently, a high speed rail link would necessitate significant tunnelling (particularly around Sydney) and would be very costly. This view is supported by a number of high level studies. In response to the most recent study, Mr Albanese said that HSR in Australia would be an exciting but ''monumental endeavour'' and that, given the large capital cost and impacts to communities involved, a national debate is urgently required. He continued by saying "Let the debate begin." Well, this is what this forum is all about. The crucial questions addressed in this special event, as part of the ITLS Leadership and Policy Seminar Series, are where the large upfront investment for a high speed link would come from and whether the proposed HSR link is indeed value for money.
Program
9.30am Introduction Professor David Hensher, Director and Dr Rico Merkert, Senior Lecturer, ITLS-Sydney
9.40am The real impact of high speed rail - evidence from a European perspective Peter Koning, Chairman of the CILTA NSW Section and Peter Humphreys, Vice President of Global Transit, AECOM
10.10am Building the backbone of the nation - the Japanese HSR experience Gen Okajima, General Manager, Central Japan Railway Company, Sydney Office
11am Investment in growth The Hon John Alexander MP, OAM, Federal MP for Bennelong
11.30am Assessing the employment agglomeration and social accessibility impacts of HSR in the Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne corridor Professor David Hensher, Director, ITLS-Sydney
12pm Round table panel discussion
12.30pm Lunch
Places are limited for this special event so please book early to avoid disappointment. This is a catered event so please include any special dietary requirements with your RSVP to: business.itlsinfo@sydney.edu.au