2021 ASSEMBLY SPEAKERS
Keynote Speakers
Ronni Kahn
Ronni Kahn AO is a social entrepreneur and founder of food rescue charity OzHarvest. Ronni is a passionate advocate and activist renowned for disrupting the food waste landscape in Australia. She appears regularly in national media, serves in an advisory capacity to government and is a sought after keynote speaker. Her mission to fight food waste and feed hungry people is supported by some of the world’s finest chefs. Ronni is an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) and was named Australian Local Hero of the Year. Her journey is the subject of a feature film, Food Fighter and her memoir; A Repurposed Life has recently been published
Nathan Schneider
Nathan Schneider (born 1984) is a journalist and author who covers social movements in the United States. Since 2015, he has been a professor of media studies at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Schneider has been a leading advocate for Platform Cooperativism to address the issues of disruption and the growing issues related to the impact of the “gig & new economy”. In November 2015, together with New School professor Trebor Scholz, Schneider co-organized a two-day conference billed as “a coming-out party for the cooperative Internet.” This led to the publication of a book, which Schneider co-edited with Scholz, Ours to Hack and to Own: The Rise of Platform Cooperativism, a New Vision for the Future of Work and a Fairer Internet, published in 2016 by OR Books.
His book Everything for Everyone: The Radical Tradition that Is Shaping the Next Economy was published in September 2018 by Nation Books. It collects several years of reporting on cooperative enterprise.
Master of Ceremonies
Sam Byrne
Sam has been the Secretary for Co-ops NSW since 2016. He has been a member of Alfalfa House Community Food Co-operative in the inner west of Sydney for 20 years and was a director from 2008 to 2012. He is also a former Mayor of Marrickville and director of Local Government Super. Sam holds a Master of Management from the University of Technology, Sydney and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Sam is passionate about the co-operative enterprise model that delivers benefits to members and their community rather than absentee shareholders.
Sam can be contacted at sec@nsw.coop, in the office on 02 9057 5155 or on 0408 231 509.
Assembly Entertainment
Greater Sydney Orchestra Co-operative
As our city undergoes great transformation, the Greater Sydney Orchestra is making world class classical music part of the cultural identity of the new Sydney. GSO is a member-owned, member-run and community focused flagship performing arts company working to make Western Sydney to be the best place in the world to create and enjoy music.
The following members will perform in Ensembles for the Assembly:
Assembly Dinner (Thursday):
Dimitri Calligeros (Violin), Vera Marcu (Violin), Andrea Ng (Viola), Steve Meyer (Cello)
Assembly Lunch (Friday):
Samantha Mailer (Flute), Callum Hogan (Oboe), Andrew Doyle (Clarinet), Genevieve Campbell (Horn), Tony Grimm (Bassoon).
Assembly Panel Speakers
Pete Arkle
Pete is the CEO of NSW Farmers, one of the largest and most diverse farm organisations in Australia. NSW Farmers represents primary producers ranging from oyster farmers on the NSW coast to goat producers in the far west of our State.
Pete manages the NSW Farmers’ business and leads a professional team, working closely with farmer members to advocate for policies that advance sustainable food and fibre production and enable strong regional communities across NSW.
He previously worked in leadership roles in Sustainable Agriculture and Public Affairs for global agriculture company Syngenta, working across Australia, Asia and Switzerland.
Pete is passionate about seeing Australian farming reach its full potential – sustainably delivering world-class food and fibre, enhancing natural capital and supporting strong and vibrant regional communities.
Hon Mick Veitch MP
Mick Veitch was born in Gundagai, NSW, and has lived most of his life in rural south-western NSW. Mick worked for many years as a shearer and for the railways and then undertook further studies and worked in the disability employment sector. Mick joined the Labor Party in 1989 and served as a Shire Councillor with Young Shire Council from 1995 to 2007.
In 2007, Mick was elected to the NSW Legislative Council as a Country Labor candidate. Mick has been on the front bench in Opposition from 2011 to 2020. Mick has held the shadow portfolios of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services, and Regional and Rural Affairs, Primary Industries, Lands, and Western NSW and currently is the Shadow Minister for Industry and Trade, Rural Roads, Rural Affairs and Western NSW.
Tony Hill
Tony teaches Holistic Management in NSW and is an accredited professional with the Savory Institute. With a background in economics, policy making, regional development, ecology and biodiversity, he has worked for government and consulted on design applications for Cooperative Research Centres. Tony chairs the Australian Holistic Management Co-operative, has been a member of the Upper Shoalhaven Landcare Council, and is an accredited teacher of the NSW TAFE Holistic Management Diploma. He is the founder of the Land to Market Australia project incorporating Ecological Outcome Verification.
Jess Scully
Jess Scully uses creativity to engage people in the future economy and with urban life in the twenty-first century, working towards a sustainable and inclusive world. In 2019 she was elected as Deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney and has been a councillor since 2016.
Previously, Jess founded Vivid Ideas, Australia’s largest creative industries event; supported emerging talent through projects such as the Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards; sparked new thinking through TEDxSydney and transformed public space as a public art curator. She has also worked as a policy advisor, radio host and magazine editor.
Her first book, Glimpses of Utopia, was published by Pantera Press in August 2020.
Sebastien Paule
In association with Sandrino Graceffa, Sebastien Paul assisted in the creation of Smart in France in 2009. From the beginning of 2018 has been working in Brussels for Smart as head of innovation and then development in 2019. Among my responsibilities: develop the Smart group internationally in addition to working closely with the Smart territories in France and Belgium.
During these years, I have enriched this work by training aimed at recognizing and defending the economic role and the innovation potential of cultural actors. Sebastien has responsibility for the coordination of the “Management of organizations” teaching unit.
Godfrey Moase
Godfrey Moase is an Executive Director with the United Workers Union which represents essential workers across the private and public sector. He is also a co-founder of Cooperative Power Australia. He tweets @gemoase very much in a personal capacity.
Hon Yasmin Catley MP
Yasmin Catley has represented the people of Swansea in State Parliament as a Labor representative since March 2015.
The Swansea electorate takes in the coastal towns north of the Central Coast regions and the southern parts of the Greater Newcastle region.
First working in local libraries near Lake Macquarie and the Central Coast, Yasmin was a long term public servant working at the Refugee Review Tribunal in Sydney.
She is from a maritime family; her father, husband and daughter are all seafarers.
As a lifelong trade unionist, she is guided by her strong commitment to workers’ solidarity, social justice and government-led investment in education and health services for all Australians.
Yasmin was elected in 2015, defeating the former Member with a 13% swing towards her on the 2 Party Preferred vote.
She was re-elected with another 4.5% swing towards her on primary votes.
In 2016, she was promoted to Labor’s Shadow Ministry, taking on responsibility for the portfolios of Innovation and Better Regulation – through this she tackled consumer affairs matters, building sector reform, and government insurance policies, such as the CTP Green Slip reform on behalf of the Labor Opposition.
In 2019, she was elected Deputy Leader of the Labor Party, serving under Labor Leader Jodi McKay.
In addition to her building sector reform responsibilities, she took on the Shadow Ministerial portfolios of Regional and Rural Jobs, Bushfire Recovery and Government Property.
Hon Abigail Boyd MP
Abigail is a Greens MP in the NSW Parliament and lives on the Central Coast. Prior to her election in 2019, Abigail spent over two decades practising law, specialising in global banking regulation for clients in over 40 different countries. Abigail has worked passionately to campaign for a new economy that puts people before profit and is recognised as a leading expert in banking regulation and progressive economic reform.
Greg Ryan
Greg worked as a Electronics Engineer in the Deptartment of Defence/Navy for 20 years. Since then Greg has lived and worked in a rural land sharing community for 35 years. Greg has held many roles, such as secretary and treasurer, and has started Bundagen along with two other similar coops one of which he is actively involved in.
Louise Crabtree
Associate Professor Louise Crabtree-Hayes is a Principal Research Fellow in the institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University. Her work focuses on enabling regenerative futures, including work on the role of community-led housing models such as housing cooperatives and community land trusts in addressing social, environmental, and economic justice.’
Carmen Osborne
Carmen has been a Non-executive (Technical) Director on the Board of Common Equity NSW from November 2013. She has been Chairperson since here election at the 2015 AGM.
Common Equity NSW is a registered Community Housing provider established to manage social housing cooperatives and coordinating the provision of community development and property management to 32 housing cooperatives in NSW. Common Equity has co-designed new Cooperative housing projects in Croydon and Cabramatta.
Carmen has expertise in strategic urban planning, property project delivery and building stakeholder relationships within State and local government and private sector partners.
Carmen is passionate about the diverse needs and social wellbeing of housing co-operative tenants throughout NSW. She believes that cooperative living options can provide secure and supportive affordable housing opportunities. She would like to see cooperative housing to be a mainstream option for others in mixed equity and affordable housing projects.
Andrew Ferguson
Andrew is Managing Director of Coverforce Insurance Broking, and has been on the Boards of many industry government and non-government bodies during his working life.
Andrew is a Councillor with the City of Canada Bay in Sydney and also the President of the China-NSW Australia Business Council and Patron of the Asbestos Disease Foundation of Australia. Andrew has a passionate commitment to community and philosophically deeply committed to Cooperatives.
Lorraine Gordon
Lorraine acts as a conduit between industry and research, delivering sustainable and regenerative agriculture solutions nationally.
Lorraine has assisted over 28,500 farmers, fishers and foresters around the country to progress collaborative projects and establish Cooperatives to benefit their various industries as Director of the Federal Government’s Farming Together Program. Lorraine was awarded the 2018 Rural Community Leader of the Year for her work with farmers, the 2019 Australian Financial Review Award and the 2019 BHERT Higher Education Engagement Award.
Lorraine is a carbon farmer and holistic beef cattle trader at Ebor in the New England Tablelands of NSW, where she uses timed control grazing methods
to turn off up to 1000 steers per annum.
A Graduate of the Australian Rural Leadership Program and previous NSW ABC Rural Woman of the Year Lorraine is currently completing her PhD in Ecological Economics through UNE, looking at a triple-bottom-line comparison between regenerative and conventional grazing systems.
Julia Finn MP
Julia Finn is Shadow Minister for Consumer Protection with responsibility for cooperatives, fair trading, safe work and horse racing. From the onset of COVID-19 Ms Finn has focused on solving gaps in legislation and keeping the community safe.
Prior to her election to NSW Parliament, Ms Finn graduated with a Master of Social Science (International Development) from RMIT, a Master of Environmental Studies from Macquarie University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney. She was formerly employed in senior roles in NSW public sector agencies including the Motor Accidents Authority, Transport for NSW, Housing NSW and the Department of Water and Energy.
Her interests include running and photography.
Gretchen Alt-Cooper
Gretchen Alt-Cooper is a qualified accountant with 41 years’ tax, accounting and financial services experience, specialising in superannuation generally, but particularly self-managed superannuation funds. Formerly a Certified Financial Planner, her knowledge spans several areas of investment including legal structure and business elements. She is a founder of an accounting software start-up companies and currently resides in Goulburn, where she has been involved in establishing and managing the Goulburn Community Energy Co-operative.
Richard O’Leary
Richard is the CEO of the Macleay Regional Co-operative. Coming originally from an accounting background, he has had extensive involvement in local community organisations.
He currently sits on several local and regional committees including Regional Development Australia Mid North Coast, where he has a commitment to provide an independent voice and good governance.
Workshops and Co-operative Stories Speakers
Kristian Bolwell
Kristian Bolwell is a co-op law focussed solicitor who assists a range of co-operative boards, senior managers and their employees in large agricultural sectors as well as the transport, animal, disability care, and recreational maritime industries. With a long history of working for trade unions Kristian is well positioned to assist Co-ops with rule changes, disputes and employment law advice. WorkLawyers is based in Newtown Sydney, but with Co-operative clients from as far away as southern Western Australia he is able to fly, zoom or call to assist with issues as they arise. He is the founder of WorkLawyers which was established in 2017. Best contact is 0411263614 or Kristian@workLawyers.com.au
Peter Calabria
Peter is the Managing Director of Yenda Producers Co-operative (YPC) and has been in charge at Yenda since 2003. Prior to this Peter was Company Secretary for YPC for 8 years. Peter holds a Bachelor of Business degree in Accountancy and is CPA qualified. He is passionate about building strong sustainable communities and supporting local organisations and businesses. YPC is a rural based agricultural co-op operating alongside many cropping and livestock production systems within the Riverina region of NSW. The YPC Group employs around 115 staff and is involved in irrigation design & installation, transport, cropping, animal health & livestock, agronomic advice, spreading services and supply of farming inputs. Yenda Producers Co-op has now expanded into north eastern Victoria as well as its NSW.
Peter Gates
Mercury is a cooperative with a focus on collaborative enterprise full story we work with our members to help build self-sustainable, and equitable enterprises for and with their organisations and communities
Mercury seeks to imbue a learning culture based on our collective experience; we are committed to sharing evidenced based knowledge, building alliances and providing a platform for new information and innovation.
We are about creating linkages to ideas and people, both in Australia and around the world, to stimulate thinking about changing the way we live and interact with the world around us.
We believe it is important to reconnect to the old ways, perhaps forgotten by some, and learn new ways, that enable the creation of value and that are generative rather than exploitative
Membership is open to individuals that support our work.
Molly Kendall
Molly is passionate about co-operatives and sharing systems. Before joining the team at The Co-op Federation, she spent seven years as Coordinator of Resource Work Cooperative building a healthy social media following. Graduate of Co-operative Strategic Development Program UWA and currently studying Content and Social Media Marketing at RMIT. She will bring her experience to the co-operative lenses and workshop with participants how co-ops can change the world with quality content!
Robert McMaster
Former Toolmaker tradesman and General Manager of C-Mac Industries for 36 years. Rob transferred ownership of the family manufacturing business to his 30 employees on retirement.
Co-Founder of the newly established BlueTongue Cooperative Development Network which focuses on the creation or succession of businesses to employees resulting in employee-owned cooperatives.
Author of a recently released book called “Swapping Desks“.
Rob has retrained to be a Business Chaplain and has been acting in this capacity for the last five years. Active in the Hawkesbury Chamber of Commerce as their Welfare Officer and heading up a subcommittee introducing a Community Wealth Building Project into the Hawkesbury.
On the side, he has eight grandchildren, involved in the Hawkesbury Scout Fellowship and his local church located in North Richmond, NSW.
Dick Groot Obbink
Dick Groot Obbink is CEO and a director of the NSW/ACT Truffle Marketing Cooperative trading as EAT Truffle. Dick and his wife Virginia are both microbiologists and have worked in the public health sector in Sydney for 30 years at Royal North Shore Hospital until 2005 when they bought a 40 hectare farm just outside Braidwood NSW. They planted a 400 tree truffle orchard in 2008. Dick has had past experience on a number of government committees including RIRDC (now Agrifutures) and NATA and is a past president and honorary life member of the Australian Society for Microbiology. Dick and Virginia are members on the committee of the Truffle Festival Canberra Region. Regional tourism and cooperative agriculture are high on his list of priorities.
Jane Oldham
Ningana Housing Collective is an inclusive and diverse community operated by tenant/members who have a common need for secure, appropriate, affordable housing and a commitment to co-operative living. We are set up specifically to house people on low to moderate incomes and our Studios are for single occupancy only.
Located in Annandale, 3km from the Sydney CBD, Ningana had been spec-built for sale to the NSW government for use as a men’s hostel for new immigrants at the end of the “£10 Pom” era but had sat empty for many years. Ningana Housing Collective was created during a time of high rents from a community-supported initiative in the late 1980’s to squat in the current building as a reaction to the wasted opportunity for housing for low income earners, close to their jobs in the city
It is an important condition of living at Ningana that tenants actively participate and contribute for the privilege of living here.
If you’re interested in being a part of our wonderful community, please get in touch with us via email.
For more information on other affordable housing options, please contact our Community Housing Provider, Common Equity NSW.
Greg Patmore
Greg Patmore is professor emeritus of business and labor history and chair of the Co-operative Research Group in the University of Sydney Business School. His current research projects include the Visual Historical Atlas of Australian Co-operatives. His recent publications include A Global History of Co-operative Business (Routledge, 2018, with Nikola Balnave), and Innovative Consumer Co-operatives. The Rise and Fall of Berkeley (Routledge, 2020).
Jason Richards
Jason started with Resource Work Cooperative in December 2016, after working at The Bower Reuse and Repair Centre in Marrickville, managing their Collection and Rehoming Service. Jason started at Resource as a scrutineer and has taken on a variety of roles in his time at Resource from workshop presenter to Chairperson of the Board. Jason has recently taken on the role of Coordinator, after being co-coordinator and on the Board of Directors for the last four years.
Hannah Rose
Hannah has been recognised by Chambers and Partners for her charity law expertise in the Asia Pacific region for 2021. After many years as a lawyer in private practice, including as a Partner leading the not-for-profit team in a national law firm, Hannah established For Purpose Advisory. Hannah provides legal, mediation, company secretarial and consulting services for the non-profit sector. She has had 10 years’ board experience and is a member of the AICD and Women on Boards.
Sam Rothwell
Hotline Couriers is an independent bike messenger co-operative based in Sydney.
We know that it can get pretty frustrating dealing with the big guys who see you as no more than a line on their ledger.
We’re setting up shop to make it better and easier for you to get things delivered from A to B when you and your customers need it
Andrew Quah
Andrew Quah is the Executive Director at the Greater Sydney Orchestra and Chair at the Greater Sydney Innovation Co-operative. A musician, music administrator, advocate, and strategist, he is passionate about the Creative Arts, Tech and Innovation sector as a driver of economic opportunity, especially in Western Sydney.
Bridget Wardlaw
Bridget Wardlaw is a Director of The Grove, Business Performance Improvement Consultant, activist for equality and sustainability, connector of people and ideas. Her skills and wisdom learned in life and corporations are now in service to collaborations at The Grove where she has helped establish the Co-op, and where she is “Guardian of the Concept” to The Triangles Game, which seeks to entice people out of habitual conflict into a thriving life via a card game.
Wicked Elephants
Johanna de Ruyter and Deborah Collins are experienced in facilitation and coaching and are Wicked Elephant (WE) Cooperative founding members. WE work with individuals, teams, leaders and organisations to develop skills and abilities for powerful collaboration. WE approach to development balances action learning and discussion. Both facilitators have a long engagement with Playback Theatre, a practice based in improvisation and storytelling. Johanna trains leaders and entrepreneurs from around the world to harness storytelling for business messaging.
Conference Curator and Manager
Peter Tregilgas
Peter is the Principal of Social Enterprise Services, Chair of Mercury Co-operative and a Director for Co-ops NSW
Peter Tregilgas has skills and experience in creative and social innovation encompassing regional development, arts management, festival coordination, capital projects and social enterprise. Peter is a Master of Business Arts and Cultural Management University of SA.
Peter’s specialist focus is Cooperatives and Social Enterprises and has produced the definitive publications “Social Enterprise in Australia” and “Cooperatives in Australia”. He is a champion for communication and creative events, producing Co-operatives Get Mutual for Vivid Idea 2016 & 2017. Peter portfolio has included Executive Officer Regional Development Australia, Mid North Coast, Festival Consultant for the Victorian Tourism Commission and Director for the Adelaide Festival Fringe.