Sector Discussion: Rural and Infrastructure Boards

Christine Hawkins
After an early career as an economist for the Reserve Bank of Australia, Christine moved along a path from academia to investment banking. She spent 10 years as a corporate advisory executive before establishing a new investment bank in partnership with seven others. Her expertise is in high level strategy and corporate governance.

Christine has been a director on the boards of both private and public companies, statutory corporations, and unincorporated joint ventures. During the last 15 years her roles have included Executive and Non executive director, Deputy Chairman and Chairman as well as a member and Chairman on various board committees and task forces. She is currently on the board of the Sheep Cooperative Research Centre.

Christine has a passion for wool and was a Director of Wool International, the Australian Wool Research & Promotion Organisation, and The Woolmark Company. She established Cinnabar Designs Pty Limited, which manufactures superfine knitwear and other garments, in 2000.

Georgina Somerset
Georgina lives near Kingaroy, and is a beef producer who is frequently sought as a commentator and speaker on rural issues. She has a wide range of experiences and skills, including communication, marketing consultancy and strategic planning.

Amongst many other activities, she is a member of the National Rural Advisory Council, the Rural Skilling Industry Advisory Group, a director of the National Foundation for Australian Women and was previously a member of the Queensland Women’s Consultative Council. She has been invited to participate in the 2020 Summit.

Paul Binsted

Paul is a Managing Director in the Global Investment Bank Lazard, having joined in 2004 to establish the Australian business. He was a Director of Sydney Ports Corporation from 1995 to 1998. He served as Chairman of the State Rail Authority from 1998 to 2002 over the Olympic period and was appointed by the New South Wales Government as Chairman of the Board of the Sydney Ports Corporation in December 2006.

Prior to joining Lazard Paul held senior positions in Corporate Financial Advice and Mergers and Acquisitions at Salomon Smith Barney (now Citigroup Investment Banking), Schroders Australia and was formerly a principal of Lloyds Corporate Advisory Services. He is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australia and a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales as well as one of Australia’s most experienced takeover advisors.

Andrea Staines
Andrea is a full-time Non-Executive Director and Corporate Advisor.

She is a Director of the Adelaide-based Australian Rail Track Corporation, the Gladstone Ports Corporation, and Brisbane’s Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation. She is also an advisor to various aviation industry entities in Australia and New Zealand, and a guest lecturer at the Bond University Business School.

Andrea formerly worked in the airline industry in Australia and the United States. Until 2006, she was CEO of Australian Airlines, a $300m Qantas subsidiary she jointly designed and established in 2002 to lower Qantas’ costs on leisure flying to Asia. Prior to this, she was General Manager of Revenue Management at Qantas, responsible for managing a 150-person team determining the pricing levels and inventory availability on all of Qantas’ flights. Prior to working at Qantas, Andrea worked at American Airlines’ Dallas headquarters in a range of financial roles, before taking three years maternity leave in Singapore with her son and daughter.

Andrea is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, has an MBA majoring in Finance from the University of Michigan, and a B. Economics from the University of Queensland.

 Claire Braund
Claire is Executive Director with Women on Boards and the principal in The Regional Institute Ltd, a publishing and website development company, which specialises in working with professional associations and the not-for-profit sector. She served as a director of the Foundation for Australian Agricultural Women for eight years, during which time she was a founding member of the National Rural Women's Coalition.

Prior to establishing her own business, Claire worked in senior roles in the beef and cotton industries and as a political and rural journalist for five years.