The Speakers

Corbin Donnelly

Bernard Desmidt

Leadership and Executive Coach

'Succession – A Strategic Imperative'

Bernard works with organisations to cultivate the leaders and teams needed for today’s evolving business landscape. As a leadership coach, facilitator, trainer, and speaker, he partners with CEOs, Managing Directors, and executives to foster high-performing, collaborative cultures where leaders and teams thrive—both in the quality of their working relationships and the impact of their results.

With over 20,000 hours of executive and team coaching experience, Bernard has delivered leadership learning programs across the globe. He was a lead facilitator for one of the most highly rated executive leadership programs at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management in Sydney and is recognised as one of the top-rated facilitators for the Academy Global Emerging Leaders Program.

Bernard is also the author of two leadership books:

Inside-Out Leadership: How to Master the 4 Principles of Effective Leadership and Become the Leader Others Choose to Follow – Endorsed by Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, the world’s #1 leadership thinker, who praised the book: “Inside-Out Leadership is laden with common sense—leaders will read this book and wonder why they're not already doing this.”
Team Better Together: The five disciplines of high performing teams

www.bernarddesmidt.com

Dr. Gerhard Pariser

Vice President

SMR - Steel & Metals Market Research

For more than twenty years, Gerhard has been active in the steel and raw materials industry. In 2024, he joined SMR – Steel & Metals Market Research, the leading market intelligence provider for the stainless and specialty steel industry. Prior to this, Gerhard spent seven years in the stainless recycling sector, holding senior roles at two leading international scrap recycling and raw materials companies, including Group Sales Executive and Vice President of Strategy. From 2017 to 2022, he represented the recycling segment on the Industrial Council of the International Chromium Development Association. Gerhard is a well-known expert in steel raw materials and recycling. He is a metallurgical engineer by training and holds a PhD from RWTH Aachen University.

www.smr.at

Peter Munckton

Chief Economist and Head of

Market Strategy, Bank of Queensland

'Economic Outlook'

Peter is the Chief Economist and Head of Market Strategy at the Bank of Queensland (BOQ). He has worked at the Federal Treasury in Canberra, as well as senior economic roles at the Bankers Trust and CBA. He has co-authored reports on the Australian and Chinese financial systems that gained significant domestic and international media attention.

www.boq.com.au