2024 Queensland AICD Gold Medal Award Speech

Thank you - when Luckbir rang, I have to confess this was not a phone

call I thought I would ever receive.

I was at my second office - the kitchen bench, overlooking paddocks

on our farm and again it brought into sharp relief the contrasts of my

life.

I drive long distances for short meetings - although less now that we

are so virtually accomplished and, yes, I move between cattle yards

and board rooms.

Receiving this medal, I am gratefully aware that I stand on the

shoulders of those who have gone before, those who have also taken

seriously the role of a director, who see it, as Naomi said earlier, as

precious, who have honed their craft and committed well beyond the

board papers for the sake of the organisations they govern.

A few years ago when a board I am on was frequently in the news,

people started asking me what a director does - in essence - ‘what DO

you do?’.

I had my response, shaped strongly by my first Company Directors

Course experience in 2002 - I can still picture Henry Bosch delivering

the fireside chat - literally by the fire in Canberra!

I had left behind 3 offspring & their father on our cattle property, my

sister had flown up from Melbourne to help out for the week & I

immersed myself in governance!

My response remains largely unchanged today and I believe it is such

a gift.

Set the strategy and culture, employ the CEO , support the CEO to

deliver the strategy. And keep in mind the sunshine test…

It sounds straightforward - even simple- which is the intent of the law,

but these two acts are both simple & complex.

Straightforward & layered.

While it is good to look back, I am really interested to see where we

are headed.

I’m excited about the strengthening of strategic thinking, the

discussions on culture and welcoming of diversity.

I have some serious concerns however, about the over regulation of

business and industry, with an expectation that directors, who are not

to delve into management, be across an ever increasing plethora of

regulation, legislation and responsibility.

I believe this organisation - the AICD - can play a role in ensuring we

have enabling regulation, not jurisdictional and departmental

duplication and ever increasing responsibility being placed on both

remunerated and volunteer directors.

In the 1990s I worked with Myles McGregor Lowndes on a booklet to

encourage more women to step into volunteer leadership as they

were concerned about the insurance risks - we may well face similar

challenges if we are unable to effectively balance the regulatory and

reporting burden.

I am also keen to strive for greater diversity.

While we have reporting frameworks such as WGEA, I am keen for

boards to consider other diversity factors.

As the most decentralised state, Queensland offers geographic

diversity - however I don’t see this around board tables, neither do I

see a focus on this in other states.

Referred to as the ‘boomerang strip’, I suspect the majority of ASX200

directors live somewhere between Noosa and Lorne, within a short

drive of the coastline.

We are fortunate to have our state council chair, Luckbir, in Cairns and

our national council chair, Naomi, in Hobart – with Brisbane being

almost equidistant between them!

And on diversity of thought - the more we have robust discussion and

genuine difference of opinion, the richer our board decisions will be.

Those who have ensured I consider so many angles of a decision are

those directors who come with a strong opinion held lightly - I believe

we need to embrace people who have different views, life experiences

and backgrounds.

I know I would find it much more difficult today to be appointed to a

board - I am a generalist who is yet to get back to uni after her one

year deferral was unable to be extended.

I do not have executive management experience, I live an hour from a

small town, I don’t socialise with other directors frequently and my

day to day role is managing the finance in our beef business.

What I do hear is community conversations, diverse opinions, local

leadership challenges, and I see the impact of decisions on business.

So I challenge all to broaden your diversity perspective - and

genuinely reflect the communities or market you seek to serve.

For me, it is all about purpose - what can I offer & importantly, what

impact would I like to have. My time on any board is for a finite period

and I want to ensure I use every scrap of that time to have an impact

that leaves an organisation in a genuinely more sustainable position

than when I first arrived at the board table.

I gain much from board work - working collegially to make a

difference to organisations and business with incredibly diverse

people who bring much to the table. It is a privilege I do not take for

granted, and I relish being able to connect and learn from diverse

perspectives across media, health, agriculture, aviation, natural capital

and philanthropy.

I also laugh at the rich contrast of my weeks - sometimes literally

going from inner city board rooms to cattle yards to a community site

in consecutive days.

So, thank you for this medal - to be recognised by your peers in a

profession that is often not understood, is an incredible compliment

and one I am both honoured and humbled to receive.

And I’d like to share a secret with you - I remain passionate about

regional Australia, about how we invest in its potential, how we

continue to strengthen and engage ‘the inland’ as we face increasingly

wicked challenges nationally and globally – so if you’re looking to

collaborate, I am all ears!

My final thank you is to this table over here - my board career is not

possible without a family that has always flexed and supported me -

they are used to roadside Team calls, an inflexible board calendar and

conversations on strategy.

Additionally, my sister who supported my first company directors

course is also here tonight - always ready to discuss complexity and

change.

Thank you all