The Hon. Natalie Ward, Minister for Metropolitan Roads

The Hon. Natalie Ward MLC is the Minister for Metropolitan Roads and Minister for Women’s Safety and the Prevention of Domestic and Sexual Violence in the Perrottet Government, appointed in December 2021.

Prior to this appointment, Minister Ward was Minster for Sport, Multiculturalism, Seniors and Veterans in the Berejiklian Government.

She joined the Legislative Council of NSW Parliament in November 2017 and was re-elected at the March 2019 state election.

In 2019, Natalie Chaired the Joint Select Committee on Sydney’s Night Time Economy, which ultimately led to the development of the NSW Government’s 24-hour Economy Strategy.

Natalie Chaired the Joint Select Committee on Coercive Control in 2020. In an Australian-first, the committee unanimously recommended that coercive control be criminalised along with 23 recommendations relating to domestic abuse in 2021.

The experience of chairing the Coercive Control Inquiry provided a unique opportunity to engage with a wide range of stakeholders, which she brings to her role as Minister for Women’s Safety and the Prevention of Domestic and Sexual Violence.

Prior to entering Parliament, Natalie practised law, specialising in commercial litigation, for over twenty years, as well as working in Financial Services and Government. She graduated from The University of Adelaide with Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts (Jurisprudence) in 1996.

Clint Feuerherdt, Kelsian Group

Clint joined Kelsian Group Limited (formerly Sealink Travel Group Limited) as Group CEO in January 2020, following the acquisition of the Transit Systems Group. Clint was CEO Transit Systems Group for 10 years and, under his guidance, Transit Systems Australia was entrusted with more franchised bus service contracts than any other company in Australia, growing revenue by over 400%. While at Transit Systems, Clint also grew the largest privately owned passenger and vehicular ferry fleet in Australia which was sold to SeaLink in 2015, paving the way for discussions on bringing the whole of the two groups together, which was achieved in early 2020.

In 2012-2013 Clint led the expansion of Transit Systems Group into the United Kingdom, making Transit Systems Group the only Australian owned multinational public transport operator, which further expanded into Singapore in 2015.

Clint graduated from the University of Queensland with an Honours Degree in Commerce and was awarded the University Medal. Clint previously worked as an infrastructure M&A specialist in several global investment banks.

Gunnar Alexandersson, Stockholm School of Economics

Dr. Gunnar Alexandersson is a senior researcher in transport economics at Stockholm School of Economics and holds a part-time position as senior adviser on regulations and international affairs at the Swedish railway operator SJ. His PhD thesis tracked the origin, development and effects of regulatory reforms in the Swedish bus and railway sectors from 1979 and onwards. Dr. Alexandersson headed a Swedish Government committee 2013-2015 looking into the organisation of the railway sector. He chaired the local organising committee for Thredbo 15 in Stockholm and is a member of the International Steering Committee of the Thredbo conference series.

Neil Smith, Kelsian Group

Neil Smith’s career in transport began as a trainee manager with the Busways Group in western Sydney in 1972. In 1974 he formed a partnership that purchased Manly Bus Service in Sydney and in 1975 he established Urban Transport Systems. Mr Smith re-entered the bus operations business in 1995, eventually owning a third share of Transit Systems, the largest privately-owned bus operation in Australia. Concurrently with this growth in Australia, Mr Smith moved to London in 2012 where he participated in the acquisition of further bus operations, both in London (2013) and Singapore (2016). In 2020 his interests were purchased by SeaLink Travel Group (now the Kelsian Group), an international leader in the transition from diesel to electric for urban buses and in hydrogen power trains. Mr Smith is a Non-Executive Director and major shareholder in the Kelsian Group.

John King, Managing Director, Premier Motor Service

John King is Managing Director of Premier Motor Service. Today, the company operates along Australia’s East Coast and is one of the largest and most professional long distance coach operations regarded highly for its safety and service. John has continually expanded his Public Passenger Transport operations in NSW and Queensland which includes in excess of 500 buses and coaches 500 staff. John is also President of the BusNSW Board of Management.

Matthew Wilson, Pitcher Partners

Matthew Wilson is recognised Australia-wide as an expert in commercial and financial advice for the transport industry. He works directly with transport organisations, and also supports government in their procurement negotiations for road, train, bus, telco and emergency services projects. In particular, Matthew has worked closely with the bus industry for over 30 years. He regularly presents at conferences, works closely with their associations, or helps when taking a combined approach to negotiating with government. He represents the majority of transport operators and associations in relation to their financial structures and long-term infrastructure contracts with various State Government departments.

David Hensher, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney

Professor David Hensher is the Founding Director of the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. He is one of Australia's most eminent transport academics. An internationally recognised authority in transport and infrastructure and Australia's most cited transport academic, David has been awarded numerous Australian Research Council grants and industry and governments grants. David is the Executive Chair and Co-Founder of the Thredbo Series, now in its 32^nd year. He is on the editorial boards of 17 of the leading transport journals including one of four members of the Distinguished Advisory Board of Transportation Research Part A.

Ishra Bakash, Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads

Ishra is the Executive Director of the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) Program Management Office within the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. Her experience extends across the public and private sector environment, working in partnership with government and industry to drive positive outcomes for customers and communities. Ishra is responsible for connecting people and ideas, taking a pragmatic approach to building programs that consider the broader landscape of transport, whilst focusing on tangible outcomes.She is passionate about the department’s future focus on mobility and the strategy around this, and how we work together to connect people to their community.

John Nelson, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney

Professor John Nelson holds the Chair in Public Transport, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS), University of Sydney. John is particularly interested in the application and evaluation of new technologies to improve transport systems as well as the policy frameworks and regulatory regimes necessary to achieve sustainable mobility. He is a co-author (with David Hensher and others) of Understanding Mobility as a Service (MaaS). Past, Present and Future (Elsevier, 2020) and co-editor (with Corinne Mulley and Steve Ison) of The Routledge Handbook of Public Transport (Routledge, 2021). His most recent book is Transportation in a Net Zero World: Transitioning Towards Low Carbon Public Transport (with Kathryn Logan and Astley Hastings, Springer, 2022).

John Preston, University of Southampton

John is Professor of Rail Transport at the University of Southampton. He has almost 40 years of experience in transport research, covering demand and capacity modelling, regulatory studies, economic appraisal and land-use and environmental interactions. His initial work concentrated on rail but subsequent work has covered all the major modes of transport. He is an ever present at the Thredbo Conference series.

Jessica Linsell, Transport for NSW

Jessica Linsell is the Director of Mobility Policy at Transport for NSW, where she leads the review and development of legislative, regulatory and policy frameworks relating to passenger transport.

With more than 17 years’ experience in NSW government policy development, Jessica has led numerous successful reforms at a state and national level, including regional aviation, heavy vehicle safety and point to point transport. Jessica was a member of the secretariat for the Point to Point Transport Taskforce’s 2015 review of the taxi and private hire vehicle industry in NSW.

Brendan Finn, European Transport and Telematics Systems

Brendan Finn is an independent transport consultant based in Dublin, Ireland. Having begun his career at Dublin’s public bus company, he has worked in a wide range of consulting activities in the organization and operation of public transport, in Europe, Africa and Asia. His main focus is on bus-based transport, covering institutional frameworks for urban passenger transport, bus service contracting, operations management and support systems to improve public transport including BRT, ITS and DRT. In developing countries, he has a particular interest in practical means to improve informal transport, which is often the primary mode.