PRUE BONDFIELD, a highly regarded pastoralist and businesswoman, has been appointed to the Regional Investment Corporation board. 

Ms Bondfield is the general manager and director of Palgrove, a livestock business with properties in Queensland and New South Wales. Ms Bondfield also has a background in law and has demonstrated strong corporate governance skills, developed through professional training, her own business enterprise and various industry roles. 

She has held positions as the chair of the Beef Industry Sustainability Framework Steering Committee, a director of the State Management Council for the NSW Livestock Health and Pest Authorities, and has been a director of the Beef Improvement Association. 

The RIC will administer the Coalition Government’s $2 billion farm business concessional loans program and the $2 billion National Water Infrastructure Loan Facility. 

The Federal Government has also appointed David Foster, Lucia Cade and Mark Lewis as members of the RIC board, with David Foster appointed as chair of the board.

Mr Foster has an extensive background in commercial finance having previously worked for both Westpac and Suncorp. Mr Foster is also a current director with Genworth Mortgage Insurance, G8 Education Limited and Local Government Enterprises of Queensland.

Ms Cade has a background in engineering and commercial leadership, with a focus on water infrastructure, utilities and professional services. Ms Cade has beencChair of South East Water, a Victorian government-owned water utility, since October 2015.

Mr Lewis is a former Western Australian Minister for Agriculture and Food and the former Member for Mining and Pastoral on the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2013 to 2017. His prior responsibilities included the Rural Business Development Corporation, which administers loans to primary industries, including concessional loans on behalf of the Commonwealth.

www.agriculture.gov.au/ric

INSTITUTE of Public Accountants (IPA) chief executive officer, Andrew Conway has been appointed to the Professional Accountancy Organisation Development Committee (PAODC) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).

“On behalf of the IPA Board of Directors, I would like to congratulate Andrew on this important appointment,” IPA president, Damien Moore said.

“Andrew is the ideal appointment which recognises his commitment to the profession that has included the chairing of the PAODC of the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) over the past few years working closely to build the capacity of the profession. 

“The IPA is very committed to IFAC’s objectives and more so, the development of the profession globally.  This appointment further demonstrates the IPA’s leadership position in the global profession.

“The IPA is very proud of Andrew’s achievements and his contribution to global leadership and governance within the profession,” Mr Moore said.

www.publicaccountants.org.au

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By Ellen Boonstra, Asia correspondent >>

ANDREW BIGGS is arguably the most famous foreigner in Thailand today.

Over the last 25 years, the Australian has hosted national TV and radio shows in Thai and English. His books have been bestsellers and he has a whopping 2.5 million followers on Twitter.

For a former journalist from Queensland that’s an impressive array of achievements. 

Back in the 1980s, he had the chance to go to England to work for another Rupert Murdoch-stable newspaper. Thai Airways had the cheapest flights then, but the catch – and the letdown for him – was the mandatory two-day stopover in Bangkok.

Arriving on Valentine’s Day, 1989, he had no interest in seeing the city. Instead, he had planned on holing up in his hotel room to spend his downtime reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, but the capital, with what he called its “air of excitement and a little bit of lawlessness,” along with the genial people, slowly pulled him into their orbit.

Mr Biggs extended that two-day visa for two weeks and then two months, backpacking around much of the country. Every time he called his mother she’d tell him to leave Thailand immediately because it was too dangerous.

In an irony of travel ironies, when he finally arrived in London all of his possessions were stolen out of his friend’s flat within the first two days, including his traveller’s cheques and clothes – whereas nothing in the least negative had befallen him while in Thailand.

Only a month later, after realizing that being a journalist in London would be much the same as in Australia, he was back in Bangkok, convinced that the capital would be a more dramatic catalyst and backdrop for stories. That theory proved to be practical.

During his time at newspaper The Nation, he witnessed some pivotal points in Thai history, like the ‘Black May’ crisis in 1992, when protestors took to the streets around Democracy Monument to voice their discontent with the installation of an unelected military government.

Around then, Andrew Biggs happened to be at work in the editorial offices of The Nation newspaper, when somebody dropped by to say they needed English-language content and videos for a public bus service in Bangkok. On the spot they offered him the job.

Initially hesitant about hosting a TV show – “I have a face that’s perfect for radio,” he said with a wry grin – the Australian turned what could have been a banal segment, English on the Bus, into an often hilarious and culturally insightful showcase for how to teach the language in Thai terms.

The 55-year-old parlayed those appearances into regular slots on Thai TV, hosting news programs and even a game show about learning English that turned him into a household name in Thailand by the late 1990s.

THAI WAY HIGHWAY

No longer a far-flung outpost for backpackers, Thailand has become one of the world’s greatest tourism success stories, notching up more than 30 million arrivals last year.

These are the kinds of now-and-then stories and recollections that he sometimes shares in his weekly column ‘Sanook’ (a Thai word meaning ‘fun’) in the ‘Brunch’ supplement of the Sunday Bangkok Post. It’s an entertaining read that also illuminates many murky aspects of Thai culture and history unbeknown to most foreigners.

In between running his own language school, the Andrew Biggs Academy, serving as a consultant for the Education Ministry of Thailand, working on more books and more academic degrees, the workaholic mocks his brand-name status in the kingdom, saying, “I think most of my Twitter followers just want free English lessons.”

While he still likes returning to his hometown of Brisbane for holidays, the most famous Australian living in Thailand today will not be trading in his celebrity status for a return to the limbo of anonymity in his native land any time soon.

www.andrewbiggs.com/en

LEADING BRAZILLIAN specialty coffee roaster and barista, Danilo de Andrade, has brought his love of coffee and skills to one of Australia’s most revered coffee brands, Di Bella Coffee.

In his new role as the company’s product manager, Mr de Antrade would boost Di Bella Coffee from the outset, based on his reputation for working with the widest variety of flavours “so critical for discerning coffee drinkers” according to Di Bella CEO Darren Dench.

“Danilo de Andrade has a wealth of coffee knowledge and expertise across various coffee roasting platforms and multiple award winning barista competitions – and we are excited to welcome him to our Bowen Hills (Brisbane) headquarters,” Mr Dench said. 

“Danilo is as passionate about the crop to cup process as we are, and this really defines the Di Bella coffee experience.”

Mr de Andrade developed his love of coffee in his home town of Sao Paulo, Brazil, the world’s largest producer of coffee, and then travelled the globe to develop his skills as a roaster and barista before arriving in Australia.

“Danilo has developed a strong following of devoted coffee lovers here in Australia and he will be bringing this unique skillset to our entire coffee industry supply chain,” Mr Dench said.

“Danilo’s experience and expertise is exceptional and he has finessed his knowledge and skills by working across the entire coffee process – working as a roaster, buying and sourcing green beans, working as a quality control manager, and even training others on the unique attributes and flavours that a single bean can contain.”

Mr Dench said having someone who really understood how to respect and work with the wide variety of flavours was critical for discerning coffee drinkers.

“Danilo is able to understand and leverage the flavour nuances so that blend profiles reflect differing taste profiles,” he said. “Coffee is similar to wine in this respect and the variety of tasting notes, the complexities of spices and the robustness or velvetiness of flavours need to sing together in real harmony.”

Mr Dench said Mr de Antrade would continue the journey of Di Bella Coffee by creating unique coffee blends that loyal customers can savour.

“My coffee philosophy is to retain the integrity of the bean’s origin and unlock the flavours and nuances that the growers want to amplify and that Di Bella consumers truly enjoy,” Mr de Antrade said.

Mr Dench said Di Bella Coffee was now Australia’s leading specialty coffee roaster and supports ethical and sustainable producers. He said these relationships provided access to the world’s finest coffees and were an important part of delivering the “ultimate coffee experience”. Di Bella Coffee is part of Retail Food Group.

https://dibellacoffee.com/

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