DISCLOSURE OF POTENTIALLY RELEVANT ROLES & INTERESTS - SOCIO-ECONOMIC MODELLING ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The Royal Commission has established a Socio-Economic Modelling Advisory Committee for the purpose of guiding the economic and financial analyses which will be undertaken by the Commission during the course of its inquiries.

The Committee provides assistance to the Commission by:

providing advice on the development of the financial and economic analyses required by the Commission;
reviewing and providing comments on the analyses to be undertaken by the Commission’s contractors; and
reviewing and providing assistance to the Commission in interpreting the results of the analyses.

Each member of the Committee and a brief description of his or her background is outlined below. Further, information is also available as to each member’s:

current employment, consulting or research activities which may be relevant to the Commission’s Terms of Reference (current potentially relevant activities);
employment, consulting or research activities carried out in the last five years which may be relevant to the Commission’s Terms of Reference (potentially relevant activities in the last five years); and
interests, being direct pecuniary interests or interests arising by association with organisations or professional associations, which may be relevant to the Commission’s Terms of Reference (other potentially relevant interests). It does not include indirect pecuniary interests such as shares held by a superannuation fund in which the member has an account.

Professor Ken Baldwin – Director of the Energy Change Institute and Deputy Director of the Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University (ANU)
Professor Baldwin is an inaugural ANU Public Policy Fellow, and winner of the 2004 Australian Government Eureka Prize for Promoting Understanding of Science, for his role in initiating and championing “Science meets Parliament”. In 2007, Professor Baldwin was awarded the W.H. Beattie Steele Medal, the highest honour of the Australian Optical Society. In 2010 he was awarded the Barry Inglis Medal by the National Measurement Institute for excellence in precision measurement. Professor Baldwin is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Institute of Physics (UK), the Optical Society of America and the Australian Institute of Physics.
Current potentially relevant activities:
- Director, Energy Change Institute, ANU
Potentially relevant activities in the last five years:
- Since, 2011, member of the Project Steering Committee for the Australian Energy Technology Assessment produced by the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE) in the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism.
Other potentially relevant interests
- Nil
Professor Mike Young – Professor, Faculty of Professions, University of Adelaide
Professor Young holds a Research Chair in Water and Environmental Policy at the University of Adelaide, was the Founding Executive Director of its Environment Institute, is a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and is a Distinguished Fellow of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society. Prior to joining University of Adelaide, he spent 30 years with CSIRO.
In 2013/14, he held that Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser Chair in Australian Studies at Harvard University where he taught a course on the design, development and implementation of transformational policy reforms.
Professor Young is best known for his contribution to the development of natural resource and environmental policies. In recent times, his research has focused on the use and design of market-based instruments with attention to water. He has played a critical role in the consideration of options for the Murray Darling Basin. Internationally, he is known for his capacity to integrate biophysical and economic information to produce innovative policy proposals that catalyze change.
Current potentially relevant activities:
- Professor, Research Chair, Water and Environmental Policy, University of Adelaide
- Research Fellow, Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University
- Member, Technical Committee, Global Water Partnership
- Honorary Professor with the University College London
Potentially relevant activities in the last five years:
- Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Water Security
Other potentially relevant interests
- Nil
Professor Paul Kerin – Professor and Head of School of Economics, University of Adelaide
Professor Kerin’s career has spanned academic, business, media, public policy, regulatory and not-for-profit sectors. Former roles include Professorial Fellow in Strategy at Melbourne Business School, Managing Director of A.T. Kearney in Australia and New Zealand, columnist with The Australian, CEO of the Essential Services Commission of South Australia, Chairman of Prahran Market and various non-executive directorships.
Professor Kerin has a Ph.D. in Business Economics and A.M. from Harvard University and Honours (First-class) and Masters Degrees in Economics from the University of Adelaide. His research focuses on applied microeconomics topics, particularly in relation to optimisation of network systems (such as grain handling and transport systems and urban transport systems).
Current potentially relevant activities:
- Professor, Head of School of Economics, University of Adelaide
Potentially relevant activities in the last five years:
- CEO, Essential Services Commission of South Australia
Other potentially relevant interests
- Nil
Professor Quentin Grafton – Chairholder UNESCO Chair in Water Economics and Transboundary Water Governance, Australian National University (ANU)
Professor Grafton was appointed the Chairholder, the UNESCO Chair in Water Economics and Transboundary Water Governance in April 2010. He has served in numerous advisory roles and expert panels in Australia and overseas, including as Chair of the Social and Economics Reference Panel of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission.
Professor Grafton has an abiding interest in the problems of the environment and public policy, especially the overexploitation and management of renewable resources (particularly fisheries and water), and the economics of energy and also the economics of non-renewable resources. He has published more than 100 scholarly articles in some of the world’s leading journals in economics and the life sciences (such as Science and Nature Climate Change), more than 30 chapters in books and over a dozen edited or co-authored books.
Current potentially relevant activities:
- Professor, Chairholder UNESCO Chair in Water Economics and Transboundary Water Governance
- Director, Food, Energy, Environment and Water (FE2W) Network
Potentially relevant activities in the last five years:
- Chair of the International Expert Group on Geothermal Energy
- Chief Economist and Executive Director of the Australian Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics
- Member, National Council on Education for Sustainability
Other potentially relevant interests
- Nil
Professor Sue Richardson – Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor, Flinders University
Professor Richardson has been a Principal Research Fellow at Flinders University since 2008. Her prime research interests are in inequality and the functioning of the labour market-particularly the ageing workforce, skill shortages, immigration, social inclusion and the links between work and health.
Professor Richardson has been a part-time Commissioner with the Industry Commission, Convener of the Academic Board and a member of the Council of the University of Adelaide and of its Finance Committee, on the Rhodes Scholarship selection committee, a member of the Ministerial Inquiry into Skills in South Australia and co-editor of the Economic Record.
Current potentially relevant activities:
- Professor, Principal Research Fellow, Flinders University
Potentially relevant activities in the last five years:
- Member of National Sustainability Council
- Member of Commonwealth Expert Panel on Climate Futures
Other potentially relevant interests
- Nil