The Hon. Richard Marles MP is the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Minister for Defence and the Federal Member for Corio.

Richard was first elected to the House of Representatives for Corio, Victoria in 2007.

Richard's previous ministerial appointments include Minister of Trade, Minister for Employment, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Parliamentary Secretary for Innovation and Industry, and Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Affairs.

Born in 1967, Richard was raised and educated in Geelong and went on to study Law and Science, achieving a LLB (Hons) and a BSc from the University of Melbourne.

Richard lives in Geelong with his wife Rachel and has four children, Sam, Isabella, Harvey and Georgia.

He is a devoted Geelong Cats supporter, golf fanatic, a keen photographer, a snowdome collector and local history enthusiast.

The Hon. Pat Conroy MP is the Minister for Defence Industry, Minister for International Development and the Pacific and the Federal Member for Shortland.

Pat was elected to the House of Representatives as the Member for Charlton in 2013 and, following an electoral redistribution, as the Member for Shortland in 2016 and again in 2019 and 2022.

From 2016 to 2019, Pat was Shadow Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy and Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure. In 2019, he was appointed Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Shadow Minister Assisting for Defence and Shadow Minister Assisting for Climate Change and Energy.

From 2008 to 2013, he was Principal Policy Adviser and then Deputy Chief of Staff to the Hon. Greg Combet, AM, MP, who served as a Minister in the Rudd and Gillard Labor Governments. In these roles, Pat worked in developing significant policies in areas including Defence Materiel, Defence Science and Industry and Innovation.

Born in 1979, Pat was raised on the NSW Central Coast and went on to study Economics at the University of Sydney, graduating with Honours in 2000.

Pat is married with two children and lives in his electorate of Shortland which covers the Eastern Lake Macquarie area and the Northern Central Coast. He enjoys cooking, playing rugby union and watching rugby league.

Christopher served in the Australian House of Representatives from 1993-2019. During this time, he was in the Liberal Party Leadership Group for 10 years, Leader of the House of Representatives for six years, and served in Cabinet for six years.

He was a Minister in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments, holding the portfolios of Ageing, Education, Industry Innovation and Science, Defence Industry and Defence.

Christopher is Chairman of consulting firm Pyne and Partners, Vision 2020, the Australia United Arab Emirates Business Council, the Advisory Board of munitions and weapons company, NIOA, the Australian Missile Corporation and the SA Governors Council of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia, and a Director of the International Centre for Democratic Partnerships and its Foundation.

He is an Industry Professor in the University of South Australia Business School.

He is the author of two books - “A Letter to my Children” (2015) and “The Insider” (2020).

Christopher lives in Aldgate in South Australia and is married to Carolyn and is the father of Eleanor, Barnaby, Felix and Aurelia.

Kate joined the Australian Industry Group in 2017 following an extensive career in the Department of Defence.

Kate joined the Department of Defence as a graduate in 1997. She has extensive experience with Defence capability development, acquisition, contestability and industry policy. Her final position with Defence was First Assistant Secretary Defence Industry Policy Division where Kate was responsible for the effective implementation of the Government’s approach to Defence Industry policy.

As the Executive Director of the Ai Group Defence Council, Kate has the privilege of working with industry and Defence to provide trusted policy advice and help build the Defence and industry partnership.

Kate has a Bachelor of Laws (1st Class Honours) and Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University.

A retired Rear Admiral of the Royal Australian Navy, Mark is an exceptional leader with a track record managing complex capital and in-service support programs at the whole-of-government level. Mark has supported some of Defence Australia’s largest and most complex acquisition and sustainment undertakings. Mark also has recent experience as Vice President and Executive Director at Italian defense company Fincantieri, where he provided deep specialist knowledge of organizational reform, information technology infrastructure, digital strategy, engineering and global sustainment for the establishment of a subsidiary company in Australia.

Peter Jennings is a Director of Strategic Analysis Australia and the Principal of Peter Jennings Strategy Consultants Pty Ltd, providing strategic advice to several Australian and international businesses and to Commonwealth agencies. He is a member of the international Public Sector Advisory Council for Fortinet and a columnist for The Australian newspaper.

Peter was the executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) for a decade between 2012 and 2022. He worked in senior roles in the Australian Public Service on defence and national security, including being Deputy Secretary for Strategy in the Defence Department (2009-12); Chief of Staff to the Minister for Defence (1996-98) and Senior Adviser for Strategic Policy to the Prime Minister (2002-03). From 2014 to 2016 Peter was appointed to lead an expert panel on the 2016 Defence White Paper.

Peter has a Masters degree in Management from London Business School (2000–2001), a Master of Arts in International Relations from the Australian National University (1987) and a BA (Honours) in History from the University of Tasmania (1980–1984). He was a Fulbright Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1985).

In January 2023 Peter was made an Officer in the Order of Australia for “distinguished service to the development of strategic and international policy, and to public affairs.”

With a career spanning over 30 years in both the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and defence industry, Brent has held a variety of senior roles from project management to executive management in small, medium and large Defence companies including BAE Systems Australia, Thales Australia, SAAB Systems and Sonartech Atlas.

In November 2018 Brent established his own consulting company, working with the Canadian Government and a variety of both Australian and Foreign owned companies.

In May 2020 Brent accepted the role as CEO of AIDN National, an Australian Industry advocacy organisation.

Brent was appointed as interim CEO of Naval Group Australia in March 2016, prior to this appointment he was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Director for Strategy and Communications and Human Resources (HR) at Naval Group Australia. In his role as COO, Brent was responsible for managing Naval Group’s relationships with the Department of Defence and State and Federal Government officials. Brent also acted as the spokesperson for the organisation and liaised regularly with Australian trade and daily media and presented on behalf of Naval Group at external conferences and industry briefings.

Prior to joining Naval Group, Brent worked for BAE Systems, as the Head of Business Development, Strategy and Communications, Maritime, before joining BAE Systems, Brent was the Vice President, Thales Naval Business Group for Thales Australia.

Brent has also worked for SAAB Systems and Sonartech Atlas.

Brent served in the Royal Australian Navy for 11 years and qualified as a submariner, serving in HMA Submarines Onslow, Farncomb, Ovens and Otway, as well as serving in a variety of other surface naval vessels.

Brent is a board member of the Australian Maritime College, which is part of the University of Tasmania and a Director of Hockey Australia.

Brent is a graduate of Queensland University, holds a Master of Business Administration. Brent has four daughters and lives in Canberra.

Maroun is the Executive Director for Industry and Investment Partnerships at Investment NSW.

Prior to joining Investment NSW, Maroun worked in the medical technology and financial services industry where he held Senior Executive roles leading teams focused on commercial excellence including the management of key strategic partnerships in public and private health across ANZ. Prior to MedTech, Maroun spent 15 years in Banking and Finance, again leading business development, account management and operations teams in Institutional, Government and Corporate Banking segments.

Steve has an extensive career across government, defence industry and advocacy, having previously worked for cabinet ministers at both Federal and State levels, most recently as an advisor to the Minister for Defence Industry and Minister for Science and Technology. He returns to Defence Connect bringing additional experience working with a US prime defence contractor.

Through his career Steve has also spent time as the National Policy and Government Affairs advisor for a peak industry body and time as Editor and Analyst with Defence Connect. Steve has a Masters of International Relations and Bachelor’s degree in History and Politics; he is currently studying a Graduate Diploma of Economics with the University of New England.

William heads commercial expansion for Momentum defence and security business, and is responsible for the growth of a range of market and business intelligence platforms connected to this portfolio, including Defence Connect and Cyber Security Connect. William is an experienced sales executive with extensive knowledge working in government and policy-related industries. He has worked closely with numerous organisations, from large multinationals to government and the SME sector, to support business growth initiatives.

Liam began his career as a speech writer at New South Wales Parliament before working for world leading campaigns and research agencies in Sydney and Auckland. Throughout his career, Liam has managed and executed international media and communications campaigns spanning politics, business, industrial relations and infrastructure. He’s since shifted his attention to researching and writing extensively on geopolitics and defence. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sydney and a Masters in Strategy and Security with Excellence from UNSW Canberra, with a thesis on post-truth, postmodernism and disinformation operations.