2014 Rail Freight Conference

As the first in her family to graduate from University, Natalie’s passion for politics is driven by a commitment to equal opportunities and access to good public education. As a working mum Natalie knows firsthand the many issues facing the hard working families in her area, the importance of job security and the need for reliable local infrastructure.

Natalie has extensive experience in representing workers and the community in the many roles she has worked in. From being a waitress to a Union official, from a stay at home mum to a small business owner, from an advisor to a premier to a board member of a superannuation fund, Natalie has experience from the nappy change table to the boardroom table.

All her working life she has fought for equal rights and for job security for Victorian Workers. Since getting elected in 2010 as the Member of Parliament for Keilor in the State Parliament Natalie has been appointed as the Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations, Ports, Freight & Logistics.

Geoff’s introduction and exposure to the SCT business occurred in the early days of its maturity, occupying numerous operational roles that would provide the foundation and skill set for his future development. He then spent a number of years abroad and away from the family company working in the commercial and industrial property sector.

He returned to SCT in 1995 overseeing the procurement and development of SCT’s rail intermodal terminals in Western Australia, Victoria and South Australia.

In May 2002 Geoff was appointed CEO of the SCT group of companies and has since moved into the position of Managing Director which he currently holds today.  SCT Logistics has grown into a multi diversified rail and logistics business expanding from General Freight to include mining, Agriculture, Ports and Fuel distribution, turning over close to 500 million.

SCT has been a leader in rail innovation and the introduction of new technology whether it be the most modern rail terminals, leading edge carbon friendly locomotives or the most advanced rolling stock in Australia.

Neil Johns is Group General Manger Storage & Logistics. Storage & Logistics is GrainCorp’s grain handling business that manages on average 10 million tonnes of grain and 2 million tonnes of non-grain commodities for over 100 customers. The business encompasses 7 port terminals, 280 country silos and 14 trains across eastern Australia.

Neil has been with GrainCorp for 25 years and worked for NSW Railways for 5 years before transferring to GrainCorp in 1988.

Over this period Neil has held a number of roles in GrainCorp, including:

• GM Ports for the past 8 months; responsible for GrainCorp’s 7 port terminals that handles on average 5 million tonnes of bulk grain, 0.4 million tonnes of containerised grain and 2.3 million tonnes of non-grain products.
• Chief Development Officer for 15 years; responsible for strategy, mergers and acquisitions, investor relations and corporate affairs. In this role Neil managed the Vicgrain, Grainco, Allied Mills, UMH Malt and Gardner Smith & Integro Oils acquisitions. Neil in this role also managed a number of strategic projects, including export deregulation, moving into rail transport and woodchips.
• A number of operating roles in the first 10 years. In these roles Neil managed customer relations and marketing for S&L, managed southern NSW grain operations and set up GrainCorp Trading. Neil in this role also managed a number of major projects.

Rory MacManus is the General Manager Business at V/Line. One of the key aspects of his role is looking after V/Line’s Freight customers and their access to the regional rail network of Victoria.  A key priority for Rory and for V/Line is to grow the freight traffic task of rail throughout Victoria and to do this by working with the Freight operators, Government shareholders and other stakeholders in the Victorian Freight industry. Rory has over 10 years’ experience in Railway Asset Management, strategy development and access regimes across Australia.