Events

Back to Events

Upcoming Events

Australian British Resilience Summit | Brisbane 2026

Date and Time

Wednesday 21, October 2026

08:15 - 16:00 AEDT

Location

Customs House, River Room, 399 Queen Street, , Brisbane City QLD, Australia

About the event

Conference

Join us in Brisbane for the third and final summit in the Chamber's 2026 National Resilience Series.

Building on the conversations held in Perth and Sydney, and hosted at the beautiful Customs House Brisbane, this Summit brings a distinctly Queensland perspective to the risks and opportunities shaping Australia's future resilience.

Throughout the day, senior leaders from business, government, academia and investment will explore the global economic outlook and its implications for trade, investment and capital allocation, alongside discussions on defence and diplomacy, energy and fuel security, infrastructure, water and climate policy.

The programme will also examine transport and supply chain resilience, the growing significance of space and communications, and the rapid rise of data centres and sovereign data. It will provide an open forum for frank discussion, practical insights and cross-sector perspectives on the challenges confronting Australia today.

Session Outline	Speaker(s)
Welcome and Opening Remarks	Penny Hall, Board Director, Australian British Chamber of Commerce; Business & Markets Director – ANZ, Arup
Keynotes and Panel Discussion Global Economic Outlook	Justin McGowan, Chief Executive Officer, Trade Investment Queensland Paul Bloxham, Chief Economist, Australia, New Zealand and Global Commodities, HSBC Dr Brian Jones, UK Chargé d’affaires to Australia Moderated by Karyn Ferguson, Director, Chief Financial Officer, Morgans
Panel Discussion Defence & Diplomacy	Brigadier Jennifer KF Harris CSC, Commander of the 7th Brigade, Defence Government, Australian Army Lieutenant General (Retd) Sir David Eastman KBE, Global Defence Capability Director, Mott MacDonald Peter Varghese, Ex-Chancellor, The University of Queensland Don Roach AM, Chief Operating Officer, EPE Moderated by Ticky Fullerton, Chief Executive Officer, Australian British Chamber of Commerce
In-Conversation Climate Management	Brendan Moon, Former Director General, National Emergency Management Agency With Samantha Reichmann, Partnerships Manager, Australian British Chamber of Commerce
Panel Discussion Priorities and Tough Decisions	Matthew Brine, Deputy Secretary, Energy Group, Department of Climate Change, Energy & Environment and Water Matt Hill, Chief Executive Officer, Hypersonix Launch Systems Moderated by Kiki Pattendon, Global Water Resources Lead and Queensland Water and Environment Lead, Mott MacDonald
Industry Keynote	Adam Maccanti, Vice President, Supply Midstream & B2B, bp Australia
Panel Discussion Fuel & Energy Security	Professor Adrian Panow, Director of the Energy Transition Network and Industry Professor, The University of Queensland Dinesh Bishop, Head of Operations – BHP Mitsubishi Alliance Frere Byrne, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, PlasmaLeap Technologies Mac Irvine, Chief Financial Officer, Jet Zero Moderated by Phil Davies, Chair, Australian British Infrastructure Catalyst; Executive Director, Jacobs
State Minister Address	The Hon Jarrod Bleijie MP, Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning and Minister for Industrial Relations
Panel Discussion Transport and the Supply Chain	Andrew Harding, Chief Executive Officer, Aurizon Celeste Barrell, Queensland State Manager, Rohlig Logistics Australia Captain Peter Court, Director, Australian Overseas Marine
Panel Discussion Aerospace: A Wake Up Call	Professor Neil Hart AM, Air Vice-Marshal (retd), Australian Defence Force; Industry Professor - Defence and National Security, The University of Queensland Simon Meik, Deputy Head of Satellites, Gilmour Space Technologies Cristian Di Fabio, Director & Co-Founder, Delta Tango Advisory
Panel Discussion Data Centres	Liam Kearns, Principal Mechanical Engineer, Cundall Martin Petts, Head Asia-Pacific and Oceania, F24 James Kruger, Executive Chairman of Powerhouse Ventures Angus McNicol, General Manager, APAC, AutogenAI