Resilient Australia #2 - Supply Lines and Life Lines

As global disruptions deepen and economic pressures intensify, Australia faces hard choices in protecting the supply lines that underpin national security and prosperity. Recent shocks to global logistics have underscored the fragility of traditional systems, while geographic realities demand smarter, more resilient connections across the Indo-Pacific. This event series brings together leading voices from policy, defence, academia and industry to unpack how Australia can secure critical flows of goods, services and information in an era of uncertainty.

Resilient Australia is a new event series exploring how Australia can strengthen its national resilience in an era of growing geopolitical uncertainty, technological disruption, and strategic competition. Through conversations with experts, UNSW will explore the challenges and opportunities facing Australia’s security landscape and how we can build a more self-reliant, adaptable and future-ready nation.

Margaret is an accomplished leader with expertise spanning defence, national security, transport, logistics, aviation, aerospace, cultural change, and organisational transformation.

She began her career as a military logistician with the Royal Australian Air Force, rising to the rank of Air Vice Marshal and serving as Commander Joint Logistics and Commandant of the Australian Defence Force Academy.

Transitioning from the military, Margaret led significant transformations as CEO and Managing Director of Air Services Australia, focusing on air safety, navigation technology, and cultural change.

In April 2020, Margaret was appointed as the Australian Government Freight Controller in her capacity as Air Vice Marshal (Reservist), overseeing the International Freight Assistance Mechanism, a crucial COVID-19 response program. In addition to facilitating outbound airfreight, she prioritised securing inbound freight, including critical medical supplies and personal protective equipment, in the national interest.

In 2024, she was appointed as the Independent Chair of the Australian Logistics Council, where she continues to reshape the face of the logistics industry.

Daniel is currently Associate Professor of Buyer-Supplier Engagement and Director of the Supply Chain Sustainment Research Group at UNSW Canberra. Daniel specialises buyer-supplier relationships as these relate to strategic procurement, logistics management, business-to-business marketing, strategic sales and communications among other areas.

He is a member of UNSW Cyber and has held visiting appointments at Cranfield University, UK, and the University of Texas at Austin, USA. Between 2017 and 2019, Daniel was Professor of Strategic Sales Management, Co-Director of the Centre for Strategic Marketing and Sales, Director of the Executive MBA and Director of the Key Account Management and Strategic Sales Forum at Cranfield University UK. Prior to this, he was on the faculty in the School of Business at UNSW Canberra. Daniel has worked in industry for companies such as KPMG, Acer Computer Australia and Communications Design and Management.

Daniel is active on a range of corporate and not-for-profit boards, and, as a marketing strategy consultant and mentor for industry, particularly in new product development, complex systems implementations and in strategy.

Chris is a political historian, AGSM alumna and currently a Professor at the University of Canberra's Faculty of Business Government and Law.

Chris is a longstanding member of the Canberra Press Gallery, and her political analysis and commentary currently appears in Nikkei Asia, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Saturday Paper and The Conversation. In 2020 and 2021, she was the National Archives of Australia Cabinet Historian for the release of the 2000 and 2001 Cabinet papers.

Her latest book, Political Lives: Australian prime ministers and their biographers (UNSW Press, 2023), was shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Prize in History.

Contact

For more information or if you have any questions, please reach out to the the UNSW Canberra External Engagement Team at [email protected] or on +61 2 5114 5017.

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