RSS FeedMedia release
12 August 2008
Appointment of Board of the Australia-Korea Foundation
I welcome the appointment of a new Board of the Australia-Korea Foundation, with Mr David Palmer as Chairman.
The new Board will further develop and strengthen relations between Australia and Korea.
The role of the Foundation is to complement the broad economic, trade and political objectives of the Government by promoting exchanges and fostering institutional links in commerce and industry, science and technology, education, the arts, media and sport.
The relationship between Australia and Korea is one that the Australian Government is committed to enhancing.
On my 6-8 May visit to Seoul, I discussed ways to expand bilateral cooperation with President Lee Myung-bak, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Yu Myung-hwan and other senior Korean leaders.
As the Prime Minister has noted during his visit to Seoul this week, Australia and the Republic of Korea (ROK) are strong economic, political and strategic partners who share common values and interests.
We are working to build on these shared values through enhanced educational links, a new security cooperation mechanism and consideration of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement.
The ROK is Australia’s sixth largest trading partner, with two-way trade in goods and services totalling $21.8 billion in 2007. Direct personal links between our two countries are increasing, and make a significant contribution to the relationship.
Education, tourism, cultural and media exchanges have increased over the past decade.
Mr Palmer, the current Managing Director of Meat and Livestock Australia, replaces Dr Don Stammer, who has been a member of the Board since the Board's establishment in June 1992 and served as Chairman from July 2000, retiring from this role in February 2008. Mr Palmer has established strong links within the commercial sector in Korea during his regular visits there over two decades.
I also welcome new members to the Board, Mr Bernie Delaney, Dr Helen Nugent AO and Associate Professor Chung-Sok Suh, together with the reappointment of Mr Kim Dalton, Dr Rodney Hall AM, Emeritus Professor Michael Miller AO and Mr Mack Williams.
I look forward to the Foundation under Mr Palmer doing excellent work in promoting the extensive people to people links essential to our future relations with Korea.
AKF BOARD MEMBERS
Mr David Palmer, the Managing Director of Meat and Livestock Australia, has held a number of positions in the Australian red meat industries. After serving six years as Executive Director of The Cattle Council of Australia, he joined the Australian Meat & Livestock Corporation in 1995, managing food safety and quality assurance programs and then became General Manager, Industry Affairs and Communication of the newly formed Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) Limited. He left this role to be the North American Regional Manager in December 2002, representing MLA throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico from 2003-2006. In February 2006, Mr Palmer was appointed Managing Director. He is also a director of AUS-MEAT Limited and MLA Donor Company Limited.
Mr Bernie Delaney, Vice President, Government Relations, BHP Billiton has worked in export promotion for several decades, beginning his career with Austrade, including several overseas postings. He has been a member of the Australia-Korea Business Council Executive Committee since 2002.
Dr Helen Nugent AO is a full-time Non-executive Director of a number of leading Australian companies, including Macquarie Bank and Origin Energy. She has a strong interest in and commitment to education and the arts, and in 2004 was made a member of the Order of Australia.
Associate Professor Chung-Sok Suh is Director, Korea-Australasia Research Centre (KAREC) at the University of NSW. He has researched and published widely on the activities of Korean multinational corporations overseas and on corporate strategy in East Asia.
Mr Kim Dalton is Director of Television at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation coming to this role after over seven years as Chief Executive of the Australian Film Commission. His career spans the Australian and international film and television industry including work an investment manager at the Australian Film Finance corporation.
Dr Rodney Hall AM is an author with an international reputation. His books are published in several countries and translated into six languages. He has twice won Australia’s premier literary prize the Miles Franklin Award. In 1990 he was honoured with membership of the Order of Australia. In 1991 he was appointed for a three-year term as Chairman of the Australia Council.
Emeritus Professor Michael Miller AO, University of South Australia, was made a member of the Order of Australia in 2008 for service to science, particularly through leadership in the innovation and development of future-generation telecommunications technology. He is a member of a number of Boards including the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and the Sir Ross & Sir Keith Smith Foundation.
Mr Mack Williams is a former Australian Ambassador to the Republic of Korea. He was a senior Australian diplomat with a long career in Asia who returned to Sydney in 1998 to pursue interests in business and the wider Australian community. He has retained very close links with and interests in Asia – especially Korea and the Philippines.
Media inquiries: Mr Smith's office 02 6277 7500 - Departmental Media Liaison 02 6261 1555