Dr Fatih Birol

As the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Dr Fatih Birol (@fbirol) has moved the Agency to the forefront of global efforts to shape a secure and affordable energy future while ensuring climate objectives are met. After taking office, Dr Birol led the IEA in its first modernisation programme since its creation in 1974. These efforts focused on broadening the IEA’s energy security focus beyond oil to also cover electricity, natural gas, renewables and critical minerals; making the IEA the global hub for advanced energy technologies; and “opening the doors” of the IEA to major emerging economies. These efforts have seen new governments join the IEA Family, resulting in the IEA’s share of global energy consumption rising from 40% to over 80%.

Dr Birol took up his position after rising through the ranks of the IEA over two decades. He joined as a junior analyst in the mid-1990s and rose to the position of Chief Economist responsible for the IEA’s flagship World Energy Outlook among other topics. Throughout his career, Dr Birol has pioneered and passionately supported efforts to expand access to electricity and to clean cooking technologies and fuels in Africa and beyond.

Dr Birol has been included in the TIME100, TIME’s annual list of the world’s most influential people, and named by Forbes as one of the most influential people in the world of energy. He is the recipient of numerous decorations, including the French Legion of Honour bestowed by the President of France, the Japanese Emperor’s Order of the Rising Sun, the highest Presidential decorations from Germany, Italy and Austria, the Order of the Polar Star from the King of Sweden and the highest Emirati decoration bestowed by the President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh bin Zayed.

Prior to joining the IEA, Dr Birol worked at the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). He earned a BSc degree in power engineering from the Technical University of Istanbul and received an MSc and PhD in energy economics from the Technical University of Vienna. He has been awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science from Imperial College London. He chairs the World Economic Forum’s (Davos) Energy Advisory Board and is an honorary life member of Galatasaray Football Club.

Tania Constable PSM

Tania Constable PSM joined the Minerals Council of Australia in July 2018 where she is proud to promote and advocate for a strong, vibrant and innovative minerals industry in Australia.

Prior to joining the MCA, Tania was Chief Executive Officer of the CO2CRC (Collaborative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies) a leading global research organisation testing carbon capture and storage low emission technologies in Australia.

Tania previously worked as chief advisor in the Personal and Retirement Income Division of Treasury, working on tax-related matters, and has had a long association with resources and energy, holding various senior executive roles in the Australian Government. Tania had responsibility for policy advice to the Minister for Industry on oil and gas regulation, exploration and development, and sustainable mining activities.

During this time Ms Constable also had the privlege of being the Australian Joint Commissioner and Sunrise Commissioner for Australia and Timor Leste, leading joint activities on the development of the Joint Petroleum Development Area and Greater Sunrise Project. She was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2014 for outstanding public service in the development of Australia's liquefied natural gas and other resource and energy industries.

Darren Stralow

Darren Stralow is a mining engineering graduate from the Western Australian School of Mines with over 20 years’ industry experience, predominantly in hard rock underground mining. 

He joined Bellevue in 2021 and has overseen the transition from explorer, to developer, and now to producer with one of Western Australia’s newest, large scale, high-grade, underground mining operations.

Darryl Cuzzubbo

Darryl Cuzzubbo is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Arafura Rare Earths. Mr Cuzzubbo has more than 30 years of experience in the global resources industry. Previous roles have included President of Olympic Dam, one of BHP’s most strategic mining and processing assets in Australia, and Group Executive and President of Auspac Asia at Orica, one of the world’s leading mining and infrastructure solutions provider. Throughout his extensive career he has been focused on delivering complex technical processing infrastructure and projects to commercial production and organisation-wide transformational change programs. Mr Cuzzubbo has a degree in Mechanical Engineering, two master’s degrees and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Sarah Watson

Sarah Watson is an accomplished environmental and sustainability professional with extensive experience in project approvals, impact assessments, feasibility and development studies, mine closure planning, and stakeholder engagement. She holds professional qualifications in environmental science and water resources management and has provided strategic leadership on major mining and infrastructure projects across Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the United Kingdom. During her 17-year tenure with Harmony, Sarah has been instrumental in advancing both operating and growth assets within the company’s Australasian portfolio.

Cameron Mitchell

Cameron Mitchell joined ANZ in 2021 to set up and manage the bank’s geopolitical risk function. In this role he coordinates the production of tailored geopolitical risk assessments and advises the board, management and clients. He assists enterprise-wide geopolitical risk management by supporting portfolio and exposure reviews, stress tests, and crisis and response planning.

He is also an invited member of the National Security College Futures Council within the Australian National University and lectures on the theory and application of geoeconomics. 

Previously, Cameron worked for HSBC in Hong Kong and London, where he was Global Head of Geopolitical Risk.

Prof James Curran

James Curran is Professor of Modern History at Sydney University and a foreign affairs columnist for the Australian Financial Review, where he was also International editor from 2023-25. James has written for major US foreign policy journals such as Foreign Affairs, Diplomatic History, The National Interest and Foreign Policy. In 2025 he delivered one of the ABC Boyer lectures. His study of Paul Keating's foreign policy will be published later this year. 

James is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs and previously held the Keith Cameron Chair in Australian history at University College Dublin. He was a Fulbright Scholar at Georgetown University in Washington DC and before academia worked in the Prime Minister's Department and the Office of National Assessments.

Michael Stutchbury

Michael Stutchbury is the Executive Director of the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS). He is the former Editor-in-Chief of The Australian Financial Review, a role he held from 2011 until 2024, when he became the masthead’s Editor-at-Large. With a career in journalism spanning several decades, and including a stint as a Washington correspondent, he is widely respected for his expertise in economic and public policy issues and his engagement with business issues. 

Before leading the Financial Review, he served as Economics Editor and later as Editor of The Australian, where he played a key role in shaping national discourse on fiscal policy, industrial relations, and economic reform.