Speaker Biographies
Craig Bowie FTIA is a Special Counsel at Minter Ellison. He specialises in corporate taxation, and has substantial experience in tax litigation, and in achieving negotiated outcomes with the ATO. He is a Fellow of the Taxation Institute of Australia and the Australia and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance, and is a member of the Taxation Institute of Australia’s National Corporate and CGT Technical Committees, as well as the Queensland Education and Technical Committees. In addition to his law degree, he holds a Graduate Diploma of Insurance and a Masters of Tax.
Mathew Chamberlain FTIA is an Executive Director in Ernst & Young Perth’s tax division and rejoined the practice in April 2005 after 2 years with Ernst & Young’s International Tax Services group in Sydney and a 12 month secondment on the Australian Tax Desk in New York. Since his return to Perth, Mathew has continued his focus on Australian international tax issues, especially in the resources and resources services industry. Mathew has over 14 years experience in providing tax advice to Australian and multinational corporations on a range of cross-border investments, financing structures, profit repatriation strategies, mergers and acquisitions and restructures.
Ash Chotai FTIA is a Partner at Chotais Chartered Accountants, and has in excess of 15 years experience in the provision of tax and business advice to small and medium enterprises and high net worth persons. His areas of interest include CGT, GST and business and asset structuring. Ash is the State Chair of the Taxation Institute of Australia Queensland Division and he currently represents Queensland on the Structured Education Advisory Board.
Graeme Cooper FTIA is Professor of Taxation Law at the University of Sydney and a Consultant to Greenwoods & Freehills. He has worked as a Consultant to the ATO, Treasury, Board of Taxation, OECD, World Bank and IMF. He is a frequent speaker at Taxation Institute events and has written many articles in Australian and overseas journals. He was admitted to legal practice in NSW (1980) and Victoria (1999) and practised commercial law and tax in Sydney before entering teaching. He has taught tax in Law Schools in Australia, Europe and the United States, and holds degrees from the University of Sydney, University of Illinois and Columbia University, New York.
Michael D’Ascenzo took up his role as Commissioner of Taxation on 1 January 2006. Michael joined the Tax Office in 1977 and worked in various areas, such as tax avoidance schemes, heading up the recoupment tax area and in 1986 was put in charge of international operations, becoming involved in the world’s first advanced pricing agreement. Michael also led the improvements to the self-assessment system introduced in 1992 and the from 1994 worked as Deputy Chief Tax Counsel and the Chief Tax Counsel. Prior to his appointment as Commissioner, Michael held the position of Second Commissioner (Law) and Chief Tax Counsel having an ongoing focus on the interpretation of tax law and the implementation of new tax laws, as well as corporate planning, finance and governance.
Teresa Dyson FTIA is a Partner in the Tax Group at Blake Dawson Waldron. Teresa specialises in advising on corporate tax matters, including relating to M&A activity and share sales arrangements; and on the taxation of financial arrangements and ownership and funding structures.
Brenton Ellery FTIA is Chairman of Edwards Marshall, Chartered Accountants. He is a former SA State Chairman and National Councillor of the Taxation Institute of Australia. He has presented many papers for the Taxation Institute of Australia and the accounting bodies
Megan Field FTIA is a Tax Partner at Deloitte in Adelaide with over 15 years experience in providing business and taxation advice to Australian Subsidiaries of multinationals, listed Australian Corporations as well as family-owned organisations. Megan has significant experience in advising on expatriate tax for multinational organisations and their employees and also high net worth individuals. Her experience includes advising on tax effective remuneration structuring and expatriate policies.
Don Green FTIA has more than 25 years specialist experience as a tax consulting professional. During this time, he has specialised in corporate and international taxation and has gained considerable experience in the sectors and transactions, including Project and Structured finance, especially infrastructure finance, Mergers and acquisitions, privatizations, Capital intensive industries and Capital markets transactions. Don’s expertise in the taxation of infrastructure projects has been recognised through his input to relevant NSW and Commonwealth Parliamentary Committee enquiries into the private sector investment in public infrastructure issue, and through his participation in Federal Treasury and ATO tax reform, legislation and ruling consultations.
Rob Hauker is State Manager Grants SA/NT, Export Market Development Grants. Rob has worked in Austrade in various positions for over twenty years. The last six of which have been in the above position. Prior to Austrade he was employed for eleven years by the Australian Federal Police as a Detective, involved in fraud and drugs investigation, firearms training and counter terrorism instruction.
Paul Hockridge FTIA is a Tax Partner at Deloitte in Melbourne. He lectures in post graduate tax at Melbourne University and is an Adjunct Professor at La Trobe University. Paul sits on a number of committees and has been involved in consultation with Federal and State Governments on a variety of tax issues. He is a regular author and speaker on tax matters and is often quoted in the media, particularly on business and investment structuring, estate planning and buy-sell agreements.
Sam Howard FTIA is an Executive Director with Ernst & Young with a focus on tax issues for corporate enterprises. Sam areas of practice include tax accounting, tax structuring and general advisory services. Sam has seen the evolution of the Tax Consolidation regime and has been a speaker on the topic on numerous occasions. He has assisted clients to implement the Tax Consolidation regime and is now managing clients through the regime on an ongoing basis. Sam is a member of the SA Technical Committee.
Harry Lakis FTIA graduated from the University of Queensland in 1984, then commenced his career as a Solicitor, becoming a Tax Partner at Corrs Chambers Westgarth and then at Blake Dawson Waldron. In 2005 he was admitted as a Barrister at the Queensland Bar, and continues to practice in the areas of state and federal taxes, structured and project finance, and business and corporate restructures.
Peter McKnoulty FTIA has degrees in Commerce and Law (with Honours) from the University of Queensland. He has been a partner in the Queensland Legal firm of McCullough Robertson since July 1986 having been admitted as a Solicitor in 1983. He practises in all aspects of the Commercial Law field with an emphasis on estate and succession planning, taxation, tax planning, business structuring and business law generally and is the Senior Partner in the firm’s Business and Revenue Division. He regularly lectures on a range of topics including Income Tax, CGT and tax and estate planning for a range of professional and other organisations including the Taxation Institute. He is a member of the State Council of the Taxation Institute of Australia (Queensland Division) and was Chairman in 2001/2002. Peter is also a member of the Taxation Committee of the Law Council of Australia’s Business Law Section and is Chairman of the ASX listed IT company Raw Capital Partners Limited.
Andrew Mills FTIA is Managing Director of tax specialist firm Greenwoods & Freehills Pty Limited where he advises clients on a range of domestic and international tax issues, primarily in the financial services sector. Andrew’s career spans over 25 years and includes periods in the Australian Taxation Office, as well as corporate and professional services organisations. Andrew was President of the Australian Taxation Institute for 2006/2007 and is also a part time lecturer in the Masters of Law course at the University of Sydney in taxation. Andrew is the Taxation Institute’s representative on Treasury’s Tax Treaties Advisory Panel. He has spoken and written on international tax issues in a number of forums.
Patricia Moessinger is Austrade's State Manager and Manager of the Export Adviser Network in Adelaide. Patricia has worked for Austrade for many years, both in Australia and offshore, assisting Australian companies with their export activities. Prior to moving to South Australia two years ago, Patricia was Austrade's State Manager in Tasmania. As well as time in Melbourne and in Canberra, Patricia has also served as a Trade Commissioner in Toronto, Frankfurt and Budapest.
Andrew Noolan FTIA is a Tax Director with William Buck (NSW). For the past six years he has worked within William
Buck (NSW) Tax Services to advise other accountants and lawyers on a range of income tax issues connected to business acquisitions, sales, restructures and other transactions.
Tony Pagone QC FTIA was appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria on 24 May 2007. Prior to his appointment he was a practising Barrister specialising in taxation law at the Victorian Bar. He has practised widely in commercial, constitutional, public and human rights law and has held positions on the Supreme Court of Victoria and the Australian Tax Office. He has also been a member of the Victorian Bar Council, the Taxation Institute of Australia and is a member of the Law Council BLS Executive of which he was chairman in 1999 and 2001. Tony was appointed a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne in 2002 and teaches in the postgraduate program at both the University of Melbourne and Monash University. He has been an associate and general editor for the Australian Taxation Review and is an area correspondent for the International Human Rights Reports. Tony is also a recipient of the Monash University Distinguished Alumni Award.
Brian Patterson FTIA has been practising in the tax area since 1978 and has worked across a broad range of taxes and clients in that time ranging from individual clients, small business clients as well as public companies and multinationals. For the last 20 years he has been a Partner in the tax practice of a Big 4 accounting firm and, for the last 4 of those years, has been the Partner responsible for managing the firm's tax practice's risk exposure. In that role he has worked on a range of matters where negligence has been alleged (and litigated) and been involved with developing the firm's policies and procedures to deal with existing and new risks as they have emerged, dealing with regulators, standard setters and the like on emerging issues.
Bruce Quigley FTIA has 35 years experience in the Australian Tax Office and was appointed Second Commissioner (Law) in December 2006. Bruce has overall responsibility for the Tax Office’s interpretation of the tax laws and input to the design and implementation of new laws. During his career in the Tax Office, Brice has diverse responsibilities across income tax and indirect taxes. He is considered an international expert in GST and has advised overseas jurisdictions on the implementation of GST regimes.
David Raphael FTIA practised as a Solicitor for more than 30 years and since 1995 has been an active member of the New South Wales bar. He specialised, whilst a solicitor, in revenue litigation and other revenue associated matters and was the instructing solicitor in several high profile pay-roll tax cases such as the Terry Sheilds case. He appeared as Counsel in the Denham Constructions case. As a Solicitor he was regarded as an expert in conveyancing practice and gave evidence in a number of cases on that subject. He was, whilst a Solicitor, the speaker on Australian revenue law at meetings of the UIA in Quebec and in Switzerland and France in various years as well as for the International Bar Association in Singapore in 1987. He has delivered a number of papers for the Institute of Taxation and Trust Law matters over the past 5 years. He lectured in advanced revenue law at the University of New South Wales from 1980-1986 and was visiting lecturer in conveyancing and property law and trusts during that period. He has published numerous articles on revenue law topics in the Australian Tax Review and Taxation in Australia. He has also published a number of articles on the law of trusts in the Australian Law Journal and is likewise the author of a number of “notes” for the conveyancing section of that journal
Mark Robertson FTIA Barrister, Sir Harry Gibbs Chambers, Ground Floor, Wentworth Chambers. Mark is in his 12th year at the Bar, practising in Brisbane and Sydney. He acts for and against State and Commonwealth revenue authorities, and has been involved in many recent Trust cases. Mark is a regular presenter for the Taxation Institute and is a member of a number of taxation committees including the Taxation Institute’s State Council and Education Committee and has published a number of articles.
David Russell QC FTIA is admitted to practise in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Courts of the Dubai International Financial Centre. He was first appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1986 and holds that office in all the above Australian jurisdictions. He currently practices in Sydney (Ground Floor Wentworth Chambers) and Brisbane (Sir Harry Gibbs Chambers) with a principal focus on revenue law generally. He has acted for Commonwealth and State Governments as well as individuals and corporations. He has had a long connection with the Taxation Institute of Australia including being its President from 1993 to 1995 and President of the Asia Oceania Tax Consultants Association from 1996 to 2000.
Ken Schurgott FTIA is a Partner of Cosoff Cudmore Knox Lawyers and is a highly experienced practitioner in all areas of taxation law, including CGT and GST, FBT and State Taxes, taxation audits, taxation of trusts, administrative law, interpretation of accounting standards, and business and asset structuring. Ken is a National Councillor of the Taxation Institute and a member of the Board of Taxation’s advisory panel and a Governor of the Australian Taxation Research Foundation.
Peter Siebels FTIA is a Corporate Tax Partner at KPMG. He is currently the leader of KPMG South Australia’s Government practice and KPMG’s National Forestry Practice. Peter is also a member of KPMG’s National Energy and Natural resource Executive. Peter has advised a large number of agribusiness participants, particularly in the forestry, wine and traditional farming sectors. Peter is a past State Chairman of the Taxation Institute of Australia’s South Australian State Council.
Ian Stanley FTIA is a Barrister specialising in income tax and related matters. Ian has advised extensively in relation to capital raisings, capital management and cross border and domestic financing transactions. He has also lectured part time on the Taxation of Financial Arrangements, offered as part of the postgraduate programme by the University of Sydney
Miquel Timmers career in tax commenced in 1984, immediately prior to the introduction of FBT and CGT. Since then he has been an adviser with two Big-4 firms and a Partner in Deloitte’s Sydney tax practice where he represented the firm on its global tax risk management and governance development committee. Mike has headed up the tax groups of two ASX-listed mining groups and was the Assistant Director of the Corporate Tax Association during the most intensive business tax reform period post-1984. Mike is currently the Group Tax Executive of the Goodman Group. His role encompasses responsibility for Goodman’s global tax risk management systems and controls.
Ronen Vexleris a Partner in the Melbourne Corporate Tax Practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers. He has been advising a broad range of clients on tax effect accounting issues for over 8 years and has developed extensive expertise in dealing with both technical and practical issues in this area, particularly relating to implementation of new accounting standards and dealing with the tax effect accounting consequences of corporate tax reform.
Sue Williamson FTIA is a Tax Partner at Clayton Utz. She practises in most major revenue law including income tax, capital gains tax and indirect taxes. Sue's experience in the tax disputes area includes handling Revenue reviews/audits from the commencement of the review/audit through to negotiation and settlement of disputed issues including the document management stage, witness review and preparation, issuing declaratory proceedings, FOI applications, negotiation and settlement. She also has significant tax litigation experience including experience with matters in the High Court, Federal Court, State Supreme Court and Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Lachlan Wolfers FTIA is Tax Partner at KPMG Sydney. His specialties include GST and CGT issues for the property industry. Lachlan is the current National Chairman of the Taxation Institute’s GST and Indirect Tax Committee, and a member of the ATO’s NTLG GST Subcommittee. Lachlan is also the co-author of Cooper’s TLP Capital Gains Tax, an author of the Australian Tax Handbook, and is a regular contributor of articles to publications such as the Australian Financial Review, Business Review Weekly, Weekly Tax Bulletin, inTAX magazine and the Australian GST Journal.