Amanda Smith

Director City Operations, Wyndham City Council

Amanda is a Chartered Engineer Executive with extensive experience in the public sector in policy, strategy, environment, operations, delivery and transformation. She has held several senior leadership roles and is currently the Director of City Operations at Wyndham City Council – one of the fastest growing Council’s in Australia.

Amanda loves the challenge of leadership in an ever-changing context and putting people, customers, community and country at the heart of everyday decisions.

Amanda has been recognised as one of the top 50 public sector leaders (2019) and she has devoted much of her career to serving the communities in Melbourne's west where she grew up and lives with her young family.

The City Operations Directorate ensures Wyndham is delivering essential services to public places and properties, including capital works projects, facility management, local laws enforcement, waste management, road and drainage maintenance, open space planning and care of our parks and gardens.

Matthew Bradbury

Business Manager - Melbourne Landscape Architecture, Spiire

Matthew’s been with Spiire since 2012 and leads the Melbourne Landscape Architecture team. With more than 17 years of industry experience, he has managed several major projects across Australia, from early conception right through to final delivery.

Through his position on the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects Victorian State Executive, and as a member of the Urban Development Institute of Australia - Victorian Innovation, Sustainability and Technology Committee, Matthew advocates for better community outcomes in the growth area suburbs.

Matthew’s particular passion lies in maximising urban tree canopy cover to create more sustainable communities.

Peter Gillham

Contestable Works Team Leader - Powercor

Peter Gillham is the Contestable Works Team Leader and has more than 40 years’ experience in the electrical distribution industry in both the corporate and private sectors.

For the last 30 years he has been involved in asset inspection together with technical standards procedures involving all aspects of electrical safety and project compliance to meet legislative requirements.

Dr Jasmine Thom

Partnerships Manager - Greater Western Water

Dr. Jasmine Thom is the Partnerships Manager at Greater Western Water overseeing liveability, education, industry, and First Nations partnerships. With a PhD in ecohydrology and 10 years experience in both research and industry, she brings a blend of academic rigor and practical expertise to the table.

She is passionate about urban water, liveability, and climate challenges and has experience working in collaboration across research, consulting, integrated water management planning, and partnerships.

Green Streets Panellists

Gerard Thurbon

A civil engineer by profession, Gerard has over 37 years experience in the water industry commencing at the Dandenong Valley Authority before its merger in the early 1990’s with the MMBW to form Melbourne Water. Gerard initially worked with the Land Development industry to ensure new properties were created and serviced with adequate drainage and protected from flooding.

At Melbourne Water, Gerard had career development opportunities in multiple roles including contributing to the original Land Development Manual & Standard Drawings, working on Corporate Strategy and implementing a new GIS System. Following this Gerard undertook a series of leadership roles including Managing Flood Warning & Floodplain Mapping and Managing Catchment Planning including overseeing the creation of the corporation’s Drainage Schemes.

During this time Gerard contributed to water reform across Melbourne with amendments to Planning Schemes as well as helping implement Stormwater Quality Best Practice Guidelines and associated works, especially the large catchment-based wetlands by working with the Land Development Industry to achieve the balance of treatment function with the amenity that the new communities value from these assets.

Gerard also served as a representative for Melbourne Water on ALDE’s liaison committee before a shift to managing Sewerage Operations and then Asset Management took him away from involvement with the development industry.

5 years ago, Gerard returned to his roots of land development at City West Water (now Greater Wester Water) and is enjoying being back working to help grow Melbourne and facilitate people into their new homes whilst ensuring access to appropriate quality water services.

Gerard enjoys fishing and exploring the remoter parts of Australia when he can and his holidays usually include four-wheel driving, visiting lighthouses, taking a trip to the islands around Australia or some combination of the above.

Chris Molloy

Chris has over 20 years of diverse experience across professional services and the water industry. After completing a Bachelor of Applied Science, Chris began his professional career as an exploration geologist in the mining sector, before transitioning to consulting where he spent >13 years as a geoservices professional primarily in delivery of site assessment and remediation projects for land development, infrastructure, petrochemical and mining sectors. During this time Chris lead numerous multi-disciplinary teams, and held roles across project & program management, business development and operational management.

After joining Barwon Water in 2018, initially as a Project Delivery Co-ordinator, Chris took up the role of Land Development Lead where he leads a team of project officers and engineers committed to supporting land development and growth – to help achieve Barwon Water’s vision for a prosperous region.

A local of the Surf Coast, outside of work Chris enjoys surfing local breaks, mountain biking in the Otway’s and coaching junior sport.

Michael Thomas

Michael Thomas is the Research and Development Lead at Barwon Water. He is Program Lead for the Intelligent Water Network (IWN) Circular Economy, and is co-chair of Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) Research and Development Network. Prior to the water sector, Michael spent 20 years as a military officer and holds a PhD in Political Science from UNSW.

More ALDE 2024 Speakers to be announced soon !