president's breakfast

Thank you to the 115 delegates who attended our annual President’s Breakfast. The Breakfast offers us an opportunity to thank our valued Partners and sponsors for their ongoing support. The 2020 President’s Breakfast was filled with lively conversation and a record number of delegates.

For the second year, we welcomed councils and organisations via live stream and we thank hosts, Goondiwindi Regional Council, Gladstone Regional Council, Mackay Regional Council, Gympie Regional Council, Moreton Bay Regional Council and OneEng. It's great to have so many of you engaged with us for the first event of the year.

Our new President, Craig Murrell has chosen Rural Aid as the charity for his term. Rural Aid is one of the largest rural charities in Australia. It's focus is twofold: to provide support to farmers and rural communities in times of natural disaster as well as supporting the sustainability of the agricultural sector. Thank you to C.R. Kennedy for donating a hotly-contested drone, and raising just over $900 for Rural Aid. Congratulations to Ged Brennan from GenEng Solutions on his victory!

We were privileged to honour four members who had achieved a 40 year milestone membership: Councillor Robert Fredman, John Derbyshire, Michael Pickering and Chris Lawson. And we were thrilled to have Derek Stringfellow, a founding member who celebrated 50 years membership this month. Thank you all for continuing your long association with our institute.

The keynote presentation this year was delivered by our 2019 Engineer of the Year, Marie Gales, Manager Transport Planning and Operations of Brisbane City Council. Marie gave an inspirational and honest perspective on diversity. 

We were also pleased to be joined by Craig Eldridge from Noosa Council which won the 2019 IPWEAQ Project of the Year award for the Noosa Park Road Boardwalk. Craig delivered a presentation on this multi-award winning project. 

The President's Breakfast was a wonderful way to start what is sure to be a very exciting year!