Bruce Miller has been appointed to the FIRB after the untimely passing of David Irvine. A changing of the guard has taken place at JLL with a new CEO now onboard while RLB has created a new role.
The Federal Government has appointed Bruce Miller AO to the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) for a five-year term. From 2011 until 2017, Miller served as Australia’s Ambassador to Japan, with his career in the Australian Government spanning more than 30 years, including high roles in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Office of National Assessments, including Deputy Director General from 2009 to 2011, and Director General in 2017. The appointment comes after the untimely death of David Irvine AO. Irvine served as Chair of the FIRB from 2017 to 2022.
A changing of the guard at global real estate services firm, JLL, as Dan Kernaghan has been announced as Chief Executive Officer of the firm’s Australian and New Zealand operations. He succeeds Stephen Conry, who announced in January that he would step down as CEO of JLL after 13 years in the position. Kernaghan is an accomplished property leader who has had several senior leadership roles since joining JLL in 2006, 16 years ago. He was appointed as Head of NSW Office Leasing in 2015 and then promoted to lead the NSW business operations as Managing Director in 2018. His vision and entrepreneurial style enabled him to lead JLL’s NSW operations to record growth. Kernaghan has been a member of Property Council of NSW’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee in the past. JLL has also brought on board, Mark Silva, who joins JLL’s Industrial & Logistics – Occupier Services in the role of Director, with 17 years of experience in the property industry. In the past six months, JLL has expanded its NSW Industrial & Logistics Agency team and further bolstered its capabilities with the strategic appointments of five market experts, Mark Silva, Aston D’Alfonso, Matt Pizzonia, Chiara Liucci and Rebecca Emeny.
In a newly created role, Syidah Arnold has been appointed as RLB’s new Associate Digital Lead. Arnold will spearhead the digital agenda for RLB in NSW to develop innovation and capabilities in this newly formed post. She will handle digital strategy in accordance with the firm’s emphasis on strategic digital thinking to adapt to the construction industry’s ever-changing digital world.
Melanie Kurzydlo has joined APP as Executive Manager, Project Management, from Growthbuilt. Melanie will be responsible for leading the national Project Management business strategy and service offering, reporting to Group Chief Executive Officer Adam Castro. Kurzydlo most recently oversaw the business growth and enterprise strategy at Growthbuilt, offering leadership to both clients and team members as well as impacting important front end, tender, design, development, and project phasing. She currently serves on the boards of the GWS Giants Foundation and the University of NSW Foundation Limited. She is also involved with the Property Council of Australia, where she supports the initiatives 500 Women in Property and PCA Girls in Property.
Camille Wynter has been appointed as the head of Australian research for environmental, social, and governance issues at investment bank UBS, joining from CBA. She formerly worked in AMP Capital’s sustainable finance division, where she was responsible for analysing ESG concerns and sustainability drivers in Australian and worldwide stocks.
Siobhan Toohill has begun a new job as Westpac’s chief sustainability officer. She was formerly the bank’s group head of sustainability for the preceding nine years.
Bronwyn Cooper has joined QIC Real Estate as the company’s new head of marketing. Cooper joins the company from Scentre Group.
Element has promoted Lewis Shugar and James Lewisson into the role of Associate -Planning.
Global engineering design and consulting firm Arcadis has beefed up its Brisbane and Melbourne offices. Paul Allan, Arcadis’ Brisbane-based client development leader, will take up the post of cities director – Brisbane, overseeing Arcadis’ participation in significant urban projects commissioned in south-east Queensland ahead of the 2032 Olympic Games. Also joining the team is, Melissa Bellis who joins as business area sales director – places, where she will be in charge of managing Arcadis’ national pursuit of built environment and urban infrastructure design and consultancy contracts.
Cushman & Wakefield, a prominent global real estate services business, announced the purchase of Sheffield Property, a renowned office leasing and property management agency located in Perth, Western Australia. Sheffield Property’s staff will join Cushman & Wakefield, managed by Mark Clapham and Digby Sutherland. The duo has been named to oversee Cushman & Wakefield’s Western Australian Commercial Real Estate division, reporting to the national leadership team.