Federal Executive

PROFILE: John Tanner
Federal President, The Nationals

John Tanner owns and operates a small business in Benalla, north-eastern Victoria, which he started over 30 years ago.  As a local resident with a client base of country people, John understands first hand the issues facing people in rural areas.

With a commitment to sustaining and enhancing country communities John has used his industry knowledge and experience to strongly advocate for small business opportunities and regional development.  He was a country delegate in the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce 1990-1994, a member of the State Executive Australian Small Business Association 1990-1994 and as State Chairman of the Timber Industry Road Evaluation Study in 1996. John has also served as a Board member of the North East Regional Water Board 1997-2001, Delatite Economic Board 1998-2000 and Benalla & District Hospital 1999-2002. He was also a Local Government Commissioner in the Shire of Delatite 1994–1997.

With a history of strong involvement in community activities, John was awarded a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellowship in 1994 in recognition of his outstanding leadership and contribution to the community during the devastating floods which affected Benalla.  John continues his community work and since 2000 has been actively involved as a Director of the Portsea Camp, formally the Lord Mayor’s Children’s Camp.

John’s involvement with The Nationals has evolved over many years. From local Branch President, Campaign Chairman and State Councillor, John works tirelessly to promote the democratic values and processes we enjoy in Australia.  His strategic management capabilities, vision for the party and commitment are demonstrated in his six years as State President of Victoria 2000–2006, serving 12 months as Federal Vice-President concurrently.  John was elected as Federal President in 2006.

PROFILE: Brad Henderson
Federal Director, The Nationals

Brad Henderson was appointed Federal Director of The Nationals in June 2007.  As Federal Director, he is responsible for directing The Nationals’ Federal election campaigns, administration of the Party’s Federal organisation, and providing political support to the Party’s Parliamentarians, candidates and Federal Management Committee.

Prior to this, Brad served as the Party’s State Director in Queensland.  He was The Nationals’ Campaign Director for the successful 2006 Gaven by-election and the Queensland election later that year.  He has worked on a string of other election campaigns in various capacities and served in a range of party positions since joining The Nationals in 1992. 

From 2003 to early 2005 Brad ran his own consultancy specialising in government relations, rural policy and marketing, and worked as Marketing Coordinator with his alma mater, The University of Queensland in its Faculty of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Veterinary Science. 

He was employed as a policy adviser with Rob Borbidge’s Nationals-led Coalition Government in Queensland from 1996-98 before going on to work in senior policy and media advisory roles to Nationals Leaders Rob Borbidge and Mike Horan between 1998 and 2003.

Brad started his career in Queensland’s beef industry, first as a jackaroo and feedlot hand, then as Research Officer with the Cattlemen’s Union of Australia after graduating from university.

Born in Biloela, Queensland, Brad is married to Tracy.  He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science from The University of Queensland and his interests include horse racing, cricket, tennis and music.

PROFILE: Larry Anthony
Senior Vice-President, The Nationals

Larry comes from a political family who collectively have served over 55 years representing the Nationals as Members of the House of Representatives.  The Anthony family come from Northern NSW and have been actively involved in the community, agricultural sector and supporting regional Australia for many decades.  Larry has held numerous branch and executive positions in the NSW Nationals.

Prior to entering politics Larry has held a range of jobs from Jackeroo to Investment Banking to venture capital projects in the Rail sector.

He served as the member for Richmond from 1996 -2004 and during that period held numerous Ministerial Portfolios mostly in the Social Security sector.

Since leaving politics Larry has become a full time non executive Director with numerous Public and Private companies ranging from Education/Childcare, Media, Banking and the IT sector. He serves as Chairman and Board member on a number of Credit Union Trade Associations and is Chairman of the Duke of Edinburgh Award in Australia and Deputy to the International Awards UK.

Larry holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from UNSW and is a Fellow of AIDC and FINSA. He is married with three young children and is dedicated to helping young Australians and children reach their true potential.

PROFILE: Pam Stallman
Federal Secretary, The Nationals

Pam Stallman was elected Federal Secretary of The Nationals in 2005.

Pam has been an active participant in politics at the local, state and federal levels.  She has always worked hard to engage her community in the political process and is a keen advocate for women's involvement in conservative politics.

Pam first got involved in The Nationals in 1978 when she joined the Young Nationals.  She went on to start a Women’s Branch in the Condamine area and served the Party in a range of roles over subsequent years, including Senior Vice President of The Nationals – Queensland, President of The Nationals – Queensland Women’s Section and President of the Women's Federal Council.  She organised the first National's Forum on Women in Politics, drawing together all the Party's female Parliamentarians and political aspirants from across the country to share their experiences and discuss the challenges confronted in a historically male profession. 

In 1998 Pam was elected to the Murilla Shire Council.  Her interests in local government have focused on planning, infrastructure projects and economic development.  Her other community interests have revolved around her now adult children, their education, and the challenges of parenthood in an isolated area.

Pam retired from her local council position in 2008 to concentrate on helping to grow the family business further.  She and husband Bill operate a cereal cropping and cattle fattening business near Condamine on Queensland’s Western Downs.

Pam holds a Bachelor of Business with a Major in Public Relations.

PROFILE: John Sharp
Federal Treasurer, The Nationals

The Honourable John Sharp ADFM, FCIT.

John Sharp is originally from a farming and business background. 

His political career commenced in 1980 at the age of 25 when he was elected to the Young Shire Council. Also in 1980 he was elected to the South West Slopes County Council and to the Southern Tablelands County Council. In 1981 he became Chairman of the Young Neighbourhood Council, the Young Tidy Towns Committee, and Deputy Chairman of the Livestock and Grain Producers District Council.

In 1984 he was elected to the Federal Parliament in the House of Representatives seat of Gilmore. Following a redistribution in 1993 he represented the seat of Hume. He served 14 years in the Federal Parliament.  Most of that time, from 1987 to the end of 1997 he served on the Federal Coalition’s front bench as Shadow Minister and later as Minister for Transport and Regional Development and was a member of Shadow Cabinet or the Cabinet from 1989 to 1997.

During his parliamentary career he became well known and respected for his role in promoting aviation safety and was responsible for numerous reforms within that sector including a complete rewrite of the aviation regulations to simplify them.  He was also responsible for the reform of Australia’s railways.

Following his retirement from Parliament in 1998 John Sharp established his own transport consulting company, Thenford Consulting. 

From 1999 to 2001 he was a director of ADI-Fox.

John Sharp is currently a Director of, Australian Aerospace an EADS company which owns Airbus and Eurocopter.

In 2005 he became a director and part owner of Skytraders, an air freight and aerial work company, now specialising in air-services in the Antarctic.

In 2001 he was appointed Chairman of the Aviation Safety Foundation of Australia, serving until November 2007.

He part owns and is Chairman of Power and Data Corporation since 2003. 

In 2005 he was appointed Deputy Chairman of Regional Express, Rex.  This is Australia’s largest independent regional airline.

He was appointed Chairman of Pel Air in 2006- an airfreight business and charter operator.

In 2007, he was appointed Chairman of the Advisory Council of Parsons Brinckerhoff– an international design and engineering company.

Currently he also operates his family grazing property at Moss Vale in the Southern Highlands of NSW and an Earthmoving business.

John Sharp is also involved in a number of voluntary organisations:

1. Trustee and Board Member of John McKeown House
2. Honorary Federal Treasurer, National Party of Australia
3. Chairman of Winifred West Schools Foundation, (Gib Gate Frensham and Sturt).
4. Member of the University of Wollongong Vice-Chancellor’s Advisory Board.
5. Co-Chair of the Cancer Council of NSW, Southern Highlands Branch.

Between 2002 and 2003 he conducted a Review of the Australian Shipping Industry on behalf of the Australian Ship Owners Association.

John Sharp lives on his farm in the NSW Southern Highlands with his wife and three children.

PROFILE: Cathy Wood
Federal Women’s President, The Nationals

Cathryn, her husband Sean and their children Zac and Jaz have recently returned to live in Perth from Brookton where they have been the owners and operators of Stumpy’s Gateway Roadhouse since May 1999 (They were some of the original bush changers).

Having returned to Perth Cathy is now the State Director and Policy Director of the WA Nationals as well as the President of the Women’s Federal Council of the National Party of Australia.

Cathryn has been involved with a wide range of community projects and in 2004 was elected to the Brookton Shire Council where she was committed to creating a positive social and economic future for her constituents. She resigned from the shire in 2007 to focus more on her National Party involvement.

Prior to coming to Brookton Cathryn was a training co-ordinator for the School of Public Health at Curtin University having come to this via her career in hospitality and hospitality training.

Cathryn completed a degree in Training and Development with Edith Cowan University in 1998 and is currently completing a Masters of Policy and Politics externally through Deakin University.

In 2004 Cathryn was a State Winner and National Finalist in the prestigious Telstra Business Women’s Awards.  This award recognises not only Australia’s leading Business Women but Australia’s Women Leaders.
In July 2006 Cathryn was selected to participate in the inaugural Australian Political Exchange Program to the Philippines.  These study tours provide delegates with unique insights into different political systems and cultures and are of immense value in terms of both professional and personal development.

PROFILE: Damian Callachor
Federal President, The Young Nationals

Damian was elected as Young Nationals President in 2006 and has been an active member of The Nationals since joining in 2002.

Damian has worked for Nationals Members of Parliament at state level in New South Wales and Federally, including Ian Slack-Smith, Stuart St.Clair, Larry Anthony and current Federal Parliamentary Leader Warren Truss.

He worked in the Australian Government Ministerial staff from 2002 until 2007 in a range of portfolios, including Children and Youth Affairs; Veterans’ Affairs; Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; Transport and Regional Services; and Trade.

Damian considered the Young Nationals the most appropriate point to learn the operations of a political movement and has held a number of executive positions in both New South Wales and the Federal Party.  Wherever possible, he has volunteered his services at State and Federal Nationals’ Conferences and associated Party events.

PROFILE: David Russell QC
Immediate Past President, The Nationals

David Russell RFD QC served as Federal Vice President of The Nationals from 1990 to 1995 and from 1999 to 2005. He was formerly State President of The Queensland Nationals.

David was called to the Bar in 1977, having been admitted as a solicitor in 1974.  Admitted to practise in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Courts of the Dubai International Financial Centre, David took silk in 1986 and holds that office in all the above Australian jurisdictions.  He has served as a Judge Advocate and is a Wing Commander in the RAAF Legal Reserve.

David was President of the Taxation Institute of Australia (1993-5), and of the Asia Oceania Tax Consultants' Association (1996-2000).  He is co-chair of the Australian chapter of the International Law and Practice Section of the New York State Bar Association and a member of the Executive of that Section, and an Honorary Member of the Taxation Institute of Hong Kong.

He was a member of the Management Committee Australia - Japan Society, Queensland from 1994 to 2005, its Vice President in 1995-6 and President from 1996-2001. He was President of the National Federation of Australia Japan Societies from 2000 to 2004.

David is actively involved in the operation of his family's business, Russell Pastoral Company. He is the third generation of his family to do so.  Russell Pastoral Company carries on business at Dalby, Cunnamulla and Blackall.  Its flagship property, Jimbour, is one of Queensland's oldest stations, dating back to 1841.

In addition to pursuing the Company's interests in the cattle, wool, grain, wine and tourism industries, David has served as a director of the Queensland Wine Industry Association, the peak wine industry body for the state, and from 2002 to 2004 served as its President.  In 2003 he became a Committee member of the Australian Regional Winemakers Forum, and from 2004 to 2007 served as its Vice President and one of the members of the Council of the Winemakers Federation of Australia.

PROFILE: Christine Ferguson
President, The Nationals – New South Wales

Christine Ferguson has served on The Nationals Federal Management Committee since 2005 as Federal Women’s President and since 2007 as President of The Nationals – New South Wales.

Christine has been actively involved in the community, serving as a Councillor on the Gundagai Shire Council and member of the Riverina Regional Economic Development Organization and Envirofund Australia Assessment Panel.  She was elected as a NSW delegate to the Constitutional Convention, was a member of the Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Committee and Board and a volunteer with the OCDI Togo Africa immunization program.

She has a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Politics and Economic History from the University of New England, Armidale and holds Certificates in General Nursing (Victoria) and Midwifery (Scotland).

Christine is a partner with her husband in the family business in New South Wales and Tasmania, producing prime lambs, wool and cattle.

PROFILE: Bruce McIver
President, The Nationals – Queensland

Bruce McIver is President of The Nationals – Queensland.

Bruce started his career with the family transport business, McIver Bros, as a driver/manager aged 19.  He built that business over the next 34 years, becoming the largest livestock carrier in Australia, one of Australia’s largest road train operators, and pioneering the development of machinery for BHP’s Cannington mine in north-west Queensland in 1997.

Bruce was the founding President of both the Livestock Transporters Association of Queensland (LTAQ) and the Australian Livestock Transporters Association (ALTA).  He was Chairman and Director of the Road Transport Industry Forum, now called the Australian Trucking Association, and a Director of the Australian Trucking Trust Fund.  In all these roles Bruce travelled widely, meeting with operators across Australia to broaden the relevance of these groups.

He has served on a number of government advisory bodies, including the Australian Road Transport Advisory Council, the Queensland Road Freight Advisory Council (since its inception in 1979), various Fatigue Management Groups, and the Australian Logistics Council.

The McIver transport operation was always very much a family operation, with Bruce acknowledging the enormous support of his wife Christine and sons Craig and Martin. In 2003 Bruce sold his transport interests.

Bruce currently lives on the Sunshine Coast and was elected President of The Nationals – Queensland in 2006.

PROFILE: Bill Baxter
President, The Nationals – Victoria

Bill Baxter joined The Nationals at age 18 and was elected to the Victorian Parliament at 26.

First elected as the Member for Murray Valley, Bill went on to serve as the Member for North Eastern for 28 years.  He served on the front bench for 27 years, including a term as Minister for Roads and Ports in the Kennett/McNamara Coalition Government.

In April 2007 he was elected President of The Nationals – Victoria.

Bill’s constant passion has been to ensure that Australians living and working beyond the capital cities are duly recognized for their contribution to the Nation’s wealth generation and export income.  He has been a strong advocate for the food and fibre producing irrigation industries and keenly interested in the construction and maintenance of efficient transport infrastructure to convey those products to Australian consumers and overseas markets.

Bill and his wife Jan live on a farming property on the Murray River in the wine-producing Rutherglen district.  The Baxter family also has an extensive grain and livestock enterprise near Echuca.

PROFILE: Hon Wendy Duncan MLC
President, The Nationals – Western Australia
Member for Agricultural Region

Wendy was first elected President of The Nationals – Western Australia in 2004, becoming the first woman to hold that position in her home State.

On 19 February, 2008 she was sworn in as Member for the Agricultural Region in the Legislative Council of the Western Australian Parliament.

Born and raised on a Goldfields pastoral station, Wendy and her siblings were some of the first to be educated through School of the Air in Kalgoorlie.

She boasts a Bachelor of Arts with a Double major in Political Science and Australian History, a Graduate Diploma in Secretarial Studies and, more recently, a Graduate Diploma in Business from Curtin University, which she completed externally from her home in Esperance.
Her entry into politics came via her role as Electorate officer for Ross Ainsworth MLA, Member for Roe, from 1994 to 1998.

Wendy is passionate about rural life and an ardent supporter of regional development. She is focused on stopping the country cringe, instead highlighting the positives aspects about living in the regions. Wendy has a firm belief that once people are attracted to the regions, the essential services needed must follow.

Wendy says she is privileged to have so many opportunities and in return has dedicated many hours of voluntary time to advisory committees, sporting clubs and community groups.

PROFILE: John Venus
President, The Nationals – South Australia

John Venus has been a member of The Nationals since 1999 and was elected President of The Nationals – South Australia in 2004.

He lives in the Adelaide Hills area and operates a boutique vineyard and winery.  Prior to this, John owned and operated two professional photographic studios in Adelaide after starting his working career on the family dairy farm.

John is a Lay Reader in the Anglican Church of Australia – Arch-Diocese of Adelaide and has served the community in a range of roles.  He was a Councillor on the District Council of Stirling and Chairman of the Stirling District Community Hospital Board for 10years.  John has been a member of the South Australian Country Fire Service since March 1969 and held the rank of Station Captain, committee President and Secretary.

He holds a Bachelor of Theology (FUSA) 2003, Bachelor of Arts (FUSA) 2008 and Certificate in Commercial Photography from the South Australian School of Arts.

A committed family man, John and wife Meredith have three sons and four grandchildren.