Ian Urquhart

Alan Burns
Alan founded Strategic Connections Group in 2009, a consultancy in strategic planning, railway project management, government liaison, and business development. Alan was the Industry Representative on the Victorian Government's TIMS project for DIIRD and the Ai Group.

Alan's consulting work in transportation and manufacturing was preceded by senior project and operational management roles in aerospace, industrial and commercial construction, steel manufacturing and advanced railway manufacturing and asset management. Alan is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer, and a Fellow of Engineers Australia. He is also on the Boards of the Australian Railway Industry Corporation and a founding trustee of the Caroline Chisholm Education Foundation.

Rick Brown
Rick Brown is a director of CPI Strategic. Between 2004 and 2007 he was an adviser to Senator Nick Minchin and a senior adviser to Kevin Andrews. Prior to that, he was the adviser to Russell Savage, one of the three Independent MPs who held the balance of power during the first term of the Bracks government.

Camilla Orr-Thomson
2IC
Camilla joined Affairs of State in 2010 as Executive Assistant to the Director. Alongside her EA duties she manages the office and assists in the production of publications. Camilla is also responsible for the management of events held by the company for clients and industry professionals.

Camilla was awarded her Honours in Media and Communications from Melbourne University in 2009. Through her studies of the media, her interest in politics was kindled. Camilla wrote her thesis on the significance of Michelle Obama in the 2008 Presidential Campaign. She also undertook an 11-month internship with the (then) Leader of the Victorian Opposition, the Hon. Ted Baillieu MLA.

Richard Hamilton
Charts, Research & ICT Support
Brought onboard in 2009 to assist with editing and developing Affairs of State's charts, now running ICT, research for the charts and in-house design. Richard holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Melbourne, a BSc (Physics) and a BA (Linguistics).

Gabriel Phipps
Assistant-Editor, Letter from Melbourne, Letter from Canberra
Gabriel recently succeeded Hamish Brooks to produce both Letter from Melbourne and Letter from Canberra. Distilling content from major daily newspapers and other media, Gabriel assists in providing the reader a time saving insight into current issues and opportunities within Australia. A former Scotch boy, he is currently completing a BA at Melbourne where he has studies politics, history and economics.

Hamish Brooks
Past Assistant-Editor, Letter from Melbourne, Letter from Canberra
... and still around. Hamish has been the sub-editor for three years: thirty editions of Letter from Melbourne and thirty editions of Letter from Canberra. Hamish has also contributed to a number of other publications and finished writing his first novel. An excellent reference is available. Hamish studied Arts at the University of Melbourne, and Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT.

Tony McAdam
Sub-Editor, Letter from Melbourne, Letter from Canberra
Bio

Juliette Biegler
Subscriptions Manager
Taking on the role in 2009, Juliette assists with subscriptions for Affairs of State publications, Letter from Melbourne and Canberra. Juliette is about to complete her final year at the University of Melbourne, studying a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science / Chinese language) and a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance / Marketing).

Affairs of State regularly consider interns for experience in public affairs and publications. If you're a school-leaver or University student, contact us to find out more or submit your resume.