TAS Where the Water Reflects 2025

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Ian Dunbabin 

After 22 years in the Royal Australian Navy as a submarine-qualified specialist and senior leader, Ian transitioned to Tasmania’s water sector, holding executive roles including Executive Manager of Service Delivery at Southern Water. He later led capital works at Nyrstar and joined Hydro Tasmania as Head of Production and Environment. Since 2021, Ian has served as Alliance Program Manager at the TasWater Capital Delivery Office.

Anne Beach

Anne Beach has been CEO of the Macquarie Point Development Corporation for nearly three years, overseeing the new Precinct Plan, site remediation, infrastructure upgrades and stadium planning. She previously held senior executive roles in the Department of State Growth and Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania. With broad experience across government, local councils, water management and the not-for-profit sector, Anne holds a Bachelor of Science, an MBA (Finance) and is a Member of the AICD.

Donna Brown

Donna is leading a team in Hydro Tasmania’s Major Project Program through environmental approvals, community consultation, EPC procurement and local benefit sharing for major hydro power developments in Tasmania. She has over 25 years’ experience in corporate sustainability holding leadership roles in the public and private sectors in renewable energy, water, natural resource management and mining in Australia and internationally. She sits on national and international working groups driving continuous improvement in sustainability practices across all stages and aspects of renewable energy developments.

Jacob Gerke

Jacob Gerke joined Tasmanian Irrigation in 2017 and leads the Project Development and Delivery team, ensuring projects progress safely and efficiently from concept to commissioning. With over 15 years’ experience in civil and offshore oil and gas construction across Australia and Asia, Jacob brings strong leadership and engineering expertise. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Marine and Offshore Systems) (Hons) from the Australian Maritime College. Originally from north-east Tasmania, Jacob began his career in Perth, WA.

Samuel Paske

Samuel’s career has centred on his passion for understanding people – especially those who call Tasmania home. He spent 15 years in market research before starting at TasWater where he has held roles in customer insights, community programs and stakeholder engagement. All these roles have seen him seeking to understand what matters most to Tasmanians and turning that into actionable insights and outcomes. Over the last two years, he has led TasWater’s customer and community engagement approach to inform its Price and Service Plan 5 (PSP5), setting new benchmarks for how the organisation collaborates with the community to ensure they are genuinely at the heart of shaping Tasmania’s water future.