Samantha McCulloch is the Chief Executive of Australian Energy Producers, the peak national body representing Australia’s explorers, developers and producers of essential energy - oil, gas and lower-emission fuels.
An internationally recognised carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) expert, Ms McCulloch has a highly informed view of the critical role the oil and gas industry continues to play in meeting global energy and climate goals.
Before joining APPEA in 2022, she spent seven years at the International Energy Agency including four years as head of the CCUS Unit.
Ms McCulloch has more than 20 years of policy, industry and technical expertise from previous roles within government, industry associations and the private sector in Australia and internationally.
She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Commerce (with Distinction) from the University of Wollongong, as well as a Master of Public Policy from the Australian National University.

The Hon. Madeleine King was sworn in as Federal Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia on 1 June 2022, following the election of the Albanese Government.
Minister King was first elected to Parliament in 2016, representing the seat of Brand on the outskirts of Perth, where she was born and grew up.
The seat encompasses the Cities of Rockingham and Kwinana and contains some of Perth’s heavy industries, including the HMAS Stirling naval base on Garden Island and the Kwinana Industrial Area. King’s father worked at the BP oil refinery in Kwinana and her mother and grandmother ran a drapery store in Rockingham.
Minister King was promoted to the shadow ministry in 2018 and has served as Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs and Small Business, Shadow Minister for Trade and Shadow Minister for Resources.
Before entering parliament Minister King held senior executive roles at The University of Western Australia and served as the inaugural Chief Operating Officer at the Perth USAsia Centre.
As a Shadow Minister, a former political adviser and through Parliamentary committee work, she was a regular visitor to Northern Australia and has been deeply engaged in issues surrounding development in the north.
Minister King has a strong interest in ensuring the benefits of economic development are shared fairly and create opportunities for all segments of Australian society.
Minister King has a law degree from the University of Western Australia in Perth.
She is also a keen hockey enthusiast, and was a member of the WA Women’s Masters Hockey Team from 2012 to 2015.

Hon. Reece Whitby MLA is the Western Australian Minister for Energy; Environment; Climate Action, and Member for Baldivis.
He has overseen government departments responsible for protecting Western Australia’s environment since December 2021 and gained the Energy portfolio in December 2023.
Reece is coordinating the State’s response to climate change while establishing a whole-of-government approach to reduce emissions.
He is Western Australia’s first Minister to attend a United Nations Climate Change Conference, addressing audiences at COP27 and meeting Ministerial counterparts from across the globe. He followed that up by attending COP28 in December 2023.
Reece is tasked with implementing WA’s nation-leading Plan for Plastics and the Cook Government’s historic decision to end native logging from 2024.
As the Minister for Environment, he is responsible for delivering Plan for Our Parks. As part of that plan, 5 million hectares of national and marine parks and reserves will be created by early 2024, increasing the State’s conservation estate by 20 per cent.
He will also oversee transformation of the South West Interconnected System, the energy grid which services metropolitan Perth, and the State Government’s decision to exit coal-fired power by 2030.
Reece was first appointed to Cabinet in the McGowan Labor Government in 2021, as the Minister for Emergency Services; Racing and Gaming; Small Business; and Volunteering.
He became the first local member for the new electorate of Baldivis in March 2017.
Prior to his election, Reece had a long-standing career in journalism, working at Seven News for two decades. He started as a cadet reporter at a country newspaper before joining the ABC, followed by a stint at Channel Nine. He often reported on battlers standing up for a fair go, which sparked his interest in politics.
Reece grew up on the outskirts of Perth, working in the family business from a young age. He has a passion for creating better, fairer communities and understands the importance of quality schools, transport, hospitals, and facilities for all Western Australians.
Reece and wife Natalie have four children – Faith, Sam, Luke and Hope.

Meg O’Neill has 28 years’ experience in the global oil and gas industry, with positions and responsibilities extending across North America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Since being appointed Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Woodside Energy in 2021, Meg has overseen a merger that has transformed Woodside into the largest energy company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
The merger built on Woodside’s history as the pioneer of the LNG industry in Australia, delivering a geographically diverse portfolio of high-quality oil and gas assets.
Meg joined Woodside in 2018 as Chief Operations Officer, responsible for all of the company’s producing assets. In 2019, Meg was appointed Executive Vice President Development, overseeing the delivery of Woodside’s major growth projects in Australia and Senegal. In 2020, she also assumed responsibility for Marketing.
Prior to joining Woodside, Meg worked for ExxonMobil in a variety of technical, operational and leadership roles based in Houston, Indonesia, Canada and Norway, which included responsibility for major projects in Angola, Nigeria, Tanzania and Mozambique.
Meg is Chair of the Australian energy industry peak body, Australian Energy Producers (AEP), and serves on the boards of Reconciliation Western Australia, and West Australian Symphony Orchestra. She is an honorary Governor of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Australia, and a member of Chief Executive Women (CEW) and the University of Western Australia Business School Advisory Board.
Meg is originally from Boulder, Colorado, and is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with degrees in Ocean and Chemical Engineering.

Australian Statesman
Man of the People

General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove retired from the Army in 2005. Four years earlier, he had been Australian of the Year: “In every respect Peter Cosgrove demonstrated that he is a role model. The man at the top displayed those characteristics we value most as Australians – strength, determination, intelligence, compassion and humour.”
The son of a soldier, he attended Waverley College in Sydney and later graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1968. He was sent to Malaysia as a lieutenant in the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. During his next infantry posting in Vietnam he commanded a rifle platoon and was awarded the Military Cross for his performance and leadership during an assault on enemy positions.
In 1999 Peter Cosgrove became a national figure following his appointment as Commander of the International Force East Timor (INTERFET). He was responsible for overseeing East Timor’s transition to independence during, what was to become, a tense and uncertain period. For his leadership of INTERFET he was subsequently advanced to the rank of Companion in the military division of the Order of Australia, and was invested by Her Majesty the Queen at Yarralumla during her visit to Australia early in 2000.
He was soon promoted and made Chief of the Army. He went on to be promoted again to full General and was appointed Chief of the Defence Force. Peter Cosgrove retired from the Army in July 2005.
Subsequently, he accepted positions on numerous boards, including QANTAS, Cardno and the Australian Rugby Union. He was appointed by the Queensland Government to lead the taskforce rebuilding communities in the Innisfail region following the devastation caused by Cyclone Larry in 2006. From 2007 to 2012, he chaired the Council of the Australian War Memorial, and served as Chancellor of the Australian Catholic University from 2010 until early 2014.
General Cosgrove’s best- selling autobiography “My Story” was published in 2006 and he delivered the Boyer Lectures series, “A Very Australian Conversation” in 2009. His second book “You Shouldn’t Have Joined” was published in 2020.
On 25 March 2014, Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced that General Cosgrove would become a Knight in the Order of Australia when sworn in as Governor General. His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd) was sworn in as Australia’s 26th Governor General and he served in that role until June 2019.
Sir Peter is an avid sports follower with particular emphasis on Rugby and Cricket. He is the husband to Lynne and they have three sons and two grandchildren.