NAIF Board

Tracey Hayes is a senior leader in business and industry throughout Northern Australia working at a national and international level.

A long-term former Territory pastoralist and pilot, Ms Hayes was the first female CEO of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association and was tasked with leading the billion-dollar NT pastoral industry. Appointed by the Governor General, Ms Hayes was a member of the Order of Australia Honours Council, Chair of a Government Statutory Authority and a founding board member of the Cooperative Research Centre for Northern Australia.

Ms Hayes is on the board of the Australia Indonesia Institute set up by the Australian Government to foster and broaden relationships between Australia and Indonesia, a member of the National Resilience and Recovery Agency advisory board and long-term proprietor of a Territory business. She is also National Chair of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Ms Hayes is the facilitator of the Live Export Class Action resulting in a landmark precedent setting victory with compensation payable expected to be in the vicinity of $600million.

Ms Hayes has a Global Executive Master of Business from the University of Sydney, a Territorian for almost 40 years and mother to four boys who are the 6th generation of Hayes’ to call the Territory home.

Mr Margetic is Managing Director and co-owner of Sitzler Pty Ltd, a territory construction and development contractor with operations in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. He is also a Director of Master Builders Australia.

A long-term Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Mr Margetic has served on numerous industry boards and working groups. He served as Chairman of the Northern Territory Land Development Corporation from its inception in 2004 to retirement in 2010, as Director of Power Water Corporation, as President of Master Builders NT and as member of the Territory 2030 Strategic Plan steering Committee.

Mr Margetic has considerable experience delivering major infrastructure works under public-private partnerships, alliancing and joint ventures.

Kate George has a legal background and has extensive experience working in the resources industry, regional and Indigenous business and infrastructure and asset management.

Her employment has been in the public (State and Commonwealth) and private sectors and includes policy development, consultancy work especially with the resources sector and community sector, housing development and planning roles in areas including Aboriginal justice, health, governance, training and employment and economic development including residential land development. Membership on Boards, committees and working groups has been across a number of sectors including those mentioned above.

Mr Cassidy owns and runs two award-winning hospitality businesses, as well as heading up a cattle-grazing property in Rockhampton, where he is based.

Mr Cassidy’s current roles also include Director of the Gladstone Ports Corporation, Chair of Regional Development Australia Central and Western Queensland, Chair of Capricornia Business Advisory Alliance and Vice Chairman of Beef Australia Limited.

He also has a background in commercial radio and multi-media and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2019 for services to the tourism and hospitality sector.

Mr Gray is an accomplished Chairman and Company Director, highly experienced across a range of corporate, government and not-for-profit entities. He holds a number of current Directorships, including Sugar Terminals Limited, Royal Flying Doctor Service (Queensland) and Queensland Cricket, each of which has interests and operations in north Queensland.

As well, Mr Gray has an outstanding record of significant achievement in executive roles in both the public and private sectors. He has held Chief Executive Officer positions with Queensland Treasury, the Queensland Competition Authority and the Queensland Independent Commission of Audit. He was also the Office Head for Macquarie Group in Queensland and Executive Director with BDO (Qld) Pty Ltd.

Mr Gray has specialist skills and expertise in financial management and services. Beyond that, he has a breadth of relevant experience in other key industry sectors, especially infrastructure, agriculture, IT, education and health, as well as other sectors such as aero-medical emergency services and sports administration.

Lisa Hewitt has a lifelong association with Northern Australia, which she has continued through her current role as ANZ’s Business Banking Regional Executive for North Queensland.

In this position, Ms Hewitt oversees Commercial, Property, Agribusiness and Health activities within the North Queensland region.

Ms Hewitt’s experience has included working corporate and middle market lending divisions of the ANZ, and managing high risk lending across Queensland, New South Wales, and the Northern Territory.

In these roles Ms Hewitt has been involved in lending syndications for major Agri and community infrastructure projects and has worked to improve capability and delivery of financial services in regional centres.

Ms Hewitt holds a Master of Business Administration (Finance) and is a 2022 Chief Executive Women Leaders Program participant.

Vanessa Elliott is a Jaru woman from the Kimberley region of Western Australia with cultural and family connections in the Northern Territory and Queensland.

She has more than 20 years’ experience working in strategic leadership roles in economic development, community services, regional and remote project management, strategic planning, including headworks, energy, mining, native title and service commissioning.

Ms Elliott has worked on some of the major project developments in Australia across the resource industry, regional development and town planning, specialising in project life cycle, land access, regulatory approvals, social performance, local content and diversity and inclusion.

Jim Betts was appointed as Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport Regional Development, Communications and the Arts in July 2022.

Mr Betts has spent over 30 years working in government agencies in the UK, Victoria and (for the last 8 years) New South Wales.

Prior to becoming Secretary, Mr Betts was a partner at strategy consultancy EY Port Jackson Partners, having previously led the New South Wales Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) as Secretary for 2.5 years. During that period, the department undertook transformational reform in areas like land use planning, water, urban design, sustainability, climate change, biodiversity conservation and energy. From 2013 to 2019, he was Chief Executive Officer of Infrastructure NSW where he led the development of 2 State Infrastructure Strategies, oversaw the state’s infrastructure program, delivered major state infrastructure projects and developed a state plan for the construction sector.

Before moving to New South Wales, Mr Betts spent 5 years in Victoria as Secretary for the Victorian Transport Department and 4 years as Victoria’s Director of Public Transport. Mr Betts strives to be a champion for inclusivity and social justice, not least for First Nations people.