Boardroom Confidential

Geopolitics is no longer just background noise — it's now central to how organisations plan, invest and manage risk. In this episode, foreign affairs expert Merriden Varrall, joins Boardroom Confidential to unpack what today's "polycrisis" world really means for directors.

Drawing on her experience at KPMG, the Lowy Institute and the UN in China, Merriden explains why boards must look beyond daily headlines to the deeper megatrends: converging climate, energy and food risks; the erosion of trust in institutions and the rise of populism; and a fragmenting global economy shaped by national security and values-based blocs. She explores the practical implications for Australian boards — from managing exposure to the US–China rivalry and rebuilding supply chain resilience, to understanding how these dynamics affect SMEs and NFPs.

Merriden also outlines how boards can become more geopolitically literate: the questions to ask management, how to set up horizon scanning and scenario planning, and why a more nuanced understanding of other countries' perspectives is now essential to good governance.

Key Themes:
•    From headlines to megatrends — directors need to look past daily news and focus on structural geopolitical scenarios and megatrends.
•    Polycrisis as the new normal — risks like climate, energy, food, tech and conflict are increasingly interconnected and compounding.
•    Trust gap and populism — erosion of trust in institutions and the rise of populism are reshaping regulation, policy and expectations of business.
•    Geo-economic fragmentation — values-based blocs, national security logic and "de-risking" are changing trade, investment and tech choices.
•    It's not just big corporates — SMEs and NFPs are exposed through supply chains, cyber risk, regulation, funding and talent.
•    Boards' core questions — are we thinking about geopolitics, how are we monitoring it, what scenarios have we planned for, and are our responses sufficient?
•    Supply chain resilience — having "just in case" models ready, mapping choke points, and setting up data and signals to act early.

Brad Welsh has built a career defined by reinvention — from child protection officer to political adviser, CEO of Energy Resources of Australia, board member at nib, and now founder of Mawal. In this conversation, Brad reflects on the choices, opportunities and turning points that shaped his path, and how curiosity and ambition have guided every reinvention.
Brad discusses the lessons learned leading ERA through the complex rehabilitation of a major uranium mine, what long-term projects teach leaders about managing risk, and how to balance the expectations of diverse stakeholders. He also shares his powerful vision for the next generation of First Nations leadership in Australia — building capability in capital and risk, broadening pathways into commercial roles, and helping more Indigenous talent step into the boardroom.
Key Themes: 
•    Career reinvention and ambition — seizing "windows" of opportunity, stepping back to go forward, and using each pivot to build range.
•    Curiosity as a governing principle — staying relentlessly curious about how organisations, balance sheets and communities actually work.
•    Capital and risk as a global language — why cultures flourish by managing capital and risk in their own way, and what that means for First Nations Australia.
•    Long-term rehabilitation, short-term milestones — lessons from ERA's Ranger uranium rehabilitation on balancing horizon goals with near-term delivery.
•    Stakeholders and judgement — putting yourself in others' shoes, making decisions with imperfect information, and knowing when to change course.
•    The next generation — building a cohort of First Nations leaders for executive and board roles.

Over the holidays, we'll be bringing you some earlier episodes of our Boardroom Confidential podcast.

This time it's Audette Exel, the founder and chair of Adara Group. She's also a former director with Suncorp and Westpac and previously served as Chair of the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

Audette shares the story behind Adara's unique model, which channels profits from corporate advisory work directly into life-saving development programs in some of the world's most remote communities. She reflects candidly on the mistakes she's made along the way, what they taught her, and why boards need to talk more openly about failure.

The conversation also explores governance across complex global organisations, the responsibilities of boards in philanthropy and social impact, and how purpose should sit at the centre of corporate decision-making. Audette offers practical insights for directors seeking to use their influence — and their organisations — to create lasting value for society.


Key Themes
Purpose-led leadership and social entrepreneurship
Innovative funding models for not-for-profits
Governance, risk and accountability across complex global organisations
Learning from failure and embracing mistakes in leadership
The role of boards in philanthropy and social licence to operate
Diversity of thought and values at the board table

Over the holidays, we'll be bringing you some earlier episodes of our Boardroom Confidential podcast.

This time it's David Kirk, the co-founder of listed venture capital fund Bailador and chair at a range of organisations including KMD Brands, Forsyth Barr and KiwiHarvest.  David was also the CEO of Fairfax Limited and had an extremely successful career on the sporting field, captaining the mighty All Blacks to victory in the first Rugby World Cup in 1987.

David shares what he's learned moving from executive leadership into chair and portfolio roles, including how to stay focused across competing priorities. He unpacks the chair–CEO relationship: how to be a genuine supporter while maintaining clear accountability, and why trust and expectations matter.

The conversation also explores what high-performing boards look like in practice — from encouraging healthy disagreement to avoiding unhelpful conflict, and the simple disciplines that improve decision-making. David also reflects on growth-stage investing, founder dynamics, and why not-for-profits benefit from a stronger "social venture" approach. Finally, he draws leadership lessons from elite sport — and explains why governance in sporting organisations can go wrong when it becomes too representative.


Key Themes
The shift from executive leadership to a portfolio of board roles
What makes a strong chair–CEO partnership (and where it can go wrong)
How chairs build effective board culture, debate and decision-making
Practical board discipline: preparation, focus, and "reading the papers"
Growth-stage investing and governance in tech businesses 
What business can learn from elite sport—and what sport gets wrong in governance

Over the holidays, we'll be bringing you some earlier episodes of our Boardroom Confidential podcast.

This time it's Marina Go, a board member with Metcash, Southern Cross Media and the AICD itself. She's also been a chair or director with several other organisations including Adore Beauty, Energy Australia, the West Tigers NRL club and Netball Australia. On top of that, Marina was also the GM of magazine company Bauer Media Australia and Private Media.

She tells us how her media career prepared her for the boardroom. Plus: advice on being an effective chair, tips for finding your first director position, and lessons from the boardroom of an NRL club.