James Bunn Address with Harold Mitchell at Trans-Tasman Business Circle

Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The doomsayers talk of the demise of traditional media but I’m not so sure. I can clearly remember my father telling me that Cinema would not make it to the end of the 1970’s - and I’m glad to say he was wrong.

Here today we have assembled some of the finest leaders in the Australian media industry. With so many leaders present I am reluctant to name examples for fear of leaving someone out, but I think it would be fair to say that everyone of us in this room is grappling with the challenges of the evolution of our traditional media models as we keep pace with the advancement of technology and changing industry dynamics.

I am often called upon to offer leadership and we have a responsibility to lead the change in our respective sub-sectors with confidence. To take a leadership position we often need to develop a long term view rather than focus on the immediate challenges in front of us. Evolution of the industry is currently generating a number of new opportunities:

• Catch up TV is today a commonplace Broadcast phenomenon - with TiVo, Foxtel’s iQ and the ABC’s iView as just three devices which enable us to consume media differently from the old appointment to view model
• User Generated Content is now being used by regional broadcasters to make local broadcasts and the websites relevant
• Outdoor Advertisers are using Plasma technology in shopping malls to advance traditional billboard advertising
• Newspapers are aggregating content using digital media
• and I haven’t even touched on music, digital radio, books, magazines, movies, games or mobile phone content

It is a daunting task to be the warm-up guy for an Industry heavyweight such as Harold Mitchell. Of course most media requires advertising to make it commercially viable. Harold therefore occupies not only a very important and valuable place in the industry but is also dealing with every one of the evolving commercial challenges which we are all facing today.

In a moment we look forward to welcoming Harold Mitchell to deliver his address on "how digital media is challenging traditional business models".

In the meantime I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for coming today.

HKABA Asia-Pacific Address

Good Evening, Ladies and Gentlemen!

My name is James Bunn and I represent the board of The Australia - Singapore Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Peter Sinn and our friends at The Hong Kong - Australia Business Association, and also Paul Venning and Aon for their very generous hospitality this evening.

I am pleased to say that Australia is growing much closer to the Pacific Region commercially and politically and The Australia - Singapore Chamber is very active in forging commercial links across the region. We exist as a networking facility for our members, a catalyst for bi-lateral business.

Singapore’s role in Australia impacts via numerous investments in local businesses. These include (Singtel) Optus, (City Spring Infrastructure) Basslink and (Temasek Holdings) ABC Learning Centres to name just three.

Many Sydney offices of large multinationals also report to Singapore regional headquarters and Disney, ESPN and Yahoo! are three such examples.

In short, like our friends from all of the various chambers represented tonight, we help facilitate trade and commercial traffic through a key Asian hub - Singapore in our case.

Singapore will host the first ever night Formula 1 Grand Prix at the end of September this year which will be a great opportunity to mix business and pleasure.

Australian Singapore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vote of Thanks

Good Evening Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen!

My name is James Bunn and tonight I represent the board of The Australia - Singapore Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Geoff Taperell and the Partners of DLA Phillips Fox, for their very generous hospitality this evening

Also, our Chairman Mr Raj Logeraj, and General Secretary Kathryn Kirby have done a marvellous job of pulling everything together for tonight.

I am particularly happy to thank Mr Nigel Roberts for delivering his fascinating address on the role of the World Bank, in the Oceania region.

As we heard earlier Nigel Roberts is the World Bank Country Director for Oceania, based here in Sydney

The influential and growing role of China in the Pacific Region is particularly fascinating and timely in the current lead-up to the Beijing Games.

I have to say that, along with everyone else present, I enjoyed hearing about the changing nature of China's foreign policy and its increasing aid to Pacific communities.

It is also interesting to note how the Pacific Island nations view China.

China’s role in the Pacific also impacts on business and investment for other regional players including the United States, Japan, Taiwan and Australia.

We all now understand that The World Bank’s role of helping develop a robust international development consensus incorporating China is clearly very important.

So, Mr Chairman, once again, we are all most grateful to Mr Nigel Roberts and I now ask the audience to express their appreciation in the usual way.

CEDA Vote of Thanks

Good afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen

My name is James Bunn, I lead a Management Consulting practice specialising in Business Process Improvement and John Fairfax Holdings have been a valued client in the past

Having personally brought Fox Sports to this country more than a decade ago I continue to have a personal interest in the media and entertainment industries. I have just returned from Europe where debate on the future of old established media continues to be the hot topic.

In his introduction today our Chair; Khaled El Sayed from Lexus highlighted some of David’s impressive achievements at the very highest level, not just in business, politics and academia, but also in sports and in his family and home life.

Two nights ago I boarded a Qantas flight home from London and read an interesting article on David Kirk’s recent overseas trip.

I understand that over two weeks he met with 52 Fund Managers in the US and UK - an achievement worthy of another World Cup!

He also conducted high level talks with the publishers of

• The New York Times and
• Wall Street Journal in the US and
• The Daily Telegraph and
• The Daily Mail in the UK.

I understand that the New York Times in particular showcased some interesting new revenue models for on-line content applicable to Fairfax.

Today David has been kind enough to share some of his thoughts on the Digital Revolution with a particular emphasis on the future direction of John Fairfax Holdings and how he sees the market following the forthcoming media reform.

I know from my own experience of running a media content company over more than a decade that the old adage of "Content is King" continues to hold true and today this has been emphasized still further.

Clearly the future of Fairfax is in good hands as the company strives to address the challenges of a vastly changing media landscape.

Please now join me in thanking Mr David Kirk