Australia Week Steering Committee
The membership of the Committee is comprised of Wally Mariani, Senior Executive Vice President of Qantas; Michelle Gysberts, Vice President, The Americas, Tourism Australia; Sally Ann Watts, Senior Trade Commissioner, Austrade Los Angeles and Gerard Seeber, Senior Trade Commissioner, Austrade New York.
The Hon. John Olsen AO
The Hon. John Olsen AO was Consul General in Los Angeles from 2002-2006. Prior to that he had a distinguished parliamentary career as Premier of South Australia, Minister for State Development and Minister for Multicultural Affairs from 1996-2001. In 2004, while Consul General in LA, Mr Olsen pioneered Australia Week. The programme expanded to New York in 2007 and has become the largest annual foreign country promotion in the U.S. Since its inception, Australia Week has resulted in over $22.5 million of trade, investment and tourism for Australia's economy. In 2007, he was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for his outstanding contributions to the South Australian Parliament. Mr Olsen is a Fellow of the National Institute of Accountants. He and his wife Julie have 3 adult children and 3 grandchildren. He is a barefoot water skier.
Wally Mariani
Wally Mariani was appointed to his current position as Senior Executive Vice President, The Americas and Pacific, in January 2000. In June 2001, the position was relocated from Sydney to Los Angeles, where the Marianis are currently living. In this position, his responsibilities cover Qantas operations in America, Canada, South America, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. He had held numerous management positions during his career which began in 1965 at Australian Airlines. During his 42-year career in the airline industry, he has lived in America on three separate occasions. His wife, Barbara, is an American and they have a daughter, Jessica.
Michelle Gysberts
Michelle Gysberts was appointed Vice President, The Americas for Tourism Australia's Los Angeles office in October 2007, having spent fours years as the region's Partnership Development Director.
Originally from just "East of Sydney" (New Zealand), Michelle's background has focused predominantly on the hospitality industry not only Down Under but also London, Dubai and Amsterdam. Her career includes extensive experience in tourism marketing in the hospitality sector, senior sales & marketing positions in the hotel industry, a television network, and owning her own marketing consultancy company.
Sally-Ann Watts
As Austrade's Senior Trade Commissioner for the West USA region, Sally-Ann Watts oversees eight regional offices, including Honolulu, Las Vegas and San Diego/Orange County, as well as the work of her own office in Los Angeles. Prior to being appointed to this position Ms Watts was Senior Trade Commissioner and Consul-General for the Australian Consulate-General Toronto. During her time in Toronto Ms Watts was a member of the inaugural G`Day Toronto 2007 Steering Committee.
Ms Watts was born in Bendigo, Victoria and is married with three daughters.
Gerard Seeber
Gerard Seeber is the Senior Trade Commissioner for Austrade's NE US region which focuses on sectors such as finance, business services, information & communication technology (ICT), food & beverage, fashion, design, giftware, health & well being products.
Prior to his New York posting, Mr Seeber was the State Manager for Austrade in Sydney from 2005-2007. Other postings include serving as Trade Commissioner to Milan, Moscow (1990-1993), (1994-1998), and Sao Paulo (1999-2004) where he was responsible for creating the Australia Festival program in 2001. This program remains a key component of Australia's promotion in Latin America. Mr Seeber is married and has two sons.
