RCV Mayors, Councillors and CEOs Forum and Annual General Meeting

We are looking forward to once again hosting our elected representatives and CEOs this October for our bi-annual Forum and Annual General Meeting.

Timed to coincide with the MAV State Conference, the event will be held at the State Library of Victoria and will feature a program of public sector leaders, policy experts and thinkers exploring the biggest issues impacting rural communities.

We are pleased to announce that political journalist and author Gabrielle Chan will be joining us as keynote speaker.

About Gabrielle Chan

Gabrielle Chan has been a journalist for more than 30 years. Since 2013, she has worked for Guardian Australia as a political correspondent and Politics Live blogger. Gabrielle has also worked for ABC radio, the Daily Telegraph, in local newspapers and politics. She has written and edited histories and biographies.

The city-born daughter of a Singaporean migrant, Gabrielle moved to a sheep and wheat farm near Harden Murrumburrah in 1996. She noticed the economic and cultural divide between city and country and the yawning gap between parliament and small town life. As a result, she wrote Rusted Off: Why Country Australia is Fed Up, released in 2018 by Penguin Random House.

The day's program will also feature:

• Beth Jones - CEO of Regional Development Victoria (RDV) and Deputy Secretary of the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR)

• Damian Mannix and Kathleen Hurley - The Agenda Group

• Dave Barry - Deputy Victorian Auditor General (VAGO) and Ryan Green - Director, Local Government Performance Audit (VAGO)

View the day's program in full here.