Appointments May 26, 2023

Mineral exploration company Australian Vanadium Limited has recruited Tom Plant as chief financial officer, effective June 6. Mr Plant has almost three decades of experience as a chartered accountant, more than nine years of which was spent at Iluka Resources. After Iluka Resources, Mr Plant had a one-year stint at Firefinch as chief financial officer. He was then appointed as interim chief financial officer at Leo Lithium in November 2022.

As part of a parliamentary reshuffle, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister Patrick Gorman will additionally serve as Assistant Minister for the Public Service. In 2018, Mr Gorman was first elected to the House of Representatives for Perth. From January 2021 to May 2022, he served as Shadow Assistant Minister for WA before being appointed as Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister in June 2022.

Advisory and accounting firm HLB Mann Judd has recruited finance specialist Brendan Bate to its Perth-based HLB Wealth division. Mr Bate has more than 20 years’ worth of expertise in accounting and financial services, previously working at major companies such as Clough and Wesfarmers. Mr Bate has local and international experience and is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

Santos has announced four shifts to its executive team as part of the company’s updated organisational structure, expected to enable stronger focus on regional areas. Brett Woods has been promoted to executive vice president for WA, Northern Australia and Timor-Leste, effective June 1. Mr Woods has been at Santos for more than 10 years and currently serves as president for midstream and clean fuels based in Adelaide. Santos has additionally announced the recruitment of Alan Stuart-Grant as executive vice president, effective August 1, and the appointment of Brett Darley and David Banks to executive vice president positions. Mr Darley will oversee eastern Australia and Papua New Guinea and Mr Banks will guide the upstream gas and liquids division.

Microbial ecologist Sarina Claassens has been appointed as Curtin University’s new head of the School of Molecular and Life Sciences. Professor Claassens will commence this role in September 2023, and until this time, she will remain as the director of the School of Biological Sciences and Professor of Microbiology at North-West University in South Africa. Professor Claassens has spent 18 years researching soil microbiology related to environments that are affected by different land uses including mining and agriculture.