The 40under40 Awards are rapidly becoming the premier event in Perth for the city’s business community. And if the 2005 guest list is any indication, a ticket to the awards is the hottest item in town come February.
The 40under40 Awards are rapidly becoming the premier event in Perth for the city’s business community. And if the 2005 guest list is any indication, a ticket to the awards is the hottest item in town come February.
This is the fourth year that WA Business News has held the awards, with each more spectacular than the last.
The objective of the 40under40 program is to identify 40 talented Western Australians who have an exceptional record of achievement within their fields of endeavour.
This year’s winners came from a range of varied fields including entrepreneurs, professional services, medical research, tourism, construction, hospitality, and resources.
The 40 winners were chosen from a record 178 nominations and were assessed by 19 judges from several different business fields.
WA Business News executive director Elton Swarts said that, while it had been suggested the awards would run out of talented young Western Australians to choose from, the opposite had proved to be true.
“Each year we have more and more entries, and the calibre of the entrants is just amazing,” Mr Swarts said. “Western Australia has so many talented young people, and we are delighted to be able to acknowledge their successes.
“Finding young talent which isn’t regularly applauded makes us proud to be West Australian.
“WA is like a frontier and 40under40 is our way of prospecting and unearthing talent.
“Most of us are proud to be Western Australian and the awards help build our self belief about what we can do here, and hopefully help to keep our young talent in the state.
“Every year we have had an amazing bunch of entrepreneurial people, and the fun is in continuing to find them.”
Each year, from the 40 winners, one outstanding person is selected as the First Amongst Equals, and becomes an ambassador for the awards for the following year.
Judges selected world-recognised genetic researcher Professor Lyle Palmer as this year’s First Amongst Equals.
All the previous First Amongst Equals winners were at the gala ceremony, with 2002 co-winner Mark Barnaba presenting Professor Palmer with the 2005 award.
“It is fantastic to have people like Lyle Palmer win, because he is talented enough to be anywhere in the world, but he chose to come back to WA,” Mr Barnaba said.
“WA has to work really hard to keep bright young people here, and a lot of them go overseas or to the eastern states.
“40under40 recognises a lot of young talent, and is a very good thing to help stem the brain drain out of WA.
“The awards uncover a lot of new talent and motivate a lot of young people. It really has become a signature event on the Perth calendar and within the business community.
“It was a fabulous night, and to have so many people of that calibre come to the event is indicative of the esteem in which it is held.”
Professor Palmer also raised the issue of the ‘brain drain’ in his acceptance speech, saying that he and his wife had been personally and professionally “blessed”, and that Australian society had given them both enormous opportunities and support.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to give something back to the Australian community,” he said.
“In my current role I have the opportunity to enable population-based research that is in the public good, facilitate the development of a biotechnological industry in WA, train young Australians in the new fields of genomics and bioinfor-matics, and to be an advocate for changes to government policy and legislation in key enabling areas. One could ask for no better reward,” Professor Palmer told the 700 guests who assembled on the steps of Parliament House for the gala event.
Department of Industry and Resources manager of technology and industry development Rob Parker said it was a great pleasure to hear the commentary on all the winners.
“It gives one confidence in the future of our State knowing that there are so many very capable and innovative people out there,” Mr Parker said.
The 40under40 Awards event takes months of planning by the events team, and although the night is only just behind us, soon it will be time to begin preparations for the 2006 awards.
For those who missed out on this year’s 40under40 Awards, nomina-tions for the 2006 40under40 will open on October 13
2005 40UNDER40
1st Amongst Equals
Lyle Palmer
40under40 Winners
Caroline Ambrosini; David Andrew; Cam Ansell; Paul Blackburne; Mark Ceglinski; Priya Cooper; Brad Crisp; Martina Crowley; David Etherton; Anne-Maree Ferguson; Sean Gavin; Nikki Griffiths; Troy Hayden; Mitch Hayhow; Lachlan Henderson; Todd Hutchison; Josephine Jennings; Mark Jones; Ian Junk; Maryanne Kelly; Anna Kluczewska; Albasio La Pegna; Stephen Lauder; Nat Lenzo; Stuart Manifold; Ian Martinus; Linda Mauger; Jon Morris; Dean O’Rourke; Aristos Papandroulakis; Derek Peterson; Michael Rowbottom; Joanne Salim; Colette Sims; Shane Smith; Mark Stickells; Matt Sullivan; Mike Westerman; James Williams
