Edge with Dr. Stephen Brown

After growing up in Hervey Bay, Qld Wayne Zschech first moved to Ukraine in April, 1993, just a week before his 18th birthday. His plan was to give God a year of his life before returning home to become a fighter pilot with the Royal Australian Air Force. God, however, had a better idea! Wayne has lived in Ukraine for 28 years, working as a Pastor, social entrepreneur and building sustainable enterprises. Dr Stephen Brown spoke to Wayne on his most recent visit back to Australia about his life and his first hand experiences of living and working in a war zone.

Join us to hear Wayne share his story.

In this episode Stephen talks to rising star, 22 year old Queensland Reds and Australian Wallaby rugby player Harry Wilson, exploring the nature of leadership and the influence of family in his career to date along with his aspirations for the future.

Darshak Mehta is one of the most well-known and well-liked Indians in Australia. His name

pops up when you mention cricket or charity down under and has a long association with

Australian cricket. He has been an SCG member for almost 30 years.

He served as Chairman of The LBW (Learning for a Better World) Trust which he co-

founded in 2006 with journalists Peter Roebuck and Mike Coward and solicitor Peter Strain.

He is currently its President.

He is also a Patron of the education charity, Pratham Australia. Pratham (in India) is the

largest children’s education charity, helping millions of Indian children realise their potential.

He has also been on the Advisory Panel of the Sydney Big Bash League (T20) team Sydney

Thunder  since 2013.

From a very young age, Darshak has been actively involved in public life. He was the

President of the Bombay Industries Association at 27 (youngest ever). He was also the

youngest member of the Managing Committee of the venerable Indian Merchants Chamber,

when 26. So, heading an NGO 25 years later, albeit in another country, did not faze him in

the slightest.

The LBW Trust is a charity which tertiary-educates over 1500 students in eight developing

countries including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Africa, Uganda, Afghanistan and

Jamaica.

By any stretch and by his own admissions, Kieran Plasto has lived and continues to live an extraordinary life. From a self-proclaimed very ordinary childhood, a series of decisions and opportunities has led him down a path to Psychologist, Appointed Detective in the Qld Police Service, Police Negotiator and Counter Terrorist Qualified Negotiator. Since leaving the police in 2007 he studied Negotiation at Harvard, worked in Human Resources and Safety Leadership roles for global Mining Houses and now works in the people and performance space specialising in workplace conflict and dispute resolution, mediation, investigations and conflict coaching. Along the way he has learnt some lessons about people and leadership which he continues to share through storytelling and coaching.  This is his story.

Listed in the Who’s Who of Women in Australia in 2007, awarded the Prime Minister’s Centennial Medal in 2000 and an OAM for service to the community in 2016,  Bev Brock has devoted her life to others. She is a former teacher and life counsellor, and an author and public speaker. She was born and raised in Western Australia. Her life changed pace in the almost three decades she spent with motor racing legend Peter Brock. She raised their young family while being an integral part of Peter’s racing career, helping to steer him through life in the spotlight. She is patron of the Lighthouse Foundation, co-founder of the Peter Brock Foundation, and sits on the board of the Skyline Education Foundation.

Bev has been teaching life skills for the past 20 years and speaks to many varied groups, helping people in crisis to change their lives, encouraging them to take charge of their own destinies and to live their dreams. In imparting her knowledge and experience in the pursuit of fulfilment, Bev relates to her own journey through past relationships, her life education, her experience in caring for elderly and terminally ill family and friends and her highly visible life.

Bev is the author of Peter Brock – Living with a Legend, published in 2004 which went straight to the best seller list and the main author and editor of Brock at Bathurst. Her own story, Life to the Limit was published in 2014.

Energetic and dynamic community leader Jane Mouritz is one of Australia’s leaders in regional and rural community development. Jane has devoted a lifetime of support to others and serving communities from Hyden to Albany in Western Australia and beyond. She has championed the causes of farm succession planning, governance of community organisations, suicide prevention, development of the next generation of leaders, Palliative Care, Voluntary Assisted Dying, and supporting and sustaining rural communities.  Jane’s roots and her values reflect her passion for rural communities, agriculture and family.

She has served in local government, and also as an appointed member to a number of State and national advisory committees, including the Regional Communities Program, Stronger Families and Communities Initiative, the National Advisory Committee for Ageing, Internet Advisory Panel and the WA Telecentres Advisory Board. A graduate of Australian Rural Leadership Program, Jane was also a director of Leadership Western Australia and a member of the Ministerial Council for Suicide Prevention WA. Jane initiated the Middle Beach Group and served as its inaugural chair for 11 years and has recently retired as chair of the Albany Community Hospice. She is currently lecturing in business at Southern Regional TAFE.

Andrew Fuller has been described as an ”interesting mixture of Billy Connolly, Tim Winton and Frasier Crane” and as someone who “puts the heart back into psychology”. As a clinical psychologist, Andrew works with many schools and communities in Australia and internationally, specialising in the wellbeing of young people and their families. He is a Fellow of the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Learning and Educational Development at the University of Melbourne.  Andrew has been a principal consultant to the national drug prevention strategy REDI, the ABC on children’s television shows, is an Ambassador for Mind Matters and is a member of the National Coalition Against Bullying. He is a wonderful storyteller and a delight to have as a guest for this episode of EDGE.

Bob Hastings developed a deep sense of community from a very young age, with a desire to make a difference in the lives of others. Influenced by his Uncle, a then serving Victorian police officer, Bob became a cadet policeman that signalled the start of a distinguished career in the police and corrective services sectors. His legacy and contribution to the development and implementation of public policy in areas such as drug impaired driving were world first.

Bob’s calm, resolute and resilient character are the core of his approach to leadership. Such personal capabilities have held him in good stead throughout some challenging times in his career. Bob was the Commissioner for Corrective Services in Victoria at the time of the murder of the infamous gangland figure, Carl Williams in Barwon Prison. In this episode of EDGE, Bob explores his view of leadership and the importance of core values and personal accountability as two fundamentals of what good leaders do. He continues to contribute to the community, exemplified by his current position as a member of the Parole Board of Qld.

Meeting our guest Ian Box and his wife Trudy on a holiday in Sicily led to a friendship and admiration for his successful career, adventurous spirit and positive outlook on life. Ian’s mantra is ‘if you see a problem tackle it head on, don’t wait for it to go away’, and that has certainly worked for him. Stephen and Ian discuss his early life starting his own insurance business in Adelaide, moving to Sydney, discovering the joy of yachting, taking on the role of Commodore of the Middle Harbour Yacht Club and competing in two Sydney to Hobart Yacht races in his own boat ‘Toy Box 2,’ along with his other passion motor cycling and traveling the world.

In this episode of EDGE Dr Stephen Brown talks to celebrated lawyer and community figure, Peter Boyce. In 2015, Peter was the subject of an Australian Story program called "The Man Behind the Morcombes" which documented his experience of dealing with the Morcombe Coronial Inquest and his vital role in ending the Morcombe family's decade-long search for Daniel and his killer. Peter was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in January, 2013 for his extensive history of community service and leadership in areas of horse racing, rugby league and the Catholic church. His expertise and work as a lawyer in promoting justice, freedom and the rights of the individual have also been acknowledged, being awarded the Civil Justice Award and the Queensland Law Society’s President’s Medal.