Ian served as a diplomat in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) over a 20-year period, with postings in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, where he successfully represented Australia in negotiations with foreign governments and officials. This included working on issues at a political level, such as support for Australian positions in the United Nations and candidacies in the International Court of Justice. Ian also frequently engaged on issues affecting Australian economic interests and reached outcomes through practical and effective representations, such as helping win more foreign approvals expanding access for Australian agricultural products in local markets, and resolving problems facing Australian exporters at overseas borders.

He co-led negotiations with eight other countries on competition policy in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement. He has experience across the Australian Government, having served in the Treasury and the Office of National Assessments before joining DFAT, including as an economic analyst for North Asia.

Ian was recently Senior Advisor, Global Engagement, for the Business Council of Australia (BCA). In this capacity, he supported the BCA and Australia business engagement on a broad range of international economic issues, including trade negotiations with the European Union.

He has Master’s qualifications in economics (University of Adelaide) and international relations/strategic studies (UKM, Malaysia).