VYVYAN HARMSWORTH LVO
Chairman of Commonwealth Press Union and Director Corporate Affairs Daily Mail and General Trust, UK

Vyvyan Harmsworth joined the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards in 1961 and was promoted to full Corporal the following year. He served in Germany, Canada and Cyprus and served as lieutenant on active service in Aden and Radfan region. He served at Guards Depot from 1966-68 and was appointed ADC to Chief of Staff, Marshal of the Royal Air Force in 1969.

He took Chief of Defence Staff's retirement and was appointed ADC to Admiral of the Fleet Sir Peter Hill-Norton. In 1971 he rejoined the Welsh Guards as a Company Commander posted to Belfast.

In 1973-75 he was appointed Extra Equerry to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and then appointed first full time Equerry to HRH The Prince of Wales and was awarded LVO by HM The Queen and in 1976-79 rejoined the Welsh Guards as a Company Commander in West Berlin.

He joined the Daily Mail and General Trust as investment adviser in 1981. And became Development Manager of The Field Magazine in 1984. He was appointed Director of Corporate Affairs at the Daily Mail and General Trust in 1990.

Among his commitments as Chairman of the Commonwealth Press Union, he also sits on the Council of RADA and is Master of the Guild of St. Brides Church in London.

THE HON OLIVER F CLARKE OJ JP
President of the Commonwealth Press Union and Chairman of The Gleaner Company Ltd, Jamaica

The Hon Oliver F Clarke joined The Gleaner Company Limited (Jamaica) in 1976 in the capacity of Managing Director and after several months was appointed as Chairman.

He is President of the CPU and Chairman of the Commonwealth Press Union West Indies Section. He is Chairman of Jamaica National Building Society and former Chair of the Jamaican Parliamentary Salaries Review Committee. He is also holds various directorships with a number of companies including Independent Radio Company, Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), Tools for Development Jamaica Limited, PALS Jamaica which teaches conflict resolution in schools, and the Peace Education Foundation in Miami.

He was the Past President of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica and served as President of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) between 1997 and 1998.

In 2004 he was made a Caribbean Luminary of the American Foundation for the University of the West Indies for his work both in the Caribbean and internationally. In 1998, he was awarded the Order of Jamaica and was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) in 1997. He received the Americas Award in 1990.

THE HON ALEXANDER DOWNER MP
Foreign Minister of Australia

MATTHEW NEUHAUS**
Director Political Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, UK

Matthew Neuhaus is Director of the Political Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat since 2002. He is the chief political adviser to the Secretary General and manages the Commonwealth's political activity and the division. From 2001 to 2002 he was Senior Adviser, International Division of the Australian Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and played a key role in policy advice for the 2002 CHOGM in Coolum, Australia. From 1997 to 2000, Matthew Neuhaus served as Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria and was also accredited to Ghana, Sierra Lẹne and the Gambia. From 1994 to 1997, he was, first, Director of the Staffing Policy and Practices Section and then, Director of the United Nations and Commonwealth Section at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

From 1991 to 1994, Mr Neuhaus was First Secretary, later Counsellor, at the Australian Mission to the United Nations in New York, responsible for advancing Australian international legal and disarmament/security interests in international negotiations. He served in the Australian High Commission in Port Moresby as Second Secretary from 1988 to 1989. He began his diplomatic career in 1982, based in Canberra, and moved to Nairobi as Third Secretary at the Australian High Commission from 1983 to 1985.

FRANK KELETT
Executive Director, Publishers National Environment Bureau, Australia

Frank Kelett joined the Publishers National Environment Bureau as Executive Director in January 2002. The bureau has been operating since 1990 to represent the interests of Australian newspaper and magazine publishers in recycling and associated issues.

In this time the Bureau, with Australia's newsprint manufacturer Norske Skog, has been responsible for lifting Australia newspaper recycling levels from 28 per cent at the beginning of 1990 to 73.5 per cent in 2003 - a world leading figure.

Frank Kelett came to the Bureau from the Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers' Association (PANPA), where he was chief executive for 16 years.

A journalist by vocation, he has been a newspaper editor, a systems editor, a newspaper sales and marketing manager and an advertising agency director before joining PANPA where he was responsible for planning and running major international conferences and trade shows, workshops and seminars as well as editing and publishing a monthly magazine for the newspaper industry.

SIDHARTH BHATIA
Chief Executive Officer, AAPCA, Mauritius

Sidharth Bhatia, has nearly 30 years of media experience behind him, as a reporter, foreign correspondent, newspaper editor, television anchor and now as a manager. He has worked in several countries starting as a trainee reporter in Bombay in the mid 1970s. He went on to report for Associated Press in 1981, then worked for a number of international media outlets including the BBC.

In 1990, he was awarded a Press Fellowship to Wolfson College, Cambridge. In 1992 he became Resident Editor of the Observer in Bombay and then moved to South Africa where he was the first Indian to report for a number of South African publications.

In the mid 1990s he was producer and anchor of a popular weekly news show on Star TV and in 2001, he moved to Canada where he anchored a daily evening news programme.

In 2003 he moved to Mauritius to set up a printing press and launch in September 2004 Le Matinal in French and English.

Sidharth Bhatia also taught media and communication for over 10 years and was invited to become an Associate Fellow of Wolfson in 2001.

TONY GILLIES
Editor-in-Chief, Australian Associated Press, Sydney

Tony Gillies is editor-in-chief of Australian Associated Press, the country's national news agency.

He has held this position since January, 2004, having spent 25 years before that in newspaper publishing with Rural Press Limited, Fairfax and News Limited.

Mr Gillies served Rural Press Limited for 15 years in a number of group roles, including editorial trainer, group editor and publishing services manager for the company's 160 regional newspapers. He has also been a daily newspaper editor and manager.

While AAP has been a different and rewarding challenge for Mr Gillies, he remains closely linked to the progress of Australasia's newspapers through his position as the Editorial Advisory Group chairman of PANPA, the Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers' Association.

THEMIS THEMISTOCLEOUS
Director, Cyprus News Agency

Themis Themistocleous is Secretary General of the Alliance of Mediterranean News Agencies and also represents CNA in the European Alliance of News Agencies.

He holds a BA degree in Classics and English from the University of Athens, Greece; an MA degree in Journalism from Stanford University, USA; and an MBA degree in the management of services from the Cyprus International Institute of Management.

He worked for the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation for 22 years as TV news editor, newscaster and moderator of current affairs programmes and presidential debates, before joining CNA in 1999.

As a journalist he has covered the Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings in the Bahamas, Cyprus, Kuala Lumpur and Auckland; numerous EU summits, and high-level meetings of the UN, the Council of Europe and the OSCE. He has also reported numerous rounds of Cyprus talks and Cyprus-EU accession talks, as well.

GEORGE BROCK
Managing Editor of The Times, UK

The Managing Editor's duties include editorial strategy and planning (including particularly online publishing), recruitment, resources and media regulation.

He is 51 and was educated at Winchester and Oxford, where he read modern history. He was worked on an evening paper in Yorkshire and from 1976-81 as a reporter on The Observer specialised in race relations and Northern Ireland.

He joined the Times in 1981 and has been a features writer and editor, Opinion page editor, Foreign Editor (1987-90) and a bureau chief in Brussels (1991-5). He was European Editor based in London between 1995 and 1997. He has contributed to Swedish, French and Polish newspapers, lectured in Germany and broadcast frequently on the BBC.

PROFESSOR STEPHEN CHAN
Professor of International Relations, University of London, and foundation Dean of Law and Social Sciences, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, UK

Professor Chan previously held senior positions at the Universities of Kent and Nottingham Trent, and was on the faculty of the University of Zambia

Born in 1949 to refugee parents in New Zealand, he went on to obtain MA degrees from the University of Auckland and London University King's College, and later took the PhD of the University of Kent. In 1973, he was elected President of the New Zealand University Students' Association.

Professor Chan has held various visiting positions in universities across the world and has twice been Visiting Fellow at Queen Elizabeth House in Oxford. He has also been stationed in both London and Lusaka, Zambia as an international civil servant and was seconded to the Commonwealth Observer Group that oversaw the independence of Zimbabwe.

He has since advised and trained ministries in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho, Mauritius, Kenya, Uganda, Eritrea and Ethiopia.

He also founded the Kwok Meil Wah Foundation which helps support programmes bringing oriental martial arts to poor African urban areas.

He lived five years in Zambia and continues to visit Africa at least annually.

IAN BEALES OBE
Executive Committee Member, CPU, UK

Ian Beales stepped down in 2001 after 20 years as editor of the Western Daily Press, based in Bristol. He has spent 40 years in journalism, was a founder board member of the UK Society of Editors, and is a member and former chairman of its Parliamentary and Legal committee.

He served on the PCC Editors' Code committee since its inception in 1991, was deputy chairman from 1998-2000, and remains a consultant to the committee.

He is an advisor on self-regulatory matters to the CPU and is the author of Imperfect Freedom, the first report of it's kind to monitor the state of self-regulation of the press across the Commonweatlh.

In 2004 he was appointed to the CPU Executive Committee.

TED GLYNN
Group Circulation & Marketing Director, Northcliffe Newspapers, UK

JULIAN SMITH OBE
CEO, Allied Press, New Zealand

Mr Smith is chairman and managing director of the independently-owned newspaper company, Allied Press Ltd, publisher of New Zealand's oldest daily newspaper, the Otago Daily Times (founded 1861).

The fifth generation of his family to be involved with newspapers in Otago, he is current president of the New Zealand Newspaper Publishers Association and chairman of the New Zealand Press Association, positions previously held by his father and grandfather.

Mr Smith is also honorary colonel of the 4th Battalion (Otago and Southland) Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.

BRENDAN HOPKINS
CEO, APN News & Media, Australia

Mr Hopkins was appointed Chief Executive of APN News & Media in August 2002. APN is the publisher of the New Zealand Herald and is Australasia's largest publisher of regional newspapers, radio broadcaster and operator of Outdoor Advertising.

Prior to his appointment, Mr Hopkins was Chief Executive of Independent News & Media (UK) and Executive Chairman of The Belfast Telegraph after overseeing its acquisition in July 2000.

He is a Freeman of the City of London, Honorary Vice President of the British Vascular Foundation and a Governor of The Australian Ireland Fund.

PROFESSOR KEN MCKINNON
Chairman, Australian Press Council

Emeritus Professor Ken McKinnon is one of Australia's most senior educators, with experience at the highest levels in Universities, schools and government and since 1995 he has been a consultant to higher education in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific (as a principal of McKinnon Walker Pty Ltd).

He was educated at Adelaide, Queensland and holds a doctorate in psycholinguistics as a Harkness Fellow at Harvard Universities.

He was Vice-Chancellor of Wollongong University from 1981 until 1995; was President of the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee from1991 & 1992 and Chairman of IDP Education Australia during 1993 & 1994.

Earlier he was Chairman of the Australian Schools Commission (1973-81) and Director of Education in Papua New Guinea (1966-73).

His projects have included work for the sector as a whole, national organisations (DETYA, the AVCC, and IDP Education Australia), and fifteen individual universities (including a year as Vice-Chancellor of James Cook University during 1997).

His latest publication (with Walker and Davis) is Benchmarking. A Manual for Australian Universities (Canberra. Commonwealth of Australia. February 2000).

MARY RUSSELL
Group Legal Advisor, Associated Newspapers, UK

Mary Russell was appointed as in-house lawyer for Associated Newspapers Ltd. 2002. Prior to that she was a freelance lawyer for The Mirror, The Guardian, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday from 1998-2001.

She holds a Bachelor of Science cum laude which she completed in 1972. Following graduation she served with the US Peace Corps, in Ecuador, South America from 1972-1974.

In 1976 she completed her M.A. with distinction in Rural Social Development and went on to complete her post graduate diploma in psychology in 1978, completed post graduate research in rural social development then qualified in law in 1988 with Law Society honours.

She was a lawyer for the Newspaper Society and Society of Editors (UK) from 1992- 1998 where she was involved in lobbying MPs, Ministers and European parliamentary Candidate.

GEOFF HILL
Journalist and Author, specialising in South African politics

Geoff Hill grew up in Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe. In 1980, he joined the Manica Post newspaper on the boarder of Zimbabwe and Mozambique and, after the nationalisation of the press in 1982, he moved to Australia and spent eight years with Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

In the past twenty years, he has worked in Australia, the USA, Britain, Zimbabwe and several other African countries, and is currently Africa correspondent for the Washington Times.

In September 2000 he became the first non-American to receive a John Steinbeck Award for short-story writing and also won the 2000 Commonwealth Short Story Award for Africa.

He is the author of The Battle for Zimbabwe; The Final Countdown, highlighting the politics of Zimbabwe, published by Zebra Press in 2003 and he is presently working on the sequel.

URSULA CHEER
Senior Lecturer and Proctor, School of Law, Canterbury University, New Zealand

Ursula Cheer holds a LLB (Hons) from Canterbury University and a Master of Law degree from Cambridge University. In 1982 and was admitted to the Bar at Christchurch.

She became a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1992 and in 1988 was appointed as Speech Writer to Minister of Justice, in 1988. In 1989 she was seconded to the Office of the Prime Minister, as Legal Adviser in the Prime Minister's Advisory Group.

In 1991 she was appointed as a Grade 7 Lawyer in the Lord Chancellor's Department United Kingdom Law Commission. She also took up a position as a Law Lecturer in the School of Law at University of Canterbury, in 1995 where she teaches Torts, Contract and Media Law.

She has since been promoted Senior Lecturer above the Bar in January 2004 and is the author of the LexisNexis Laws of New Zealand Title: Media and Communication.and is co-author of Media Law in New Zealand (4th ed, 1999).

MICHAEL LAWRENCE
Managing Editor for Europe, Middle East & Africa, Reuters

He joined Reuters in London in 1994 as Programme Editor for Reuters Financial Television. He was appointed Deputy Editor of RFTV in 1996 and became News Production Editor for text services for Europe, Middle East and Africa in 1998.

He was appointed Managing Editor in March 2000. His previous roles included Reporter for CNBC in Europe, Programme Director for London news radio station LBC, and European correspondent for the Macquarie Radio network, Australia.

Michael began his career as a cadet journalist on the Daily Mirror in Sydney before moving to the Sydney Morning Herald, where he worked in Sydney and then in Canberra. He became Finance Editor of news station 2GB in Sydney in 1984 before moving to London for the Macquarie network in 1987.

SIR JOHN JEFFRIES
Chairman, New Zealand Press Council

Mr Jeffries practiced law 1959 to 1976 and was appointed a Supreme Court judge. Prior to his appointment he practiced at the bar and was involved in local government, NZ Law Society affairs, he was an Honorary Member of American Bar Association and worked as a member of several government and charitable organisations.

He also held a number of Directorships of public companies. He retired from the High Court 1992 and became Police Complaints Authority; retired 1997 and became Chairman NZ Press Council, position he still holds.

He is presently Member of Arbitration for Sport, Commissioner of Security Warrants, and Patron of the Reconstructive Plastic Surgery Research Foundation.

MAX UECHTRITZ
Nine News Australia & Advisory Board Member, International News Safety Institute

Mr Uechtritz has worked in journalism for 27 years and is presently the Nine Network Director of News. Over the past 18 years he worked as an award-winning reporter, foreign correspondent, program maker and senior executive for the ABC.

Prior to his appointment in May 2004, he was Executive Director of ABC News and Current Affairs and was an ABC foreign correspondent during which time he reported from 30 countries on five continents and was posted in Europe and Washington.

He has twice won Australia's premier journalism prize, the Walkley Award and is the only person to have won all three major television journalism awards - the Walkley, the Penguin and the Gold Thorn EMI award - in the same year.

Prior to joining the ABC in 1986, Max worked for QTQ Channel Nine, Queensland Newspapers, the then Brisbane Murdoch papers, the Daily Sun and Sunday Sun, and the Gold Coast Bulletin. Last year, Max was awarded a Centenary Medal by the Prime Minister for services to news and current affairs.

THE RT HON WINSTON PETERS
Member for Tauranga, Leader of New Zealand First Party

Rt. Hon. Winston Raymond Peters is currently the leader of the New Zealand First Party, representing Maori's rights and leading the debate over Treaty issues and the foreshore seabed.

He holds parliamentary roles including Spokesperson on Commerce, Economic Development, Finance, Immigration, Racing, Revenue, SOEs. He is also a member of Finance and Expenditure Select Committee and a member of Privileges Select Committee. He also has his own practise as a Barrister, Solicitor and a consultant partner in an Auckland law firm.

He holds a BA in History and Political Studies and an LLB from the University of Auckland, he also holds a Diploma in Teaching. He was formerly a teacher and played rugby as captain of the Auckland Maoris Rugby team.

From 1984-1987 he was opposition spokesperson on Maori Affairs, for the Consumer Affairs and Transport department. He was promoted to the opposition front bench and became spokesperson on Maori Affairs under the Employment and Race Relations division where he worked from 1987-1990.

In 1990 Peters became Minister of Maori Affairs where he developed the Ka Awatea report, a blueprint for Maori development in New Zealand published in 1991.

He is previously married and has two children.