Simon Talbot
Consultant
Simon has extensive experience in managing business strategy for a variety of stakeholders in land management across the mining, agriculture, forestry and food sectors, having spent the last 22 years working for leading Australian and international companies across acquisitions, market development and complex land management investments.
As the COO and Executive Director Commercial for Victoria’s largest land manager ‘Parks Victoria’, Simon was accountable for the appropriate commercialisation of the five-million-hectare estate, which included over 700 nature-based business licenses, agriculture and mining leases.
Prior to this appointment, he was Head of Public Affairs and Asian Markets for the Coles Group, leading Coles' stakeholder engagement and sustainability programs as well as managing the $50 million Nurture Fund.
He served as CEO of the National Farmers’ Federation, where he was appointed to co-create a refreshed vision for Australian Agriculture. Under his tenure, the National Farmers’ Federation completed Agricultural Component Free Trade Agreements with South Korea, Japan and China and co-founded Australia’s first Agtech Startup Platform, SproutX.
He has extensive experience in mining from small cap and startup operations through to consulting for leading companies, with his work including extensive stakeholder engagement of exploration and mining activities in sensitive locations.
Simon was also a Director at Mondelēz (Kraft/Cadbury) for seven years, heading the corporate affairs function for Australia and New Zealand.
Simon works with Evaluate from his base in Tasmania, where he also currently co leads the Tasmanian Forestry strategy with industry and government executives. His qualifications include Master of Business Technology from UNSW and Bachelor of Science from the University of Tasmania.