Mr Nixon Apple has developed a keen understanding about the investment and commercialisation landscape in Australia through his work with the Australian union movement and his participation on various boards and committees. As an Industry and Economic Advisor with the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, and formerly with the Australian Council of Trade Unions, he knows how critical it is for our best ideas to be developed locally, rather than going offshore and taking Australian jobs with them.
For 15 years, Mr Apple was a member of the Board of Directors of the Australian Trade Commission. During that period he was a member of a Board sub committee responsible for providing low interest loans to firms exporting new products. From 1998 until 2003 he was a member and later Chair of the Development Australia Fund and has been a member of manufacturing industry bodies in Victoria and Queensland. From 1998 until 2008 he was on the Board of Directors for the Superannuation Trust of Australia (STA) and successor fund, AustralianSuper. He remains a member of the AustralianSuper Investment Committee.
Mr Apple has contributed to a number of key industry reviews, including the Review of the Automotive Industry in 2008 and the Review of the National Innovation System. He is a member of the Enterprise Connect Clean Energy Innovation Centre Interim Advisory Board.
Mr Apple completed his BA and MA in Canada and came to Australia for PhD course work in 1978. He became an Australian citizen in 1983.