Our Directors
Brian Loughnane AO
Brian Loughnane has been a MRC Director since 2018 and Chairman since December 2023. Brian was the Federal Director of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2003 to 2016, during which he oversaw the 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013 federal elections. Brian is an Assistant Chairman of the International Democrat Union and in 2015 was appointed to the International Republican Institute International Advisory Board. He became an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2018 for his service to parliament and public policy.
Andrew Abercrombie
Andrew Abercrombie is the Founding Director of FlexiGroup Limited (FXL) and remains on the FlexiGroup Board. FXL is a Top 200 company on the ASX. Formerly a commercial and taxation lawyer, he is now engaged in a broad range of commercial interests. As a former Chairman of the Melbourne Chapter of Young Presidents’ Organisation and current Regional Chairman of World Presidents’ Organisation, he continues to participate in international education programs in various roles. Formerly a member of one of Victoria’s Alpine Resort Management Boards, he is also a Director of the Melbourne Zoo Foundation.
Helen Baxendale
Helen Baxendale is the Chief of Staff and Vice President of Strategy at Great Hearts Academies, a rapidly expanding network of classical liberal arts charter schools educating nearly 30,000 students to the highest standards across Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. Before leaving Australia to pursue graduate studies in the UK, Helen worked for several years as an advisor to the Hon Christopher Pyne and the Hon Tony Abbott, and served for two years as a high school History and English teacher under the auspices of the Teach for Australia Program. She has also worked as a consulting policy analyst to public sector agencies, NGOs, philanthropic foundations, and multinational companies in Australia, the UK, and the United States. Helen has a doctorate and master’s degree in public policy from the University of Oxford, which she attended as a Rhodes Scholar, and a first class honors degree in political science and history from the Australian National University.
Alexander Danne
Alexander Danne (B.Sc., LL.B. (Hons), LL.M. (International Law), (GDipAppFin.), joined the MRC Board in 2020. Since January 2012 he has been a Melbourne-based projects and project finance partner at national law firm Gilbert + Tobin, working in diverse sectors within those markets. He commenced his legal career interning with the UN Environment Program and working with an NGO in East Africa over the 2002/2003 period, before spending eight years with law firm Allens in both Sydney and Melbourne. He is the deputy chair of the board of Tintern Grammar, an independent Anglican school in outer Melbourne, and lives in Richmond with his wife Catherine and son Matthew.
yaron Finkelstein
Yaron Finkelstein is the Founding Partner of Society Advisory, a consulting practice that provides discrete advice to CEOs and Boards on understanding and managing social and cultural changes. This follows a long career across politics, campaigns, strategic communications and advertising. His area of expertise is in understanding how people think and how to change or reinforce opinions and behaviours. His last political appointment was as Special Counsel to NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet. Before that, he spent almost four years as the Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Scott Morrison. During this period Yaron was involved in the ‘miracle’ election victory of 2019 and the Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. He was also specifically charged with overseeing the Government’s communications during Covid.
For over 13 years, Yaron worked at the CT Group. He served as the Australian CEO for a number of years before taking on the role of Global Head of Campaigns.
caroline inge
Caroline Inge is a highly experienced entrepreneur, leader and adviser, with a strong track record of managing businesses, leading teams and working in politics, including extensive election campaign experience. Educated at the University of Melbourne and King's College London, Caroline holds a Bachelor of Commerce, Master of Enterprise and a Postgraduate Certificate in International Affairs. Her key skills are in financial management, strategic planning and marketing. She is a highly experienced political adviser, having worked for both a senior minister in the federal parliament, and a senior shadow minister in the state parliament of Victoria. She has been a federal vice president of the Liberal Party of Australia since 2019.
Tamsin Lawrence
Tamsin Lawrence is the Deputy Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Workplace Relations team and oversees a wide portfolio of workplace relations policy matters encompassing legislation, enterprise bargaining, industrial disputes, union regulation and governance, independent contracting and labour hire. Prior to joining the Chamber, Tamsin advised the Hon Craig Laundy MP, the former Federal Minister for Small and Family Business, Deregulation and the Workplace on workplace policy and legislation. A lawyer of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Tamsin originally practiced as an industrial relations solicitor with Herbert Smith Freehills in Melbourne. Tamsin holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from Monash University, where she majored in political science and international relations.
kristy mcsweeney
Kristy is the founder and principal of communications and government engagement firm, the PR Counsel, operating nationally. She has been part of the senior media team for the Federal Coalition since 2004, making her one of very few political experts who have served each Coalition administration at a senior level over the last two decades.
Beginning her career in Western Australia as a journalist for Perth’s leading news and current affairs station 6PR and regional titles of SevenWest Media, Kristy forged a career that joined her media and political skills to advise not just political parties, but some of Australia’s most-well known ASX listed, entrepreneurial and family office companies across a range of sectors. Kristy has also worked closely with some of Australia’s leading philanthropists.
Kristy is a regular political contributor on the Sky News Network, the West Australian and ABC and holds a Bachelor of Communications from Edith Cowan University, Perth, and a Master of Politics and Public Policy from Macquarie University, Sydney.
allan pidgeon am
After completing degrees in Commerce and Law, Allan gained experience as a tax accountant and stock-broker. He is now a Director of a family property business. Among other community involvements, Allan is president of the Australian National Flag Association, a Trustee of the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Trust, and is also a Director of the Queensland Ballet.
Hon Andrew Robb AO
The Hon Andrew Robb was a founding director of the Menzies Research Centre in 1994 and has served on the board since. He retired from the Australian Parliament in 2016 following service as Federal Minister for Trade and Investment from 2013. During that period he negotiated Free Trade Agreements with South Korea, Japan, China, the 12 country Trans Pacific Partnership and the Special Strategic Partnership with Singapore. He was elected as Member for Goldstein in 2004 and was Minister for Vocational and Further Education in the Howard Government. As Federal Director of the Liberal Party of Australia in 1996 he ran the campaign that brought John Howard to the Prime Ministership in what is still the biggest Liberal win in history. He was earlier the Executive Director of the National Farmers’ Federation. In July 2016 he was appointed as a non-executive board member at Ten Network Holdings as Gina Rinehart's representative. In 2003 Mr Robb was awarded the Office of the Order of Australia for his service to agriculture, politics and the community.
Adrian Tembel
Adrian Tembel is an economics and honours law graduate of the University of Adelaide. He began practising corporate and technology law in 1993 at his law firm Thomson Geer. He became a Partner of that firm in 1997 and its Chief Executive Partner in 2009. He is also the Chairman of the South Australian Productivity Commission and a Director of the Hackett Foundation.