Simon Hawker

Simon is a director in the project and infrastructure advisory team at BDO in Brisbane. With more than 18 years of providing strategic and targeted commercial advice to organisations, Simon enables clients to navigate risks, optimise financial outcomes, and make informed investment decisions. Simon is passionate about sustainability and driving positive change in the waste and resource recovery industry.

Expertise

• Waste and resource recovery specialist
• Strategic and commercial advice
• Commercial advisory on large-scale infrastructure projects
• Financial and commercial structuring and procurement
• Project and transaction structuring
• Due diligence.

Experience

• Processing roadmap - Simon was the Project Manager for developing the South East Queensland (SEQ) Organics Processing Roadmap in partnership with ARUP, working closely with 13 SEQ Local Governments and their respective elected officials, executive teams, waste managers and technical officers. The roadmap, supported by financial and technology analysis, was developed to inform government investment decisions surrounding the implementation of Organics services to divert organic material from landfill. The roadmap was also developed to provide a framework for preferred solutions including infrastructure/technology, size, location (LG or Sub-Regional corridors), timing, and cost.
• Pre-feasibility - BDO, in partnership with Ramboll, developed a pre-feasibility study for an EfW facility. This included a detailed financial assessment (development of detailed costings of the facility, analysis of financial impact ompared to BAU, sensitivity analysis and an assessment of numerous commercial delivery structures to ensure an optimised approach). Simon was the Project Director for this engagement.
• Waste management plan - Simon was the Project Manager for developing the South East Queensland (SEQ) Waste Management Plan in partnership with McKinsey Co, working closely with the eleven SEQ Local Governments and their respective elected officials, executive teams, waste managers and technical officers. The plan provided a ten-year roadmap to navigate the complexity of the upcoming transformational shift in the waste industry. The project identified the sequence of levers and investments required (a $3 billion change program) to improve the economics of waste management operations, encourage economic development and deliver social and environmental benefits for the SEQ region.
• Queensland landfill levy re-design - Simon led the advisory work, which involved navigating through complex economic and long-term policy objectives. The project resulted in the endorsement of a ten-year program to dramatically improve resource recovery, minimise the impact on ratepayers and create new investment and job opportunities. The project directly informed the $2.1 billion jobs and recycling fund announced by the Minister for the Environment and the Great Barrier Reef and Minister for Science and Youth Affairs the Honourable Meaghan Scanlon, to deliver a Queensland recycling revolution.
• Review of economic opportunities for the Queensland waste industry - As part of an inter-departmental project, Simon was part of a project team engaged by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science to examine the economic opportunities for Queensland’s waste industry. The drivers for the project were to improve Queensland’s resource recovery rate and, in doing so, maximise the economic benefits to the economy. This report was prepared as input into the new waste strategy developed by the Department of Environment and Science.
• Queensland Waste and Resource Recovery strategy implementation program - Simon was the PMO lead working with the Department of Environment and Science, enabling the implementation of the Queensland Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy. The PMO was also advising and providing capability uplift for the delivery of several key initiatives such as the Queensland Waste and Resource Recovery Infrastructure Plan, Energy from Waste Policy, Collections Study and Data Strategy.
• Queensland Local Governments waste infrastructure procurements - Simon led the financial and commercial assessments for several Queensland Local Governments waste infrastructure procurements. Advice included navigating the investment and funding decisions, resulting in mitigating risks for the Local Governments and aligning with the State’s strategic policy positions/ objectives. Engagements have covered a broad range of infrastructure solutions for the organics, co-mingled recyclates and residual waste streams (e.g. energy from waste).

Qualifications and affiliations

• Bachelor of Business (Accounting/Finance)
• Affiliate member Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ)
• Masters of Applied Finance (major in Corporate Finance)