It is debatable as to which of our nation’s high achievement groups are most overlooked, but our emergency management teams would certainly rate high on the list.  We worked directly under the Attorney General’s office with Emergency Management Australia (EMA) to produce this compilation. The EMA itself which is a central co-ordinating and action body which liaised with its brother and sister organisations around the country: fire and police departments, The Australian Federal Police, special state departments of emergency management, massive volunteer groups, charities, and others. The picture which emerges dramatises Australia as a true world leader in crisis management and response to emergencies of all kinds. This has been proven by the reception of the book at overseas conferences of emergency managers – it has become a very desirable and useful “guide” to one country’s expertise, applicable elsewhere.

Our interest in PPPs , sparked by the Docklands project , and a partnership with the then emerging Infrastructure Partners Association (IPA) lead to this book. It had become clear that Australia was arguably the world’s best master of PPPs, the complex mix of finance and economics, engineering management, political savvy, accurate forecasting and sheer know how to achieve successful outcomes, on budget, for massive infrastructure projects.  Our then Publishing Director Ashley Russell brought his gentlemanly fervour in full to the project, calling it his 'personal best'. This is perhaps our most technical book and it has been used worldwide as a 'text' on the subject, as a result of our company’s distributions, but especially owing to it use by sponsors such as the Victorian Department of Finance and Treasury, Macquarie Bank and Minter Ellison Lawyers.

In late 2005, we launched FAST THINKING MAGAZINE, a quality quarterly devoted to Innovation in all sectors management, business, arts, culture, government, and of course science and technology.  This commenced as a joint venture with Innovationxchange, a subsidiary of AIG.  The first print run was 25,000 and the publication rapidly gained a senior readership corporately and in government around the country.  Before long, it was selling overseas, eventually being bought or subscribed to in 22 countries.

FAST THINKING received the prestigious Bell award as Best New Magazine in Any Category during its first full year of publication, 2006.  The Hon Kim Carr, then Minister for Innovation and Science stated:  “We have to try new things - that is why FAST THINKING is so important.”

FAST THINKING Press, one of our imprints, also published books, notably a partnership with IBM who provided both sponsorship and access to its 2007 Global Innovation Survey, which consisted of over 770 in-depth interviews with CEOs in 13 countries including India and China. The result was 'Re-Thinking Innovation', (2010) . The idea for the book came from FAST THINKING, in the belief that IBM’s relatively small publication of its momentous work deserved more. Book sales internationally, driven in part by advertising in Forbes and the NY Times, proved this to be the case.

Not forgetting our dictum that part of Innovation pertains to personal life-style, Fast Thinking Press published  'The Idiot and the Odyssey', the story of one man’s life revitalisation through the power of walking - in this case 10,000 kilometres around the Mediterranean Sea. The book is full of innovation in its content which varies from interpretations of Homer’s work through ruminations on a varied life-- from sport, literature, meditation with monks, journalism, travel, business, alcoholism and the rest.  This volume is available still, at Amazon.com.

Sustainability - the word - was not uncommon amongst specialists in 2006, but in this year it burst around the world, and summoned us to create 'Sustainable Nation, Managing Australia’s Future'. We networked with a large number of associations and interest groups, and produced a comprehensive volume on the subject, edited by Tim Mendham, Fast Thinking Magazine's managing editor.

Remember, at the time, depending on which research you were reading, 25-50% of leaders were climate change deniers or sceptics. The book is divided into sections such as Research and Technology, and Business and Community. Each delivered action plans, and actual undertakings: blueprints for sustainability increase in building, management, and through science. Admirable sponsorship came forth from NAB, Lend Lease, Port of Brisbane, and BlueScope Steel, amongst many others. A recent review of Sustainable Nation demonstrates one of our cardinal principles: edit for long life. The book remains largely relevant today, and those areas which are dated, such as the carbon trading debates, stand as useful history.

(2005).   Given our long interest in urbanism, architecture and related subjects, we nominated the Dockland’s Melbourne development as a subject for definitive treatment. It was and remains the nation’s largest ever urban renewal development, though at the time it had many detractors. Some critics thought the book premature, but our investigations showed otherwise. It is not every day that a second virtual CBD creation is attempted in a major, world-class city; Docklands was nothing less than this. Though the vision is significantly fulfilled now, wait another decade and have a look!

The oversize volume contains a vast amount of visuals and words—the latter on subjects from history to architecture, sociology, engineering, design, law, surveying, politics, economics, and of course, urban planning. The scope of the Dockland’s reclamation and building project was audacious.  A dirty, long dormant tract of land and six kilometres of waterfront were reclaimed and utterly transformed.

(2004). This history of Australia’s highest Olympic Gold medal producing training Centre was a pro bono effort in collaboration with the legendary Dr Frank Pyke who had managed it for many years, including the lead up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The book examines not only training at the Institute and individual sports,   but personal insights into the athlete’s lives, with emphasis, as reflected in the title, on what medal winners have gone on to accomplish in their careers , after their athletic achievements.

(2003)—Astonishingly, such a title had never been published previously in any form. As a deluxe hard cover book of over 300 pages, it offered definitive biographies of a group of true Australian heroes, largely overlooked. The second half of the book was devoted to a wide array of innovation case studies from organisations in business, science, NGOs and government.  At the time, it represented the largest compendium on Australian Innovation ever compiled, and became a best seller. It was praised for lifting the profile of science as a career option for Australia’s youth, and as a spur to embrace of Innovation within the industrial and business sectors. 

Its success lead to a special retail edition containing only the profiles of the Laureates, widely sold for several years by leading retailers.

(ABIE), with two large printings in two years. 2002 -2003. This volume featured an original mix of essays, articles and hard reference data, many written by our finest economists and business commentators including Dr. Don Stammer ( Deutsche Bank chief economist and BRW columnist) Phil Ruthven , Chairman , IBIS,  and BRW Founder, Robert Gottleibssen, as well as world renowned thinkers Edward de Bono, ( Lateral Thinking) and Peter Drucker, Prof. Tim Flannery, and Harvard Professor Michael Porter.

Its success lead to a special retail edition containing only the profiles of the Laureates, widely sold for several years by leading retailers.

The Australian Adventure, one of 1MG’s 1980s early success stories – and an example of doing things differently. 

At the time of publication, Australia domestically, and particularly overseas was a poorly understood and in our view immensely underrated destination. This book set out to ambitiously change this. Designed as a knowledge-rich and practical guide volume it ran over 500 pages in large format. It was revered as a collectible reference for its treatment of over 30 activity areas – for both the local audience and those from overseas. 

These ranged from Botanical Gardens to white-water rafting. Its innovative use of “locator maps”

encouraged diverse holiday planning. This material was accompanied by in depth essays on major travel themes, and each major City and State. Another uniqueness was the books appearance in both a select advertising non advertising editions. 

Many premium retailers and others benefitted from the former, which featured the proven successful method of wide hotel room distribution. This program was proven conclusively via an exceptional response (over 3 per cent of occupants) purchasing the book via enclosed order card. At the time of publication the overseas visitor level was approximately 800,000. 

We are proud to have played a small role in helping build our nation’s tourism industry to nearly $10 million pre-pandemic per annum, a figure we know will be surpassed in future years. 

We are equally proud to be returning to the travel industry with fresh ideas via our new publication INNOVATIA.