David Harrison elected new Property Council President

Charter Hall Managing Director and Group CEO, David Harrison, has been elected as the new National President of the Property Council of Australia.

Mr Harrison takes the reins of the industry association from Stephen Conry AM, Chief Executive Officer, Australia and New Zealand - JLL, who concluded his two-year term at Tuesday's Property Council board meeting.

Bob Johnston, Chief Executive Officer - The GPT Group and Sophie Fallman, Managing Partner, Real Estate - Brookfield, have both been elected as National Vice-Presidents. The 20 member Board of national and local leaders now also features a 50:50 gender balance for the first time in its history.

Mr Harrison said he was honoured to take on the role at a critical time for Australia's biggest industry.

"It has been a tough year for the property sector, but we should be proud of the major role the industry has played in Australia's response to the COVID pandemic," Mr Harrison said.

"Property has done much of the heavy lifting to pull our economy out of recession and stands ready to achieve even better results over the long term with a continuation of positive policy settings."

"As stimulus and support measures are wound down the Property Council will be leading the public debate on reactivating CBDs, resuming overseas migration and reforms to our tax and planning systems."

"With property employing 1.48 million Australians, and contributing $234.7 billion to our economy, the health of our industry needs to be front of mind for all levels of government."

The Property Council of Australia champions the interests of more than 2,200 member companies that represent the full spectrum of the industry, including those who invest, own, manage and develop in all sectors of property.

The full Board is as follows: