Graham Buchan: PEFR Consultant

“Graham Buchan already had a BSc Land Economics from the University of Paisley, Scotland before deciding in 2005 to give up his day job as Head of Asset and Portfolio Risk with Westpac Global Property Solutions, Sydney. He went on to complete a second BSc in Environmental Forensics at UTS. At his 2009 graduation, he received the John Pym Prize for Remediation.

ABOUT Graham Buchan

As Director of Peregryne Consulting Pty Ltd, Graham is a Consultant in Property, Environmental and Finance Risk (PEFR). This work includes Quality Assurance in the valuation of Commercial and Residential property ranging in values from $AUD0.5m to $AUD500m.

He’s also a Non-Executive Director of Iris Pictures, with whom he has set up a joint-venture called Channel ESD. Channel ESD will provide digital educational material and face-to-face training courses both in Australia and abroad. Its first DVD is already in pre-production.

He has lived in Sydney, Australia since 1995, is married to Jenny, has two great children, Tamsin and Ian and is a keen birdwatcher. He’s also very passionate about ESD.”

5 KURIOUS KIWI QUESTIONS

Do you have interesting friends? I do. I’m a kurious kiwi, so in this LifeStyle section I ask them 5 Questions. Their responses are sometimes startling yet always thought evoking. I ask each of them a common question relating to a Cause they believe in and why it matters to them. Read on to share in their take on what they think really does matter.

Best features of where you live?

I am fortunate to live on the waterfront. You can sit and watch the weather as the storm-clouds roll in, see the gusts on the water before the wind hits, and see birds such as Crested Terns and occasionally penguins. Living in Sydney, I can leave the house and be watching Humpback Whales and albatross at Maroubra in under 30 minutes.

Musically, when you’re off your Office rocker, who do you listen to?

I have a very broad range of tastes: AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Santana, Steve Hackett, Genesis, Powderfinger, Eminem and Fleetwood Mac to name a few. Current favourite track is ‘Ripples’ by Genesis. Sublime!

What’s your Cause? Explain why it matters to you

Explaining the externalities of various parts of the economy, these are the hidden costs passed on to the general public rather than the producers or consumers. Examples are the costs in dollars, lives, health and ecosystem pollution of tobacco, alcohol, asbestos, coal, coal-seam gas, industrial chemicals, fatty fast foods. We all pay for someone elses poor decisions or negligence.

A recent study in the US on coal (‘Full cost accounting for the life cycle of coal’ Epstein et al., 2011) shows costs passed on to the general public are twice that of the dollar cost of buying the coal – its full costs are 3 times higher. Better, accurate costing would lead to smarter ways of living in a very finite and unique living Earth. Good for us, good for our kids and good for the life around us.

As an avid birdwatcher, imagine a global Magical Mystery Bird tour. Tell us where you’d go and which birds you’d love to see?

Kamchatka now:: Steller’s Sea-eagle, Iceland in 1800:: Great Auk, New Zealand in 1500:: Moas, South-East Queensland now:: breeding waterbirds and maybe a Night Parrot!

Ecologically Sustainable Development or ESD is one of your passions. How are social incentives to do the right thing feasible?

Encouraging ESD is like encouraging any sought behaviour, carrot and stick. Penalise poor behaviour, through increased costs including taxes, levies, fines and reward the good through reduced costs, subsidies and bounties. You make it feasible by using the dollars from penalties to pay for the subsidies and bounties. Grab ’em by the wallet and they will follow!

PLUS ONE

Rebuilding after the Christchurch Earthquake will cost. The NZ Greens Party are calling for a small, temporary earthquake levy on those earning over $NZD48,000 to help pay for the rebuild. Where is the merit in this thinking? Possible alternative(s)?

It would appear to make sense in both Australia and NZ to have, for example, a Natural Disaster and Climate Change Levy of some kind on a permanent basis so that cyclones, floods, bushfires, earthquake, volcano disasters can be readily funded.

A very simple solution would be to add a small say, 0.5 to 1.5% to the GST – the collection costs would be tiny given that the GST is all in place, and it would be transparent. The funds would build up over time and be drawn from when disasters occur.

UPDATE
As at 2018, Graham closed his business and has relocated to England, in the United Kingdom.