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35 in Canberra so that it can devote its energies to working on raising issues with the Federal Government to ensure the advancement of the urban development industry in Australia. There are state based chapters of UDIA which function at a local level to drive policy initia- tives for the promotion of the urban develop- ment industry. UDIA, New South Wales, is one of the major state bodies and its chief executive officer, Stephen Albin, explained that amongst the most important functions of UDIA is the role it plays to act as a catalyst for urban de- velopment activities by connecting key industry leaders and organisations. The Institute has a very broad based member- ship and counts amongst them developers, fi- nanciers, builders, suppliers, architects, contrac- tors, engineers, consultants, academics and state and local government bodies. In fact, practically each and every component of the urban devel- opment industry is amply represented within UDIA. The Institute serves as a common platform and provides an opportunity for interaction amongst its members. The networking which takes place at events organised by UDIA has played an important role in the country’s urban developmental activities. Speaking about this aspect of the Institute’s role, Stephen Albin says,“We have approximate- ly 550 member-companies. About 10,000 peo- ple attend our events in New South Wales alone and they range from major development com- panies to one-man operations. The big compa- nies need the one-man operations because one day the big companies might buy them and the one-man companies need the big ones because they can see what sort of activity is taking place in the market. “We made a conscious decision to have a broad membership and not just have massive compa- nies but to get that right mix. “There is a company called Greenfields Property Development, who are developing the biggest ever project in New South Wales. Twenty years ago, Tony Perich, who is the owner, was a farmer. Now he is major developer. He met Laurie Rose two decades ago at one of our functions. Lau- rie’s been doing Tony’s work ever since. They are