Australian Economic Outlook Conference 2026 Australia & New Zealand at a Crossroads: Navigating Inflation, AI, and Global Uncertainty

Alex is a macroeconomist with over a decade of experience, she currently leads Oxford Economics’ climate & energy economics practice.

David is the Managing Director at BIS Oxford Economics and heads the office for Australia and New Zealand. In August 2013 he moved to Sydney to establish the firm and is continuing to grow the business in this region as well as leading key projects within Australia.

Before moving to Australia David worked as part of Oxford Economics’ business development team in London. Prior to joining Oxford Economics he worked for KPMG as a management consultant, specialising in financial risk management including stress testing and scenario analysis. During this time he was also seconded to the main Financial Services regulatory body, the Financial Services Authority (FSA). He completed his degree in Economics at Nottingham University and also studied the chartered institute for securities investment diploma.

Harry Murphy Cruise is the Head of Economic Research and Global Trade at Oxford Economics Australia. He leads the Australian Macroeconomic Service and global trade initiatives, including TradePrism. Harry frequently provides insights to major media outlets, including CNBC, BBC, Reuters, and the Wall Street Journal. His research primarily focuses on global trade and investment flows, with particular interest in the challenges and opportunities of economic decoupling.

Harry holds a master’s degree in international and development economics from the Australian National University and a bachelor’s degree in arts and commerce from Monash University. He is a PhD candidate at ANU, exploring the role of China’s diverse households and firms in the country’s economic transition.

Prior to joining Oxford Economics, Harry was the Head of China and Australia Economics at Moody’s Analytics. He was previously responsible for Australian state and territory analysis at Deloitte Access Economics.

Ben is a lead economist at Oxford Economics Australia working on the Australian Macroeconomic Service, and TradePrism. Prior to joining Oxford Economics ben has worked as a macroeconomic consultant in the private sector in Singapore and Australia and for the Treasury in New Zealand.

Kristian leads Oxford Economics Australia’s Consulting team, working with public and private sector leaders to help them prepare for the future by applying relevant economic theory and forecasts to inform effective policy and business strategy development.