The Urban Development Institute of Australia SA division (UDIA) today announced that political adviser and former public servant Liam Golding will be its next chief executive.

Golding, who has advised numerous Labor ministers, is currently a senior adviser to the Premier – a role he was appointed to in May 2022.

He was also Malinauskas’ chief-of-staff when the now-Premier was Police, Corrections and Emergency Services Minister in the Weatherill Government.

Prior to that, Golding was an adviser to Planning Minister John Rau from 2011 to 2014 before moving to then Premier Jay Weatherill’s office to advise him on planning, urban development, transport and infrastructure.

More recently, he was a senior policy adviser with federal SA senator Marielle Smith (July 2019 to May 2022), a senior manager within the South Australian Housing Authority (April 2018 to July 2019) and principal policy officer within the South Australian cabinet office (November 2016 to April 2018).

Golding will replace outgoing UDIA CEO Pat Gerace, who earlier this year was appointed CEO of civil engineering company Greenhill.

UDIA SA president Daniel Palumbo said Golding’s knowledge of policy development and government processes would be valuable to the organisation.

“Liam has been a trusted and effective senior policy and parliamentary advisor to two Premiers and two Deputy Premiers,” Palumbo said in a statement.

“We are confident that Liam will be an effective leader of the UDIA’s advocacy efforts on behalf of our members, as he comes with a deep seeded understanding of and experience in policy development and how to effectively navigate Cabinet and Parliamentary processes.

“Liam is undoubtedly a respected and talented political advisor and the skills and networks he has developed over this time will be a great asset for the UDIA moving forward — and imperative to building on the achievements of former chief executive Pat Gerace.”

Gerace also had experience advising Labor ministers before he was appointed UDIA CEO in 2015.

He was a ministerial adviser to former Transport, Infrastructure and Urban Development Minister Pat Conlon from 2005 to 2013 before a brief stint in the office of Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis.

The UDIA represents developers, consultants, corporations and small companies across South Australia’s development sector.

It has been a vocal supporter of the Malinauskas Government’s land release initiatives in the outer suburbs.

It has also been advocating for a greater focus on greenfield and strategic infill developments to meet Adelaide’s future housing growth needs.

Golding will commence as CEO on May 23, 2023.

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