"Dear Nimalan
I'm pleased you're putting yourself forward for senate preselection and know you'll give it your all...
...Our party benefits from a strong field and you have all the strengths needed to make a fine contribution to our public life.
Our party needs more people like you, who have made a success of life outside politics, to put their hands up for parliament.
Especially people who exemplify the diversity of modern Australia and who want to giveback to the country that's been good to them.
You exemplify the Australian dream of always having a go, which is so important if our country is to keep succeeding."
"By way of introduction, I have lived and worked on the upper North Shore for many of the 37 years of my professional career in health care. I have been asked to provide a brief reference for Nimalan Rutnam who is seeking preselection for a NSW Liberal Party Senate vacancy.
I am the CEO of Adventist HealthCare Limited (AHCL), a faith-based provider of acute medical and surgical healthcare through Sydney Adventist Hospital (NSW’s largest private hospital) and San Day Surgery Hornsby. The San is celebrating 120 years of service to our community in 2023. I have known Nimalan in both a professional and personal capacity for 8 years. Nimalan was engaged to provide legal counsel at AHCL for specific contract work for a period in 2016/17.
AHCL as a church operated company has strong and enduring values of Integrity, Dignity, Continuity and Excellence in relation to patients, staff, and our community. Nimalan displayed the behaviours consistent with these values in his time at the San and in my ongoing friendship with him. I have always been impressed with Nimalan’s cultural intelligence which I’m certain is the result of his Sri Lankan heritage, upbringing, education as well as the different locations he has studied, worked and lived along with his language skills. My experience with Nimalan is that he is a man of strong convictions and faith with a willingness to serve the community. I believe these talents, values and skills would be highly regarded as they pertain to his nomination.
Nimalan presents impeccably and is a confident public speaker and I understand he has had a long association with the Liberal Party.
Nimalan, and his wife Sonia have maintained close relationships and interactions with my wife and I for several years. I am very pleased to declare Nimalan is a friend and colleague, whose commitment to family, faith and community are to be admired. He is a strong advocate for a cohesive society representing various indigenous groups and nationalities within a multi-cultural society.
I have no hesitation in supporting Nimalan’s application for preselection."
"I first came to know Nimalan Rutnam when I was a barrister being briefed in a series of cases for Procter & Gamble which was the company that Nimalan was inhouse Counsel for in or about early 2000. Although I was briefed by a firm of solicitors, Nimalan was giving instructions to the solicitors and had overall management of several pieces of proceedings that I was briefed in.
Nimalan had a wide range of responsibilities at Procter & Gamble including matters with regard to the Commonwealth Therapeutic Goods Act. The proceedings that I was briefed in, were essentially passing off cases involving products that were foreign manufactured counterfeit products that were being passed off as genuine Procter & Gamble products.
I then again came to know Nimalan as a Party member after he joined the West Pymble Branch in 2010 and he was a preselector in my 2015 preselection. He became the President of West Pymble Branch after I become the Member for Ku-ring-gai at the March 2015 election.
Nimalan remained in that Branch President position until 2020 when a new President was elected at the Annual General meeting.
In the course of his presidency in the West Pymble Branch, Nimalan organised volunteers to assist with manning relevant street stalls and at railway stations during campaigning during the 2019 State election.
Nimalan's law firm was also the inaugural major sponsor of the Greiner Forum, which is the major fundraising arm for the Wahroonga State Electorate Conference.
I understand that Nimalan requires this reference for the purpose of his candidacy for preselection to the NSW Senate.
Nimalan has been a Party member for over 20 years. He has campaign experience and for some time has had the desire to represent the Liberal Party in Parliament in order to promote, demonstrate and represent the multi-cultural character of our society.
I am happy to provide this reference and if any pre-selectors would like a personal amplification of the above, then they should feel free to contact my office."
"I am writing to support Nimalan (Nim) Rutnam's nomination for preselection for the 2023 Senate vacancy.
I have known Nim for over six years, both through the Liberal Party, and the Not-for-Profit organisation, Together for Humanity, of which the is now the chair, and I am a Board member, and former chair. (Together for Humanity is an inclusive educational organisation that works with school communities to foster interfaith and intercultural understanding).
Nim is a voice for diverse representation in the NSW Liberal Party, with action to back it up, and his active support and engagement with TFH is an example of this.
He has the ability, background, education, and experience to bring people together from all walks of life and cultural backgrounds. He is a hard worker, and is highly regarded by everyone he deals with, both in business and the community.
Nim has strong communication skills. He is able to work within the parameters of Party policy and with his legal background he is able can argue a point clearly, so it is easily understood by others.
My past involvement in Liberal Party politics taught me that the most successful candidates are those who have strong community connections and a passion for improving the lives of fellow citizens and that's why I am willing to write to you to support his candidature."
"I am writing this reference for Mr Nimalan Rutnam who is seeking pre-selection as a Senate candidate as a result of the casual vacancy created by the resignation of Senator Marise Payne.
I am the Chairperson of SydWest Multicultural Services and a teacher of the Eastern faiths, particularly Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism in NSW.
I have known Nimalan for over two decades through his involvement in the arts, culture, language and faith of the communities across the south Asian diaspora living in Western Sydney.
Nimalan and his family are very well known to the community given their financial contributions towards the building of several Hindu temples in the State of NSW. Of particular significance are the Hindu temples in Helensburgh and Mays Hill.
Nimalan’s election to the Senate will transform politics in that he will be the first [of many we hope from our community to enter Federal [and State] Parliament.
Nimalan is a Barrister and very fluent in his mother tongue, Tamil, including several other languages. The knowledge of migrant languages and culture is an indisputable factor in winning seats in Western Sydney. He has been involved in many multicultural , multifaith initiatives through Tamil Valarchi Manram , and his assistance in developing language and cultural activities is praiseworthy.
I wish him well and congratulate the Liberal Party for considering such a fine and respectable candidate. Needless to say, he is also a highly accomplished lawyer and a Scholar. I am happy to provide this reference and should any pre-selectors or the Liberal Party seek further clarification please do not hesitate to contact me."
"By way of introduction, I have been a long standing financial supporter of the Liberal Party and would number among my close associates two former Prime Ministers in Tony Abbott and John Howard.
I have been asked to provide a brief reference for Nimalan Rutnam who is seeking to fill the vacancy created by Marise Payne’s departure.
Nim started his own law firm, Rutnam Legal, specialising in Legal & Regulatory Affairs across Life Sciences and initially retained by Blackmores Ltd of which I was the major shareholder and founder. He then served as an employee as Group Legal Counsel and Joint Company Secretary from January 2018 to December 2020.
Blackmores as a company has strong values of Integrity, Passion, Social Responsibility and Respect for the individual, these are all characteristics well displayed by Nimalan in his time at Blackmores. Dare I say that as a Sri Lankan, who speaks a number of languages, his varied cultural background should stand him in good stead as senator in a State that has a diverse cultural mix.
Nimalan speaks well and I understand he has had a long association with the Liberal Party.
My wife and I were pleased to attend Nimalan’s wedding, and I have to say his efforts in creating a stage play to address his wishes for a cohesive society representing various indigenous groups and nationalities within a multi cultural society are to be applauded.
I have no hesitation in supporting his application."
"Mr Nimalan Rutnam is a man who gives generously of his time and talents to a variety of organisations and issues. He does so out of a genuine desire to improve the community in which he is living and create opportunities and inclusiveness for all.
Nimalan, or Nim as he is more widely known, is a solicitor with both local and international credentials. Currently General Counsel at Teva Pharmaceuticals Nim has an impressive career history during which he has founded a law and corporate advisory firm and held a range of senior Counsel positions over the years.
I met Nim in 2010 when he became a member of the Liberal Party. Since joining he has been an active member, holding the position of President of the West Pymble branch from 2015 until 2020. He and his wife have lived in Turramurra for some twenty years, where they have raised their family of four daughters.
Nim has served on a number of not-for-profit boards including Together for Humanity, the Sydney Peace Foundation, and the Shremaya Foundation and was the Visiting Scholar at the Centre of Conflict & Peace at Sydney University. Nim's understands the multicultural nature of western Sydney in a direct and personal way. He served for several years as a member of the Multicultural NSW Regional Advisory Board, representing North Sydney.
In 2012 he was appointed to the Fair Trading Minister's Advisory Council, providing advice on changes to legislation being proposed by the Government. He served in this capacity until 2016.
Speaking both Tamil and English fluently, Nim has deep multicultural connections with the Indian community in western Sydney. His family has provided financial support for the establishment of Hindu temples in this State, but his community engagement is on a multifaith basis.
There is much more which could be written, highlighting examples of Nim's career, charitable, personal and cultural achievements, however by providing this word picture I have sought to identify the strengths he seeks to offer in his nomination for Senate candidacy. I believe Nim has many attributes which would be of great service to the Senate and our community and I wish him well in his efforts to persuade his fellow Liberals to support his nomination."
"Dear Nim,
It is my pleasure to acknowledge your contribution to the work of the Together For Humanity (TFH) as a member of and as the chairman of the board of TFH.
TFH is an inclusive educational organisation that works with school communities to foster intercultural understanding and help students learn how to deal with differences. We stand for acceptance of every person regardless of ethnicity or faith.
TFH offers a range of face-to-face and online programs linked to the Australian curriculum that help cultivate greater connection and inclusion among students, as well as Professional Development courses for teachers.
One of the first obligations of government is to ensure the safety of citizens and to protect them from each other. Thank you for your support of our efforts to preserve social cohesion.
During your twelve months as Chairman the organisation has experienced significant growth in our capacity to deliver services and the quality and quantity of those services.
Best wishes for your continued service to the community in whatever form it takes."
"It is a pleasure to provide this reference for Mr Nimalan Rutnam who is a candidate for the current Senate vacancy for NSW.
I have known Nimalan since 2011 when I worked for Johnson & Johnson in the healthcare industry. He impressed me then and has since then. We have kept in contact and I hold him in high regard.
Nimalan is a talented, enterprising and hardworking individual with a strong career in law, business and the non-profit sector.
Nimalan has highly developed expertise in competition, consumer and corporations law. He was the past Group General Counsel & Joint Company Secretary for Blackmores Ltd in the healthcare sector. Prior to setting up his own firm, Rutnam Legal & Advisory, Nimalan served as Executive Director, General Counsel & Company Secretary of Procter & Gamble Australasia for 10 years.
In addition to being a highly experienced corporate & commercial solicitor, Nimalan has served on the boards of several charitable organisations and industry associations. He was a past member of the Competition & Consumer Law Committee of the Law Council of Australia, and a former member of the NSW Ministerial Advisory Council on Fair Trading & Better Regulation in which I worked with him as I was Chief of Staff to the Fair Trading Minister.
Dedicated to serving the many different immigrant communities that make up our State, Nimalan has also served as a Member of the Regional Advisory Board for Multiculturalism NSW from 2016-2018.
Importantly, Nimalan is a loyal servant of the Liberal Party, driven by his belief in our party's values and has consistently sought to make a difference in both the community and policy arenas."
His international experience, multilingual skills, and chair of several charities in the faith and culture sectors make him an ideal candidate to represent our great state of NSW.
Nimalan Rutnam would be a high calibre candidate for the Senate and an asset to the Federal Parliament.
I would be pleased to amplify these remarks if necessary."
"I have been asked to provide a reference for Mr Nimalan Rutnam who is seeking preselection with the Liberal Party for the NSW Senate.
By way of background, I was an investment banker for nearly 30 years, and I am now a fulltime philanthropist. I have started 4 charities (the Manly Women’s Shelter, Women’s Community Shelters, Mind Medicine Australia and Umbrella Productions), the last two with my wife Tania de Jong. I have also chaired and financially supported a number of other charities including Grameen Australia, Grameen Australia Philippines, So They Can and the Australian String Quartet and fund-raised and financially supported a number of other charities including Mission Australia and the Gawura initiative at St Andrew’s School in Sydney for indigenous children. Both my wife and I have a strong commitment to the community sector, social inclusion and to the economic and social empowerment of disadvantaged people so that they can better participate in all that is good in Australia.
I first met Nimalan in 2016 at a charitable function in Wollongong and then invited him (in my role as Chairman of Grameen Australia) to join the Grameen Australia Board in late 2017.Grameen Australia is a charity focused on empowering financially disadvantaged people(particularly women) to improve their economic circumstances by starting their own businesses in Australia. This is done through the provision of microfinance and supporting advice. Nimalan was on the Board of Grameen Australia for almost 2 years and I was always impressed by his energy, commitment and focus on getting the strategy right and assisting with implementation. I found Nimalan to be a clear thinker, very strategic and hard-working and committed to helping others.
Grameen Australia is associated with Professor Muhammad Yunus who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in developing microfinance to support poor people starting their own businesses, initially in Bangladesh but subsequently also in a number of other countries around the World. Professor Yunus was also the recipient of the first annual Sydney Peace Prize awarded by Sydney University.
I would like to add that Nimalan was on the Board of the Sydney Peace Foundation and a Visiting Scholar on conflict and peace at Sydney University. During the time that Nimalan served on the Board of Grameen Australia we conducted feasibility studies on setting up microfinance social businesses in two regional areas of NSW and the organisation has since opened branches in disadvantaged areas of Melbourne. I have also directly seen the contribution and commitment of Nimalan to Board and organisational governance and the initiation of regional programs particularly in support of regional NSW, the first such project being the one conducted in Tamworth. Nimalan has a strong commitment to supporting both social and cultural diversity in Australia and mutual respect across cultures. He is also committed to social inclusion for all Australians. I have always found Nimalan to be energetic, committed, focused, empathic and determined. In my view he would make an outstanding Senator for New South Wales and embrace the values of the Liberal Party. I have no hesitation in supporting his application for preselection."
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