Clem Newton-Brown

Uber Air has recently announced Melbourne as the first international test city for flying taxis and Clem’s Skyportz business is developing the network of landing infrastructure we are going to need for urban aerial mobility.

Our cities are about to be hit by a transport revolution – think driverless cars, delivery drones, micro mobility on electric scooters and Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft.

The technology for this revolution already exists today and Clem is at the frontline pushing the boundaries for city planning and regulatory changes which will be required.

As a former planning barrister, Deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne and Member of Parliament, Clem has a unique insight into how this transport revolution can be realised. His presentation is not about predicting the future – it is about what he is actually doing to create the urban environment to facilitate the biggest change the world has seen since the invention of the motor vehicle.

The future will be here sooner than you think.

• Clem has spent a lifetime around politics, law, planning, cities and pushing the boundaries.
• He started the first water taxi service on the Yarra River in 1992 and around the same time was getting around on a powered scooter, 25 years before the current trend for micro mobility.
• Following service as Deputy Lord Mayor and Member of Parliament he is now focused on utilising his legal, planning and political skills to help bring about urban aerial mobility in the form of flying taxis.
• It may seem like an audacious goal but let Clem explain how Melbourne is going to be one of the first cities in the world to get an Uber Air service.

“Clem presented at our industry conference on the emerging urban aerial mobility (UAM) capability and associated challenges.  Clem has an articulate, well-informed and entertaining style that kept the audience fully engaged.  Surrounded by industry folk who believe that UAM reality is still far into the future, Clem was able to deliver a compelling presentation convincing many that future is here already”.