Southern Water: Directors named

Directors appointed for new statewide Tasmanian Water & Sewerage Corporation The Tasmanian Water & Sewerage Corporation – the new statewide water utility opening its doors on 1 July this year – today announced the appointment of six Directors to join Chairman Miles Hampton to form the Corporation’s new Board.

The Directors are: Mr Brian Bayley Ms Sibylle Krieger Mr Peter Lewinsky Mrs Sarah Merridew Dr Dan Norton Dr Jane Sargison.

The Board will be responsible for leading one of Tasmania’s largest organisations. It will employ more than 800 employees, have total assets of more than $2 billion, revenue of around $250 million annually and will spend around $100 million each year on capital works. The Corporation will be owned by the state’s 29 local councils. “The appointment of Directors is an important milestone, giving the Board the opportunity to focus on the job of combining the existing water corporations into one seamless organisation,” Cr Tony Foster, Chairman of the Selection Committee said.

“It also clears the way for the Board to commence the search for a Chief Executive Officer for the new Corporation. “We received a very large number of applications from an outstanding national field of candidates for the six Directors’ roles,” Cr Foster said. “The process to select the right mix of expertise and knowledge was extremely rigorous. The Selection Committee comprises representatives of the new Corporation’s Owner Representative Group and was assisted by a professional recruitment firm.” Cr Foster said the Board comprises five Directors from the current water corporation boards and two new directors. “The Board members bring an outstanding combination of skills, expertise and knowledge to the new Corporation. Collectively they have extensive national water industry experience, an appropriate mix of professional skills and they have all been Directors of private and public organisations across many sectors and industries.’

Cr Foster expressed appreciation for the contribution of the Directors of the current Water and Sewerage Corporations who will not be continuing with the new Board. “The task of establishing Southern Water, Ben Lomond Water, Cradle Mountain Water and Onstream has been extremely demanding. It is in part as a result of the hard work of these Boards that we expect the transition to the new Board to be smooth.’

Background information – Chairman & Directors of the Tasmanian Water & Sewerage Corporation Chairman: Mr Miles Hampton, B.Ec (Hons), FCPA, FCIS, FAICD – Mr Hampton has been Chairman of Southern Water, Ben Lomond Water, Cradle Mountain Water and Onstream since January 2011 and a Director since 2008. He was previously Chairman of the bulk water authority Hobart Water from 2005 to 2009. Mr Hampton is a member of the Tasmanian Planning Commission and the Infrastructure Advisory Council. He is a Director of MyState Group, Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and the Van Diemen’s Land Company. For more than 20 years, Mr Hampton was the Managing Director of ASX listed agribusiness Roberts Limited until his resignation in 2006.

Brian Bayley, Dip.Civ.Eng – currently Director of Southern Water, Ben Lomond Water and Cradle Mountain Water. Brian has 40 years experience in the water industry and was Managing Director of Melbourne Water for seven years until 2005.

Ms Sibylle Krieger, LLB (Hons), LLM, MBA, FAICD – a commercial lawyer with more than 30 years broad experience, Ms Krieger was a member of the NSW Independent Pricing & Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) from 2006 to 2012 and until September 2012 was a Director of Allconnex Water in Queensland. Ms Krieger is a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens Trust in NSW, a Trustee of Sydney Grammar School, and was a Director of Sydney Ports Corporation 2002-2005.

Mr Peter Lewinsky, B.Ec, MBA, FCA, FAICD – Since 1991, Mr Lewinsky has consulted nationally to a large number of government and corporate clients in his own corporate advisory practice and been a Director in a range of Australian listed companies and government agencies. Peter is a past Director of the Western Region Water Authority (1994-2001) in Victoria and in 2009 was appointed Chair of the Panel of Administrators for Brimbank City Council in Melbourne. Current directorships include the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Holmesglen TAFE and he has been Chair of several Victorian government departments’ audit committees.

Mrs Sarah Merridew, B.Ec. FCA, FAICD – currently Director of Southern Water, Ben Lomond Water, Cradle Mountain Water and Onstream. Formerly a partner of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Sarah is a Chartered Accountant with experience in audit, risk management, governance and business advisory services. She is the Honorary Treasurer of the Royal Flying Doctor Service Tasmania and is a director of several commercial and listed companies.

Dr Dan Norton, B.Agr Sci (Hons), M.Econ, PhD in Economics and Business, FAICD – currently Director of Southern Water, Ben Lomond Water and Cradle Mountain Water. Dan is an experienced Chairman and CEO who has worked in industries including transport, electricity and international commodity marketing as well as in central government agencies.

Dr Jane Sargison, BE (Hons), DPhil, CPEng, FIEAust, GAICD – currently a Director of Southern Water. Dr Sargison is a Rhodes Scholar and 2011 Professional Engineer of the Year. She holds a large number of Board positions, was a Senior Lecturer in mechanical engineering and was Deputy Director of the Centre for Renewable Energy & Power Systems at UTAS in 20009-2011
Southern Water