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Conroy reveals NBN board

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has revealed the remaining board members for the National Broadband Network Company, a group with high-level financial, technical, legal and business skills.
Written by Renai LeMay, Contributor

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has revealed the remaining board members for the National Broadband Network Company, a group with high-level financial, technical, legal and business skills.

The five new NBN board members to join existing executive chairman Mike Quigley, who has also been appointed CEO of the state-owned company, are:

  • Doug Campbell, former Telstra Countrywide chief and chairman of the Tasmanian leg of the NBN. Further biography can be found in a previous article.

  • Peter Hay, former CEO of law firm Freehills, with 30 years of experience as a lawyer and 20 at board level with a range of companies. Particular focus through the 1990's on industry reform, especially energy sector privatisation. He also has expertise in mergers and acquisitions.

  • Siobhan McKenna, former McKinsey partner and productivity commissioner. During her time at the commission, she worked on a review of regulatory burdens on business. She has held consulting, commercial and government roles.

  • Diane Smith-Gander, former head of Westpac's Business and Technology Solutions and Services division and McKinsey partner. She has led major transformation projects with a focus on post-merger integration, including IT integration and organisational restructuring. Smith-Gander has also worked for PA Consulting Group.

  • Gene Tilbrook, former Wesfarmers finance director. He has financial, valuation and capital management experience, especially through Wesfarmers' many acquisitions. Tilbrook also has corporate planning and information technology experience. He has systems engineering experience, is a councillor of Curtin University of Technology, involved with the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and board member of the Perth International Arts Festival and Committee for Perth.

"Mr Quigley and the five new directors bring a strong set of skills necessary for a task of this scale and importance," said Conroy in a statement. Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner claimed the appointees were expertly qualified and experienced enough to establish what he described as "this important component of our future economic infrastructure".

The interim directors of the NBN company, consisting of government staffers, will be replaced by the new board members, the statement said.

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