The PTA Executive

Reece Waldock

John Leaf

Chief Executive Officer Reece has 22 years experience in strategic management with particular expertise in organisational reform. He held a number of senior executive roles within the Department of Commerce and Trade and Department of Transport from the early 1990s through to the end of 2000. In December 2000, following the sale of the rail freight business of The Western Australian Government Railways Commission, Reece acted in the position of Commissioner of Railways until the Railways Commission was extinguished on 30 June 2003. With the creation of the Public Transport Authority on 1 July 2003, Reece acted in the position of Chief Executive Officer Public Transport Authority, to which he was appointed on 17 August 2004. Prior to his career with the public sector in Western Australia, Reece held a number of senior management roles with BHP. Mark Burgess
Executive Director Transperth, Regional and School Bus Services Mark has gained extensive logistic, transport and people management skills through 21 years in the Army and eight years managing the Transperth system. He joined the PTA at its formation after six years with the Department of Transport and the Department for Planning and Infrastructure. Mark is responsible for managing, coordinating and marketing the Transperth system, comprising commercial bus contractors, a commercial ferry contractor and the urban passenger rail services. He is also responsible for regional town bus services and school bus services throughout Western Australia. His focus is on delivering quality, reliable public transport services through more than 925 transport service contracts across the State. Kim Stone
General Manager, Transwa Kim joined the PTA in August 2004 after two years’ secondment from the Department for Planning and Infrastructure as Director of School Bus Reform. He had previously been Director of Coastal and Facilities Management in the Department of Transport for four years. Kim has worked in both the State and Federal Government arenas in addition to a number of roles in the private sector, including running his own management consulting business. His background is in engineering and management. Kim is responsible for managing Transwa’s regional rail and road coach network as well as implementing the strategic elements of PTA’s corporate plan which apply to Transwa. He is also responsible for the delivery of key performance indicators in the areas of customer service, maintenance and revenue building within Transwa. Pat Italiano
General Manager, Transperth Train Operations During his 33-year railway career, Pat has gained extensive experience in business management, financial management, procurement, audit and, more recently, operational experience within an urban rail mass transit environment. A qualified accountant, he also has considerable experience in strategic management and is a leader in risk management. Pat’s role in the Executive includes the commitment to ensuring that the high service delivery standards enjoyed on the existing passenger rail network are attained on the passenger rail services being developed to Mandurah through the New MetroRail project. Hugh Smith

General Manager, Network and Infrastructure Hugh launched his engineering career at British Steel in the United Kingdom and joined the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) in 1972 as an Assistant Engineer at the Midland Workshops, where he subsequently held senior management positions in design and production. He was appointed General Manager of the Urban Passenger Division in 1994. In this role he was responsible for developing strategies for customer focus, reliability of services and improved on-time running of trains. Following the sale of WAGR’s freight business in December 2000, Hugh was appointed General Manager, Network and Infrastructure in an organisation focused exclusively on passenger transport and customer service. Executive Director, Finance and Contracts

John is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Institute of Company Directors. He joined the Western Australian Government Railways in 1989 and performed a strategic role in the continuous improvement and restructuring of the organisation, as well as its evolution into a customer-focused public transport service provider.

Cliff Gillam

Executive Director, People and Organisational Development

Cliff is an industrial relations, human resources and organisational development professional with 16 years experience in The Western Australian Public Sector. He holds post-graduate qualifications in the arts, business, public policy and management, and is a Fellow of the Australian Human Resources Institute. He believes that high performance organisations achieve excellence through a genuine commitment to their people and sustained attention to their development.

He joined the Public Transport Authority on secondment in September 2003, and was appointed to the Executive in May 2004.

Sue McCarrey

Acting Executive Director, Safety and Strategy

Sue joined the Western Australian Government Railways in June 2002 as the Director of Policy. A law degree and post-graduate qualifications in policy and administration provide Sue with expertise in government policy and administration, including legal frameworks and the mechanics of government.

Her expertise also includes making the link between high level policy and operations within the agency. Prior to joining the PTA, Sue worked in a number of government administration roles within the Department of Education and Training including policy development and review, strategic planning, Commonwealth-State relations, and she spent time as a school principal.

Garry Willox

Project Director, New MetroRail

Garry was appointed Project Director in April 2000 and has overseen the New MetroRail Project from the end of the planning stage to implementation.

He is a Civil Engineer who joined the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) in 1969, working in district engineering offices. He then held a number of senior management positions within WAGR.

From 1988 to 1993 he was Project Manager for the Perth Urban Rail Electrification Project and Project Director for the Northern Suburbs Railway Project. He was then General Manager Engineering and Supply, before joining National Rail Corporation in Sydney. He also worked on major railway works in Thailand between 1998 and 2000.

Richard Mann

Project Director, City Project, New MetroRail

Richard came to New MetroRail with more than 10 years’ experience in project and contract management at government and semi-government level. He joined the then Main Roads Department in 1988 after graduating in engineering, and spent the next 14 years predominantly in WA’s north-west. He returned to Perth as Manager of Term Contracts (Metro Region) where he was responsible for the maintenance of all of Main Roads’ metropolitan-area assets including the Northbridge tunnel. He was seconded to the PTA (then WAGR) in April 2002 to help the Perth City Rail Advisory Committee prepare its second report, including recommendations on the alignment of the Perth-Mandurah line through the city. When the report was finished and its recommended alignment adopted by Government, Richard stayed on to head the City Project.