Executive Profiles
Reece Waldock
Chief Executive Officer
Reece has 24 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 (WAGRC), Reece acted in the position of Commissioner of Railways until the Railways Commission was extinguished on 30 June 2003.
With the creation of the PTA on 1 July 2003, Reece acted in the position of Chief Executive Officer, 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 System, Regional and School Bus Services
Mark has gained extensive logistic, transport and people management skills through 21 years in the Army and 11 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 and service support contracts across the State.
Hugh Smith
General Manager, Network & Infrastructure
Hugh launched his engineering career at British Steel in the United Kingdom and joined WAGRC 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 OTR of trains. Following the sale of WAGR’s freight business in December 2000, Hugh was appointed General Manager, Network and Infrastructure in an organisation focussed exclusively on passenger transport and customer service.
Pat Italiano
General Manager, Transperth Train Operations
Pat is a qualified accountant and member of CPA Australia. During his 36-year career in public transport, Pat has acquired considerable expertise in business and strategic management, risk management, audit and, more recently, operational experience within a fully-integrated urban passenger transit environment.
Pat is responsible for promoting and managing the delivery of urban passenger rail services to the highest of customer service standards and is committed to ensuring the successful integration and delivery of all urban passenger rail services. He was appointed to the Executive in June 2004.
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 (including TransGoldfields - Kalgoorlie’s public bus service). He is also responsible for the delivery of key performance indicators in the areas of customer service, maintenance and revenue building within Transwa.
Sue McCarrey
Executive Director, Safety and Strategic Development
Sue joined WAGRC in June 2002 as the director of policy. A law degree and post-graduate qualifications in policy and administration provide her with expertise in government policy and administration, including legal frameworks and the mechanics of government.
Her role includes making the link between high-level policy and operations within the agency, managing a number of key projects, and driving strategic change in safety, policy development and business management. 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 also spent time as a school principal.
Peter King
Executive Director, Finance and Contracts
Peter is a Fellow of CPA Australia.
His professional interest is in the areas of financial management, business performance, procurement and cost- effective service delivery. He has 24 years management experience in financial policy and as a chief finance officer in the Western Australian public sector including management roles in Treasury and Finance, Justice, and Health.
Brian Appleby
Executive Director, People & Organisational Development
Brian has more than 20 years experience in labour relations, human resource management, workforce services issues and learning and development. After starting his career in the private sector, Brian has undertaken a range of roles as an operative, operational manager, and director in key public sector agencies and central government departments. He holds a post-graduate qualification in industrial relations, is a former officer in the Australian Army Reserve and is currently a director of the Rail Skills Career Council.
Along with his responsibility for strategic people management, Brian oversees the delivery of functional human resource services for the PTA’s people. He joined the PTA in February 2008.
Richard Barrett
Manager, Corporate Communications
Richard is an award-winning professional communicator with more than 12 years experience in Australia and the United Kingdom. He began his career in the private sector, and now is responsible for strategic communications, internal and external communications, crisis and issues management, media relations, event management and community relations at the PTA. He previously oversaw the communications effort for the New MetroRail project, which culminated with the opening of the Mandurah Line in December 2007.
Richard, who joined the Executive in September 2007, has a Bachelor of Arts (UWA), Bachelor of Commerce (Curtin University), and is a member of the Public Relations Institute of Australia.