A former Queensland Transport boss will head south of the border to lead Transport for NSW
October 17, 2013
Former Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads Director-General David Stewart has been announced as the new
Transport for NSW boss.
Stewart (pictured) is currently head of Projects Queensland, and was ‘shuffled’ out of Queensland’s top transport job shortly after Campbell Newman’s Liberal
National party swept to power in the sunshine
state in March 2012.
Infamously, Stewart was replaced by controversial appointment Michael Caltabiano, a former Liberal Party politician turned bureaucrat who was forced to resign from his public service post only months into the appointment
over a scandal involving his alleged misleading of a Queensland parliamentary committee.
Caltabiano’s fall from grace did not, however, see Stewart’s return to the top job in Queensland. The Queensland D-G’s position eventually went to TransLink CEO Neil Scales after his bureau was
absorbed into Queensland’s DTMR. With Caltabiano gone, and Scales entrenched at
DTMR, Stewart has continued to keep a relatively low profile in Queensland over the past 18 months.
NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell welcomed
Stewart’s Transport for NSW appointment which
will oversee a ‘huge’ roads and transport infrastructure agenda in Australia’s most populous state.
This includes the construction of Sydney’s North West Rail Link, WestConnex, the Pacific, Princes and Great Western Highway upgrades as well as the rollout of the Opal public transport smartcard and light rail expansion.
“Dave has a track record of major infrastructure delivery and improving public transport services and I’m delighted he’s agreed to head up Transport for NSW,” says O’Farrell.
NSW Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian says Stewart is joining Transport for NSW at an exciting time.
“Transport for NSW will benefit greatly from Mr Stewart’s experience delivering major transport projects, his track record with Public Private Partnerships and his proven ability to oversee multi-billion-dollar projects,” she says.
“It’s exciting that someone of his considerable experience and expertise wants to work in NSW.”
Minister for Roads and Ports Duncan Gay says Stewart’s past and ongoing involvement in major road projects stood him in great stead for the key role he will play in developing roads projects.
“Like his predecessor Les Wielinga, Stewart is an engineer by training who has built his considerable knowledge as an executive on a solid base of practical experience and knowledge.”