Glenn Poole appointed to Queensland Rail board

Former state Auditor-General Glenn Poole has been added to the Queensland Rail board as part of the Newman Government’s on-going effort to build a more efficient organisation.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson and Treasurer Tim Nicholls said Mr Poole’s appointment would give Queensland Rail much needed expertise to tackle issues that date back to the Labor government’s privatisation of the former QR National in 2010.

“Glenn served Queensland as CEO of the Queensland Audit Office and Queensland’s Auditor-General from 2004 to 2011,” Mr Emerson said.

“He has over 30 years of experience as a senior executive and is renowned for his governance and management in both public and not-for-profit organisations.

“One of Glenn’s first tasks will be to assist Queensland Rail to work through findings of a review being conducted by KPMG into Queensland Rail’s financial systems.”

Mr Nicholls said he supported the board’s move to look at ways to improve the finances to allow the government better visibility of the way taxpayers’ funding is spent.

“In May the Newman Government changed Queensland Rail from a government-owned corporation to a statutory authority to ensure greater accountability,” he said.

Mr Emerson said the government was working to deliver a more efficient rail network and improving the financial system is the next step in that process.

“When Labor privatised Queensland Rail, a number of staff left the business and left a variety of reporting methods throughout the organisation,” he said.

“As I said in May, Queensland Rail needs to reach a position where it delivers better and more efficient services than the private sector.”

Mr Poole’s appointment to the board follows the recent appointments of Michael Klug as chairman, former Transport Minister John Mickel to the board and Glen Dawe as CEO.

[ENDS] 18 October 2013

Media contact: Andrew Berkman 0429 128 637