Gene Tilbrook appointed NBN director

Former Wesfarmers finance director Gene Tilbrook has today been appointed as one of five new directors to the board of NBN Co Limited, the company established to deliver the $43 billion national broadband network.

Mr Tilbrook joins Doug Campbell, Peter Hay, Siobhan McKenna and Diane Smith-Gander.

Michael Quigley had already been appointed executive chairman.

"These appointments move us to an important next stage in the implementation of this historic nation-building infrastructure project," the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy said.

"Mr Quigley and the five new directors bring a strong set of skills necessary for a task of this scale and importance."

"The NBN Co Board will help drive the rollout of the National Broadband Network and guide the development of company operations," Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Lindsay Tanner said.

"These Board appointees are expertly qualified and experienced to establish this important component of our future economic infrastructure."

Senator Conroy and Mr Tanner acknowledged the contributions made by the interim directors, who will be replaced by the incoming directors.

Meantime, Senator Conroy announced today that the consortium of KPMG and McKinsey & Company will be lead advisers to the federal government on the NBN rollout.

The consortium was one of nine bidders for the tender.

It will give advice on operating, governance and ownership arrangements for the publicly-owned National Broadband Network Company Limited group.

The duo also has been asked to devise network design plans, private sector investment strategies and local business input ideas for the broadband rollout.

"McKinsey and KPMG have experience in broadband, large-scale complex infrastructure projects and the telecommunications sector," Senator Conroy said in a statement.

Mr Rudd worked as a China consultant for KPMG Australia during the late 1990s after failing in his first bid to win the Brisbane seat of Griffith.

McKinsey-KPMG were selected for the role of lead adviser through a tendering process run by the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, and the Department of Finance and Deregulation.

Their implementation study is expected to be completed in February 2010.