The Western Australian government has moved to reshape the board of state employee superannuation provider GESB by adding industry leader John Langoulant as a director, the first major move since mutualisation plans were thwarted earlier this year.
The Western Australian government has moved to reshape the board of state employee superannuation provider GESB by adding industry leader John Langoulant as a director, the first major move since mutualisation plans were thwarted earlier this year.
Mr Langoulant and another new board member, barrister Scott Ellis, have been appointed as employer directors of GESB for three years.
It is the first significant change to the board since the mutualisation process was derailed in June 2008 and officially ended around March this year. The decision to delay the mutualisation was taken by former Labor Treasurer Eric Ripper after advice from state Treasury.
The decision to end the mutualisation was made by former Liberal Treasurer Troy Buswell, just before he resigned from his state cabinet position.
GESB was to have been dismantled and around $9 billion in funds transferred to a new structure, under a parent company called GESB Mutual headed by a new board led by Wayne Osborn. That new board quit at the beginning of this calendar year after more than two years of delay.
Mr Langoulant has formidable experience in the bureacracy and industry. He is a former state under-treasurer, ran the WA Chamber of Industry and Commerce, worked a key executive for Kerry Stokes and now heads the Oakajee Port & Rail consortium.
Mr Langoulant was also a key player in the state government's Economic Audit Committee and headed the previous government's Major Stadia Taskforce.
Below is the GESB announcement:
John Langoulant and Scott Ellis have been appointed as employer directors to the board of GESB, the Western Australian government employee's superannuation provider.
GESB chairman Phil Harvey, said, “Mr Langoulant has more than 35 years experience in government and the private sector. As a former Under-Treasurer of Western Australia, he brings a thorough and complementary understanding of the public sector superannuation system to the Board.
“Mr Ellis is a barrister at Francis Burt Chambers specialising in commercial litigation and alternative dispute resolution. He has experience in the sector through his role with the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal.
“On behalf of the board, I welcome them and look forward to their contribution.”
The appointments are for a period of three years, effective 31 October 2010.
Mr Langoulant is the CEO of Oakajee Port & Rail. His previous chief executive positions were at Australian Capital Equity and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia.
Mr Langoulant is also chairman of the board of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, a senator at the University of Western Australia, member of the Council of Australian Governments’ Reform Council, member of the boards of Leadership WA, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of WA, the Committee for Perth and the West Australian Ballet.
Mr Ellis commenced practice as a lawyer in 1983. He was a partner at Freehills for more than a decade. He now practices as a barrister at Francis Burt Chambers, and as an arbitrator and mediator.
Mr Ellis holds a Bachelor of Jurisprudence, a Bachelor of Laws and a Master of Laws from the University of Western Australia. He also holds a Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration from Queen Mary College, University of London.
Mr Ellis is a chartered arbitrator and fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a national councilor of the Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators Australia. He has been a member of the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal since 2005 and is a senior sessional member of the State Administrative Tribunal.
