Poynton new Alinta chief

John Poynton (left) will take over from Tony Howarth as Alinta Ltd’s chairman at the company’s next AGM in May 2006. Mr Howarth, who intends to retire from the board, said good corporate governance involved the company having a plan in place to facilitate a change of chairman. Mr Poynton has been a non-executive director of Alinta since it was listed in October 2000. His experience in corporate and merchant banking activities, in addition to his understanding and involvement in the development of Alinta’s strategy, make him well suited for the role. Mr Poynton is a founding director and executive chairman of boutique merchant bank Azure Capital, non-executive director of Austal Ltd, Burswood Ltd and Multiplex Ltd. He is also a member of the Payments Systems Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia and is chairman of the Board of Governors of the Western Australian Museum Foundation.