Ian Burston to chair Water and Rivers Commission board

1/1/96

Environment Minister Peter Foss today announced Ian Burston had been appointed chairman of the board of the new Water and Rivers Commission.

The commission was one of three new organisations that officially started operating from today as a result of the restructure of the Western Australian water industry announced by the State Government early last year.

The other two are:

·       the Water Corporation, which will provide water, sewerage, drainage and irrigation services to the community; and -

·       the Office of Water Regulation, which will set and enforce water use rules with responsibility for the regulation of services quality and fair pricing.

Mr Foss also announced that the commission's chief executive will be Roger Payne, a Melbourne business executive with extensive experience in the Victorian water industry and its six-member board.

Mr Payne spent several years in senior positions with the former Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works and its successor, the Melbourne Water Corporation.

He is also a member of the board.

Other board members are Messrs Ken Webster, Graham Slessar, Dennis Gee, Alexander Campbell and Noel Robbins.

Mr Webster is deputy chairman of the board.  He was chairman of the Board of Management of the former Water Authority of Western Australia.

Mr Gee is Group Consultant - Gold at MIM Exploration Ltd; Mr Campbell is a Narrikup farmer with extensive links to conservation organisations and is the immediate past president of the WA Farmers Federation; Mr Slessar is the Environmental Manager for Alcoa's WA operations and Mr Robbins was a WA Waterways Commissioner from 1978 to 1995.

Mr Foss said Mr Burston brought to the position of chairman outstanding business credentials through many years as chief executive of two of WA's biggest mining companies and a practical record of environmental achievement with those companies.

Mr Burston is a former president of the WA Chamber of Mines and Energy and is currently managing director of Aurora Gold Ltd, which operates gold mining ventures in Queensland and Indonesia.

He was a former chief executive of Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines while the bulk of his career has been with BHP, which culminated in his position as managing director of Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd from 1982-86.

The Minister said the commission was established after it was recognised that the management of the State's precious water resources should be separate from the utility business of providing water, sewerage, drainage and irrigation services.

It was formed through the amalgamation of the Waterways Commission, the Hydrogeological Section of the Department of Minerals and Energy, the Water Resources Council and the Water Resources Division of the Water Authority.

It will manage inland surface water and groundwater resources.  It will also place a heavy focus on protecting environmental values and allocating water for a wide range of uses in a sustainable manner.

Mr Foss said it was part of the Government's reform agenda across instrumentalities to separate policy, regulatory and operation roles.

There was also a strong community expectation that the Government would protect and manage WA's surface and groundwater resources for current and future generations.

"The most effective way to achieve this is through the establishment of a commission dedicated solely to the effective management and protection of our number one resource," the Minister said.

"The board has been carefully selected to ensure the commission's success in this vital practical and environmental sphere."

The Water and Rivers Commission is located at the Hyatt Centre, 3 Plain Street, East Perth, telephone (09) 278 0300.

The Office of Water Regulation is also located at the Hyatt Centre on (09) 278 0500.

The head office of the new Water Corporation is the John Tonkin Water Centre, 629 Newcastle Street, Leederville, telephone (09) 420 2040.

Media contact:  Peter Harris 321 2222