NBN Co deputy chair quits for contractor gig

NBN Co deputy chair Diane Smith-Gander has resigned from the company to take up the role of chairman at Transfield Services, an NBN contractor.

Transfield’s board announced yesterday that it had elected Smith-Gander to become its chairman, succeeding outgoing chairman Tony Shepherd.

“Diane already has a strong knowledge of our business, and she has the passion and drive to be highly effective in this leadership position,” said Shepherd. “She is an ideal person to continue to oversee the board’s turnaround of Transfield Services. I am pleased to be leaving the board and the company in capable hands.”

Smith-Gander has resigned from her position as deputy chairman at NBN Co “to avoid any perceived conflict of interest with Transfield Services’ role as a lead contractor on the NBN project”, a statement from Transfield’s board said.

She will stand for re-election as a director at Transfield at the company’s annual general meeting on 25 October.

Subject to re-election, her appointment as chairman will take effect from 26 October.

Smith-Gander’s resignation as NBN Co’s deputy chair comes two years before her role was set to expire, in August 2015.

Her resignation means she will exit NBN Co entirely, as her role as deputy chair was her only position at the company, according to Transfield.

Transfield currently has contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars with NBN Co for work across the country.

Pictured: Diane Smith-Gander, courtesy of NBN Co