NBN Co appoints executive chair, initiates strategic review

The government has today made major changes to the board and senior management of the NBN Co.

Former Optus and Telstra Chief Dr Ziggy Switkowski has been appointed to the board as chairman, pending the appointment of a new chief executive to replace Mike Quigley, who announced his intention to resign from the position in July.

The government received offers of resignation from five of the seven NBN Co directors and one resignation. The government accepted four of these offered resignations but has asked Dr Kerry Schott and Ms Alison Lansley to continue serving on the board.

The tenure of the seventh director, Brad Orgill, has been terminated. The government has also asked the NBN Co to begin a strategic review into the progress and cost of the project. This review will set out the true costs, in time and dollars, of the NBN Co project under the previous government’s policy settings. This work will inform the NBN Co about how it can deliver the network sooner, cheaper for taxpayers and at less cost for consumers.

The terms of reference for the review will see it report on a number of points including the economic viability of the NBN Co under alternative strategies and recommendations for organisation restructuring, any amendments to the construction model and a revised NBN Co strategy to achieve government policy objectives.

The review will be conducted under the leadership of Ziggy Switkowski and will be submitted to the government for consideration by 2 December 2013.