So you've gotta Public Private Partnership (P3), who do you call....?

The picture at right is from here.

.....Tony Shepherd, of course.

Tony is Chairman of AquaSure, the consortium which, in the biggest Public Private Partnership (P3) in the history of Australia - and the biggest in the world in this time of economic crisis, will build Victoria's desalination plant at Wonthaggi on the Bass Coast.

(The following is sourced here and here.) Tony Shepherd began his career in the Public Service in 1963, when he joined the Federal Department of Supply. In 1974 he started with the Pipeline Authority, eventually moving to the position of Assistant Secretary before joining Transfield Group in 1979. He was Bid Manager for the successful bid for the ANZAC Warships Project in 1988/1989 and in 1989 became the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the Infrastructure Development Corporation Pty Limited (IDC). IDC was established by the then State Authorities Superannuation Board, State Bank of NSW and Perry Development Finance Group as a company which advised and assisted the private sector in developing public infrastructure.

Tony Shepherd led ConnectEast’s successful bid team for the EastLink project in 2004 and served as interim Chief Executive Officer until March 2005. He is also Chairman of Transfield Services Ltd.

As an executive of the Transfield Holding Group in the 1980s and 1990s, he was responsible for the development of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel project and Transfield’s successful tender for the ANZAC Warship Project.

Tony was Chief Executive Officer of the Project Development Division at Transfield Holdings Group from 1992 to 2001. In this position, Tony was responsible for the Melbourne CityLink project, as well as a number of other build-own-operate-transfer projects and development of Walsh Bay. He chaired the consortium which won the Lane Cove Tunnel Project and was an inaugural Director of Transurban Limited. He is a Trustee of the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust and a member of the Premier’s (NSW) Business Roundtable.

Continuing in Victoria, Tony Shepherd has forged a close relationship with the Brumby Government which has found the relationship useful given Shepherd's knowledge of and extensive experience in P3s. It is really no surprise that he has popped up in the desalination project which is not only huge. It is controversial both for the locals on the Bass Coast and the consumers who are looking at huge jumps in their water bills in the next few years. The road to success has been rocky so far for the successful contractor and for the Brumby Government and, in uncertain financial times, the rocks don't disappear.

Brumby & Co have found a co-operative partner in Shepherd. He also sings from the same song-sheet on the matter of the Foodbowl Modernisation Project, otherwise known as the North-South Pipeline. Read his speech at the celebratory dinner for the project here.

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