GAMUT Advisory Board
GAMUT receives advice and support from a seven member Advisory Board of distinguished transport experts:
Dr Michael Kennedy OAM (Chair)
Mr John Hearsch
Ms Janet Rice
Ms Glenyys Romanes
Ms Wendy Morris
Mr Michel Masson
Mr Robert Freemantle
Dr Michael Kennedy OAM (Chair) has an extensive management experience in the transport industry in the rail, road (passenger and freight), and sea transport sectors, and in the transport equipment manufacture and logistics. He has particular experience in the development and implementation of intermodal transport systems.
Dr Kennedy now works in local government. He has been Chief Executive Officer of the Mornington Peninsula Shire since 1999, with a strong focus on social, economic and environmental sustainability. Reducing car dependence, increasing public transport, and cycling and walking are high priorities, and the shire is home to the Port of Hastings, due for major redevelopment over the next ten years.
Dr Kennedy is also active in public transport advocacy on behalf of the Interface Councils Forum.
Dr Kennedy has undergraduate and doctoral qualifications in business administration.
He is:
- Fellow and Past Chairman (Victoria) of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport
- Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration of Australia
- Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
- Fellow of Local Government Professionals
Dr Kennedy was awarded a Medal in the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2009.
Mr John Hearsch has been an Australian career railwayman and transport administrator for over 50 years. He is currently principal of his own consultancy, john Hearsch Consultancy Pty Ltd. Starting his career in the former Victorian Railways in 1959, John rose through the ranks and a wide variety of operational, administrative and managerial roles. He became Chief General Manager, Transport Operations of the State Transport Authority (trading as V/Line) in 1983, responsible for all operational, maintenance and engineering functions of the State's freight and non-metropolitan rail passenger services.
John transferred to Queensland at the end of 1990 to become Group General Manager, Freight of Queensland Rail (QR) and responsible for the overall marketing, financial, operational and maintenance performance of QR's extensive rail business. John retired from QR in 1998 and established his own consultancy specialising in railway and transportation management issues. His past and present clients include a considerable number of major government and private sector organisations.
John is a graduate in commerce and economics from the University of Melbourne and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.
Ms Janet Rice has worked in the fields of community, sustainability and transport wearing many different hats over the last two decades. She has been a member of the GAMUT advisory board since 2009.
Janet was a Councillor with the City of Maribyrnong for six years to 2008, including a year as Mayor. She was Chair of the Metropolitan Transport Forum and a Board Member and Vice President of the Victorian Local Governance Association for most of this time. Janet has a particular interest in the nexus between transport, land use and community.
Janet works as a facilitator, as a consultant in strategic and organisational planning and community engagement, and is currently working as a strategic transport planner with the Hume City Council. Her work linking transport and community spans back to creating and developing Bicycle Victoria's Ride to Work Program in the early 1990's. Janet's publications include a chapter in the book "Transit Oriented Development: Making it Happen' (Curtis, Renne and Bertolini, 2009) on community attitudes towards transit oriented development.
Ms Glenyys Romanes is currently working as the Assistant Director, Market Development in the Public Transport Division of the Department of Transport. Market Development is responsible for fares and ticketing policy, the Department's relationship with Metlink, market intelligence and community projects such as the Train Stations as Creative Community Hubs.
Before joining the Public Transport Division in 2007, Glenyys was formerly the Upper House Member for Melbourne Province and Deputy President of the Legislative Council (Upper House) of the Victorian Parliament. She also has a background in local government; she served during most of the 1990's as a Councillor and Mayor on the former Brunswick Council and a Councillor on Moreland Council.
Prior to entering the Victorian Parliament in 1999, Glenyys worked as a teacher, a project coordinator with Community Aid Abroad and an investigator with the Commonwealth Ombudsman. Her key areas of interest are public transport, planning, public education, environment and issues of concern to women.
Ms Wendy Morris is joint Director of Ecologically Sustainable Design Pty Ltd. Wendy is a highly experienced town planner, urban designer and facilitator. She has been practising across Australia and internationally as a qualified urban designer since 1989, after completing the MA (Urban Design) at Oxford Brooks University, UK.
As an urban designer, Wendy has operated in both the public and private sector. Prior to focusing on urban design, she practised as a town planner for over fourteen years, principally with the Victorian Government. For the past ten years, Wendy has specialised in New Urbanism, transit-supportive development, mixed use and sustainable growth management approaches to urban design.
Wendy's work addresses urban development at all scales from the region through to the detail of the streets and buildings. She also has extensive experience with the enquiry-by-design processes, ranging from one-day training and scoping workshops through to extended design workshops and charrettes.
As Head of Finance and Operations for Keolis (International Division), Mr Michel Masson was responsible for managing public transport operations in seven countries; UK, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and Canada. He has played an important role in the successful operation of the tram networks in Lyon, Lille and others operated by Keolis in Europe.
In addition, Michel served as a non-executive director of the UK Keolis subsidiaries Govia, which operates the Southern, Southeastern and London Midlands train networks, First Keolis which operates the Transpennine Franchise and in Germany for three rail franchises.
Combined with his background in public transport, Michel has extensive expertise in transition management and successful integrations with the Bollore Group, a top 200 European company. Prior to joining Keolis he was Finance Director of SDV (UK), a subsidiary of the Bollore Group. SDV is an international transport and logistics specialist operating in 88 countries with 26,000 employees and renowned as a provider of customised solutions using advanced technologies.
During his time with Keolis, Michel has seen the benefits of a customer centric approach to public transport networks. He champions a safety first culture for the provision of high standard travelling experiences for passengers and the communities they service. He brings strong financial acumen, process management skills and operations expertise to Melbourne's tram franchise.
Michel is a CFA Charter holder, holds a Masters degree in Business from the EDHEC Business school (Lille, France) and is a graduate from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Mr Robert Freemantle is a qualified Civil Engineer and was appointed as VicRoads' Executive Director of Network and Asset Planning in September 2007. He is responsible for long term network planning, the management of road assets and delivery of programs that effectively manage congestion, provide for the efficient movement of all road users and contribute to economic growth.
Robert has worked in numerous roles throughout his career with VicRoads in the areas of road and traffic engineering and freight policy.
In 2000, Robert was awarded the Public Service Medal in the Australia Day Honours for outstanding contribution to the public service of Victoria.