Our team

Shareholders

We are a Queensland Government owned business.

We have two shareholding Ministers

The Hon. Jackie Trad MP – Deputy Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships
The Hon. Dr Anthony Lynham MP – Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy

Board of Directors

Our directors have considerable Board level experience. Together, they have a unique and diverse set of skills and knowledge which they use to guide the business.

Wayne Swan

BA Hons
Independent Non-executive Director

Mr Swan was appointed a non-executive director of Stanwell on 12 December 2019.

Mr Swan served as the Treasurer of Australia for nearly six years, including three years as Deputy Prime Minister.

He was one of the longest serving finance ministers in the G20 and was recognised as one of its leading contributors, drawing on his unique experience overseeing Australia’s economic outperformance among the developed world.

Mr Swan was awarded Euromoney Finance Minister of the Year in 2011 for his ‘careful stewardship of Australia’s finances and economic performance’ during the global financial crisis. He was only the second Australian to receive this accolade and the first for almost 30 years.

His focus as Treasurer was on strong, secure economic growth, job creation, and maximising the opportunities for Australia in the Asian Century. He was instrumental in the publication of the Asian Century White Paper – a blue print for Australia’s engagement in the region.

He is the author of Postcode: The Splintering of a Nation (2005) and The Good Fight: Six Years, Two Prime Ministers and Staring Down the Great Recession (2014).

More recently, Mr Swan has co-authored the Report of the Commission on Inclusive Prosperity, commissioned by the Center for American Progress and authored a paper on Financing Sustainable Development – What can we learn from the Australian experience of reform? for the United Nations Social and Economic Commission in the Asia Pacific (UN-ESCAP).

He is also a Commissioner on the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation and President of the Australian Labor Party.

Karen Smith-Pomeroy

FIPA, FFin, GIA(Cert), GAICD
Independent Non-executive Director

Ms Smith-Pomeroy was appointed a non-executive director of Stanwell on 1 October 2015 and is Chairman of the Audit and Risk Management Committee.

Ms Smith-Pomeroy has more than 30 years’ experience in the financial services sector, and was most recently a senior executive with Suncorp Group, including a period as Chief Risk Officer of Suncorp Bank.

She has a specialty in risk and governance and a detailed understanding of a number of industry sectors.

Ms Smith-Pomeroy is currently a member of Queensland Treasury Corporation Capital Markets Board, and a non-executive director of Kina Securities Limited, Infigen Energy Limited, InFocus Wealth Management and National Affordable Housing Consortium Limited.

In addition, she is chair of the audit committee of Queensland Department of Local Government, Racing and Multicultural Affairs, and an independent audit committee member of South Bank Corporation.

Ms Smith-Pomeroy is a former director of Tarong Energy Corporation Limited and CS Energy Limited.

Jacqueline King

LLB (Honours) First Class Honours, MBA, WHS, TDD, GAICD
Independent Non-executive Director

Ms King was appointed a non-executive director of Stanwell on 1 October 2015 and chairman of the People and Safety Committee.

Ms King has worked across the energy, power and construction sectors of industry for over twenty years, with an extensive background in industrial relations, work health and safety, and skills and training. She currently provides management consultancy services, primarily to organisations’ in the area of vocational education and training and workforce skilling programs.

Ms King is also a director of Energy Skills Queensland, which is the leading, independent, not-for-profit organisation facilitating workforce skilling initiatives and enabling a skilled and safe energy industry for the energy, gas and telecommunication sectors in Queensland.

She is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) First Class Honours degree.

Adam Aspinall

B.ENG (Mech), MIEAust, GAICD
Independent Non-executive Director

Mr Aspinall was appointed a non-executive director of Stanwell on 15 November 2016 and is a member of the Audit and Risk Management Committee and People and Safety Committee.

Mr Aspinall is a Mechanical Engineer with more than 37 years’ experience in the electricity and energy industries and is a leading advisor in the power generation industry, having consulted globally to the private and government sectors on power generation projects and issues.

His expertise includes electricity and gas infrastructure development, generation and transmission procurement, electricity trading and regulatory compliance. He is currently a Special Advisor for the advisory firm Advisian, a wholly owned subsidiary of the WorlyParsons group, having previously led the power engineering practice of Advisian Asia Pacific and before that, Evans & Peck.

Mr Aspinall is regularly engaged to assist in International Mergers & Acquisitions activities as well as International Arbitrations in the role of Independent Expert.

He began his career working for the Queensland Electricity Commission in 1981 and was employed by the generation sector in Queensland for over 24 years prior to becoming a consultant.

He has previously been a non-executive director on the Board of Ergon Energy and Chairman of SPARQ Solutions.

Executive Leadership Team

We’re led by a team of passionate professionals. They have extensive experience in Australia and overseas, specialising in the energy and infrastructure sectors.

Richard Van Breda

BCompt (Hons), CA(Z), CA(Aus), Dip. Fin. Serv. (FM, GAICD,) AICD
Chief Executive Officer

Mr Van Breda was appointed Chief Executive Officer in July 2012 and he has been involved in the energy industry since 2001.

Mr Van Breda originally joined Stanwell in 2002 and was appointed Chief Financial Officer in 2005. He joined Tarong Energy Corporation Limited in the role of Chief Financial Officer in April 2008.

After the restructure of the Queensland Government owned electricity generators in July 2011, he was appointed Chief Financial Officer at Stanwell.

Mr Van Breda is a non-executive director of the Australian Energy Council.

Prior to this, Mr Van Breda was a partner with Deloitte Zimbabwe and spent three years with Anglo American Zimbabwe, which held a diverse range of mining and manufacturing interests.

James Oliver

MBA, BE (Mech) Hons 1, MIEAust, CPEng, NER, RPEQ, IntPE (Aus)
Chief Operating Officer

Mr Oliver joined Stanwell in 2003, and has held a number of operational roles throughout the business, including General Manager Operational Excellence, Stanwell Power Station Site Manager, Stanwell Power Station Production Manager and Stanwell Power Station Engineering Manager.

Mr Oliver was appointed to the position of Chief Operating Officer in May 2019.

He is an experienced senior business manager, with strong project management experience, and a Master of Business Administration, focusing on organisational leadership.

Prior to joining Stanwell, Mr Oliver spent time in the mining and materials processing industries, as well as spending 12 months undertaking volunteer work in Zambia.

In his role as Chief Operating Officer, he oversees Stanwell’s operations and provides leadership and direction for both for the operations leadership team and wider business. Mr Oliver’s responsibilities also include delivering strategies, policies, systems and risk management controls to facilitate the achievement of Stanwell’s short and long-term business objectives.

Sophie Naughton

BA/LLB, GradDipEd, GAICD
Executive General Manager Business Services

Ms Naughton was appointed to the position of Executive General Manager Business Services in December 2019.

Having joined Stanwell in 2011, Ms Naughton has held a number of management positions in the People and Culture team including General Manager People and Culture, Manager Human Resources and Principal Advisor Human Resources and Industrial Relations.

A solicitor by profession, she has more than 20 years of experience in human resources leadership roles, including an executive position in the aged care sector. Ms Naughton has worked across a range of industries in both the public and private sector.

Ms Naughton is passionate about achieving business outcomes through organisational capability, engagement, and cultural transformation. Her current responsibilities include business strategy development, community and stakeholder engagement, information and business systems, human resources management and organisational development.

Michael O'Rourke

LLB, BCom, GDip AppFin, GDip CSA
Chief Financial Officer

Mr O’Rourke joined Stanwell in 1998 and has held a number of management positions in the areas of corporate strategy, marketing and trading, corporate services and internal and external corporate communications.

In September 2012, Mr O’Rourke was appointed to the position of Chief Financial Officer.

As Stanwell’s Chief Financial Officer, Mr O’Rourke is responsible for the internal functions of financial risk and services, business reporting and commercial analysis, secretariat, corporate services, legal, internal audit and supply chain management.

Stephen Quilter

BEng(Mech), MBA
Executive General Manager Energy Trading and Commercial Strategy

Mr Quilter joined Stanwell in February 2012 as Swanbank Power Station Manager and was appointed General Manager of Stanwell’s gas and hydro generation portfolio in May 2013.

In a career spanning more than 20 years in the energy industry both in Queensland and New South Wales, Mr Quilter has worked in various operational roles including senior engineering and management positions.

Mr Quilter was appointed Executive General Manager Energy Trading and Commercial Strategy at Stanwell in July 2016.

In this role, he is responsible for the trading of Stanwell’s generation in the National Electricity Market.

He also oversees the development of commercial strategies targeted at diversifying revenue streams and creating value from Stanwell’s various fuel resources.