- Rt Hon Winston Peters
The appointment of Scott O'Donnell to the KiwiRail board will bolster its freight expertise Minister for Rail Winston Peters says.
"Railways have no shortage of potential for New Zealand, and we expect to see sustained growth in earnings, revenue, volumes, reliability, and safety to turn this business into something great."
Mr O'Donnell is a current director of HW Richardson Group and was its managing director from 2006 to 2015. The Group owns 46 companies, employing 2000 people across six sectors including road freight.
"Mr O'Donnell, new Chair Sue Tindal and the Treasury have established a conflict-of-interest management plan which will be reviewed and monitored.
"The company's road freight operation is primarily south of Oamaru, and as such Mr O'Donnell will recuse himself from KiwiRail activities in this part of New Zealand.
"Mr O'Donnell has resigned as chair of HW Richardson-owned Dynes Transport but remains on its board, noting this company is receiving Government co-investment for a rail siding into a new Mosgiel road and rail freight hub," Mr Peters says.
Term: 1 September 2025 - 31 August 2028
Biography: Scott O'Donnell is a Director of the HW Richardson (HWR) Group and was previously Managing Director of the Group from 2006 to 2015. In addition to his directorship, Mr O'Donnell spearheads the HWR Group Property portfolio that is responsible for various projects across New Zealand. Mr O'Donnell has led HWR Group through a decade of considerable growth, in both company size, business growth and diversification. His deep expertise both operational and governance in property management, transport, freight, and logistics as well as his commercial nous will add important strategic insights to KiwiRail's business.
