Board of Directors
The Board sets the strategic direction of WATC and establishes the policies and principles under which WATC operates.
Michael A Barnes, Chairperson
Mr Barnes assumed the role of Chairperson when he became Acting Under Treasurer in the Department of Treasury in February 2014. Mr Barnes was appointed Under Treasurer in April 2015. As Under Treasurer, Mr Barnes is the principal economic and financial policy adviser to the Government of Western Australia. He is also the Chairperson of WATC’s People and Remuneration Committee. Prior to joining the Department of Treasury in 1997, Mr Barnes worked in the Commonwealth Treasury, where he commenced his career as a graduate in 1992. Mr Barnes holds a Bachelor of Business degree with Honours in Economics.
Michael J R Court, Deputy Chairperson
Mr Court was appointed to the Board as Deputy Chairperson in July 2017. Mr Court was permanently appointed Deputy Under Treasurer in September 2016, after having acted in the role since February 2014. This followed more than five years as the Executive Director of the Department of Treasury’s Economic business unit. Mr Court joined the Department of Treasury in 1997, after working in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Commonwealth Treasury. During 2016/17, Mr Court chaired the quarterly Public Sector Financial Management Committee and the Department of Treasury’s Information and Communication Technology Committee, and was a member of the Electricity Market Review Steering Committee.
Catherine A Nance
Ms Nance has been a Director of WATC since 1998 and is the Chairperson of the Audit Committee and a member of the People and Remuneration Committee. She is a Partner and Actuary of PricewaterhouseCoopers, with over 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry advising governments and companies on finance-related matters including superannuation, investment and financial services. Ms Nance is a recognised authority and active contributor to policy development in both superannuation and financing the ageing. Ms Nance has a Bachelor of Science degree in Pure and Applied Mathematics and Physics and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Statistics. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia, an Affiliate of the Institute of Actuaries (London), a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia, a member of the CFA Institute and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). Ms Nance is a Director of the Government Employees Superannuation Board.
Jennifer A Seabrook
Ms Seabrook was appointed to the Board as a Director on 1 October 2015 and is a member of the Audit Committee. She has extensive financial and corporate executive expertise, having worked at senior levels in chartered accounting, capital markets and investment banking businesses, as well as previous experience on Western Australian government boards, federal government boards and in other non-executive board and panel roles. Ms Seabrook currently holds the positions of non-executive Director of Iluka Resources Limited, IRESS Limited, MMG Limited, and Australian Rail Track Corporation and is a senior advisor to Gresham Advisory Partners Limited.
Grahame J Searle
Mr Searle was appointed to the Board as a Director on 1 January 2009 and is a member of the People and Remuneration Committee. He is currently the Director General of the Department of Communities. Prior to this, Mr Searle held a number of executive positions, including Leader of the State’s Regional Services Reform Unit, Director General for Department of Housing and Chief Executive Officer at Landgate, following a range of senior leadership and management roles in Victoria. Mr Searle holds a Bachelor of Business degree. He is a Fellow of both the Spatial Sciences Institute of Australia and the Institute of Public Administration Australia.
John M Collins V
Mr Collins is the Chief Executive Officer and a Director of the Western Australian Treasury Corporation, commencing 15 October 2009. He has over forty years’ experience in international banking and finance, including ten years with Cargill, Inc., two years each with a US hedge fund and the State Bank of South Australia, then fourteen years with ANZ Bank, including over four years with ANZ Panin Bank in Indonesia. He has a BSBA from the Ohio State University and an MBA from the University of St Thomas in St Paul, Minnesota. Mr Collins remains accredited by AFMA (since 1998), and a graduate/member of the AICD Directors Course. He was a member of the Curtin Business School’s Economics and Finance Advisory Board for three years, and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee for the WA Department of Housing for three years finishing in February 2017.
