Alannah Mactiernan (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I take this opportunity to congratulate Ms Kerry Sanderson and express my pleasure that all Western Australians will now have the opportunity to enjoy the grace, the charm, the intelligence and commitment to public service that is the hallmark of Kerry. I also take some pleasure in the fact that I predicted this appointment earlier this year, and I congratulate the Premier on this excellent appointment of WA's first woman governor. I had the advantage of working closely with Kerry for nearly eight years when I was Minister for Planning and Infrastructure and Kerry was the Chief Executive of Fremantle Ports—although, at the time we came to start our work together, we had some history of being on different sides of some very big and controversial industrial disputes. Kerry was the consummate public servant and worked so capably within the policies of the new government, while advancing the interests of the ports and the state economy.

Kerry was a product of government schools. She was one of the first group of students to attend the new high school in Churchlands in 1963. She went on to study science and economics at the University of Western Australia. The Western Australia Treasury saw the potential in this young dynamo, recruiting her as a graduate and watching her spend the next 17 years rising to the top, concluding her time there as head of the economic policy division.

From there, Kerry went to the Department of Transport and then, in 1991, she took on the challenging role of Chief Executive of Fremantle Ports, a position she held for the next 17 years. She attracted wide acclaim when Fremantle Port won the prestigious Australian Business Excellence Medal.

In recognition of her services to the development and management of the port and maritime infrastructure, Ms Sanderson was named an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2004. In 2005, she was an inaugural inductee into the Lloyds List Shipping and Transport hall of fame. She had also been a winner of the Telstra Business Woman of the Year in WA. Kerry did this while she dealt with a number of considerable personal challenges, including the loss of her beloved husband Lance and caring for her two beloved sons. (Time expired)

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