It has been an immense privilege to serve as G-MW’s managing director, where I’ve received great support from the board and staff during my time as MD.
It’s also been a real joy to work with so many talented, hard-working and passionate people at the organisation over the years.
We’ve achieved a number of significant milestones together, including successful delivery of major water efficiency projects, organisation restructure, and improvements in asset management such as optimising asset replacements and our maintenance of ageing infrastructure.
As I prepare to hand the MD baton over next month, it’s important to stress that the role will be in very good hands with my successor Steve Capewell, who is currently the MD of Goulburn Valley Water.
Dr Capewell, who starts at G-MW on July 6, understands the water sector inside and out.
He has more then 20 years’ experience in the sector, including more than five-and-a-half years as GVW’s MD.
Prior to joining GVW, he was an executive manager at Water Corporation in Western Australia, managing an operational division of more than 600 staff members.
I’ve come to know Dr Capewell well through our years in the VicWater MDs group, where we’ve shared many conversations about the opportunities and challenges facing our sector and those in northern Victoria.
We’ve attended a number of local and regional events under our roles which has further highlighted to me how passionate he is about water and the water sector.
From a personal perspective, as well, I’m glad to say that the role is moving from one engineer to another.
We engineers love our passion for asset management, and I know Dr Capewell will be bringing this with him to G-MW as we continue to innovate around our ageing asset base.
Besides preparing for his arrival, I’ve also been keeping myself busy by visiting our different offices across northern Victoria over the past months.
While saying goodbye to staff members is hard, these visits have reaffirmed to me that G-MW is in good hands.
I’m also sad to say goodbye to our customers.
I want to thank you for your support and engagement over the years.
It’s been wonderful getting to know so many of you.
I’ll be saying a final goodbye and thank you to a number of our customers in person later this month when our Customer Committee Annual Summit takes place.
Dr Capewell will also be attending the summit, providing both him and our customer committee members a great opportunity to get to know each other.
As I prepare to leave G-MW, I feel very confident about the future of the organisation.
I’m also very confident about the future of northern Victoria.
We hear a lot about the challenges this region faces, but I think it’s crucial to highlight what makes it special.
This region is the backbone of so much of our food and fibre, and it’s constantly adapting.
Farmers here are some of the most innovative you’ll find, always finding smarter, more efficient ways to work with the land and water.
That willingness to evolve — to try new things while respecting what’s come before — is a big reason the region continues to thrive.
Our towns are growing and changing, with new businesses, new ideas, and new opportunities popping up all the time.
We have great coffee, art galleries, wineries and cultural experiences to enjoy.
Northern Victoria’s value cannot be understated and I’m excited to see its continued growth.
So while I may be stepping away from G-MW soon, I’m not stepping away from the region.
I’ll still be here, enjoying what this beautiful part of Victoria has to offer.
– Charmaine Quick
13°C