Leadership and governance

Erin has more than 40 years of experience in both private and Government sectors in law, rail and large infrastructure projects. She was Commercial Manager and Deputy CEO at Reliance Rail before becoming Executive Director of Infrastructure NSW in 2012.

In 2012, Erin was appointed by the NSW Minister for Transport to the Advisory Board for the North West Rail Link and subsequently became an inaugural Director of the newly formed Sydney Metro in 2018. In 2016 she became a Guardian of the Board of the Commonwealth Future Fund.

Erin is currently a Non-Executive Director of Venues NSW, The Infrastructure Fund (TIF), and the NSW Transport Holding Entity. She is one of two independent members of the International Shareholders Committee for Mott MacDonald, a global engineering consultancy firm. She is a Trustee of Sydney Grammar School and a Board member of NSW Police & Citizens Youth Clubs, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

In July 2023, Erin was appointed to the Board of a newly established subsidiary of ARTC, Inland Rail Pty Ltd, which will govern the delivery of the Inland Rail.

Erin is a member of Chief Executive Women (CEW) and the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).

Michael brings over 35 years of experience in the rail and logistics industries including government enterprises, publicly listed entities, and private entities. This experience includes 17 years in a range of Group Executive roles with both Aurizon and Queensland Rail covering operations, infrastructure, commercial, strategy, business development, and corporate.

He has held direct accountability for multi-billion dollar capital programmes including large scale infrastructure project development, project management, and construction projects across Australia and has significant direct senior level involvement in intermodal, agriculture, and natural resources industries across both domestic and export markets.

Michael’s Directorships have included the Australian Logistics Council, Australasian Railway Association, Aquila Resources, Rail Industry Safety & Standards Board, and Union of International Railways World Executive Committee. He has been on a range of advisory boards for the freight and passenger transport sectors across Australia.

Ron Koehler has more than 35 years of experience in the Freight and Logistics Industry. He is a former CEO of DB Schenker Australia Pty Ltd, a Global Air/Ocean and third party logistics company.

Under Ron’s management, DB Schenker undertook several acquisitions and mergers focusing on global key accounts and growth. Ron oversaw the construction and operation of the logistics warehouse footprint and the operational aspect of the Airfreight and Ocean Freight business.

Ron is an advisor to Trackster Global, an IOT – technology company. He is also a partner of WCL – Worldwide Consultants in Logistics GmbH, Germany, a consultant company to the freight and logistics industry.

Ron is a member of the German Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a former Chair and Board member. He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2017 for supporting bilateral trade.

Michael has over 30 years’ experience as a Non-Executive Director and leader within the logistics, supply chain, retail and property sectors. Michael currently serves on the Boards of Ausgrid Asset, Management, Finance and Operator Partnership, CBH Group, Sendle, NSW Ports and Peel Ports UK.

Michael is a Senate member, Chair of ARC and Chancellors Advisory Board for the University of Western Australia and is a Strategic Advisor on Infrastructure to IFM Investors and Australian Super. Recently, Michael was appointed to the Board of the Sydney Aviation Alliance, the owner of Sydney Airport.

Michael is the Chair of HSE Global, a specialist safety consulting group. He also advises the Government in regard to the Simplified Trade System Task Force.

Michael was appointed International Freight Coordinator General, Austrade on 31 March 2020 in an interim role to assist with the Federal Government’s COVID-19 response, which concluded in September 2022. Michael has also been an advisor at different times to Bain Consulting, Brookfield, GNG Partners and Macquarie Bank in Australia, China and the Middle East.

Previous roles include Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Toll Group Holdings; Chief Executive Officer of Coates Hire; Linfox and Westgate Holdings, as well as Non-Executive Director of Australia Post.

In 2025, Michael was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his significant service to transport and the community.

Merren has over 30 years’ experience as a Director and Senior Executive across a broad range of industries including aviation, resources, infrastructure, transport, professional services and government.

Merren commenced her career as a commercial lawyer and became an executive partner at Australian law firm, Allens, specialising in advising governments on major reforms and infrastructure projects. This included the disaggregation and privatisation of the passenger rail and freight industry in Victoria.

Over the last 15 years, Merren has held executive roles in the highly regulated and competitive aviation industry. Her CEO roles include Tigerair Australia, Virgin Australia Cargo, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines and founding CEO of Lynx Air, a Canadian start-up ultralow- cost carrier.

Merren brings extensive corporate governance experience, having served as company chair and director across multiple sectors and is a member of Chief Executive Women.

Qualifications
Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance, FINSIA (now Kaplan Business School), 2009
Bachelor of Law, University of Melbourne, 1986
Bachelor of Arts, University of Melbourne, 1986

Scott has over 40 years of combined experience across accounting, executive management and supply chain advisory roles.

Scott currently leads Flywheel Advisory, a supply chain consultancy, and has formerly held CEO roles with T Ports, Bowmans Rail and e-fill, a warehousing and distribution group. Prior to this, Scott was also the supply chain leader at Aurecon in Infrastructure advisory, where he was a Principal providing strategic counsel to customers globally. Scott was formerly a chartered accountant with KPMG for more than a decade, working across Europe, Asia and Australia overseeing supply chain operations for global companies in packaging, apparel, food and transport.

Today, as founder and Principal of Flywheel Advisory, Scott is helping organisations and businesses using supply chain as a differentiator to drive profitability and service.

Qualifications
BA (Accounting),
University of South Australia
Chartered Accountant Associate,
Institute of Chartered Accountants ANZ

James has over 30 years of experience in the energy, resources, infrastructure, and transport industries, including building Australia’s largest on-shore, open access gas terminal in South Australia.

James was also instrumental in developing the $18 billion Joint Venture Export LNG project in Queensland with Total, Petronas and Kogas, and founded Australia’s first approved open access gas import terminal at Port Kembla, NSW. James has extensive finance, commercial, legal, government and stakeholder experience.

Ashishma Lal is a senior finance executive with more than 24 years’ experience across the infrastructure, utilities, and professional services sectors. She brings deep expertise in financial governance, budgeting, and executive reporting, with a strong focus on supporting strategic decision‑making at senior leadership and Board level.

Prior to joining National Intermodal, Ashishma served as Group Financial Controller and Company Secretary at Sydney Desalination. Earlier in her career, she worked as a Chartered Accountant, building a strong foundation in financial control, compliance, and advisory services. Ashishma holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and Financial Management and Information Systems and has completed an Executive MBA in Business Administration.

Kate is a corporate services executive and practicing lawyer with over 25 years’ experience in critical infrastructure and regulated industries, including transport, logistics, and telecommunications. She has led multi-disciplinary teams across legal, governance, sustainability, risk, audit, people and culture, and corporate affairs.

Before joining National Intermodal, Kate has held a number of executive roles including at Indara Digital Infrastructure and Pacific National.

Kate holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and a Bachelor of Economics (Social Science) from the University of Sydney and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Joanne has extensive experience in executive roles across a range of global industry sectors including pharmaceuticals and energy including as Chief People Officer roles at Santos and AGL. 

With more than 30 years’ experience, Joanne has a strong and diverse background leading people, culture, health and safety, and large transformation initiatives in complex, highly regulated industries.

Joanne holds an MBA from the University of South Australia, a Graduate Certificate in Energy & Resources from University College of London, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a CEW Member.

Ante has 30 years of experience across significant scale major project development and delivery across the infrastructure, energy and resource sectors.  He brings extensive experience in major project development and capital works delivery of complex billion-dollar multidisciplinary facilities and linear infrastructure works for global corporations such as Santos and ExxonMobil, both greenfield and brownfield assets, including supporting social infrastructure, in Australia, the Middle East and PNG.

Ante’s career has reinforced a passionate commitment to safety and deep understanding of what it takes to successfully development and delivery major projects to meet business objectives.

With over 25 years of experience in stevedoring, rail logistics, and supply chain management, Graham Moore has built a strong reputation for driving operational readiness in complex terminal environments. His career includes technical leadership roles in major projects with News Limited, as well as the management of large-scale stevedoring and rail terminal operations.

Graham brings deep expertise in both technical and operational systems, enabling him to assess readiness needs, implement robust processes, and ensure a seamless transition from planning to execution. He is highly skilled at identifying inefficiencies, aligning cross-functional teams, and optimising logistics to deliver resilient, high-performance operations.