Alan Silvius Reiher (13 June 19273 August 2003) was a senior Australian public servant, best known for his time as Director-General of Works in the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

bureaucracy and for heading government transport agencies in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Life and career

Alan Reiher was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

on 13 June 1927 to Silvius Thomas Reiher and Agnes Marion Reiher. Having graduated from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

with a

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

degree, Reiher commenced his

Australian Public Service The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the G ...

career in 1957 as an Engineer in the Department of Works. He spent a year at the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

soon before being appointed Director-General of the department in 1967. In 1975 while Secretary of the Department of Housing and Construction, Reiher was appointed as a member of the Darwin Reconstruction Authority in the aftermath of

Cyclone Tracy Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, from 24 to 26 December 1974. The small, developing easterly storm had been observed passing clear of the city initially, but then turned t ...

. He was appointed the Chief Commissioner of the

Public Transport Commission The Public Transport Commission (PTC) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales responsible for the provision of rail, bus and ferry services in New South Wales, Australia from October 1972 until June 1980. Upon dissolution, responsib ...

in March 1976 succeeding

Philip Shirley Philip Shirley (1913–1998) was a businessman, who held senior positions with the British Transport Commission, British Rail Board and Cunard in the United Kingdom and the Public Transport Commission in Australia. Life and career Philip Shirley ...

. The appointment was in the last weeks of the Wills Government, and the Labor Party opposed his appointment, which was for seven years. After being placed on fully paid leave by

Minister for Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government agen ...

Peter Cox, who claimed Reiher had caused him embarrassment by failing to inform him of an agreement with the unions in March 1980, Reiher resigned. In 1980 he was appointed Chairman of the

Victorian Railways The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...

Board, and in 1982 he became Director-General of Transport for Victoria. Beginning in 1986 for five years, Reiher was Victoria's Commissioner in North America. Reiher died on 3 August 2003.Alan Reiher Dies ''

Newsrail ''Newsrail'' is a monthly railway magazine covering the railways and tramways of Victoria, Australia. It was launched in January 1973 by the Australian Railway Historical Society The Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) aims to foste ...

'' October 2003 page 298

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reiher, Alan Australian public servants University of Melbourne alumni 1927 births 2003 deaths