John Richard Brew AM (born 19 August 1938) is an Australian public servant, engineer, educator and administrator. He has been recognised for significant contributions to transport as Managing Director of the

Urban Transit Authority The Urban Transit Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, was responsible for the operation and maintenance of buses and ferries in Sydney and Newcastle from July 1980 until January 1989. History The Urban ...

and Chief Executive of the

State Rail Authority The State Rail Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, operated and maintained railways in the Australian state of New South Wales from July 1980 until December 2003. History The ''Transport Authorities Ac ...

and as a consultant at national level. He has also been active in the field of education holding honorary positions in the Anglican school system of NSW and as an academic, and was President of the Baptist Churches of NSW and ACT.

Early life

John Brew was born the eldest son of Lieutenant-Commander Albert Brew RAN and Iris Brew (née Bannister). He was educated initially at

Gosford High School Gosford High School (abbreviated as GHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex school, co-educational Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective secondary school, secondary day school, located ...

and then from 1952 to 1954

North Sydney Boys High School North Sydney Boys High School (abbreviated as NSBHS) is a government-funded, single-sex, academically selective secondary day school for boys, located at Crows Nest, on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. In 2022, Nor ...

. Brew was granted a cadetship in civil engineering in the Way and Works Branch of the Department of Railways in 1955 and began studying part time, graduating from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

, with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering in 1963. While studying, Brew enlisted in the

Royal Australian Naval Reserve The Royal Australian Naval Reserve (RANR) is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Australian Navy in Australia. The current Royal Australian Naval Reserve was formed in June 1973 by merging the former RANR (Seagoing) and the Royal Australian ...

, was active from 1956 to 1962.

Career in public transport

After graduating, Brew held a variety of rural roles as was the norm at the time including District Engineer in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

and then Divisional Engineer in

Dubbo Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Gol ...

and later

Parkes Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a radi ...

. From 1967 he managed the upgrading of the

Broken Hill railway line The Broken Hill railway line is now part of the transcontinental railway from Sydney to Perth. New South Wales's first line opened from Sydney to Parramatta Junction (near Granville Station) in 1855 and was extended as the Main Western line in ...

to enable the use of

Standard Gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

between

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, opened by Prime Minister John Gorton, 29 November 1969. In the mid 70's as Manager Projects and Research, Brew contributed to the introduction of continuous loading balloon loops at Bullock Island export coal terminal in Newcastle, an innovation which was then also adopted at mines in the

Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

and Western coal fields. In 1977 Brew was the Project Manager to put together the Royal Silver Jubilee Train, a touring museum that travelled through Australia to mark the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's accession. In the same year, he was Technical Adviser to the QC who represented 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 ...

at the enquiry into the

Granville rail disaster The Granville rail/train disaster occurred on Tuesday 18 January 1977 at Granville, a western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, when a crowded commuter train derailed, running into the supports of a road bridge that collapsed onto ...

. He was appointed as the managing director of the

of NSW, the agency responsible for operating government buses and ferries, serving from 1988-1992. His time was marked by structural reform and reform in financing achieving considerable success in commercial efficiency. He also introduced gas-powered buses, the first bus-only lanes in NSW, magnetic ticketing and the first RiverCat and

JetCat JetCat is a young female superhero who "flies like a jet, and fights like a cat", created by Jay Stephens (of ''Tutenstein'' and ''The Secret Saturdays'' fame), who first appeared in the weekly comic strip "Oddville!" beginning in 1994. The charac ...

ferries. He advocated to have NSW join the

International Association of Public Transport The International Association of Public Transport (UITP, from the french: L’Union internationale des transports publics) is a non-profit advocacy organization for public transport authorities and operators, policy decision-makers, scientific in ...

and to have its 50th World Congress held in Sydney in 1993. When its Asia-Pacific Branch was established, Brew was elected the first Chairman and served from 1990 to 1996. He was also elected Chairman of Australian chapter of the Chartered Instituted of Transport in 1994. Appointed chief executive of the

of NSW, serving from 1992-1995, Brew initiated and carried through some of the landmark reform of industrial relations for which the Fahey Govt is renowned. During his term he sought to make the SRA a more commercially oriented organisation, initiating the building the Sydney Airport Rail Link, the Southern Railway and improving the profitability of the export coal business. On his appointment he was praised by the then Transport Minister for having initiated the design of the Tangara trains and for being instrumental in revitalising country rail travel by commissioning the first XPTs. Brew has been called the last "commissioner" of the railways. In 1996, then Commonwealth Minister for Transport and Regional Development, the Hon. John Sharp appointed Brew to review and report on the financial performance of

Australian National Railways Commission The Australian National Railways Commission was an agency of the Government of Australia that was a railway operator between 1975 and 1998. It traded as Australian National Railways (ANR) in its early years, before being rebranded as Australian ...

and its relationship with

National Rail Corporation The National Rail Corporation was an Australian rail operator established by the Government of Australia, Federal, Government of New South Wales, New South Wales and Government of Victoria (Australia), Victorian governments in February 1992. I ...

, and to make proposals for the strategic reform of both organisations. Brew continues to make occasional contributions to public discussion on matters of public transport reform in NSW.

Career in education

Brew was appointed Board member from 1996 and then from 1999 Deputy Chairman of the Sydney Anglican Schools Corporation, serving until 2000. He was Chairman of the Board of

St Luke's Grammar School St Luke's Grammar School is a dual campus Independent school, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Mixed-sex education, co-educational Primary school, primary and Secondary school, secondary day school, located on the Northern Bea ...

Dee Why Dee Why is a coastal suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 18 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of Northern Be ...

, 1996-2000, and a Member of Council of the

Nowra Anglican College The Nowra Anglican College, (abbreviated as NAC), is an independent Anglican co-educational early learning, primary, and secondary day school, located on the corner of West Bunbera Street and the Princes Highway, in Bomaderry in the South Coas ...

, 2001-2003. Brew established the

Wollondilly Anglican College Wollondilly Anglican College is a Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12 co-educational private school operated by The Anglican Schools Corporation. Located in the Wollondilly Shire, the College services families and communities from areas such as the ...

at Tahmoor in 2003, and became Chairman of its governing council, guiding the school through significant growth in its first seven years, to 700 pupils.

Other community roles

In 2011, Brew was elected to the honorary position of President of the Baptist Churches of NSW and ACT by the Baptist Assembly (akin to the Anglican Synod). He presided over a significant structural review of the federation of over 300 Baptist Churches and had oversight of the adoption and implementation of the recommendations of the review with particular emphasis on the pastoral care of people and pastors. Brew has a lifetime history of active involvement in serving local Baptist congregations as a leader. He was elected Secretary of French’s Forest Baptist Church, 1976-1990 and later secretary of the Bowral Baptist Church, 2005-2011 and 2013-2014. In the latter role Brew was the driving force behind having a new church building designed, funded and built. Brew also served on the

Wingecarribee Shire Council Wingecarribee Shire is the local government area of the Southern Highlands in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Wingecarribee Shire is around southwest of the Sydney central business district and is part of regional Capital Countr ...

Transport Committee from 2002 to 2008.

Personal life

In 1962 Brew married Sylvia Dart (1942-2017) with whom he had five children. They remained married 55 years. In 2021, Brew married Kate Crowle (née Higgins, 1942-2022). Brew is a talented maker of ship models and accomplished painter of oil paintings principally with a nautical theme. He has published a history of his family, and particularly their nautical connections with

Stockton, New South Wales Stockton is a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, located from Newcastle's central business district. It is the only residential suburb of the City of Newcastle that lies north of the Hunter River. Geography Stockton is a penins ...

, the result of a life-long interest in family history. He has also published an autobiography with extensive history of his Brew ancestors.

Honours and awards

In recognition of his significant service to the rail transport and logistics industry, and to education, John Brew was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia, General Division, in the Queen's Birthday 2020 Honours List.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brew, John 1938 births Living people Members of the Order of Australia Australian public servants University of New South Wales alumni People educated at North Sydney Boys High School