Alan Reiher

Alan Silvius Reiher (13 June 1927 – 3 August 2003) was a senior Australian public servant, best known for his time as Director-General of Works in the Australian Government bureaucracy and for heading government transport agencies in New South Wales and Victoria.

Alan Reiher
Director-General of the Department of Works
In office 29 August 1967 – 30 November 1973
Secretary of the Department of Housing and Construction
In office 30 November 1973 – 22 December 1975
Secretary of the Department of Construction
In office 22 December 1975 – 20 April 1976
Personal details
Born	Alan Silvius Reiher 13 June 1927 Melbourne, Victoria
Died	3 August 2003 (aged 76) Queensland
Resting place	North Tamborine Cemetery, Queensland[1]
Nationality	Australian
Alma mater	University of Melbourne
Occupation	Public servant

Life and career

Alan Reiher was born in Melbourne on 13 June 1927 to Silvius Thomas Reiher and Agnes Marion Reiher.[2]

Having graduated from the University of Melbourne with a civil engineering degree, Reiher commenced his Australian Public Service career in 1957 as an Engineer in the Department of Works.[2] He spent a year at the Harvard Business School soon before being appointed Director-General of the Department in 1967.[3]

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.[4]

He was appointed the Chief Commissioner of the New South Wales Public Transport Commission in March 1976 succeeding Philip Shirley.[5][6][7] The appointment was in the last weeks of the Wills Government, and the Labor Party opposed his appointment, which was for seven years.[8]

After being placed on fully paid leave by Minister for Transport 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.[9][10]

In 1980 he was appointed Chairman of the Victorian Railways Board, and in 1982 he became Director-General of Transport for Victoria.[2][11]

Beginning in 1986 for five years, Reiher was Victoria's Commissioner in North America.[12] Reiher died on 3 August 2003.[13]

References

1. Alan Silvius Reiher, Billion Graves, archived from the original on 26 September 2014
2. REIHER Alan Silvius, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, archived from the original on 29 October 2007
3. Juddery, Bruce (11 November 1970). "The public servant to watch". The Canberra Times. p. 20.
4. "Reconstruction body members named". The Canberra Times. 6 March 1975. p. 12.
5. "Top transport post". The Canberra Times. 26 March 1976. p. 3.
6. New Chief Commissioner Electric Traction April 1976 page 59
7. New Chief Commissioner has Distinguished Record Transport News May 1976 page 1
8. "Exit Mr Reiher". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 November 1979. p. 4.
9. PTC chief to take further paid leave Truck & Bus Transportation March 1980 page 110
10. "Top NSW transport man quits". The Canberra Times. 21 March 1980. p. 7.
11. Transport People Truck & Bus Transportation November 1982 page 110
12. Burgess, Verona (18 October 1992). "It's thumbs down for unfortunate GMORA". The Canberra Times. p. 9.
13. Alan Reiher Dies Newsrail October 2003 page 298