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Executive team as at 1 December 2008.


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Gail Kelly Dip. ED, BA, MBA, Doctor of Bus (Charles Sturt University) Age 51 Chief Executive Officer Gail was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Westpac on 1 February 2008. Immediately prior to this, she served as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of St.George Bank for five and a half years. During this period, St.George doubled its assets and net profit after tax. Between October 1997 and December 2001, Gail was employed at the Commonwealth Bank as General Manager, Strategic Marketing, and later became Head of Customer Service and a member of the Bank's Executive Committee. Gail began her career at Nedcor Bank, one of the largest banks in South Africa, where she held various General Manager positions, including HR, cards and personal banking. Gail is currently a Director of Melbourne Business School Limited and member of the Financial Services Advisory Council.

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John Arthur LLB(Hons) Age 53 Group Executive, Counsel and Secretariat John was appointed Group Executive, Counsel and Secretariat on 1st December 2008. Most recently, prior to the appointment, John was Chief Executive of Investa Property Group until 2007. Previously, John has been a partner at Freehills and Group General Counsel of Lend Lease Limited. He also served as Chairman of legal firm Gilbert + Tobin and has had a distinguished career as legal partner, corporate executive and non-executive director.

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Ilana Atlas BJur(Hons), LLB(Hons), LLM Age 52 Group Executive, People Ilana was appointed Group Executive, People & Performance in 2003. She is responsible for all human resources strategy and management including reward and recognition, learning and development, careers and talent, employee relations and employment policy. She is also responsible for stakeholder relations including internal and external communications and Westpac's strategy in relation to corporate responsibility and sustainability. Ilana joined Westpac in 2000 as Group Secretary and General Counsel. Prior to joining Westpac, Ilana was a partner at Mallesons Stephen Jaques. She practised as a corporate lawyer and held a number of managerial roles in the firm including Managing Partner and Executive Partner, People & Information.

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Greg Bartlett Advanced Business Management (Princeton University), Age 56 Chief Executive, St.George Retail and Business Bank Greg was appointed Chief Executive St.George, Retail and Business Bank in December 2008. Greg has been with St.George for more than 25 years and was a member of St.George Executive Management Committee for over 18 years, lastly as Group Executive, Institutional and Business Bank which he transformed into a highly competitive business. Greg's previous roles at St.George included Group Teasurer and Chief General Manager, Group Treasury and Capital Markets and he has more than three decades in the financial services industry.

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Philip Chronican BCom(Hons), MBA, FFin Age 51 Group Executive, Westpac Institutional Bank Phil was appointed Group Executive, Westpac Institutional Bank in December 2005, responsible for Westpac's relationships with corporate, institutional and government clients in Australia and worldwide, as well as the business areas of financial markets, debt capital markets, specialised capital, structured investments and transactional banking. In addition, Phil has geographic responsibility for Westpac's Asian and Pacific Island business. Phil has been with Westpac in a broad variety of positions in Australia and in New Zealand since 1982. His previous roles included business group Chief Financial Officer roles in both retail and institutional banking, Deputy CFO and then Group Chief Financial Officer from February 2001.

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Peter Clare BCom, MBA Age 44 Group Executive, Product and Operations Peter was appointed Group Executive, Product and Operations on 17 July 2008, with responsibility for all consumer and business product development, management and operations. Peter joined Westpac as Group Executive, Consumer Financial Services in March 2008, with responsibility for sales, service, third party consumer product relationships and product development for Westpac's consumer customers across Australia, and retail branch operations in Singapore and Hong Kong. Prior to joining Westpac Peter was Group Executive, Group Technology and Operations of St.George Bank following five years as Group Executive Strategy with St.George. Prior to that Peter worked for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia between 1997 and 2002 in a range of senior roles, covering strategy, merger programs, operations and performance improvement. He has also worked in management consultancy and accountancy roles.

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Phil Coffey BEc(Hons) Age 49 Chief Financial Officer Phil was appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in December 2005, with responsibility for Westpac finance, tax, treasury, and investor relations functions. He joined Westpac in 1996, and was appointed Group Executive, Westpac Institutional Bank in 2002. Previously with AIDC and Citicorp, he had over ten years experience in funds management and financial markets, including roles in the UK and New Zealand. He began his career with the Reserve Bank of Australia.

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Rob Coombe LLB(Hons) Age 44 Chief Executive Officer, BT Financial Group Rob joined Westpac with the acquisition of the BT Financial Group in 2002 and has over 23 years experience in banking, finance and wealth management. Rob was appointed CEO of BT in January 2005 and leads a team of over 3,000 people across private banking, insurance, advice, funds management and wealth and superannuation solutions. He started with BT in 1991 and has held a number of positions, including Senior Legal Counsel, Head of BT's International Funds Management and CEO of BT's Funds Management business in Malaysia. Rob has also led BT in the development, packaging, distribution, administration and service of BT's range of retail products, margin lending, corporate super, discount broking and wrap platform businesses. Rob is actively involved in industry issues and has recently been appointed to the Board of Investment and Financial Services Association Limited (IFSA).

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Brad Cooper DipBM, MBA, FAIM Age 45 Group Chief Transformation Officer Brad was appointed Group Chief Transformation Officer on 9 June 2008, to lead the merger implementation planning and integration. Brad was Chief Executive and Group Executive, Westpac New Zealand Limited from April 2007 until this appointment. Prior to joining Westpac, Brad was Chairman of GE Capital Bank and Chief Executive Officer of GE Consumer Finance UK & Ireland. He drove GE's UK Six Sigma program and was certified as a Quality Leader (Black Belt) in December 2002. He was promoted to Chief Executive Officer of GE Consumer Finance UK in January 2003 and appointed Chairman of GE Capital Bank in April 2004.

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Peter Hanlon BA(Comms), C Tech (Aero Eng), AMP (Harvard) Age 52 Group Executive, Retail and Business Banking Peter was appointed Group Executive, Westpac Retail and Business Banking on 17 July 2008, with responsibility for the sales and service interactions for all consumers, small to medium enterprises and commercial customers in Australia. Prior to this position, he was Group Executive, Business Financial Services, responsible for business banking sales, relationship management, customer service, and product and risk management in Australia. Peter has held several other senior roles in Westpac including General Manager roles in Marketing, Branch Banking and Consumer Credit. Peter joined Westpac in 1995 from BankSA where he was Chief Manager of Branch Sales and Service and Head of Strategic Marketing. Prior to his banking career, Peter served in The Royal Australian Air Force.

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Bob McKinnon BCom, ACA, MAICD, Age 55 Group Executive, Technology Bob was appointed Group Executive, Technology on 17 July 2008. Prior to joining Westpac, Bob was Joint Managing Director of Multiplex Limited and Multiplex Funds Management Limited. Bob has over 36 years of extensive financial and senior management experience, having held senior positions with Lend Lease, MLC, State Street Australia and Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

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Bruce McLachlan BCA, Age 44 Acting CEO, Westpac New Zealand Limited Bruce was appointed Acting CEO New Zealand on 9 June 2008. He was formerly General Manager Consumer Banking New Zealand, from November 2007. Prior to that appointment he held the role of General Manager Business Banking for a period of five years. Bruce joined Westpac in 2000 as a project manager, moving into the role of Head of Private and Priority Banking in November 2000. Prior to Westpac, Bruce gained experience with the National Australia Bank in Melbourne, BNZ Finance and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

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Rob Whitfield BCom, GradDipBanking, GradDipFin, AMP (Harvard) Age 43 Group Executive, Risk Management Rob joined Westpac as a graduate in 1986, where he gained broad experience across most financial market products. Rob joined Treasury in 1993 and was appointed Group Treasurer in 2000. Rob became Chief Risk Officer in 2004 and joined the executive team in December 2005. From April 2007, Rob undertook advisory work for Westpac's Chief Executive in a part time capacity and recommenced a full time Group Executive role in January 2008 with responsibility for the oversight of the proposed merger with St.George. He was appointed Group Executive, Risk Management in November 2008