Peter W Hughes

Peter W Hughes
(1925 - )

Peter W Hughes was born on 25 March 1925.

He served for nearly four years with the RAAF and subsequently studied Engineering at Sydney University under the auspices of the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme. His last year of study was 1952, and he obtained the degree of Bachelor of Engineering (Civil).

He commenced work with the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority in 1953 where he remained until 1970. During that time he worked on the "first project" (Guthega) and the "last project". (Tumut 3). He lived in regional camps (Island Bend, Tumut Pond and Cabramurra) and in Cooma.

He worked on road location in the Upper Tumut Region, contract supervision at Guthega and design and contract documents for a number of power projects including Tumut 1, Tumut 2, Murray 2 and Tumut 3. Towards the end of his stay with the Authority he was involved with the Eastern Suburbs Railway for the NSW Railways, the Liddell Power Station for the NSW Electricity Commission, the Shoalhaven Scheme for the Sydney Water Board and some overseas projects.

In 1956 the Snowy sent him for in service training in the USA for 12 months where he spent time with the Bureau of Reclamations and the Corps of Engineers. He found that the Snowy was an exhilarating place to work both socially, working with people from all over the world, and technically for people believed what they were doing was important and the had faith in themselves and time was of the essence.

In 1970 he joined the Sydney Water Board, and in 1972 the Board sent him to the Administrative Staff College at Mt Eliza and in 1974 on a study tour to Europe and the USA.

In 1976, and with encouragement from the Board, he assumed, on a voluntary basis, the role of Federal Secretary of the Australian Water and Wastewater Association (AWWA), a position he held until 1980. During this same period, he occupied several positions of increasing seniority with the Board including Inspecting Engineer Major Works and Deputy Chief Engineer, Design.

In 1979 he became Engineer-in-Chief. In this role he attended Board meetings, often had contact with Government Ministers and attended the annual meeting of Chief Officers of Urban Water Authorities of Australia and the regular meetings of Chief Engineers of NSW Government Departments.

At this time he became heavily involved with industrial relations. The main technical challenges were concerned with the maintenance of water quality, improving the management of projects, the construction of treatment works, the building of ocean outfalls, the Dam Safety Program, the establishment of a systematic approach to asset management and the management of a labour force of about 12,000.

The Board was going through a very turbulent time. The whole question of treatment and disposal of sewage was a matter which attracted considerable public outcry. The Board also had severe industrial and public relations problems. It finally lost political support and, caught in political crossfire, the Board was sacked in 1983 and a new one appointed.

The new Board started into a major reorganisation. Hughes was intimately involved in this process which was ongoing when he retired. Under the new structure he became Assistant General Manager and Director of Operations. He continued to attend Board Meetings and to be involved with the Ministers and the media. At this time issues concerning personnel placed heavy demands on management.

On reaching retiring age he retired from the Board’s service in 1986 where he had been Acting Deputy General Manager for the previous twelve months.

Following this retirement Hughes became the first Executive Director of the AWWA, a position which he held until 1992. In this position he worked to improve communications in the water industry.

To access an oral history interview with Peter W Hughes please use this link:'

https://heritage.engineersaustralia.org.au/wiki/Oral_Histories_Sydney