John Arthur takes over as chairman of Singtel Optus

John Arthur has been appointed as the chairman of Singtel Optus with immediate effect, replacing the outgoing chairman, Paul O’Sullivan who has chosen to step down after a decade in the role.

Arthur joined what was then the Optus Advisory Committee in July 2019 before moving onto the Singtel Optus Board as part of the governance uplift at Optus prior to the appointment of CEO Stephen Rue.

Arthur has been a member of the Singtel Board since January 2022, and has also been a Director of NCS Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Singtel, since February 2022.  

His most recent executive appointment was as COO of Westpac, and as a chairman his last appointment prior to this was as the chairman of Sydney Metro, where he served a term of six years ending in December 2024, when he retired following the successful opening of the Chatswood to Sydenham line.

Arthur said with a new CEO and a refreshed leadership team with a renewed sense of energy and purpose, he is pleased to be able to play a part in the company’s next phase of its growth.

:I know that I am filling some big boots, and Optus owes much to Paul’s stewardship and leadership as we have established a committed Australian board of directors focused exclusively on Optus’ ongoing success," he said.

O’Sullivan’s career with Optus has spanned more than 3 decades. He was managing director of mobile at Cable and Wireless Optus when Singtel acquired the entity in 2001, in what was then the largest foreign investment in Australia.

He went on to serve as COO at Optus, overseeing its integration into the Singtel Group, before becoming the CEO in 2004. From 2012 to 2014, Paul took on a Group remit as CEO of Group Consumer at Singtel, managing the consumer business across multiple countries and overseeing a customer base of over 500 million.

Since October 2014, he has been the Chairman of Optus.

O’Sullivan said working with Optus for over 30 years has been a great joy.

"I have been lucky to work with many great people, too many to call out by name. However, I do want to express my thanks to [Group CEO Singtel Group, Yuen Kuan] Moon and Singtel who have been outstanding supporters of Optus, and ensured Australia gets a strong choice in telecommunications," he said.

“I am especially pleased that coinciding with Stephen’s appointment as CEO, we have successfully strengthened our governance, with the CEO now reporting to the Australian Chairman and Board. John Arthur is an excellent choice to make this a strong success.”   

Andrew Parker joins as non executive director

Andrew Parker will also join the Singtel Optus Pty Ltd Board as a non executive director, and will take over from Arthur as Chair of the Audit Committee.

Parker has over 25 years of executive and board-level experience, with expertise spanning governance, audit, risk management, advisory services, media, diplomacy, investor relations, and people management.   

In his most recent executive role as Senior Trade & Investment Commissioner for ASEAN at Investment NSW, he led the NSW Government’s strategy and engagement with ASEAN.