Pilbara Development Commission board reappointed as Hill and Mitchell extend terms

The Minister for Regional Development, Stephen Dawson, has extended the appointments of Terry Hill AM as Chair and ministerial representative of the Pilbara Development Commission Board of Management, and Anne Mitchell as a ministerial representative of the same board. The decision is notified “for general information” in notice RG401 of the Western Australian Government Gazette No. 141, published in Perth on Friday, 6 November 2026. Both reappointments are described as three-year terms, taking the board’s leadership through to 2029.

The notice is issued under the heading REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT and states that the Minister approved the extension “in accordance with Part 3 of the Regional Development Commissions Act 1993”. That provision governs the constitution and membership of the boards that oversee Western Australia’s regional development commissions, the statutory bodies that advise government and administer programs outside the metropolitan area. The gazette carrying the notice, printed by authority of the Government Printer under ISSN 2204-4264 (online), is the state’s official record of such ministerial appointments.

Three more years for the chair

Terry Hill AM has been extended as Chair and Ministerial Representative of the Pilbara body for a three-year term expiring 01 November 2029. The Chair is the board’s public figurehead and presides over its meetings, with the ministerial representative designation marking the seat filled on the Minister’s own nomination rather than by local government or community election. The expiry date aligns with the start of November, matching the cycle used for other commission boards.

Two dates, one board

Anne Mitchell has been extended as a Ministerial representative for a three-year term expiring 01 July 2029. The gazette records both extensions as three-year terms but assigns them materially different end dates:

• Terry Hill AM — Chair and Ministerial Representative, term expiring 01 November 2029.
• Anne Mitchell — Ministerial representative, term expiring 01 July 2029.

The four-month gap between the two expiries means the board’s two ministerial seats will fall due for renewal at different points, rather than being renewed together.

A recurring item in the state’s official record

Appointments to regional development commission boards appear regularly in the gazette’s REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT section, each signed by the Minister for Regional Development. In the edition of 20 October 2026 (No. 133), the same section recorded the re-appointment of Robyn Sermon as Chair and ministerial representative of the Wheatbelt Development Commission Board of Management for a term commencing 01 November 2026 and expiring 31 October 2029; in the edition of 13 October 2026 (No. 129), it recorded five appointments to the Goldfields-Esperance Development Commission Board of Management, including Kate Mills as Chairperson and ministerial representative member from 21 September 2026 to 20 September 2029.

In each case the notice states only the fact and duration of the appointment; the gazette does not publish biographies of the appointees or the reasons for the extension.

Why it matters

The Pilbara Development Commission Board of Management will keep its existing leadership in place for the remainder of the decade, removing the prospect of a change of chair during a period in which regional bodies are routinely called on to advise on investment, infrastructure and community programs. For readers in the north-west, the practical effect is continuity: the same chair and a continuing ministerial representative through to mid-2029 and late 2029 respectively.

Source: Western Australian Government Gazette, No. 141 of 6 November 2026, Regional Development, p. 2560 (official reference: RG401).