Jeroen Weimar
Weimar in 2018
Born1968 or 1969 (age 54–55)[1]
Netherlands
Alma materLondon School of Economics
Occupation(s)Bureaucrat, urban planner

Jeroen Weimar is a Dutch-born British-Australian public servant. He is best known in the Australian state of Victoria for his leadership roles in Public Transport Victoria, the Victorian government's COVID-19 response, and the Victorian 2026 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee.

Early life

Weimar was born in the Netherlands, and raised in the United Kingdom.[2] He earned degrees in economics and urban planning at the London School of Economics.[1]

Career

Weimar began his career in the United Kingdom, working for organisations including the British Transport Police Authority, the Greater London Authority, and KPMG.[3] He joined Transport for London (TfL) in 2001,[2] and worked there for more than nine years.[3] By 2008, when London Mayor Boris Johnson announced a ban on drinking alcohol on public transport, Weimar was working as TfL's Director of Transport Policing and Enforcement.[4] Weimar went on to serve as the chief operating officer of FirstGroup.[5]

Weimar relocated to the state of Victoria in Australia, where he worked for VicRoads.[1] In 2015 he was headhunted to join Public Transport Victoria (PTV),[2] of which he was appointed CEO in September 2016 (acting since January 2016).[5] Weimar served in that position until July 2019, when PTV and VicRoads merged with the Department of Transport, at which point he was appointed the department's head of transport services. Weimar resigned from the Department in March 2020,[3] after the transport portfolio was reorganised.[2]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria, Weimar was called back to the department to manage COVID-19 transport protocols. He was employed in July 2020[1] to oversee Victoria's then-struggling COVID-19 response unit and its contact tracing operations.[2] In this role, he regularly appeared in televised COVID-19 updated alongside Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. By July 2021 he was being regarded as a "poster boy" and "household name" alongside other public figures who made regular media appearances during Melbourne's strict COVID-19 lockdowns, including Andrews, Brett Sutton and Jenny Mikakos.[6]

In April 2022, Weimar stepped down from his role as Victoria's COVID-19 response commander.[7] Following speculation,[8][9] in June 2022 he was appointed chief executive of the organising committee for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, which at the time were scheduled to be held across several towns in the state of Victoria.[10] Weimar's role was made redundant in July 2023 when Premier Daniel Andrews announced the cancellation of the Victorian Games due to significant increases in the projected cost.[11]

Personal life

Weimar enjoys road cycling. He and his family are active members of the Sandringham Surf Life Saving Club, of which he was vice president until July 2021.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Hall, Bianca (August 28, 2021). "Jeroen Weimar: From 'trainspotter' to Victoria's COVID-19 commander". The Age.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Meet Victoria's new contact tracing chief". Australian Financial Review. October 11, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Jenkins, Shannon (March 11, 2020). "Victorian Transport Department chief Jeroen Weimar resigns". The Mandarin.
  4. ↑ "Transport drinking ban launched". June 1, 2008 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  5. 1 2 Jewell, Cameron (September 13, 2016). "Jeroen Weimar announced as Public Transport Victoria CEO". The Fifth Estate.
  6. ↑ https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/news/victorian-covid-commander-jeroen-weimar-laughs-off-poster-boy-status/news-story/a3ac2a815e0e7276ce12f15878bfa0c9
  7. ↑ "Jeroen Weimar to leave Victorian COVID-19 response role next week". April 21, 2022 – via www.abc.net.au.
  8. ↑ "Jeroen Weimar tipped to land major sporting role". skynews. April 29, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Victoria 2026 lining up former COVID-19 tsar Weimar as chief executive". www.insidethegames.biz. May 1, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Jeroen Weimar to lead Vic Comm Games team". 7NEWS. June 23, 2022.
  11. ↑ https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/former-covid-commander-jeroen-weimars-620k-job-dumped-with-commonwealth-games/news-story/ee371bf20224441512961b29e41204c8
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