1. In three words – what does Cairns mean to you?
Lack of pretentiousness +( Fun in the sun, short drives to and from
work(compare Sydney ,Melbourne, Brisbane !), unlimited potential and a
really safe place for kids to grow up)

2. What was your first ever job?
I worked for Pattersons Advertising in Sydney and pounded the
pavements with copy all over the city

3. For people just starting their career – what are your 3 success tips?
1.Enjoy/love what you do and if you don’t get out. 2. Don’t be daunted
or put off your focus by colleagues, markets, gossip or in fact anything
that will deplete your energy 3. Always try to think outside the circle---
ohh! And never give in.

4. What business decision, or action, that have you taken do you see has had the
most impact on the people around you or on Cairns?
Having the guts to sell non perfoming parts of our business. Helping to
bring the Community Titles Institute Conference to Cairns from our
geocentric southern cousins was good for Cairns and only spending 3
months working on a fishing trawler in the Gulf of Carpentaria in
1975- that definitely saved the fishing industry and Cairns.

5. What do you dislike most about your industry?
Its actually a love hate relationship- my industry is incredibly conservative
and this can be limiting sometimes and comforting on other occasions.

6. What motivates you most to go to work each day?
The promise of new ideas and ways to do things

7. If you had an opportunity to change careers for a month – what would you do?
Beside being a negotiator in some war torn part of the globe probably do
the same thing I do now, but in a more exotic location ie manage
property schemes in say Asia or the Middle East

8. Have you ever had a great idea or innovation that wish you had the time to
pursue?
I have actually had the time to pursue a few and my accountant still turns
pale when I mention a new one.

9. If you could change one thing about your past, what would it be?
I don’t live in the past.

10. Have you ever had a situation where it seemed like it was the end of the world,but where some greater good came out of it or you became a better person?
Thinking you have lost everything because you have lost just about all
the worldly goods you possess to find that all the love you have around
you from your family and friends(and some complete strangers !) is all
that really matters at the end of the day is a fairly sobering realisation. I
hate to recommend it but nearly going broke can be an epiphanous
moment and most certainly makes you a more compassionate human
being.

11. Who do you aspire to?
Humility and self realisation

12. If you could re-live one moment in your life – what would it be?
Meeting my true love and soul mate – and I’ve done it every day for the
last 33 years!

13. If you could invite someone famous for dinner (dead or alive) – who would it be?
The Dalai Lama

14. When was your last overseas holiday and where?
The Cook Islands 12 months ago

15. What’s your favourite journey?
Life mostly but walking through Tuscany was great

16. Your favourite time of day?
5 am- full of promise and quiet

17. Your favourite restaurant for that ‘Friday afternoon lunch’?
Villa Romano in Cairns and Café Cucina in Melbourne

18. What music or radio station do you listen to in your car?
CD’s and Radio National respectively

19. Your favourite author or book?
At the moment its Dan Browns “The Da Vinci Code” but generally its
political, philosophical or religious tomes- very boring stuff.

20. What will you be doing when you’re 80?
Probably whatever my kids, grandkids or heaven forbid great grandkids are doing
at the time. The trick is to stay relevant and the rest you just learn as you go
along.