I am a local business owner, Managing Director of 4×4 FNQ, the large, independent, specialist 4WD spare parts business in the Atherton Industrial Estate, TOLGA.
I love this region. I am passionate about local business and local opportunity. Like many of us, I want to see innovation and growth make it to our region and I don’t want to see more of our local families, who don’t want to go away, forced to move to Brisbane or another “big smoke” to get a job. I don’t want to see more shops closing and to hear of the struggle of our friends to keep serving their local community.
My key election platforms include, supporting:
- Business Growth & Diversification
- Sustainable Growth
- Strengthening the Council reputation, ensuring a Strong Council
- The Continual Maintenance of our Healthy Lifestyle Spaces & Assets.
Background
I was a Fitter and Turner and Machinist, originally working in FNQEB and the sugar mills and also cut sugar cane with my Dad for many years. I have a Diploma in Business Management.
Born and bred in Gordonvale, I spent my youth camping on the Tablelands and spending as much time as possible water skiing on Lake Tinaroo. I moved to the Tablelands in 1998 with my young family who grew up locally. Initially, I worked for my family’s business and took over the management and later the ownership.
SPORTing CAREER & Community participation
My upbringing allowed me to explore my sporting interests including Cricket, Skiing, Motor Cross, BMX, Mountain Biking, Touch Football and Squash. I was heavily involved in Skiiing from an early age being the Tournament Ski Coordinator of Cairns & District Water Ski Club before I travelled to Florida as a Ski Instructor in 2002.
On the Tablelands I joined the local Touch Football team and was later President of Atherton Touch Football.
BMX was my passion. In 2008, I had an accident at the World Titles that saw me pulling back from competition, learning about recovery and focussing more on coaching and training others so they could compete more safely. This led to several leadership roles, including:
- Director of Athlete Development for BMX QLD
- President of the FNQ Zone BMX Association – Zone Head Coach
- President Atherton BMX Club
- Atherton BMX Coach.
NOW
I currently live in Barrine with my youngest son Myles, who has just started working and my Partner Janet, who is a Business and IT Architect who does a lot of work with all 3 tiers of government. She comes from a strong Creative Arts writing and musical theatre background. Together we are looking for ways to diversify our business interests while strengthening opportunities for employment and capability diversification for our local community.