Linked in, a lot: How SA’s business leaders are all connected
When it comes to SA’s business leaders, it’s six degrees of separation. Here’s how you get from the owner of Seppeltsfield through to … well, everyone else.
SA Business
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In a corporate sense, it’s all a bit incestuous, really. Business Editor Cameron England looks at how South Australia’s business leaders are connected.
‘This Seppeltsfield grenache is great. Who’s the guy who owns that? I think I know him.”
Well, Seppeltsfield is owned by Warren Randall, great guy, made his start working for Andrew Garrett back in the day before branching out with Tinlins Wines and went on to own half the Barossa.
Warren used to be in business with Ed Peter, you know, the guy who owns the Uraidla Hotel and is now in business with Martin Palmer from 2KW on the pub front.
Ed also owns the 2KW building where Jamie McClurg from Commercial & General has his HQ. Jamie was notable for breaking away from the pack during the land-tax debate last year, which upset the likes of Steve and Theo Maras. Steve was president of the SA Property Council which, these days, is run by Daniel Gannon.
Theo was on the Renewal SA board when the whole Gillman thing blew up and resigned, along with Mike Terlet and Dr Amanda Rischbeith. Theo later said he resigned as he wasn’t too happy about the then-Labor government’s decision to give a consortium – led by former Santos chairman Stephen Gerlach – an option to develop a big chunk of land there.
That eventually ended up in the ICAC where Tom Koutsantonis’s penchant for salty language raised a few eyebrows, although he was cleared of any wrongdoing. Stephen himself wasn’t the subject of the inquiry.
Amanda has a pretty impressive CV on the health front, but did you know she was also on the SA Motorsport Board at the same time as Natasha Malani, the former Adelaide City councillor – now running for a place on the SACA board – who was pretty tight with former deputy lord mayor Houssam Abiad, who’s over in Saudi Arabia these days.
N athan Paine, the former SA Property Council head and now forestry lobbyist, had a crack at winning Houssam’s council seat but arts entrepreneur Greg Mackie won out after a hard-fought battle.
It’s Greg’s second time on the council, and he’s had a varied career over the years, from being the owner of Imprints Booksellers to deputy chief executive in the cultural sector with the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, where he helped oversee Arts SA, the Thinkers in Residence program and the Adelaide Festival of Ideas, which he later went on to run.
Speaking of festivals, he would have had a lot to do with Judy Potter, who chaired the Adelaide Fringe for a decade until 2014, but has been something of a go-to board member and executive for, well, ages.
Somewhat annoyingly, Judy doesn’t seem to have a LinkedIn profile – but who needs one when you’ve led SA Great, chaired the Adelaide Central Market Authority, currently chair the Adelaide Festival and also the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. Now there’s a curious board – it’s always full of the most high-profile people.
Former Santos boss David Knox was on it for a while, and former Liberal leader Isobel Redmond (Daniel Gannon’s former boss) and lawyer Jamie Restas are on there now.
Santos’s current boss, Kevin Gallagher, might be too busy at the moment for a role on that board, so there’s no resources names on there. Unless you kind of count Andrew Kay from Wirra Wirra. He’s the brother of Beach Energy managing director Matt Kay and is also on the board of the Centennial Park Cemetery Authority with Geoff Vogt. Before we get on to Geoff, I suggest we order some Church Block.
Anyway, Geoff used to run the Motor Accident Commission but knows pretty much everyone in town through his stewardship of the Industry Leaders Fund.
Some of the former graduates include Anthony Kittel from Redarc, Barossa Valley Cheese Company’s Victoria McClurg and Robern Menz’s Phil Sims. Its board members include ASC chairman Steve Ludlam.
ASC is based at the Osborne Naval Shipyard, which is owned by Federal Government company Australian Naval Infrastructure, where SA’s chief entrepreneur, Jim Whalley, is on the board. Rides in Jim’s helicopter are one of the highlights of Adelaide corporate life. Maybe he could have a race with Jamie McClurg’s chopper to IT guru Geoff Rohrsheim’s joint down south, or maybe to Yorke Peninsula where beer baron Glenn Cooper andfishing doyen Michael Angelakis like to spend their holidays.
Geoff’s brother, David Rohrsheim, has moved on from Uber to run the SA Venture Capital Fund, which is firmly in Jim’s area of influence. David also used to work for Premier Steven Marshall at Wok in a Box.
Jim’s Christmas parties are legendary and he’s known for being friends across the political divide, with people such as ex-Labor MPs Martin Hamilton-Smith, Jack Snelling and Leesa Vlahos sure to be on the invite list. He was a bit late to last year’s party after a hiccup with his Italian jet.
Guests last year included former federal Liberal minister Amanda Vanstone, Finance Minister Simon Birmingham and Adelaide Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor. And what would a party be without former defence minister and now lobbyist Christopher Pyne.
Christopher set up his firm with former staffer Adam Howard, who is engaged to the Premier’s director of media and communications, Ashton Hurn, the sister of West Coast Eagles star Shannon Hurn. Coincidentally, one of Christopher’s clients is Adelaide Football Club, where Warren Randall’s Seppeltsfield chief executive Steven Trigg used to work. Sally Zou’s Aus Food Alliance is also a client – haven’t heard much about Sally recently. I wonder what she’s up to?
Christopher is also a lobbyist for emergency accommodation provider Humanihut, chaired by retired Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce, a former governor of SA and until very recently the chancellor of Adelaide University before that whole thing with Peter Rathjen blew up.
Kevin obviously knows just about everyone. He’s on the board of Frank Seeley’s airconditioning company, along with former government adviser Professor Goran Roos and Geoff Rohrshiem, and ran the nuclear royal commission for Jay Weatherill. Jay’s now over in WA working for Australia’s richest man, Andrew Forrest, and took with him his former adviser, Andrew Hunter, who had been working at Port Adelaide Football Club with outgoing chief executive Keith Thomas on a China strategy.
Probably a bit of a blow for David Koch, who probably hoped the team had never been torn apart. David’s probably pretty stoked that Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance came on board as a sponsor.
It was interesting to see GFG cut ties with former Economic Development Board chairman Raymond Spencer’s Zen Energy this year. Zen was, of course, set up by Richard Turner, who has now joined Martin Haese on the Premier’s Climate Change Council.
Going back some way, Richard’s father was involved in setting up T&R Pastoral, which was eventually bought by Thomas Foods, headed by Darren Thomas, who was also on the EDB with Raymond.
Martin used to be the lord mayor and took over from Nigel McBride at Business SA that’s now chaired by Nikki Govan. She’s also a former SA Motorsport Board member where she’s joined by KPMG’s J ustin Jamieson, marketing supremo David O’Loughlin and Sascha Detmold-Cox, from the Detmold Group that recently won a big government grant to make face masks.
Former liberal staffer Andrew Coombe lobbies for Detmold, and daughter Gemma is media adviser to Transport Minister Corey Wingard. Probably been busy recently.
Andrew’s wife, Belinda Redman, was part of the leadership at the Fringe for quite a while, most recently with Heather Croall, who’s working with new chairwoman Kate Costello, who replaced David Minear.
Kate is a dynamo and has worked with Donny Walford as a facilitator at Behind Closed Doors. Donny, of course, is on the ABC board with Ita Buttrose, who is the patron of the Jodi Lee Foundation. That was set up by Nick Lee, who went to school with great mate Mark Butcher, who was on the BankSA external advisory board with MyBudget’s Tammy Barton.
BankSA and soon-to-be DPAC boss Nick Reade is also on the Premier’s Economic Advisory Board with Geoff Rohrshiem.
So, yeah, that’s how I know Warren Randall. Small world.
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