The 20 South Australians to watch in 2016
THEY are our faces of the future — full of ambition, hope and promise for a positive year ahead. Here are the 20 South Australians The Advertiser has chosen to watch in 2016.
ALEX CRAWFORD, PASTRY CHEF
THE creative force behind the cult macarons and cronuts at Please Say Please cafe in Grenfell St is about to open his own business called Sugar Man in Hutt St (at the former Mac Factory site).
Alex, 23, will open the wholesale kitchen early this year and later plans to add a retail shopfront and patisserie. He’s been getting advice from star patissier Adriano Zumbo, who he names as a mentor and friend.
Alex takes a perfectionist approach to his Sugar Man creations, which he makes from scratch using all-Australian ingredients. His Instagram pics tell the whole tasty story (@ac_crawf), with nostalgia-tinged macarons inspired by childhood memories, such as a Bubble O’Bill macaron or a hot chocolate and toasted marshmallow mac and chocolate brownie custard-filled cronuts.
Stay tuned for Sugar Man treats such as The Praline Cookie made with milk chocolate, 70 per cent dark chocolate and salted hazelnut praline pieces. “It’s chewy, crumbly and has wicked textures,” Alex says.
ANDREW COLE, CEO
CRUCIAL decisions on what will become SA’s second biggest mine will be made in the first quarter by copper and gold producer OZ Minerals.
Managing director and chief executive Andrew Cole, who joined OZ in December 2014, aims to initiate a development plan that would see the Carrapateena project north of Port Augusta leapfrog OZ’s existing mine Prominent Hill to become No 2 behind the goliath Olympic Dam operated by BHP Billiton.
In his first year, Mr Cole took the bold step of moving his headquarters from Melbourne to Adelaide, reined in costs and undertook novel initiatives in research on processing and exploration joint ventures. This year, he is poised to ask his board to spend hundreds of millions of dollars and open up a new frontier for SA.
EMILY HILDER, CHEMIST
EXPECT to hear a whole lot more from UniSA about the role of science in the future of industry from Professor Emily Hilder.
She is inaugural director of the new Future Industries Institute, the university’s largest single investment in research.
One of the nation’s top chemists, formerly at the University of Tasmania, Professor Hilder is known for her dedication to resolving real world issues.
As the state prepares to transition to a knowledge-based economy, UniSA wants the institute to become South Australia’s go-to destination for innovation relevant to industry.
UniSA Deputy Vice Chancellor Research and Innovation and 2015 Eureka Prize winner Professor Tanya Monro said she was “thrilled to have the wonderful Professor Emily Hilder on board”.
Professor Hilder said she was excited to be joining UniSA and looking forward to the great opportunities to come.
Based at the Mawson Lakes Campus, the Future Industries Institute will focus on four key areas of research: Minerals and resources engineering; Energy and advanced manufacturing; Environmental science and engineering; Biomaterials engineering and nanomedicine.
GRANT STEVENS, POLICE COMMISSIONER
FROM road safety to counter-terrorism, Grant Stevens’ extensive career at SA Police has mapped his journey to become the face of the organisation.
Mr Stevens, the state’s 21st police commissioner, has endorsed the State Government’s proposed anti-gang laws, which would allow Parliament to declare a gang outlawed, and has already implemented a plan for police to recruit equal numbers of men and women in the future
Under his leadership of less than six months, the force unravelled two of the state’s most high-profile mysteries in recent years with the discovery of a child’s bones inside a suitcase in the rural town of Wynarka and the bizarre disappearance and murder of young mother Jody Meyers, allegedly at the hands of a violent partner.
This year, Mr Stevens said he will continue police efforts to ensure community safety stays at an all-time high and maintain its focus on preventing and investigating family and domestic violence.
“South Australia Police priorities in relation to community safety do not change. However our challenges as we go forward will see a focus on domestic violence, countering terrorism, reducing alcohol-related violence and keeping our roads safe,” he said.
JESSICA TRENGOVE, RUNNER
AT 28, Jessica Trengove is hardly a young up-and-comer but when it comes to marathon running it seems she is only just starting to realise her enormous potential.
Trengove made her Olympic debut in London, where she finished 39th in just her second ever attempt at the distance. Since then she has made steady progress and effectively announced herself to the world by winning a bronze medal in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
She powered home in a personal best time of 2hrs 30mins 12 secs in a show of strength and determination.
Last year, she went faster again, this time by winning the women’s Melbourne Marathon in the time of 2hrs 27mins 45 secs which made her the sixth fastest Australian female in history.
Having booked her ticket for Rio, Trengove must surely now believe anything is possible.
KEVIN GALLAGHER, CEO
ON February 1, the new managing director and chief executive of Santos, Kevin
Gallagher, officially begins one of the most important jobs in SA.
Thousands of employees, contractors and shareholders of the state’s biggest company will be eagerly awaiting signals of how he intends to revive the petroleum producer’s fortunes.
In the past decade, Santos has transformed from a domestic firm with a few interests
overseas into a significant exporter to Asian energy markets.
However, high debt levels associated with the growth and a concurrent global a slump
in oil prices smashed Santos shares and profits last year.
Mr Gallagher takes the tiller with a mission to deliver a tight ship in conditions that
are tough and volatile.
KYLE CHALMERS, SWIMMER
IT’S a big year for teenage swimming star Kyle Chalmers.
He already has a manager and Adidas wasted no time adding him to its international stable — at the same age as it signed Ian Thorpe back in the late 1990s.
The son of former Port Adelaide footballer Brett, Chalmers won three gold medals at the FINA Junior World Championships in Singapore last year then won a silver medal on debut at the senior worlds in Russia.
Although he didn’t swim the final of the men’s 4x100m medley relay, he set the second-fastest freestyle time in qualifying, effectively putting the world on notice.
The Rio Olympics in August now beckon to the young freestyle star who chose swimming over football and last year became the fastest 16-year-old in history.
He has drawn comparisons with Thorpe his entire career and it appears Chalmers has the chance to become SA’s version of the Thorpedo.
KYM MASTERS, CHEESEMAKER
CORPORATE financier Kym Masters is giving up his day job.
From February, the weekend cheesemaker will move to fulltime nurturing at the Section 28 cheesery he launched in Woodside late last year. His first wheels of semi-hard Mont Priscilla with a central ribbon of black ash have already snatched a niche market and strong support through Smelly Cheese in the Adelaide Central Market, Bottega Rotolo and Foodland.
Masters, 40, is trialling two new semi-hard cheeses, expected to land on our platters mid year.
“The aim is to create uniquely South Australian semi-hard and semi-soft alpine-style cheeses,” says Masters, inspired by the “local nature of cheese” he discovered in every village in Europe, and heartened by strong sales over Christmas.
Masters loves the science, “but you also need to be an artist to make great cheese”, he says, prepared for the huge chore of washing every wheel every week.
MADISON STUBBINGTON, SUPERMODEL
DISCOVERED in 2011 as a 14-year-old schoolgirl when she won the Pride Models International Model Search, Stubbington was recently named one of the planet’s top 50 models by models.com.
The now 18-year-old redhead beauty from Northgate has graced the international catwalk, fronted international campaigns for Saint Laurent and Gucci, been picked by fashion legend Grace Coddington to appear in US Vogue and appeared on the cover of its Italian sister publication.
“I see myself and think, ‘Oh my gosh’ ... I mean to go from schoolgirl to this, it’s a big leap,” she says.
“For me, everything is a bit of a milestone. It doesn’t matter how many times I do a show, it never gets any less, like ‘wow’.”
Next up is Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week at the end of the month, which will, no doubt, be just the start of another out-of-this-world year for the supermodel.
NICK XENOPHON, INDEPENDENT SENATOR
THE maverick independent South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon won’t be on any ticket himself at the coming federal election, but he looms as a threat to both major parties.
The man who rose to political prominence as a campaigner against poker machines successfully won two state Upper House seats under his own name before moving on to the Federal Parliament. Now, his self-styled Nick Xenophon Team political party is fielding a fleet of candidates across the country and hoping to expand his influence in both chambers in Canberra.
Early polling indicating widespread voter dissatisfaction with the major parties put him in the hunt to snatch several SA seats and with the capacity to cut down top-ranking SA Liberal Christopher Pyne. However, the rise of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and shifting rhetoric from the Federal Government on the submarines program appear to have dented his support.
While Senator Xenophon will himself be a man to watch, potentially more interesting will be the group of largely unknown candidates standing under his banner. Senator Xenophon has mixed results in picking people to ride on his coat-tails, and a public meltdown from any of them on the big stage could badly undermine his personal brand.
PETAR PRODANOVIC, DESIGNER
VISUAL artist turned designer Prodanovic is South Australia’s brightest new star in fashion.
TAFE SA’s Fashion Student of 2015, the 30-year-old’s graduation collection has received admiration from the internationally-renowned and fellow Adelaide designer Paolo Sebastian creator Paul Vasileff.
Prodanovic, who was raised in Serbia but has called Adelaide home since 2004, plans to stay here and build his eponymous label.
“I would love to dress anyone from Lady Gaga to Kylie ... Cate Blanchett ... there’s a long list,” he says.
PETER FRASER, WINEMAKER
WHILE he’s no newcomer to the winemaking game, Peter Fraser’s reputation never ceases to rise. He has a canny ability to craft continually interesting reds and whites from distinctive sandy country grounds under the Yangarra vineyards in the eastern foothills of the McLaren Vale region.
Named last year’s best winemaker by James Halliday and regularly scoring trophies in regional and national competition may suggest the Yangarra brand is old school, but take a closer look and there is plenty of next-gen progression in the label, and in Fraser’s (and his team’s) ambition to explore the limits of good taste and fine wine.
He makes superb shiraz and grenache as well as white-wine partners viognier and roussanne, farmed biodynamically and treated in both traditional ways as well as by using ceramic, egg-shaped containers to develop what he sees as a purer fruit expression in the resulting wines.
PETER MALINSAUSKAS, MP
THE former head of the state’s most powerful union entered Parliament in December with fanfare and high expectation. Already being spoken of as a possible future leader, the Labor Right faction heavyweight is expected to be rushed into a senior ministry at a Cabinet reshuffle tipped to be executed before Parliament resumes in February.
He has already developed a significant public profile, having headed the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association for eight years and become a leading voice on the union’s pet issues of penalty rates and shop trading hours.
His most prominent achievement was striking an agreement with the business lobby to bring expanded holiday shop trading hours to the CBD in exchange for two new part-day public holidays.
In his maiden speech, Mr Malinauskas pointedly talked about his belief that the free market could bring new opportunities for workers and a desire to work with Labor’s traditional rivals to ensure the benefits of economic growth flow through to average employees. However, higher office will bring new and increased scrutiny of his performance and the heavy expectations on his shoulders will ensure that any slips receive the full glare of public attention.
JACK SNELLING AND DOROTHY KEEFE, RAH TRANSFORMERS
HEALTH Minister Jack Snelling, SA Health chief executive David Swan and clinical ambassador Professor Dorothy Keefe have a massive sales job on their hands convincing a sceptical public their Transforming Health plan really will result in a better health system, rather than being a slash and burn PR plan to cut costs.
No one likes health cuts close to home, and downgrading the Queen Elizabeth, Modbury and Noarlunga hospitals’ EDs, the QEH cardiology unit, and the planned closure of the Repatriation General Hospital has triggered angry criticism. Eminent doctors are speaking out against aspects of the plan, former Labor MP Kevin Hamilton says Labor has “sold out” the west over the QEH, and the Repat protests and petitions reflect public concern. Delays and cost blowouts with the new Royal Adelaide Hospital have not helped.
This year is pivotal to how the public perceives Transforming Health, with the 800-bed new RAH due to be completed and finally opened to patients in November. If all goes well, the launch of the gleaming new hospital, bolstering the muscle of the new Health and Biomedical Research Precinct, will go a long way towards convincing the public Transforming Health is a winner.
If not, the Transformers may be looking more like villains than heroes.
SIMON BIRMINGHAM, FEDERAL MINISTER
A NEW boss resulted in big things for SA Senator Simon Birmingham, who rocketed from junior minister and regular talking head on political chat shows to a member of Cabinet and in charge of running the nation’s education system.
Highly regarded as both a communicator and for his reform-minded and policy-driven approach, Senator Birmingham is now set to remain a key player in national politics for years to come. He was one of the early supporters of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and a key player in gathering the votes required to topple Tony Abbott. That has given him immense influence in the top tier of the Coalition.
He is also a senior member, along with Industry Minister Christopher Pyne, of the SA moderate faction that backs state Opposition Leader Steven Marshall and has significant influence over the local branch of the party.
Senator Birmingham’s rapid elevation into Cabinet has sparked chatter of a power struggle between him and Mr Pyne, who will be closely watched in 2016.
On the policy front, Senator Birmingham has major responsibilities and challenges this year, with reforming the childcare system and the regulation of universities. Both will require a deft approach with what has been an obstructionist Senate.
TILDA COBHAM-HERVEY, ACTOR
TILLY to her friends, Tilda makes her first appearance with State Theatre this year in the premiere season of Adelaide playwright Andrew Bovell’s Things I know to be True. You can also expect to see Tilda, 21, in the TV mini-series Barracuda, based on Christos Tsiolkas’ follow-up to The Slap, and in Foxtel’s The Kettering Incident, a thriller about the disappearance of two girls in the wilds of Tasmania.
After appearing with State Theatre, Tilda will use her $12,000 Carclew scholarship on a series of creative attachments in the UK, Europe and the US, including one with multi-platform artist Bryony Kimmings who performed at last year’s Adelaide Fringe.
Tilly, who filmed the arthouse hit 52 Tuesdays while still at school, not only acts but also creates her own projects and is attached to two films; an Australian retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma and Croak with ex-Adelaide actor Kodi Smit-McPhee.
TKAYMAIDZA, SINGER
HER star has been rapidly on the rise since she first burst on to the music scene in 2013 with her song Brontosaurus, but 2016 seems certain to be the year of Tkay Maidza.
A graduate of Elizabeth’s Northern Sound System, where she famously performed in front of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their 2014 visit, Tkay has drawn the attention of international names such as producer Mark Ronson and US rapper Killer Mike, who count themselves as fans, alongside the 35,000 plus fans she’s amassed on Facebook.
At just 19, Tkay has already played a swag of big time festivals, and more recently she scooped the pool at the South Australian Music Awards, where she took home four titles, including Best Song, Best Release, Best Female Artist, and Best Music Video.
Tkay’s most recent single, Ghost, is expected to make a dent in this year’s Triple J Hottest 100 and her long-awaited debut album will be released in the first half of the year.
TRAVIS HEAD, CRICKETER
THE Redbacks captain might have just booked his ticket to India in March for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup after his match-winning knock on New Year’s Eve continued an amazing summer.
Head has belted maiden tons in all three formats of the game — Shield, one-day and Twenty20 — since October and the best of the lot was his score of 101 off just 53 balls to get the Strikers home against the Sydney Sixers at Adelaide Oval.
Last February, he became SA’s youngest ever cricket captain at just 21 when he was named as Johan Botha’s successor and he hasn’t looked back.
His summer started with a blazing 202 against WA in the Matador Cup and he kept the momentum rolling.
Now 2016 appears to hold no limits.
ULLI SPRANZ, BUSINESS WOMAN
ULLI Spranz, co-owner of biodynamic dairy supplier Paris Creek, has patiently built a
multimillion-dollar company in the Adelaide Hills, supplying milk, yoghurt and
cheese to the Australian market.
In 2015, Ulli and partner Helmut Kujat-Spranz, took a major decision aimed at a step
change in growth by exporting to China.
B-d Paris Creek agreed to the Beston Global Food Company — which listed on the
stock market in August — investing $5 million for a potential quarter ownership.
The money is being used for new equipment that will allow Paris Creek to produce
extended-life milk for export and pouch-packed yoghurt to a variety of markets.
Ms Spranz, a finalist in the 2015 Telstra Business Woman Awards, won a grant in
September from the Industry Leaders Fund to attend a program at Harvard Business
School to enhance her managerial skills.
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