RACQ spokesman Paul Turner will leave after 10 years as the public face of the organisation

A corporate restructuring under way inside RACQ has resulted in the imminent departure of the group’s chief spin doctor.

RACQ RESHUFFLE

A corporate restructuring under way inside RACQ has resulted in the imminent departure of the group’s chief spin doctor.

Paul Turner will be walking out the door later this month after more than 10 years of serving as the public face for its various campaigns, ranging from road safety to fuel prices.

RACQ spokesman Paul Turner is leaving after a decade of being the public face of the organisation.

Turner, or “Twister’’ as he’s long been known, said there were no hard feelings about the redundancy even as the rest of the communications team remains intact.

“It’s been a helluva trip,’’ he told your diarist.

“RACQ is an amazing organisation and I have been privileged to serve its 1.75 million members...I leave RACQ with nothing but great memories and lifelong friendships.’’

Although he’s not certain where he’ll land next, Turner shouldn’t have much trouble snaring another comms gig.

He’s previously spent time doing the PR for Bank of Queensland and Origin Energy, as well as advising politicians.

“I’ve probably got 10 good years left in me,’’ he quipped.

BEST GOES BUST

A wealthy Brisbane property developer has just won court orders to wind up an eco-firm that claimed it had developed an innovative approach to treating soil and water impurities.

The legal victory for Rod Woodcroft-Brown comes after one of his companies sued Scenic Rim-based Biological Environmental Sustainable Technology (BEST) Solutions Pty Ltd in Brisbane Supreme Court in mid-December.

BEST, which had failed to repay a loan from Woodcroft-Brown’s family trust, did not enter a defence in the case.

Rod Woodcroft-Brown.

Launched in 2003, the company maintained that it was working on “the application of leading edge technology in the management and treatment of waste resources - water based and bio-waste - that can be converted into energy, fertiliser and greenhouse enrichment.’’.

There was even talk from the two co-directors, Peter Gamble and Gerard McDonald, of projects sprouting overseas in Southeast Asia, Pacific island nations and the Middle East.

Woodcroft-Brown, a South African native based at Brookfield, was reluctant to discuss the matter when City Beat rang for a chat on Tuesday.

“They owe me a lot of money,’’ he said, declining to be more specific.

“It’s all in connection to Durokleen. That’s all I’m saying.’’

LOAN DISPUTE

So what’s Durokleeen?

It turns out that Durokleen Global Pty Ltd is a Sunshine Coast company launched in early 2019 that includes Gamble and McDonald among its five board members and long list of investors. McDonald serves as managing director.

The firm describes itself as “dedicated to the development and marketing of a revolutionary antimicrobial surface treatment product that provides long term very effective and safe protection against harmful bacterial, viruses, algae and moulds”.

Sounds like something that might come in handy during a pandemic!

Anyway, during a chat over speakerphone, the two gents said the Woodcroft-Brown loan had nothing to do with Durokleen.

Instead, they maintained the money, the first instalment of what was supposed to be a $250,000 investment, arrived for BEST following a handshake agreement in mid-2018 with no follow-on formal paperwork.

The pair claimed they didn’t lodge a defence in the court case because they believed the matter was about to be dropped.