Chainsaw pops Twiggy’s hydrogen balloon

Ian ‘Chainsaw’ Macfarlane has a serious beef with Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest’s ambitions to build hydrogen into a major renewable energy source in Australia.

Ian Macfarlane no fan of Twiggy Forrest

Ian ‘Chainsaw’ Macfarlane has a serious beef with Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest. The Woodside Energy director and former federal resources minister laid into Forrest at the launch last week of Coal Australia, a new peak body for the sector. “You may be a fan of Twiggy Forest, I’m not,” Macfarlane rasped at the function at Brisbane Tattersall’s Club.

“He said some pretty unkind things, in fact, disgusting things about our CEO at Woodside, Meg O’Neill.” Forrest in a controversial radio interview last year accused O’Neill of being trained by liars and of “peddling poison”. Woodside hit back, describing the Fortescue chairman’s comments as “personal vitriol” that set a terrible language for public debate and should be condemned. Now with Twiggy’s hydrogen ambitions looks shaky, Macfarlane went on the offensive. “Twiggy’s hydrogen bubble burst last week and it blew up faster than the Hindenburg,” said Macfarlane, referring to big job cuts at his flagship Fortescue company.

Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest.

“Anyone who thinks that hydrogen is the next industry in Queensland to replace the coal industry needs to get a grip.”

Macfarlane said coal will have a place in the country’s economy for years to come and hydrogen was not viable option. “We need to make sure that we have a discussion with the next treasurer of Queensland about what industries are going to provide the jobs, regional stability and economic growth, and also the royalties to the government. We need that discussion, and it needs to be a discussion that, as I say, is based on the reality of economics. The thing that worries me is that if there is a change of government, there is going to be so much red ink in that place that you’re gonna have to pay for it somewhere.” Ouch!

Property hire

Leading syndicator Sentinel Property Group has made major changes to its leadership structure, with long serving executive team member Scott Tynan promoted to the role of chief operating officer. Tynan joined Sentinel in 2016 as chief financial officer and in his new role he will focus on supporting Sentinel CEO Warren ‘The Property Whisperer’ Ebert with driving outcomes for the company as the leader and manager of the group’s departments heads. Ebert says Tynan “has been a fantastic leader and team member with Sentinel and it’s great to have him take on an even more influential role with the Group.”

Warren Ebert, chief executive of Sentinel Property Group.

Sentinel has appointed highly experienced chief financial officer John Bell as Tynan’s replacement in the CFO position. Bell has held senior roles with Eval8 Advisory Services, Populous Design, Savills Australia Pand CBRE, where he was CFO for Australia/New Zealand for 12 years. Established in 2010, Sentinel Property Group is an Australian property investment firm focused on commercial and industrial property trusts.

Cyber digs

Cyber security and cloud services firm AUCloud, chaired by richlister Cathie Reid, has new digs in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley. Located at 120 Wickham Street, the new 865 sqm office is designed to accommodate the company’s growing team of cyber security, cloud engineering, and managed IT professionals. AUCloud chief executive Peter Maloney says that in a nod to modern workplace flexibility, the new HQ includes collaboration spaces, quiet rooms, integrated mobile and physical meeting rooms, outdoor relaxation areas, as well as a desk available for each employee when they are in the office. AUCloud’s expanded team includes 100 cyber security experts based across Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, and Adelaide, and the business will open a new Canberra office early next month.

AUCloud chief executive Peter Maloney