Ian McConachie talks on Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Tree

A 10-year-old boy found a passion for macadamias. Now retired to the rolling hills of Gympie, he remains a pillar of the industry and grew the tree that honours the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

Retired Gympie farmer Ian McConachie grew the macadamia tree planted by Governor Dr Jeanette Young on November 1, 2022, to honour the late queen.

A macadamia tree planted in the grounds of Government House to honour the reign of Queen Elizabeth was grown with love by “industry dinosaur” and the man who kick started the industry near Gympie 44 years ago.

Humble and retiring, Ian McConachie was a chairman of Suncoast Gold Macadamia when it was a grower co-op and founder of the Macadamia Conservation Trust with his deep passion and knowledge on the native Australian plant with the delicious kernel.

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A passion for macadamias was planted in Mr McConachie by his aunt when he was 10 years old growing up in Brisbane.

They would go picking macadamias from the trees in the backyard and roast them in a frying pan with butter.

“She told me macadamias will be famous,” Mr McConachie said.

Ian McConachie's organisation - the Macadamia Conservation Trust - was registered with the Australian Government in 2007.

Thirty years later, Mr McConachie and his wife Janet started their own business and developed 14 macadamia orchards for investors in 1978.

After building multiple processing plants, Mr McConachie founded and chaired Suncoast Gold Macadamia which grew to be the third biggest factory globally in the 1990s.

The McConachies sold their shares in the company following their retirement in 2014.

“We call them Australia’s gift to the world,” Mr McConachie said.

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In 2010, the Macadamia Conservation Trust surveyed a tree on a private property at Mooloo and it was discovered to have specific DNA markers indicating the massive tree was the “mother” of all macadamia.

This includes the world’s biggest exporters - Hawaii.

“We found that this one tree was the parent of almost all the macadamia trees in Hawaii which means about 80 per cent of the macadamia trees in the world were either derived from this tree or a small cluster of trees,” Mr McConachie said.

“We have a record of a man sending over 10,000 nuts in the early 1900s,” he said.

“We don’t know where he got it from but it’s most probable he collected them from here.”

The organisation has taken cuttings from the tree and the “mother” tree has since been removed.

Janet and Ian McConachie and the Honourable Dr Jeannette Young with the young macadamia tree planted on November 1, in memory of Queen Elizabeth II and her 70-year reign.

The plaque accompanying the macadamia tree planted in honour of the late queen and developed by retired Gympie macadamia farmer and industry heavyweight Ian McConachie.

An 18-month-old macadamia tree joined the garden at Government House on November 1, 2022 to honour the late queen.

Mr McConachie had the honour of cultivating the tree planted by the Governor of Queensland, Dr Jeannette Young.

Mr and Mrs McConachie were invited to the gardens to watch the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Tree being planted.

The man who calls himself the “industry dinosaur” said he was very lucky in life to work with macadamias.

“I was attracted to them because they were an Australian native plant,” he said.

“I always say ‘I made my work my hobby’.”

He is now working on a book called The Macadamia Story in his retirement while he enjoys the view of his six macadamia trees standing tall in his backyard at Greendale at Pie Creek.