Power 50: Meet Mackay’s most powerful people in 2021
These men and women are the shapers of our city whose collective legacies will carve out a better future. Meet the Daily Mercury’s Power 50. FULL LIST>>
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Power is a subjective beast, so how can you compile a list of the 50 most influential people in Mackay without upsetting anyone?
Simply put, you can’t.
What a list such as that which follows can do, however, is ignite a conversation.
The Daily Mercury’s Power 50 is by no means the definitive list of men and women who influence our city and region.
Over the past weeks, a select number of people have been consulted from a cross section of the city to identify those among us who set the agenda, have transformed our city, work under the radar to help and support, and genuinely champion the community.
Through the cloak of Covid-19 that threatened our lives and way of life, these men and women were, and remain to be, our champions, collectively and singularly striving to ensure a better future.
Their position on this list is viewed through that lens.
These influencers represent a cross-section of our community, from business and development to the arts, health sector, social enterprise and resources.
From Monday, we will roll out 10 movers and shakers right here online, starting with 50-41.
Each day, 10 more names will drop before the final 10 – the most powerful, influential community and industry champions, are revealed in the newly reimagined Daily Mercury printed paper.
While we hope you enjoy reading and analysing the list that follows, we want to know who you think we missed.
Let’s continue the conversation.
Email who you believe should have made the list, and why, to mackay@news.com.au or send us a letter to the editor.
50. Georgia Knoll
A social media star with community at heart, Georgia Knoll has become an international influencer proving disability is no barrier to anything.
First finding fame in 2016 after photobombing a TV segment shot at Caneland Central, Georgia has continued to use her public profile for good, changing conversations and social perceptions of people with a disability.
Georgia is a passionate promoter of the arts through her association with Crossroad Arts Inc.
The 28 year old’s work breaking down barriers and living out her dreams from being a Jet Star flight hostess, barista, actress, performer, international model and ambassador for Jamie’s Ministry of Food that inspires thousands of people each day.
49. Ken Higgins
Vietnam veteran Ken Higgins works tirelessly to help his fellow servicemen – not just here in Mackay but all around Australia and in the country they first bonded.
It’s a two-way street – the 72 year old says he gets just as much benefit from the relationship as they do.
The Mackay RSL sub-branch president has been a member of the RSL since he returned from Vietnam, and has made it his mission back home to ensure the legacy and service of our armed forces are not forgotten.
He is the face of the Daily Mercury’s Hub for our Heroes campaign which backs his push to find a new home for the Mackay RSL – a physical space to support our veterans.
Having made major inroads, Mr Higgins has all the while pushed to raise the Mackay RSL profile and encourage the next generations to join.
He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 2021 in recognition of his ongoing service to the veteran community.
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48. Chrissy Evangelou
One of those whose influence is felt without the titles is Chrissy Evangelou.
This community champion just gets in and gets things done.
The Mackay Tourism business development manager is often holding the strings making other events a success such as the Mackay Marina Run which has grown from a small 200-entry event into a staple on the fitness exercise calendar with more than 3000 competitors – even during Covid.
She holds positions on a number of committees that keep the region’s event calendar ticking, developing their success.
She develops training and development workshops for tourism operators and engages with the region’s key stakeholders to grow the potential and profile.
47. Deb McLucas
Foodie trends come and go so it takes a determined mind to keep the farmgate to dinner plate trend in vogue.
Enter Deb McLucas, the Greater Whitsunday Food Network president who has been instrumental in bringing the farm to the city.
Mrs Lucas owns and runs Freckle Farm with a vision for sustainable local food production systems free of chemical inputs.
A successful operation, Freckle Farm has raised the region’s primary production’s profile with a Best in Class medal for branded pork at the Australian Food Awards, along gold for their bacon and bronze for their eggs.
Mrs McLucas played a leading role in establishing the Greater Whitsunday Farmers’ Market that brings country fresh produce to Bluewater Quay each Wednesday.
She leads the GWFN in its mission to connect and facilitate the region’s innovative agribusiness industry.
46. Fallon Drewett
Fallon Drewett knows what it is to lose yourself in a big life change. She has lived the experience, and come out stronger for it.
And now she is empowering women on their own individual journey.
The Just Saying Project founder knows and appreciates the power of words, and that one word can be enough to change a conversation for the better and set a person on a new path of self discovery.
Mrs Drewett, a former Daily Mercury journalist who in 2015 resigned to become a full-time mother, has emerged from the challenge of motherhood to become an empowering voice for women through what started as a blog and grew into a movement.
Beyond her words, however, is Mrs Drewett’s own life and, in particular, no-filter selfies with no make up, no polish, just honesty.
She lives the message she speaks and doesn’t sugar coat the realities of life, but encourages women to take an extra five minutes to make themselves the best they can be on the inside.
As the Greater Whitsunday Alliance communications officer, Mrs Drewett also helps craft the messages behind one of the region’s most influential organisations.
45. Jody Euler
A mum, an entrepreneur, a marketing guru, business leader, philanthropist and storyteller, Jody Euler’s hat stand is a full one.
The Red Hot Blue founder, owner and managing director is the embodiment of busy, involved in a virtually endless list of projects that cross the business, charitable and social enterprise sectors and also advocating for people with autism.
Mrs Euler has built Red Hot Blue into a market-leader in the region and it was through her agency the Nude Lunch gained national attention and support from business leaders and celebrities.
Her latest project, Homegrown Heroes created with co-founder and director Jarryn Townson, pays homage to those who are the quiet champions and achievers.
Most recently, Mrs Euler – a mother of two teenage daughters – is a finalist in three 2021 AusMumprenuer Awards in the B2B Service Business, Creative Entrepreneur and Regional Business categories.
44. Sam Blacker and Rachel Zonta
From a redundancy to top of the ratings, rising radio stars Sam Blacker and Rachel Zonta are a young force to be reckoned with on the airwaves.
Both are dedicated and passionate about their city. Both are young with bright futures. Both want to call Mackay home.
The Star 101.9 breakfast radio hosts were sensationally dropped from former studio Hit in 2020, with an emotional and unexpected morning broadcast feared to be the pair’s last in Mackay.
But they were back soon after with Star, a station that through them, climbed from second to first in the tightly fought radio ratings.
These two give a voice to the younger generations and, through openly sharing their own experiences, are not afraid to speak up on the important issues.
It’s an important but often overlooked element and power of radio but one that has earned Sam and Rach the respect and loyalty of their listeners.
43. Ian Mason
Ian Mason is a gatekeeper to Mackay.
The Sarina Sugar Shed co-ordinator knows it, too, and makes sure each visitor on the southern approach to the region has a good experience.
Mr Mason has more than 30 years’ experience in developing and marketing tourism, so he knows what leaves people with the right impression to ensure return visits and good word of mouth.
Keeping a tourism centre thriving is no easy task during a pandemic but the Sarina Sugar Shed recorded a record 2000 visitors in just two weeks in July this year and extra tours added to meet demand.
Mr Mason played a key role in growing tours, products and cafe offerings to meet the increased demand that bucked a statewide trend.
And as a two-time judge for the Queensland Tourism Awards, he knows what a winner is.
Mr Mason is on the Greater Whitsunday Food Network management committee, a role that gives him a broad understanding and appreciation of the region’s produce.
42. Kylie Rogers
Spearheading a masterplan for the city investors and governments is no simple feat, with ideas and input as vast as the project is ambitious.
Keeping it on as many drawing boards as possible is Kylie Rogers.
The Mackay City and Waterfront project manager has no small task ahead as plans progress on what will undoubtedly transform the urban centre.
And as much as it is about making sure the project will revitalise the ailing centre, Ms Rogers’ arduous task is also about getting the right balance between corporate and commercial, and family and liveability.
It is no small feat and indeed no small project, but the openness and inviting approach to how that balance can be struck is insightful in an effort to make the generational dream of opening up the riverfront a reality.
Together with project co-ordinator Stacey Mills, Ms Rogers and the Mackay Regional Council’s the Place Plan – to be finalised this year – has set out a path to liveability and CBD revival.
41. Darryl Camilleri
A numbers man with a background in civic leadership, Darryl Camilleri knows what it takes to sit at the helm of a big organisation and ensure it runs smoothly.
Throw in a pandemic andthe view from the Mackay Hospital and Health Service board chairman’s seat is a difficult one to predict.
Mr Camilleri became the official chair in June 2021, replacing Mr Mackay himself, Tim Mulherin, a man synonymous with civic pride and leadership until his passing in September 2020.
A former deputy mayor, Mr Camilleri was the managing partner of Bennett Partners Chartered Accountants and oversaw a large portfolio of business services.
He also chairs C-Res which operates mine giant BHP’s local buy program.
His MHHS board members are pharmacist David Aprile, James Cook University Professor Richard Murray, McKays Solicitors director Suzanne Brown, Dr Elissa Hatherly, MARABISDA manager Adrienne Barnett, chartered accountant Helen Caruso and executive Annabel Dolphin.
The MHHS covers 90,364sq km and is responsible for seven hospitals.
40. Mackay Sugar
The dust has mostly settled and operations firing up with Mackay Sugar, the country’s second largest sugar milling company whose sale to European sugar giant Nordzucker was as complicated as it was prolonged.
Now a member of the Nordzucker Group, Mackay Sugar has an annual turnover of more than $300 million and has retained more than 780 growers.
It operates three mills and now the former farmer collective has a shade more than 1300 shareholders.
Michael Gerloff’s chairman’s address took great pains to stress the unity required for Mackay Sugar to continue on its path to self-financial sustainability, with Nordzucker’s corporate heads in Germany and shareholders closely watching the Queensland operation.
Mackay Sugar spent $72.4 million on maintenance and mill upgrades to shore up performance and reliability during operations, a goal partially achieved in the previous season.
The performance dial has shifted slightly, from 80.2 per cent to 82.6 per cent in little more than a year.
It is now focused on increasing cane supply with a separate department now operating to increase the amount of land under cane. The company actively supports land leases and farmer-to-farmer sales in the region.
Mackay Sugar employs more than 590 people in a variety of roles across its operations with worker numbers growing by about 200 during crushing season.
Nordzucker Mackay Sugar CEO Jannik Olejas was in June 2021 appointed as a director to the Greater Whitsunday Alliance board.
39. Alison Richardson
Art can be a powerful vehicle for how society views those it may think are a little different.
Channelling that into something that sparks a conversation and challenges ideals is a role in which Alison Richardson thrives.
The Crossroads Arts artistic director and CEO has 15 years of experience in the inclusive arts, theatre and disability sector, a career that constantly seeks to break down misperceptions that differently abled people cannot perform in the arts.
Awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2017, Ms Richardson builds and engages with the community in inclusive arts and oversees the Crossroads Arts team as it raises the profile of the work it does and the barriers it breaks.
She was named the Queensland Rural, Regional and Remote Women’s Network storyteller of the year in 2020.
38. Dave Perkins and Rob Kidd
If local is as local does then Dave Perkins and Rob Kidd may as well have Sydney Street renamed in their honour.
The 4MK radio hosts, who split the early mornings and mid-morning segments between them, seem to burn the candle at both ends, regularly emceeing night-time events as well.
Perkins, a former Mackay councillor who until recently controlled the dials in the breakfast slot, has found a new and loyal following with his later show presenting a local focus on what’s happening in the region.
Perkins’ three terms on Mackay council gives him a deeper understanding of how and what makes the region tick, and its his listeners that benefit from the grounded segments he broadcasts.
He follows Kidd who wakes up the region in the early slot after the former Star FM breakfast host moved studios in September 2020.
Kidd is also a Mackay Tourism director.
These men are regulars at events across the region, donating their time as emcees, announcers, award-givers and promoters, and keeping local a focus of radio.
37. Jay Shipston and Dave Peters
Mates on air and off, Jay Shipston and Dave Peters are affable blokes who connect with their audience on a raw level.
A large part of Mackay and the Whitsundays wake up to these two radio veterans who have been together on air for a decade and seem to know what’s happening in the region before even the rest of us do.
And they’re not hidden behind the microphones and glass-walled studios – they’re upfront and honest, and not afraid to call out injustices or stupidity as they see it.
They are community champions, putting calls out to fundraise for groups and organisations, promote events and good deeds, and have named their fair share of the region’s big things – Ivana Banana, Pindi the platypus and Buffy the Toad among them.
Beyond the jokes, though, Jay and Dave let the community – particularly men – know that it’s OK to not be OK and are both advocate for better mental health and support, and put the radio ratings on the line when they dared get their Covid-19 in a live broadcast in the face of many naysayers.
36. Stephen Andrew
Mirani MP Stephen Andrew has the kind of freedom only a politician unshackled from a major party can enjoy.
But with that comes a limit on the amount of influence he can have on a politician’s core responsibility – effect change for the people.
A vocal parliamentarian, the former mine worker, licensed gun shop and pest control business owner is the sole One Nation member in the Queensland chamber. And while few doubt the right-wing conservative has community at heart, Mr Andrew lacks the political clout needed in Queensland to get laws over the line.
Still, he remains an advocate for regional and rural communities, believing that what suits the big cities does not necessarily translate for centres in the bush. And Sarina, his home base, loves him for it.
The self-described “fair dinkum citizen politician” has fought for farmers to maintain access to firearms for use on the land, publicly and regularly criticised masks and lockdowns, and has recently set his sights on “big tech” when YouTube banned Sky News for a stint.
For a man who sits alone on George Street, Mr Andrew manages to get his voice heard to his throng of conservative backers. His influence would potentially rise if One Nation had more members in the house.
35. Bronwyn Hartigan and Damien Dwyer
This pair is the cornerstone of the Mackay judicial process.
Every case that goes through the courts begins in front of a magistrate, and they are the watchdogs ensuring each proceeds in a timely and proper manner.
Magistrate Damien Dwyer was “handed the gavel” – as it was put at his swearing in ceremony – on April 26, 2005, after a legal career spanning three decades.
He first joined the bench at Cairns Magistrates Court before returning to Mackay where he has presided ever since.
Before he rose to the magistrate ranks, Mr Dwyer practised as a barrister in the region for some 15 years.
He also worked for the Department of Justice for more than 16 years, gaining considerable experience in administrative positions in Mackay, Townsville, Innisfail, Mount Isa, Cairns and Cooktown.
When he left to go into private practice in 1990, Mr Dwyer was Clerk of the Court and Acting Magistrate in Cooktown.
Magistrate Bronwyn Hartigan was named a magistrate on June 24, 2019. She began her law career as a legal secretary in Rockhampton where she was encouraged to study law.
Ms Hartigan completed an external law degree with first class honours and in 2000 was chosen as the late Supreme Court Justice Peter Dutney’s associate.
Under his tutelage, Mrs Hartigan was encouraged to go to the bar in Mackay where she practised for more than 14 years.
Here she became a champion for other female lawyers as the only woman barrister in the region for the past 11 years.
In fact, Ms Hartigan — at her own swearing in ceremony — recalled when she began as a barrister in Mackay in 2005 she “squatted” in Mr Dwyer’s barristers chambers before he was called to the bench months later.
She presided over the Bundaberg Magistrates Court for 3.5 months where she was able “to test out (her) judicial style on complete strangers”, before returning to Mackay in November 2019.
34. Marion Healy
Marion Healy knows what it is to hold power to account and generate a conversation that can guide entire generations to understand an almost forgotten heritage.
The Australian South Sea Islander advocate is a woman determined to make sure Australia’s history books and future generations do not forget the critical role they played in Queensland’s economic development.
So when Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia had no history of slavery, Mrs Healy was among the most vocal to set the record straight.
She was a key figure in the formation of the Kanaka Proud Cup, helping to change the name into one of pride and give young footballers an avenue to show their cultural pride on the field, and is the chair of the Mesh and Knots ASSI and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Group.
Mrs Healy, nee Fatnowna, has fostered strong cultural discussions and worked in schools to ensure the blackbirding history of her ancestors is not forgotten, nor denied.
It is estimated about 20,000 South Sea Islander descendants from early Australian settlement live in the Mackay region, the largest population of an estimated 80,000 Australia wide.
33. Kayleigh Brewster
Kayleigh Brewster took a natural desire to help and turned it into a philanthropic business that has united the community.
The Australian Street Aid Project founder has given a respectful profile to homelessness, changing perceptions of how society sees those who find themselves living on the street and in hard times.
The philanthropist started out hand-delivering care packages to people sleeping on Mackay’s streets and established Chances Cafe to fund the initiative and help upskill people to change their lives.
Chances Cafe has grown into Chances Furniture and Op Shop to broaden the skillset of clients the organisation helps.
Through Ms Brewster and ASAP, homelessness is coming out of the shadows.
32. RACQ CQ Rescue board
They are the saviours of the skies, having performed 631 missions in 2020, covering 164,000sq km in 2020.
RACQ CQ Rescue this year celebrates 25 years of operation from Mackay and has steeled itself as a critical service and support agency across Central Queensland.
And at its controls is its board comprising chairman Chris Wright and directors Dr Bert Sadlier, Lisa Davies Jones, Greg Williamson, Neil McEvoy, Bill Cooper and Tonia Wilson.
With operational expenses soaring past $10.137 million in 2020, the service received $8.534 million in government grants and $1.32 million in donations and bequests.
31. Joel Khalu and Mackay Basketball
Joel Khalu is the passionate frontman of Mackay Basketball, helping to build the sport’s profile and develop the Mackay Meteors NBL1 North mens into a force to be reckoned with.
He is Basketball Queensland’s Indigenous Pathways program manager – North, and founded Australian Indigenous Basketball.
Like his approach to coaching, Khalu is backed by a dedicated and passionate Mackay Basketball association made up of more than 1200 members.
The executive committee comprises president Tara Smyth, vice president Patrick Haughton, secretary Ronelle Wicks and treasurer Colleen Ingham.
30. Suzanne Brown
Legal extraordinaire Suzanne Brown has made her mark in Mackay.
She is the region’s only Queensland Law Society business law accredited specialist and one of only 23 in the state.
When she completed the course in 2014, Mrs Brown achieved the highest marks in Queensland and was honoured with a special award by the Chief Justice.
The director and leading commercial lawyer at McKay’s Solicitors, she has previously been named as one of Lawyers Weekley’s 30 Under 30, which recognises the best in Australia.
Mrs Brown claimed two awards and was the first to win two spots in the history of the awards.
In 2015, she was named next to the likes of Darren Lockyer and Bindi Irwin as one of the Top 20 under 40 Business Stars in Queensland.
From 2012 to 2015, Mrs Brown sat as board director for North Queensland Bulk Ports, and she has also sat on the Resources Industry Network board.
She is currently a director on Mackay Hospital and Health board, which is responsible for the strategic oversight of a number of public facilities including Mackay, Bowen, Clermont, Dysart, Middlemount, Proserpine, Moranbah, Glenden, Whitsunday and Sarina.
29. Andrew Bobeldyk
If you need to pull a national event together at the last minute and have it be a roaring success, phone Andrew Bobeldyk.
Drawing on an extensive network and decades of industry experience, the Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre manager – and his team – deftly pulls the strings to make it work.
Mackay’s first NRL game in more than eight years is just the latest example of his ability to rally the troops, the city and the stakeholders to make the region shine on the national stage.
Mr Bobeldyk is a theatre man who once dreamt of being an actor but his career redirection has been Mackay’s gain.
The MECC, considered the centrepiece of Mackay’s entertainment venues, was thrown into financial turmoil the result of Covid-19 that forced its shutdown in 2020.
But even as the invisible threat of a pandemic continues to wreak havoc on live entertainment possibilities, Mr Bobeldyk has found a way to make it work.
He and the council pivoted towards fewer big music acts and more conferences. The full Alfred Street carpark is a sure signal the strategy has worked as industry organisations seek out the venue.
But even with the live music down on its knees, Mr Bobeldyk has secured big names to play to sold-out MECC crowds including Noiseworks and Paul Kelly in 2021.
It is a continuation of the leading backstage performance Mr Bobeldyk has given since he was appointed to the leading MECC role in 2016, with various stints in council department management roles littered in between.
28. Sam Bliss
A decorated detective, a footy coach, mum and child safety activist, Sam Bliss wears many hats.
Born and bred in Mackay, the Detective Senior Sergeant has a career with Queensland Police Service spanning almost 30 years.
The majority of that time has been in child protection and she is currently the QPS representative on the suspected child abuse and neglect team.
She is a proud Torres Strait Islander woman and viewed as a leader in her community; in 2016 she was named Mackay Resident of the Year and in 2018 and was selected as one of the baton bearers for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
In 2015, Detective Senior Sergeant Bliss also received the National Police Service Medal, which may be awarded after a minimum of 15 years’ ethical and diligent service.
The former Jillaroo has represented Australia in rugby league and touch football and has played for Queensland in softball. It is through sport – and her involvement coaching and mentoring children – she learned she could have a positive influence on their lives.
Detective Senior Sergeant Bliss is on the Mackay Cutters board and is also the Mackay Cutters Women’s Program director.
She leads by example, showing young people what is possible.
Detective Senior Sergeant Bliss has also worked closely with Mackay PCYC as the board of directors chairwoman, and Mackay Aboriginal and Islander Development Association, facilitating programs for youth welfare and mentoring, child protection issues, family engagement and education opportunities.
27. Connors family
The Connors family knows what it is to understand the community in which it runs successful local businesses.
It is, after all, the key to their success. The Connors family enterprise NE Foods has evolved to now incorporate Brynes Good Food Ready to Eat, a cafe and corporate catering business and the latest diversification of an already established brand.
With matriarch Lyn Connors and sons Adrian and Damien Connors at the helm, this family is as Mackay as cane fields is the region’s foundations.
The Connors can be credited with establishing the foundations of Mackay’s finer dining scene through what is now the Dispensary, a destination not afraid to offer culinary experiments in a city flooded with parmies and steak.
When the family acquired the iconic Brynes Pies brand in 2019, they reinvigorated the business and extended existing catering operations to serve delicious to corporates.
In 2021, Brynes Good Food Ready to Eat signed on as the corporate caterers in March 2021 at the Resources Centre of Excellence to further showcase Mackay’s hospitality potential.
If patriarch Graeme Connors wrote the soundtrack of Mackay through his music, then the Connors family provided the menu.
26. Melissa Sorensen
Hastings Deering’s Australian operations commercial manager Melissa Sorensen is as adept at business as she is on the hockey field.
A chartered accountant with an MBA, Ms Sorensen oversees the engineering and machinery giant’s Queensland and Northern Territory branches – from Mackay.
By that very point, she lives and breathes the reality that being regional does not mean career limitations.
She is a quiet achiever who ensures Mackay stays high on the agenda of what is now a vast company.
From her hometown — where she has earned the respect of sports leaders across codes and helped coached future generations — Sorensen has also developed playing pathways for generations of athletes and helped them catch the eye of high-profile scouts.
She holds member roles at Mackay Cutters and the Mackay Hockey Association, two organisations that benefit from her extensive financial expertise and commercial skills.
An avid and fierce player in her own right, Ms Sorensen continues playing and coaching as local, regional and state levels.
25. Tim Mulherin
He dedicated his life to serving the people of Mackay. And he was good at it.
Everyone knew Tim Mulherin and he knew them.
The former Mackay MP was forbearing, magnanimous, merciful and compassionate.
But he was no wallflower; he innately knew what needed to be done for his hometown and how to achieve it.
Mr Mulherin understood the machinations of government and how to make politics work for the city he called home.
He had a helping hand in many developments and industries in the Mackay region but on retiring in 2015 he cited Bluewater Quay, the MECC, Showgrounds redevelopment and the courthouse expansion among his biggest legacies as the Mackay MP since 1995.
He also tirelessly lobbied a succession of premiers to improve the hospital and eventually $480 million was committed.
In 2015 at the official opening of the redeveloped hospital, he told media: “I recall when we had the floods at Glenella in 2008 and the then Premier Anna Bligh came to town, I took her to the hospital first because we had water coming into the theatres and she was just astonished. She gave me her personal commitment that day that we would build a new hospital.”
Most recently he fought to expand Harrup Park’s Great Barrier Reef arena for international events and make the facility a community venue for local events too.
Next month marks one year since we lost Mr Mackay and he deserves a posthumous honour on this list.
Right to the very end, he was working on how to improve our hospitals in his role as Mackay Hospital and Health Service chairman.
The legacy he leaves behind is evident in not only his bricks-and-mortar achievements, it’s in his passion for this city and zest for life.
His spirit will long live on in Mackay and his legacy in the history books.
The world needs more people like Tim Mulherin. Vale Tim.
24. James Wortley
Regarded as one of the best financial advisers in Australia, James Wortley is one to share his expertise to help his community.
The Enlightened Financial Services founder and CEO, who grew the business from its foundation in 2007 to 13 staff in 2021 has found himself on influential lists before for his business acumen.
EFS represents more than 350 clients with $2.5 million ongoing revenue.
Mr Wortley is considered a leader in the sector and one who is creating a blueprint for the future of financial advice and was named among the top 50 most influential advisers in trade publication Financial Standard.
In another national nod, Mr Wortley was one of four finalists in the Financial Planning Association’s 2020 Advice Innovation Award for scaled advice when Covid-19 affected the value of holistic advice.
EFS is one of 11 firms Australia-wide to join a $1.1 million crowd-funding effort industry watchers believe will revolutionise the financial advice industry – Luminant – which empowers clients to make financial and life goals.
But in Mackay, his influence stretches beyond the office as a past Rotary Club of Mackay president and Paul Harris Fellow Award recipient in 2020.
Mr Wortley is also embedded in several community groups and established a highly successful Mayors Charity Golf Day in 2021, raising more than $50,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charity.
23. Vic Vassallo
Vic Vassallo is a man with a vision for his home city.
And such a big vision, he has committed it to the drawing board while he helps develop homes for the region grappling with a housing shortage.
The managing director of both Pointglen Developments and Vassallo Constructions, he is also a Greater Whitsunday Alliance director where his passion for sustainable growth is amplified and results tangible.
Vassallo Constructions is the largest locally-based civil construction firm in Mackay, having secured millions of dollars in works on critical infrastructure projects including the Ring Road and Shute Harbour redevelopment.
His passion for Mackay is futuristic, a business leader not one to rest on a hefty portfolio of finished projects but one to plan ahead and ensure the region achieves a potential can envisage.
Vassallo Constructions is a reliable sponsor of community events and charities including the Mayor’s Charity Ball.
22. David Hackett
Dave Hackett is one of the key drivers of Mackay’s success, establishing itself as a region able to transform its industry to survive.
The DGH Engineering general manager oversaw the Paget-based business’s diversification from its solid operational foundations to an in-demand government contractor.
The company, which celebrated 16 years in 2021, has grown to employ more than 220 people and its diverse operating base allowed it to retain workers when Covid-19 threatened jobs.
Mr Hackett was quick to enact Covid-safe work plans that kept workshops open and put the company on track to record a record its busiest months of fabrication projects in mid-2020.
DGH was established in 2005 with bases in Mackay and Emerald, and has grown to include branches in Townsville and Proserpine.
Its links to the community are far with sponsorship and support of various organisations and charities.
Mr Hackett is involved in several of those groups and is a Real Mates Talk ambassador and advocate for safeTALK in recognition of the over-representation of suicide in trades.
21. Jason Sharam
Solar-powered mines may seem counter-intuitive but Jason Sharam is showing it is the future.
The Linked Group Services managing director has transformed the Paget business to be entirely renewable powered while still manufacturing for the mining sector.
Mr Sharam is a big believer in mining and renewables co-existing but also developing systems and infrastructure that can be applied in all sectors.
One of LGS’ biggest projects to date has been creating the 1.45 megawatt solar carport in Townsville, which won a 2021 Master Builders Queensland award for Excellence in Energy Efficiency and Environmental Management. The company is now shortlisted for the state finals.
Mr Sharam has delivered real examples of viable and sustainable renewable energy options.
Enter the EcoHabitat, a fully self-sufficient donga with solar power and water tanks which caught the eye of the state government in 2018 at Myriad Festival.
That showcase helped put Mackay on the map and increase awareness of the innovative technology out of Paget.
It is an admirable achievement for a company that started out providing electrical contractors to mining companies in 2010, and now employs more than 35 staff in Mackay.
20. Stephen Smyth
A bulldog with political bite, Stephen Smyth is a loud voice in a sector rife with silencing workers.
The CFMEU Mining and Energy district president will man picket lines and stalk the halls of parliament in an effort to be heard on issues his members raise.
Chief among them, and most successfully, is work around mine dust lung disease reform that has earned international recognition.
It has gone on to secure state government funding for workers – current and former – to get tested and treated.
Mr Smyth has been a fierce advocate for Queensland’s mining industrial manslaughter laws and proved his and the union’s political clout when the CMFEU withdrew its support for Labor during the state election.
While remaining a party member, the union called out the left in what Mr Smyth said was a lack of representation for resource workers and regional communities.
Mr Smyth now has worker casualisation in his sights, taking issues members have raised and speaking before a parliamentary inquiry to secure equal rights for all workers.
He is pushing for a reversal of casualisation laws that sent permanent workers onto casual contracts.
19. Glenn Morris
Calm under pressure and patient with the community, Mackay District Superintendent Glenn Morris has considerable oversight of how his district is policed.
With 22 divisions under his command, Superintendent Morris can be credited with changing the relationship between the public and the officers sworn to protect it.
The district covers a massive 90,292sq km, with policing requirements ranging from a city and suburban focus in Mackay to remote operations west in Clermont, Collinsville and Moranbah.
Before being appointed to Mackay in September 2018, Superintendent Morris held various roles in the Queensland Police Service including as City Central Patrol Group inspector, Ethical Standards Command inspector.
He is also the District Disaster Management Group chair in Mackay, working closely with the Mackay Regional Council and other agency organisations in emergency times.
18. Geoff O’Connor
Taking the reins and continuing a 132-year tradition of advocacy takes a dedicated and skilled mind and, in Geoff O’Connor, the Mackay Region Chamber of Commerce has that.
The chartered accountant steers the chamber as president, elected in 2020, and collaborates with the nine committee members to advocate, educate and connect.
He has been a chief backer of the Buy Local campaign which became a lifeline for Mackay businesses to survive when Covid-19 lockdowns first struck in 2020.
A chamber at its core is about networking, an endeavour almost impossible during the pandemic particularly as lockdowns rolled and governments grappled to understand the situation.
But Mr O’Connor and his board was able to ensure the right businesses were connected and helped spread the critical message of together, enterprise would survive and later thrive.
It is a credit to the young leader who has reinvigorated the chamber and its role as a conduit between businesses and government, reviving it into a well-informed and grounded organisation that puts its members squarely in focus.
And it is through that advocacy and networking that Mackay’s business-to-business community has propped each other up.
The chamber, founded in 1887, represents the interests of more than 10,000 organisations.
Mr O’Connor is also a director at Sammut Bulow Bennett Partners.
17. Matt Cielens and Adrian Young, Harrup Park
Harrup Park Country Club is a Mackay institution, one that helps the region punch well above its weight in attracting major AFL and cricket spectacles on a regular basis.
The club hosts Aussie rules and cricket fixtures each year, is a regular venue for state and national representative carnivals, and has played host to the Women’s Big Bash League and AFLW in recent years.
Now on the cusp of a major expansion with funding and plans for the $24 million Barrier Reef Arena locked in, the two men at its top are charged with capitalising on that opportunity.
Appointed CEO in 2020, Matt Cielens’ elevation to the all-encompassing role overseeing HPCC, GBR Arena and Mackay Cricket Association brought with it the considerable responsibility to further broaden the club’s profile and ability to host state and national fixtures.
Guiding the club’s daily operation is general manager Adrian Young and under his leadership, it has weathered the Covid-19 storm and been recognised as developing and supporting one of the best female cricket programs in regional Queensland.
And at the helm of Harrup Park’s board is Terry Doolan, a man synonymous with community and cricket and whose proud leadership continues to inspire the club to seek out new opportunities and provide a first-class venue for Mackay.
The venue’s The Boundary Café placed second in the best dining category at the Clubs Queensland Awards for Excellence, and took home the gong for Support of Sport Community Award earlier this year.
16. Niki Ramsay and the Reseck family
The family that brought the golden arches to the sugar city in 1990 is keeping up the tradition of first jobs and philanthropy.
The McDonald’s empire that began with Ron Reseck is continuing and expanding with the family’s next generation in Niki Ramsay, providing pathways to employment for hundreds of workers, from teens to adults.
The Andergrove store, set to open later this year, will generate 120 jobs – just more than half of the 230 positions to be created in a recruitment drive across the family’s stores in Mackay, the Whitsundays and Bowen.
Mrs Ramsay at the helm is an inspirational leader, one who pushes her employees to explore opportunities through McDonald’s and gives young workers a solid introduction to working life.
She actively encourages her employees to upskill through the iconic franchise, offering certificates II and III as well as business leadership courses.
The network is not only a jobs generator but also major sponsors and supporters of initiatives that help build a better region.
Among the extensive list McDonald’s sponsors is the Mackay Meteors and Meteorettes, the All-Abilities rugby league team, Bulldogs rugby league, St Pat’s girls rugby league team.
A McDonald’s sponsored basketball fixture that had the Mackay Meteors fitted out in Hamburglar-themed singlets in early August raised a staggering $30,000 for the new Ronald McDonald Family Room at Mackay Base Hospital.
“As long as the financing is right and the budgeting is there, we happily help people out,” Mrs Ramsay said.
McDonald’s Mackay is the major supporter of Flagon and Dragon.
15. Steven Boxall
As the facilitator of innovations that will help revolutionise industry operations across the globe, Steven Boxall celebrates the wins while looking to the next opportunity.
The Resources Centre of Excellence general manager understands how important the world-class skills and technology incubator is to safeguarding and growing key industries that underpin the state and national economy.
But it is his mission to ensure the world understands that.
Appointed in September 2020, Mr Boxall has raised the RCOE profile and helped secure key innovators, industry leaders and universities to use the Paget facility regarded as one of its kind in the world.
And the centre plays a critical role in linking business and educators, researchers and other stakeholders to develop the tools today for the jobs of tomorrow.
Inheriting a dedicated and hyperlocal team, Mr Boxall has drawn on their experience and brought his own to the role from a background leading local government and business.
The Virtual Reality Training System is one of the most significant projects rolled out at the RCOE this year, a successful collaboration between Queensland University of Technology and the Future Environment Institute.
Mr Boxall is continuing to change the perception the RCOE is focused solely on the mining industry but rather one with the capabilities to transform all resources sectors.
Under his watch, the RCOE is poised for further expansion in Paget.
14. Tas Webber
Mackay has experienced a somewhat perplexing tourism boost in the past 12 months in a time when operators have been brought to their knees.
By refocusing on the region’s natural assets and capitalising on a travel-starved domestic tourism market, Mackay Isaac Tourism CEO Tas Webber has done the remarkable and raised the profile of our backyard.
Mr Webber has united the Mackay and Isaac regions and rebranded the region’s tourism organisation to reflect and promote the collective experiences that await.
The newly minted Mackay Isaac Tourism organisation is a pivotal strategy to capture the drive market and capture travellers who have historically seen the sugar city as a gateway to the Whitsundays.
Working with tourism operators, Mr Webber has developed strategies to help boost business confidence in the sector despite the revolving threat of interstate border lockdowns brought on by Covid-19.
The new Wildcat catamaran that will unlock islands off Mackay’s coast is the next game-changer for the region set to experience huge success on the back of MIT’s marketing foundations.
The day tours will further boost Mackay’s reputation as a tourism destination in its own right and, through the united MIT that seeks collaboration with the Whitsundays, will add Brampton, Cockermouth, Keswick, St Bees and Scawfell islands to the extensive experiences list.
Mr Webber is a keen supporter of future tourism drawcards including the Pioneer Valley mountain bike trails and developments that will further broaden the scope and offerings from the region.
13. George Christensen
Maverick. Conservative. Renegade. Controversial. Divisive.
Monikers earned over a long career in politics and all used somewhat interchangeable to describe Dawson MP George Christensen.
Love him or hate him for his politics, Mr Christensen is nevertheless a powerbroker in Canberra’s corridors of power.
And he’s a man of his word. On announcing his retirement from federal politics, Mr Christensen promised he would not go quietly and has insofar lived up to that vow, much to the consternation of his boss who happens to be the prime minister.
He is not one to sit back quietly despite being somewhat softspoken, a dynamo whose controversial views on Covid-19, masks, lockdowns and free speech have earned him as many supporters as detractors.
It is his views on the pandemic that have drawn the latest round of criticism and had him branded dangerous to the nation’s effort to curb the virus.
An ardent believer in free speech, including views poles apart from his own, have become a form of trademark for the veteran politician who got his start in local government before the federal leap.
He’s made the role his own, breaking out of party lines to speak his mind and fight for his electorate, delivering multiple millions of dollars in major infrastructure projects and developments.
His Canberra departure to spend more time with family in Mackay will leave a large hole in the nation’s capital, and potentially Dawson without a booming voice.
12. Dean Kirkwood
Dean Kirkwood knows Mackay is going global and is making sure it is ready to succeed and flourish.
The Resource Industry Network general manager also heads up the Mackay Isaac Whitsunday Mining Equipment Technical Services Export Hub, designed to prepare the region’s businesses for global expansion.
The title is as complicated as its ambition and takes a deft hand to ensure business and industry on the cusp of tapping into the export realm are ready and able to succeed.
RIN, as the MIW METS Export Hub facilitator, is playing a key role in that success and is a milestone achievement for the region’s peak industry association founded in late 2000 to unite businesses with a common ambition.
The not-for-profit member-driven group has notched up an extensive list of successes and milestones since its inception and under the guidance of former long-serving general manager Adrienne Rourke.
Mr Kirkwood was appointed to the top role in 2020 – a year crippled by Covid-19 but one RIN still managed to deliver for members and relocate to the Resources Centre of Excellence – a logical move to partner with the region’s innovation incubator.
Despite the pandemic, RIN enjoyed a busy 2020 including implementing a Regional Accelerator Program and rolled out its WH&S webinar series.
11. Michael Thomson
Mackay Regional Council CEO Michael Thomson is all about efficiencies and getting ratepayers the best bang for their collective buck.
Sworn in to council’s top role in the executive leadership team in August last year, Mr Thomson has found his feet steering the organisation through the worst of a pandemic and is now charting a course to the future.
As the region’s most powerful bureaucrat, Mr Thomson oversees the council’s $298 million budget in his first senior leadership role in local government, the latest in a well-credentialed work history that has included reaching the top tiers of various organisations.
Before relocating with his family to Queensland, Mr Thomson headed up the Northern Territory’s troubled Power and Water Corporation that was responsible for service delivery across the top end.
Having inherited an organisation plagued with operational issues before his tenure at the top, Mr Thomson was nevertheless sacked after a report found a mix of human error and equipment failure caused a widespread power outage that plunged 12,000 customers into darkness for nine hours.
That complex professional history has helped shape Mr Thomson’s approach to guiding the Mackay region forward, one underpinned by a healthy capital works program and focused on service delivery tapping into all reaches of the council boundaries.
10. Mabel Quakawoot
Mackay’s 2021 Citizen of the Year is as comfortable in the spotlight as bare feet on boiling bitumen.
Because Mabel Quakawoot doesn’t do things for “show”.
She does them because they’re right, and plans to fight on for her next passion – getting Mackay a soup kitchen.
Since arriving in Mackay in 1962 to marry her late husband Colin, Mrs Quakawoot has been many things to many people – an active citizen, an educator, a mentor and volunteer.
She is active in helping and working with Indigenous and Australian South Sea Islander youth in many capacities throughout North Queensland. She has been an active member of the Murri Court system.
Mrs Quakawoot was the instigator of the volunteers at the Mackay Courthouse who offer support to people awaiting court proceedings, particularly for the childrens court, where she is still a regular volunteer.
Over the years, she has been an active member of the St Charles Anglican Church of West Mackay and for a number of years taught religious education at various schools in Mackay.
Among other good deeds for the Mackay community, Mrs Quakawoot and her husband raised considerable funds through activities, such as car washes, to take a group of Pioneer State High School students on a two-week tour of Fiji.
9. CANEGROWERS
Paul Schembri has been fighting for cane farmers almost as long as he’s been one himself.
The CANEGROWERS Queensland chairman knows the industry and what it needs so representing sugarcane growers across Queensland and New South Wales is almost second nature.
A farmer of more than 40 years, Mr Schembri has been with CANEGROWERS for almost as long and has held the chairman position since 2013.
His own farm that he runs with his brother and supplies Farleigh Mill is Smartcane BMP accredited.
Mr Schembri is the World Association of Beet and Cane Growers vice president and is a former director of Queensland Sugar Limited.
He has battled reef regulations on virtually every front, holding meetings with politicians of all levels in an effort to get a review after a decade of farmers complying with the rules.
He has been a key driver in a World Trade Organisation complaint against India that Australia has accused of illegally breaching trade rules.
Rotary International in 2015 recognised Mr Schembri with a Paul Harris Fellow for his services to the community.
CANEGROWERS Mackay chairman Kevin Borg is another champion of industry and a guiding hand of the organisation that fights for the sector.
He is a member of the CANEGROWERS Queensland Policy Council, a position that wields influence across the state and steers it into the next generation.
8. Nicolas Fertin
Chocolate brought him to Australia and now he’s home is in the sugar city, but it’s not just the sweet stuff that moves through the operations Nicolas Fertin oversees.
The North Queensland Bulk Ports CEO is responsible for world-class working port facilities at Hay Point, Mackay, Abbot Point and Weipa, collectively through which more than half of Queensland trade by tonnage passes.
Essentially a gatekeeper of port operations, Mr Fertin has instigated change through the organisation to ensure its long-term viability in attracting trade to the Port of Mackay.
Such change also allowed the ports to continue operating during the pandemic and while a 6 per cent drop (to 110.9 million tonnes) was recorded at Port of Hay Point, the Port of Abbot point set a record for coal throughput of 31.9 million tonnes in 2019-2020.
Mr Fertin steered NQBP to a strong finish to the financial year, delivering $7.1 million profit against a 6.6 per cent decrease in trade throughput that resulted in a 13.5 per cent decrease in revenue.
Mr Fertin was working with Mars when he moved with his family from France to Australia more than 23 years ago and optimised the chocolate bar company’s supply chains.
He is a former P&O Ports global technical services director overseeing all infrastructure operations and development across 26 ports in 12 counties, worked for Australian rail operator Pacific National and was the former CEO at Southern Ports in Western Australia before moving to Mackay.
7. Amanda Camm
When Amanda Camm announced she would run for state parliament, few were surprised.
A former Mackay deputy mayor with a background steeped in the region’s industry of agriculture and tourism, the Whitsunday MP has deftly made the transition from local to state politics.
Ms Camm is enjoying a rapid rise through the LNP ranks, having ousted former MP Jason Costigan and stepping up to fight for a fair share of funding and policy critical to her electorate – tourism.
It follows her local government legacy of planning scheme reform and developing a community-led domestic violence task force established with Mayor Greg Williamson.
Elected in 2020, a year “that will be known generationally as one of the most challenging years in our state’s and nation’s history”, Ms Camm promised to make a positive contribution “with the values of humility, integrity, hard work, courage and passion”.
Ms Camm has deftly pivoted her electorate back to grassroots politics for her constituents, taking on concerns and seeking answers from those who hold them.
In her first 10 months, she has pushed for a parliamentary inquiry into island ownership and management, fought for access to Keswick Island, secured travel vouchers for Airlie Beach tourism operators struggling in the pandemic, and taken up the fight to fix a questionable Shute Harbour Boat ramp design.
Ms Camm is the Opposition spokeswoman for Women’s Economic Security, Child Protection, and Prevention of Domestic, family and Sexual Violence.
6. Julieanne Gilbert
There is no doubt Julieanne Gilbert has made an impact since stepping into Tim Mulherin’s rather large shoes in 2015.
Her re-election as the State Labor MP in the party’s stronghold of Mackay in November 2020 came on the back of a fractured traditional power base after the 2019 federal election.
An election where coal mining became a point of contention and blue-collar workers demonstrated their collective influence at the ballot, it was Labor – both state and federal – that felt the wrath.
But Mrs Gilbert came out swinging in the months after the election dust settled, supporting Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and redoubling her attention to Mackay – a labour stronghold on the cusp of another boom but this one not intrinsically linked to mining.
While her position on this list is dictated by her scope to wield more influence in the region, Mrs Gilbert has the established runs on the board and her steadfast reputation as a quiet doer holds it in good stead.
The biofutures plant and advanced manufacturing hub has transformative potential and will enhance the Mackay’s diversifying economy.
She is an ardent advocate for Mackay, finding a way to identify opportunities for the region in announcements often considered Brisbane or southeast Queensland-centric.
Mrs Gilbert has secured critical funding for the Sarina Hospital and is currently the Health and Regional Health Infrastructure assistant minister.
Yet to make it to the front bench, Mrs Gilbert has also held treasury and state development assistant minister positions and various committees with a focus relevant to Mackay including the Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis Select Committee and Agriculture and Environment Committee.
5. MHHS Public Health Unit
Queensland’s economic engine room owes much of its Covid-19 insulation to the work of Brigid Fenech and her team at the Public Health Unit.
Small in number but invaluable in success, the small Mackay Hospital and Health Service PHU has worked to keep the invisible pandemic threat at bay.
The men and women, from an unassuming building tucked behind Mackay Base Hospital, have co-ordinated the region’s response to Covid-19, meeting flights from identified hot spots and instigated plans to keep the economy thriving.
The team has screened every flight from Sydney and Melbourne arriving in the tourism mecca of the Whitsundays, putting travellers into quarantine as necessary and ensuring the islands can remain open.
Passengers have been screened, those identified as potentially putting the region at risk returned to their interstate homes, all amid an unfolding health crisis.
Dubbed disease detectives, they have defended the frontline and presented a united inter-agency response, working with police and maritime crews, and helped with Covid-19 testing and co-ordinated medical appointments.
They are dedicated and tenacious, and can be credited with keeping the region safe – a fine example of the expansive work our medicos do without accolades.
A honourable mention to Dr John McIntosh who took on a role few doctors would when he boarded ships and tankers off the Queensland coast to treat infected sailors and bring them safely to shore.
4. Craig Percival
Craig Percival’s vision for Mackay will lay the foundations for future generations and transform the city facade.
Unlocking the potential the Pioneer River’s blue water holds, the Woollam Constructions managing director is destined to leave a legacy of liveability and the foundations of major investment on the city.
Woollam Constructions is a key partner in the ReNew Mackay consortium, one of two entities bidding to develop CBD holdings in the sprawling waterfront priority development area – a generational project that will propel the city into the future.
The $200 million project includes luxury residential properties, retired living, commercial offices and tourism opportunities across key CBD land holdings Mackay Regional Council signed off on in 2020.
To be in a position to build such change in a city is an impressive feat for a man who started at the bottom and, through sheer tenacity and respect, worked his way to the top of the construction industry.
Mr Percival started at Woollam as a building cadet in 1989 and, over a career spanning more than 30 years, worked across the operations to get a well-rounded understanding of what it takes to make things work.
That understanding extends to the personal and social challenges the industry faces and Mr Percival is an advocate for mental health awareness and support in the trades industry.
3. Kylie Porter
A champion of regional investment and gatekeeper of economic equality, Kylie Porter is a determined voice and leader who delivers.
Ms Porter commands respect in a room filled with industry heavyweights and politicians in a relentless campaign to ensure Mackay, the engine room of the resources sector across the Bowen Basin, gets its fair share.
She speaks truth to the powerful, drawing on her own extensive professional experience of developing a business from the ground up; one which have given her a thorough understanding of projecting the right image to the right places.
Having founded Out of the Blue Marketing before selling to what would become Rebel Nation, Ms Porter stepped out of the long local shadow the Porters family business cast and carved out her own place through her tenacious, informed, well-articulated passion for the region.
Now, as Greater Whitsunday Alliance CEO, Ms Porter has solidified her place as an industry influencer projecting a unified voice to the chambers of power.
The founding board chairman of juggernaut C-Res which incorporates the hugely successful Local Buying Program, Ms Porter remains on the board in an example of women reaching the top echelons of industry and influence.
2. Tony Caruso
A captain of industry and one who understands the nuance of power and politics, Tony Caruso continues his record as a respected leader.
The Mastermyne managing director and CEO is steering the 25 year old company in reviving mothballed mining operations, creating more jobs and feeding the state’s thirsty economy.
Under his leadership, Mastermyne identified and is capitalising on the coal market transition from major multinationals to junior miners, and was labelled the sector’s ‘master of opportunity’.
Mr Caruso played a critical role in establishing the world-class Resources Centre of Excellence for which he holds a board director position.
Mastermyne in 2021 secured a $600 million contract to revive operations at Sojitz’s Gregory Crinum Mine, and $60 million Aquila extension.
The contracts put Mastermyne’s order book at a staggering $1.1 billion.
Regarded as someone who challenges and strives for better, Mr Caruso has a solid track record of delivering not just for the business but the industry community, giving his time to help others achieve.
Mr Caruso is considered someone who can guide the industry into the next generation, both in terms of operational development and workplace culture.
1. Greg Williamson
He’s Mackay’s everywhere man; a public figure who treats a cheque presentation with the same importance as a delegation from Canberra.
A fifth generation Mackay local, Mackay Regional Council Mayor Greg Williamson’s grassroots-style politics has earned him sway in just about every room he enters.
He first served as alderman of Mackay City Council before becoming mayor from 1991-94.
After overseeing the amalgamation of the city with nearby shire councils amid much opposition, a shire chairman was elected mayor and Cr Williamson then spent the next 21 years pursuing a career in corporate business.
After a series of senior roles throughout Queensland, he decided to put his experience to use in his home town – hoping to secure a strong future for generations to come as part of his legacy.
Few spruik Mackay’s virtues as loudly or widely – from sporting matches to community events, theatre shows and business forums. But he is also a man of action.
He wants to grow the region’s economy and increase the liveability of the area but in a controlled way that does not lead to the boom-bust experience many Mackay residents felt deeply.
As a Greater Whitsunday Alliance board director since its inception in 2017, he has helped drive sustainable economic growth at a regional level.
More recently, he has played a role in linking the Mackay and Isaac tourism organisations to put the region on the map as a travel destination and was integral in forming the new Regional Queensland Council of Mayors to offer a united voice to State Government on issues affecting the north of the state.
As mayor, he has also been at the helm of the Local Disaster Management Group during Cyclone Debbie in 2017, the Pioneer Valley bushfires in 2018 and the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
He can be seen courtside for the Mackay Meteors and Meteorettes, cheering on the Cutters and is a constant presence at junior sports and finals.
Cr Williamson also has a proud history of involvement with Rotary, was integral in setting up grassroots-led domestic violence taskforce Broken Ballerina and tried to lead the way on climate change through his passion for biofuture initiatives.
With more than 35 years with the Australian Air Force Cadets, it’s no surprise he’s a pilot in his spare time. He only retired as the Australian National Commander of the 8000-strong organisation when he was elected mayor in 2016.
Rumour has it, he had his pilot licence before he could drive a car.
Cr Williamson is married to his wife Annette who has also influenced the lives of many in this city through her role as a teacher.
His son Dean has recently taken a lease at Customs House where he has opened a dentist practice while daughter Leigh works as a sonographer.
This list was compiled by a committee including former mayor and long-term local Col Meng, former Daily Mercury sub-editor Loris Wall and up-and-coming business leader and influencer Brendan Hughes of Enlightened Financial Services and the Mayor’s Charity Ball committee, alongside Daily Mercury editor Rae Wilson and deputy editor Tara Miko.
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