Think Tank: Chris Mills

CHRIS Mills starts his new role as Queensland Airports Limited CEO on October 15: He believes underground roads could be part of the solution to making the city more pedestrian friendly.

CHRIS Mills starts his new role as Queensland Airports Limited CEO on October 15 after 25 years working in the Gold Coast’s key industries. He believes underground roads could be part of the solution to making the city more pedestrian friendly.

Before his appointment as CEO of Queensland Airports Limited, heading up the Gold Coast Townsville and Mount Isa Airports, Chris Mills had worked for more than 25 years in tourism, property development and retail management. Prior to joining QAL as chief financial officer last year, Mr Mills was general manager of Economic Development Queensland, the State Government’s commercialised unit for expediting property and infrastructure planning and development throughout Queensland. Chris started in chartered accounting firms in Australia and England before taking on senior financial roles with Dreamworld operators Ardent Leisure.

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He has also managed financial, retail and operating activities at Brisbane’s South Bank Corporation.

Chris Mills.

What do you love about the Gold Coast?

“It’s the lifestyle, I’ve been lucky enough to work in Sydney, London and Cairns - but I just love that Gold Coast blend of the beaches and Hinterland.

“Where we live we have some wildlife as well, I have four daughters, we live on an acre and sometimes in the morning you’ll see a kangaroo has jumped over the fence - we woke up one night with the dog barking at an echidna in the backyard.

“At the same time, it’s a city of 600,000, so the businesses, jobs and schools - you’ve got the best of both worlds.”

Traffic banking back on the M1 after a truck crash.

What do you think could be done better on the Gold Coast?

“The transport infrastructure, when you look at those projections where the population doubles over the next 35 years, there are already pressure points around the Gold Coast. Sometimes coming down to the airport the M1 can just be bumper-to-bumper.

“Roads are congested, the rail connections need to be made - if we’re going to double our size we’ve got to deal with transport infrastructure.

“In a linear city like the Gold Coast, that’s particularly challenging.”

In your travels, what have you seen being done elsewhere you think could work well here?

“We have to be careful not to copy everything that’s done overseas - some of the things I love about the Gold Coast are its points of difference.

“For a city that tourism is always going to be a large factor, it’s that customer service and customer-centric culture.

“I worked at Dreamworld for a number of years and we used to say that when you work in that industry, you give up the right to have a bad day - I think that sort of attitude is good for the Gold Coast.

“I’ve had great experiences in places like Thailand or even Fiji, where the people are so friendly - it’s safe, inviting and you feel your kids are going to be welcome.”

Chris Mills at the airport.

If money, time, laws and approvals were no issue, what is one big project you’d undertake tomorrow?

“Some parts of the Gold Coast are not particularly pedestrian friendly - some parts of Surfers - it would be great if you could put cars underground and make it a more pedestrian-friendly environment.

“And of course, transport infrastructure and the ability to move people around the Gold Coast more easily.

“In our planning, we make provision for both light and heavy rail to come to the Gold Coast (Airport).

“I don’t think for us it’s a case of one over the other - if we could get one of them through that would be great.

“We can accommodate either in our forward planning.”

What conversations should Gold Coast movers and shakers be having?

“If you go to that Bernard Salt report and that vision for 2050 - what are the things that we’re doing now to accommodate that?

“For the city to double, we’ve got to deal with transport infrastructure, but we also need to diversify our industries.

“Tourism will always be central to the Gold Coast and there’s nothing wrong with that, but we’ve got the great opportunity to realise that if we’re going to provide the jobs to facilitate that growth, there have got to be other industries as well.”