Former Toll chief Paul Little on putting life lessons to good use

From Brooklyn trucking company chief to billionaire philanthropist and community leader, Paul Little opens up about success, giving back, life lessons and Melbourne’s leaders.

Paul Little is helping the next generation of Australian entrepreneurs. Picture: Mark Stewart

Trying to explain his journey from Brooklyn trucking company chief to billionaire philanthropist and community leader, Paul Little harks back to his dad.

Little senior was a no-fuss bloke who fought in World War II and knew a thing or two about tinkering with engines in suburban Burwood.

“My father was always my mentor and he was always a very practical person — he could handle anything practically and I think I inherited that a little,” he says.

That eye for the practical has carried Little very far in life.

The 72-year-old former Toll boss speaks to the Sunday Herald Sun at his modern Toorak Rd office, near the corner of Chapel St, on a cold Melbourne morning.

For a man who continues to have such an big effect on the state, there is no monstrous overview of Melbourne — it’s simply a convenient place to do business.

It is a 10-minute drive from his Italianate double-storey 1867 Toorak mansion. Named Coonac, it is one of Melbourne’s most historic properties.

Early last century it was home to politician and financier William Baillieu.

Paul Little built a reputation for toughness. Picture: Mark Stewart

The Sunday Herald Sun spoke to Little close to exactly four years after the deal of a lifetime, in which Toll was taken over for $6.5 billion.

Little — who built Toll from a company with 18 trucks to one with 45,000 staff in more than 50 countries — pocketed $340 million, which he is now using to help give back.

As Toll head, he built a reputation for toughness after clashes with the likes of stevedore group Patrick Corp and its head Chris Corrigan and the American Teamsters union.

But the chapter he has written since then is just as fascinating.

The Sunday Herald Sun talked to Little about the phase of his life in which he is increasingly giving back through philanthropy and volunteering, and his views around the importance of taking leadership roles.

 

GIVING BACK

Little attributes much of his present direction to his wife Jane Hansen, herself a formidable business person.

She worked as an investment banker in Manhattan before returning to Australia.

The pair met when Hansen was assigned the task of floating Little’s trucking company on the share market in the early 1990s.

Today their Hansen-Little Foundation holds $80 million and they give away 5 per cent of that
a year.

“We both had very busy — and on balance — successful careers. So having the time and the wherewithal now to give back is something that we get a lot of pleasure out of,” he says.

They dislike the view some corporations take, that simply writing cheques solves problems.

“That was always something Jane and I both felt was not trying hard enough.”

The couple’s philanthropic efforts extend to donations to the University of Melbourne and the State Library of Victoria, the Melbourne Theatre Company, and his beloved First and Second Step program aimed at getting people with histories of addiction and crime into jobs.

At the same time, Little chairs Visit Victoria, aimed at bringing events to the state — including the Harry Potter and The Cursed Child theatre show and the coming President’s Cup golf.

“With major events we are not just a national leader, but a global leader,” he says.

Putting his money where his mouth is, he also launched the ferry service between Portarlington and Melbourne and built a luxury jet base at Melbourne airport.

 

THE NEXT GENERATION

When the Sunday Herald Sun asks Little what life lessons he would share with his younger self starting out in business, he produces a list.

It includes messages like having self belief. Taking calculated risks. Always being ethical. Sharing rewards.

But Little — ever practical — is doing more than writing lists.

His latest effort, kicking off last year, is serving as chairman and investing in Skalata Ventures, a seed investment program designed to help the next generation of Australian entrepreneurs.

“We’ve got to transition from being a manufacturing and mining economy — we’ve got to keep the people with smart ideas,” he says.

Paul Little and wife Jane Hansen in their Toorak home. Picture: Aaron Francis

“For me it’s more about trying to keep Australia’s young entrepreneurs in Australia.”

Other investors are the state government, other philanthropists and Deakin, Monash, RMIT, La Trobe and Swinburne universities.

After 78 applications were made, Skalata has chosen 10 winners, who are going through the process of signing contracts.

MAKING THINGS WORK

Nine years ago Little was named an Officer of the Order of Australia for services developing the nation’s transport and logistics businesses.

His views in the area are still sought.

But when the Sunday Herald Sun asks him for his ideas about the state’s infrastructure priorities, he is mindful of making sure he is not seen to be criticising the government.

He says his ideas are purely ways to “further enhance” the good work already being done.

One key suggestion is building a port at Avalon for when the Port of Melbourne reaches capacity.

He also says Victorian regional areas need to switch from broad to standard gauge rail lines.

This would do away with the time-consuming gauge changes that slows freight.

Little also says Australia also needs to get around to building fast rail between its capital cities.

THE HARD YARDS

He knows a lot about how tough taking a role in community organisations can be.

Of course, Little took stewardship of the Essendon Football Club during its most trying period — becoming chairman in July 2013, just before the drug supplements scandal that consumed the club.

What was harder, running Toll or running Essendon?

“(There was) life long emotion and passion at Essendon — I have never seen in anything like that before,” he says.

Little received about 15 letters a week from people either asking him questions or offering advice.

“I responded to every single person that wrote to me over the period,” he says. “We were going through the allegations of performance-enhancing drugs and I just thought it was so important to respond in that way.”

Paul Little when he was Essendon Football Club chairman. Picture: Tim Carrafa

But why did he stick it out in what many people thought was a thankless task, finally passing the job to Lindsay Tanner at the end of 2015?

“The driver for me was these young men. And I have a son who at the time was just sort of going through university — so a similar age. They were just that, they were young men,” Little says.

“I felt then — and even now today — that someone needed to protect them and make sure they weren’t going to be unfairly dealt with and treated. So that was the big motivation, really.”

MORE: HOW PAUL LITTLE AIMS TO BUILD UP THE WEST

COMMUNITY LEADERS

After influential Melburnian Ron Walker died last year, questions were asked about whether there were people willing to stand up and play a similar role.

“I think they do,” Little says.

In the arts he points to Gerry Ryan, in education he points to Glyn Davis, in politics he points to Steve Bracks and in transport he points to Rod Eddington.

But Little accepts there might be a place for him at the table as well.

“Giving back is terribly important and I think Australians are very good at it. So I think that is to be congratulated and applauded.”

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