QCoal founder Chris Wallin reveals snake bite led to passion for Royal Flying Doctor service

Brisbane billionaire, Chris Wallin has revealed how a terrifying encounter with a black snake as a young geologist shaped how he would go on to use his $1.89bn wealth.

Pilot Mick Porfiri and Nurse Manager Aeromedical for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Justine Powell in front of the new Beechcraft King Air 360CHW turboprop aircraft. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Chris Wallin says an Indiana Jones like encounter with a deadly black snake as a young geologist made him a lifelong supporter of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).

Now one of Australia’s richest mining executives, Wallin is one of the biggest benefactors of the service, recently donating $3m to help construct a pilot training centre in Bundaberg to cater for its new fleet of Beechcraft aircraft.

Wallin, who was last week named by The Australian as the country’s 65th richest man with a fortune of $1.89bn, trained as a geologist with the Queensland Government before founding his own company QCoal in the late 1980s.

“In those days we would go out into the bush by ourselves with just a radio,” Wallin tells City Beat. “We could be several hundred kilometres from the nearest town.”

Mining entrepreneur Chris Wallin. Photo Steve Pohlner

He recalls one time wandering up a dry creek bed and spotting what he called a “beautiful outcrop of rock.”

“I climbed up to get a closer look and was just about to reach the top when this huge black snake popped its head out of a crevice,” he says. “It was a couple of inches from my face and I had two choices – to get bitten in the head by a snake or let myself fall.”

Wallin says he didn’t like the idea of tying “a tourniquet around my neck” if he was bitten so decided to let himself fall backwards. “Luckily the creek bed had a sandy bottom which cushioned my fall,” he says.

“I could have broken my leg or knocked myself out and no one would have known because I was at least 100km from the nearest town. It was then that I realised that you could not survive in the bush without the RFDS.”

Qcoal’s charity foundation has over the past decade become one of the most generous benefactors of the RFDS. QCoal helped roll out mobile dental clinics with the RFDS about five years ago after realising how hard it was for rural communities to gain access to dentistry.

“Obtaining dental care in the bush is so difficult,” says Wallin. “To go to Brisbane and back for an appointment can take several days and people working on the land cannot afford to be away for so long.”

This meant that many in rural communities had neglected their teeth for years not realising that poor dental health can affect other parts of your body including the heart.

Pilot Mick Porfiri and Nurse Manager Aeromedical for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Justine Powell in front of the new Beechcraft King Air 360CHW turboprop aircraft. Picture: Zak Simmonds

The dental service has provided more than 76,000 treatments since it began and produced more than $15 million of economic and social benefits to patients.

Wallin says the mobile dental clinic model established in Queensland by the RFDS has since been funded by the Federal Government on a national basis.

Wallin says the new pilot training centre in Bundaberg will include a full-motion simulator, the only one of its kind in Australia allowing the local training of pilots who would otherwise have to go to the US to update their skills. “This is vital because if there is another pandemic and they couldn’t travel to the US, the RFDS would be crippled,” says Wallin.

The new facility, which is being supported by a $15m grant from the Federal Government, will also train commercial pilots, providing another revenue stream for the RFDS.

QCoal Group, which operates five mines in the resource-rich Bowen Basin, has benefited from rising prices for coal over the past year. The company made a profit of $91.2m last year compared to $86.4m in 2020.

ON THE HUNT

Construction equipment group Hastings Deering is on the hunt for 10 university students to join its 2023 graduate program.

The Brisbane-based company may be better known for its annual apprenticeship intake but also invests in future leaders with its two-to-three-year program. Graduates are sought in the areas of engineering, business, digital, finance and human resources.

Graduates spend six months completing rotations across four different placements.

Hastings Deering recruitment manager Leesa Thompson says the company has employed graduates in a variety of roles for more than 10 years with several moving into senior leadership roles

“In the past five years our program has evolved into a leading graduate rotation program.” Mrs Thompson says. “Since 2011we have employed 25 graduates with engineering the clear winner in terms of application numbers. We currently have 11 graduates participating in our program: their rotations dependent on the area of discipline, with dedicated support from talent specialists.”

of Hastings Deering’s recruitment manager Leesa Thompson with graduate Mikayla Snowden

VAN CAN

Kudos to Burpengary’s Titan Caravans that has just won the 2022 Caravan for the Year in Caravan World’s National Show Case.

Titan director James Creswick says the company was invited to participate in the showcase late last year and once restrictions eased in February hitched up two vans and towed them to Victoria for assessment by panel of judges.

Creswick says Titan received awards for both of its 480 Hybrid and 490 Bunk models with the 480 Hybrid taking out the main prize.

Titan joins more established Queensland competitors including Kedron and Sunlander in attracting an increasing number of loyal fans seeking robust, top end off-road vans.

The company, which has been building vans for eight years, moved from Eagle Farm in 2020 into larger premises at Burpengary.

Previously, the family-owned company was a retailer and distributor of caravans. “We sold a lot of brands but got fed up with dealing with shipping and managing third parties,” says Creswick.

Titan Caravans owner James Creswick

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