Brisbane.com.au domain selling ahead of 2032 Olympics with bids over $500,000 sought

It’s been floating in the internet for 30 years but now the Brisbane domain name is up for grabs in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympics.

It’s been floating in the internet ether for 30 years but now the ultimate Brisbane domain name is on the block in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympics.

Expressions of interest are being invited for the sale of Brisbane.com.au with a price tag of about half a million dollars being sought.

The domain name had been registered since the early 1990s to Melbourne-based Brisbane Online, whose director is former journalist Rod Ashcroft.

Picture of the Brisbane skyline. Picture: David Clark

Domain name broker Mike Robertson, who is handling the sale, says the obvious buyer is a government body that wanted to promote the city in the lead up to the Olympics.

Robertson says he has approached the Brisbane City Council, Tourism Queensland and the State Government offering them the name but has yet to hear back.

“The owner is looking at a price in the mid six figures but is in no hurry to sell,” says Robertson. “There is likely to be more interest in the lead up to 2032.”

He says a commercially developed Brisbane.com.au website would be ideally placed to tap into the economic bonanza triggered by the games.

Mr Robertson said the moment the games announcement was made offers started coming in for the domain name.

“It’s not hard to understand why people want this domain - Brisbane.com.au is the No.1 reference point online for Brisbane, Australia,” he said.

“It has been predicted that $8 billion will be injected into the state economy and $17 billion nationwide from tourism alone.

“Apart from tourism and accommodation, the website could be structured to embrace far-reaching commercial activities, including the sale of products and services, real estate sales, property development, car sales and financial services.”

Commercial activities on the website are also likely to boom in the period following the Olympic Games, he predicted, given the exposure generated by the games.

Mr Robertson said the domain name has been registered to Brisbane Online Pty Ltd since the early 1990s and has been tightly held by the one owner.

HOOKED

A former Queensland house painter has expanded a simple aid for fishermen into a multi-million dollar business with plans for further global expansion.

Caloundra-based Ross Bain, 58, came up with the idea of Hook-Eze, a fishing knot tying tool, after watching his friends struggle while trying to bring in a big catch. 

Hook-Eze now has sales approaching $2m after skyrocketing growth on Amazon in the past two years during Covid-19.

Bain says he developed Hook-Eze as a “side hustle” in 2001 but the product only really took off in 2014 when a demonstration on YouTube went viral.

Hook-Eze is a circular device that covers the sharp point of the hook, making it the safest way to tie a variety of hooks, swivels and other tackle.

Ross Bain. Picture: Mark Cranitch

“It’s great for those suffering from poor hand dexterities giving them independence as well as helping experienced anglers tie difficult knots,” Bain says. “It is also handy for covering the hooks whilst travelling in the car with the fishing rods fully rigged.”

Hook-Eze generated $1m in sales in 2019 but demand for the product has exploded along with the popularity of fishing during Covid-19 with revenue now approaching $2m.

Bain says he now has other inventions in the pipeline in the camping and outdoors category with Hook-Eze expected to continue to grow in Australia, the US and other global markets. “We are looking to add more innovative fishing products in 2022,” he says. “We have also entered into various tackle stores and chains throughout Australia.”

Ross Bain demonstrating the Hook-Eze product.

The explosion of internet shopping meant the product, with very little traditional marketing or advertising, had quickly became a global hit.

“It has never been a better time to be an inventor in Australia because you can grow the business on platforms like Amazon and you don’t have to go through the shops,” he says.

Bain concedes he was never a big fisherman but used to like to go sailing with friends who would want to fish. “I noticed that people had a lot of trouble tying fishing hooks on with a proper knot ... and they would lose the fish,” he says, “I just thought there had to be a better way to tie the hook on - and there wasn’t. So I developed a tool to tie hooks on.”

In the early days he sold Hook-Eze at local markets and camping shows. “If you just put it on a shelf in a fishing shop people don’t know what it is or how it could help them,” he said.

NEW GIG

Former Labor treasurer and deputy prime minister Wayne Swan has thrown himself into corporate life since leaving politics.

Swan will join Brisbane-based silica sand miner Diatreme Resources as chairman and non-executive director from next month in a bit of a coup for the company, which is developing the a silica project near Cooktown.

The project aims to supply high‐quality premium grade silica and mineral sands for use in global solar panels and ceramics markets.

Swan, who retired from politics in 2019, also sits on the board of Stanwell Corporation and superannuation fund Cbus.

Former Treasurer Wayne Swan. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Diatreme says Swan, who served as treasurer from 2007-2013, will be a strong advocate on the board for economic development,indigenous engagement and health and safety.

Richlister Brian Flannery last year threw his weight behind Diatreme Resources with his family office Ilwella subscribing to around a third of the silica miner’s new $5m capital raising. Flannery, a billionaire investor who made his fortune in coal, also sits on the board of electric car recharging company Tritium.

Swan says he is pleased to accept the new job with the Cooktown project showing enormous potential to generate new jobs and investment for the Hope Vale and Cooktown regions.

“Its silica product will help support the Asia-Pacific region’s push for renewables through its use as a direct component of solar panels,” says Swan.

He says Diatreme has shown foresight towards the traditional owners, giving them a direct stake in the project at an early stage to ensure they receive its economic benefits.

TOUGH JOB

The building watchdog is advertising for a new boss, but given the political minefield the job has become your diarist wonders who will want to put their hand up. Talent scout Luminary has been appointed to look for a replacement for Brett Bassett,who resigned as commissioner in August to take up a senior position at QLeave.

Brett Bassett, the former head of the QBCC.

Bassett, who was on a salary of more than $400,000, spent five years at the QBCC during which time major reforms to subbies payment laws were pushed through along with tougher oversight of builders’ finances. The QBCC has seen a number of departures of senior people in recent years, leading to criticism some in the organisation were finding it tough adjusting to the new regulatory environment.

The successful candidate will be required to “possess high level integrity and the agility to adapt to a constantly changing environment.” He or she also will “have to manage multiple issues with a high level of political interest.”