Lunch date: Elon Musk’s right hand woman coming to Brisbane

Elon Musk’s right-hand woman at electric vehicle company Tesla is coming to Brisbane to explain her rise to the top of the global tech world.

Tesla chairwoman coming to town

The woman who took over from Elon Musk at electric vehicle company Tesla is coming to Brisbane.

Robyn Denholm, who replaced Musk as Tesla chair in 2018, will be guest speaker at the QUT Business Leaders’ Forum next month, where she will outline her ride to the top of the tech world. Before Tesla, Denholm had executive positions with Telstra, Juniper Networks and Sun Microsystems before taking up a position with venture capital firm Blackbird Ventures where she helps to scale up tech startups.

She is also the chair of the Australian Tech Council, which was launched in 2021 with the goal to ensure a million technology jobs for Aussies by 2025. Denholm last year hinted the electric vehicle giant could open a factory in Australia after telling the National Press Club in Canberra the company wanted to have manufacturing capability on every continent.

Tesla needed to “be in all of the major markets” in order to compete in a world moving towards the widespread use of electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries.

Denholm is not your typical tech boffin and last year became one of the first female owners of a sports team in Australia after agreeing to a deal to acquire 30 per cent of National Basketball League club Sydney Kings.

“For my kids it has been a lifelong passion around basketball. We started watching the Kings when they were formed in Sydney and we would go down to the old stadium (the State Sports Centre) to watch the Kings play.

“And then we followed them to the Entertainment Centre before we moved to the US for 17 years,” Denholm said last year after the deal was sealed.

Tickets for the QUT forum on July 12 at the Brisbane Hilton are still available.

Balfour wins appeal

It’s full speed ahead for richlister Balfour Irvine’s resource recovery group BMI out Ipswich way with a court decision in favour of its proposed waste site at New Chum.

The Queensland Planning and Environment Court last week upheld BMI’s appeal against a local government decision not to approve the $150m proposal, at a former coal mine.

A construction period of about two years is expected to start this year. Ipswich mayor Teresa Harding says the application was refused due to amenity and environmental concerns – in particular the smell.

“It is extremely frustrating that the Ipswich community continues to suffer and council wastes millions of dollars fighting these matters in the court,” she said.

However, BMI says the site, which already has state government approval, will receive only dry construction and demolition, and commercial and industrial waste. It will not receive asbestos or putrescible domestic waste that causes odour.

More than 80 per cent of this waste – including bricks, concrete, soil, metal, timber, plasterboard and glass – will be prepared for reuse or recycling on site at fully enclosed buildings in line with public and government expectations.

After onsite sorting, recyclables will be transferred offsite and converted into reusable materials. The company say the proportion that cannot be recovered will be placed in landfill in accordance with Queensland environmental standards.

BMI general manager of resource recovery Mark Dekker says the project will create about 30 construction jobs and 60 long-term jobs.

Balfour Irvine from resource recovery group BMI