Terry Snow and the art of giving
Terry Snow doesn’t know what he’s worth, only that he won’t need it all and that giving it away makes him happy.
There are many terms that could be used to describe Terry Snow — philanthropist, horse broker, farmer, grandfather, property developer, Mr Canberra. Just don’t call him a millionaire.
Despite having an estimated net worth in the billions, the owner of Canberra Airport insists he is unaware of how much money he has. He just knows he has enough to share.
“I’m not saying I haven’t done well — I’m sure I have — but I don’t count it, and I don’t talk about it,” says Snow.
What he will talk about is what he does with his money through the Snow Foundation, which was set up with brother George Snow in 1991 to provide a more structured approach to giving.
He says their commitment to helping others evolved from a “very fortunate” upbringing in Canberra.
“I had all the opportunities in life, grew up in a very happy household, went to a very good school and did very well,” Snow says. “We thought we should see if we could help other people in more basic ways to get their lives together so they could grow and develop. And that’s what we did.”
Now run by daughter Georgina Byron, the Snow Foundation manages a fund of $110 million which is distributed to a wide variety of causes, projects and campaigns, needy individuals and charities.
To date 300 different organisations and more than 300 individuals have been given financial assistance, and as long as he has the money to give, Snow has no plans to stop.
“I feel that I’m in a position where I can share my wealth and good luck and hard work to give someone a helping hand and get them fully participating in life instead of battening down the hatches, as some of them do,” says Snow.
“For some of these people it’s the only help they get because they don’t get it from the government.”
The hallmark of the foundation is “to take risks and back good projects” and Snow is proud of what it has achieved.
‘I’m in a position where I can share my wealth and good luck and hard work to give someone a helping hand’
In 28 years, the foundation has helped establish housing for homeless older men at Queanbeyan, 15km from Canberra, and contributed significant funds to the marriage equality campaign. It continues to work with indigenous communities to try to eliminate scabies and rheumatic heart disease.
“We had the opportunity to work on a program to eliminate scabies altogether and we were very enthusiastic about that because our contribution could make a significant difference,” Snow says.
“We got towards the end of that program, and one of the results of scabies is it can have devastating effects on children and promotes rheumatic heart disease, so we made that our next project.”
Far from simply signing a cheque and moving on, the Snow Foundation takes a hands-on approach to the projects it funds, with Byron working closely with various partners to ensure their investment gets results.
In the case of tackling rheumatic heart disease in the Aboriginal community of Maningrida in the Northern Territory, Byron says the project had to be 100 per cent community-led to be a success.
“When we supported Maningrida they had the highest rates in the world of rheumatic heart disease and they said ‘we want to do something’ and the whole community came together,” Byron says. As a result, 620 children were screened and 30 were identified as having rheumatic heart disease, three of whom were airlifted to Adelaide and Melbourne hospitals immediately for open heart surgery.
“The school did a whole term on rheumatic heart disease, educating families in their language, using local metaphors and emphasising the importance of hygiene,” Byron says.
“It can be prevented and that’s also why we’re so committed to (eliminating) scabies because it comes from a sore throat or a sore, and the Strep A infection gets into their heart.”
Snow is particularly passionate about medical research and the role of philanthropy, having seen firsthand the work being funded by American billionaires Bill and Melinda Gates at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute to eliminate malaria.
‘There’s an opportunity in Australia to do something ... these bright young scientists can help develop cures to improve our lives’
“I think the government’s good at providing things like laboratories and workshops and equipment but what we need in this country is the buying power, the opportunity for PhD students and research fellows to align themselves to these institutes to do research,” he says.
“That money’s not forthcoming and they’ve got to scrounge around for funding which they get from some universities and all over the place and it’s not for any length of time.
“I think there’s an opportunity in Australia to do something there and I would like to be part of that and hope that these bright young scientists can help develop cures to improve our lives.”
As well as the Gates duo, Snow is a big admirer of fellow philanthropist Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest and would love to see more wealthy people follow their lead.
“What amazes me is what they (wealthy people) are going to do with their money,” he says.
“They should spend it on good things and enjoy doing it. The people you meet are exciting and I enjoy all that.”
He says there are too many examples of parents ruining their children by leaving them large fortunes, rather than making them “stand on their own feet”.
“A lot of money doesn’t do them any good. The kids become disorientated and out of touch and lose track,” Snow says.
“You’ve got to try to do some good and help other people, and that’s the view I’ve taken and my wife (Ginette) takes, and it’s what Georgina and Stephen and Tom and Scarlett subscribe to.”
With no prompting, Snow rattles off the achievements of his adult children who are also board members of the Snow Foundation, with their own interests and charities to support.
“Stephen Byron, my son, he works extraordinarily hard at (Canberra) Airport. Tom Snow, he’s done a lot of work with marriage equality and also prior to that he worked in a bank and started a business advising people on financial affairs,” Snow continues.
“Georgie is an ex-banker. She’s got a job now she loves and Scarlett helps people with speech therapy, she’s a great service to the community. That’s a good spot for everyone to be in and that’s what we live by. I’ve got a nice car, a nice house. What more do you want?”
Byron is unashamedly proud of her father, whom she credits for passing on a strong work ethic and “a strong purpose”.
“He’s always been very focused on what he needs to do but also very focused on ensuring the family is knitted together and getting on well,” she says. “What he’s done with his business is incredible.”
Canberra Airport is a particular source of pride for Snow, as is the Willinga Park equestrian centre on the NSW South Coast. Both developments have been “built to last” and give something to the community that it would not have got from the government, Snow notes.
“I think the airport is a wonderful building and it was sorely needed by Canberra,” he says.
“I get a great deal of pride out of it and I’d like to see more aircraft fly out of there.
“Willinga Park has got beautiful gardens and sculptures and I get a lot of joy from having the community come and use these facilities.”
On balance, he says both the foundation and his major developments have proven very satisfying.
“I’ve had a very happy business life and I am looking forward to the next leg of seeing what we can do in the medical space,” says Snow.
“I think (the foundation) is in agreement that if medical research needs a certain amount of money to fix some disease, I’d spend the money.
“I wouldn’t think twice about it because that would be a wonderful contribution to leave on life’s ledger.”
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What’s in a nickname?
Terry Snow’s nickname of Mr Canberra is well deserved.
After training as an accountant, Snow turned to commercial property development in the 1980s with his father Bob and brother George.
Since then, his Capital Airport Group and Capital Property Group have invested an estimated $2 billion developing more than 400 hectares of land, predominantly in the airport precinct.
Among his most notable developments are the $350million Canberra Airport, the Brindabella, Fairbairn and Majura business parks, Constitution Place in Canberra’s civic centre, Majura shopping centre, and the master-planned Denman Prospect community.
The new suburb in the Molonglo Valley was the first in Australia to have a minimum requirement for solar on each of its 2000 homes, and was also the first to commit to the Homes for Homes initiative. Under that scheme, 0.1 per cent of the proceeds of each property sold in the suburb is returned to the community in the form of affordable housing for older women.
Environmental credentials have featured prominently in much of Snow’s work, with the Brindabella Business Park featuring the first building in Australia to be awarded a five-star green rating. Similarly, Constitution Place aims to have Canberra’s first WELL-rated building.
Capital Airport Group holds a 99-year lease on the airport, which operates domestic and international services, with Qantas, Virgin Australia, Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways among its customers.
Snow also developed Willinga Park in Bawley Point on the NSW South Coast, featuring an equestrian centre with three Olympic-standard dressage arenas, showjumping fields and a campdrafting arena.
He divides his time between the South Coast and Canberra but professes a soft spot for the capital, the city in which he was born in 1943.