Our Directors

Russell Beer

Chairman – Appointed October 2001

Independent Director
Partner, MacDonnells Law
LLB; Grad Dip. Legal Practice

Russell Beer is a Partner of MacDonnells Law, practicing in the areas of corporate and government business, taxation and property law. He is also Chairman of the Finance Council for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns, and Deputy Chairman of the Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation.

Clive Skarott

Director – Appointed February 2007

Ports North, Chairman
Electricity Credit Union, CEO
Diploma of Financial Services

Clive Skarott is the Chief Executive Officer and Company Secretary of Electricity Credit Union Australia; Chairman of Ports North; Chairman of the Queensland Port Association; Chairman Tropical Rainforest Institute Review Committee. Clive received the Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his 35 years of service to the Credit Union Industry.

Member of:

• Australian Institute of Company Directors
• Australasian Mutuals Institute
• Australian Institute of Management

Rob Giason

Director – Appointed November 2005

Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Tropical North Queensland

Member of: Regional Tourism Organisations of Queensland

Rob Giason is Chief Executive Officer of Tourism Tropical North Queensland with over 30 years experience in the tourism industry including nine years as Chief Executive of Tourism Tasmania. He sits on the Board of the Alliance for Sustainable Tourism, the Australian Association of Convention Bureau and the Pacific Asia Travel Association. He is a Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute.

Jeremy Blockey

Director – Appointed May 2007

Director, Blockey Consulting
President, Cairns Chamber of Commerce

Jeremy has been working in economics related fields in North Queensland for 21 years. For the past seven years, he has been consulting to the public and private sector, preparing a range of economic studies, feasibilities, research, strategic business plans and economic development plans.

Jeremy has been on the committee of the Cairns Chamber for six years, and has been President for the last three years. Jeremy has in-depth knowledge of regional development issues, and has been instrumental in a range of regional initiatives that have required collaboration and support across the three levels of government in Australia and private enterprise. One such initiative was the establishment of the Cairns Chamber’s Resource & Industrial Taskforce, which, over the past four years, has built a reputation for productive relationship-building with the mining sector across northern Australia, and now into Papua New Guinea.

Jeremy has a Bachelor of Science (Economics) degree from Leicester University, UK.

Ron Tong

Independent Director – Appointed September 2005

Managing Director, Tong Sing
Bbus, MBA, MAICD, DipEd

Ron is the Managing Director of Tong Sing Pty Ltd, a major horticulture export and transport company with extensive Queensland interests. He has held numerous positions on regional, state and federal committees and is currently a director of the Regional Council of Queensland Chamber of Commerce & Industry and is a board member of the Air Freight Council of Queensland as well as a board member of a public unlisted company with a turnover of approx $150m in which he is also the chairman of the Remuneration Committee.

Rose-Marie Dash

Independent Director & Deputy Chair – Appointed November 2006

Director & Chief Executive Officer, HS Vision Group
B.Comm; Registered Tax Agent; Justice of the Peace

For almost eight years, Rose-Marie has held the role of CEO/Director for Far North Queensland’s leading real estate development and construction companies, the H&S Group of Companies and The Lakes Group of Companies. From this she has a thorough knowledge of growth and development in the Cairns region. Rose-Marie has also overseen the expansion of her accountancy practice, Kambila Holdings, which was established in 1994 and has grown from a client-base of half a dozen to some 400 clients.

Sandra Harding

Director – Appointed October 2007

Vice-Chancellor & President, James Cook University
BSc (Hons) ANU , M.Pub.Admin UQ , PhD NCSU , FAICD, FAIM

Professor Sandra Harding is Vice-Chancellor and President of James Cook University. She holds a degree in Science (Hons) from the Australian National University, a Masters degree in Public Administration from The University of Queensland and a PhD in Sociology from North Carolina State University, USA.

Professor Harding has extensive academic and academic leadership experience. Between 1997 and 2006 Professor Harding held a number of senior executive roles at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), including Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International and Development) and (executive) Dean of the Business Faculty.

Professor Harding is currently a member of the HIH Assessment Review Panel, the Boards of the Australian Institute for Commercialisation and Townsville Enterprise Ltd, and a member of the Council of the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Cr Val Schier

Director – Appointed April 2008

Mayor of Cairns, Cairns Regional Council

Cr Schier has been a proud resident of Tropical North Queensland for 25 years and has previously resided in regional communities in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania.

Cr Schier brings to the role of Mayor experience gained through a challenging and diverse employment history from sectors such as education, hospitality and the public service. It is her extensive involvement with local community organisations that Cr Schier believes is the foundation of her role within Council. As the former President of the Machans Beach Progress Association for 10 years, Cr Schier guided a team to build the sense of community for which Machans Beach is renowned.

Cr Schier’s vision is for the region to retain its character and balance social well-being and environmental values with economic development.

Cr Schier is a member of numerous organisations including; the Australian Labor Party, the Cairns Chamber of Commerce, the Cairns Business Woman’s Club, Art Nexus and Friends of Cairns Regional Gallery.

Owen Dalton

Director – Appointed October 2008

Senior Partner – Planning/Senior Planner, Conics

Owen Dalton is a town planner and has been a Director of leading development consultancy Conics since 1989. He has comprehensive knowledge of the region gained from a long history of involvement in Far North Queensland development and infrastructure projects and is committed to Cairns and the region’s ongoing success and economic growth.

For many years, Owen has provided advice to pre-eminent developers and represented his clients in negotiations that have resulted in significant development in Cairns and the region. He works collaboratively with Council and State Government Agencies to advance major strategic land use and economic development projects in this region.

Owen has enjoyed having significant involvement with government and in influencing policy and legislative plans through committee positions with various industry groups over the past 15 years. Those industry groups have included the Northern Branch of the Planning Institute of Australia, the Northern Development Industry Association and more recently, the Urban Development Institute of Australia (Far Northern Branch).

Michael Huelin

Independent Director – Appointed October 2008

Partner, Williams, Graham Carman Solicitors

Michael Huelin is a Partner of Williams Graham Carman Solicitors and has been a resident of Cairns for the last 25 years.

Michael practices in the areas of commercial and property law and, particularly, in the areas of property development, tourism and hospitality. Michael is a member of:

• The Queensland Law Society; and
• The Taxation Institute of Australia

He is also a former member of:

• The Queensland Law Society Property and Practice Committee; and
• (and founding Director of) The Dr Edward Koch Foundation

Graham Caldwell

Independant Director – Appointed 2010

Business Consultant and Director of Fortis One

Graham Caldwell is a Business Consultant in Cairns and until recently was Chief Executive of WHK Cairns.  Graham brings a broad knowledge of corporate finance and taxation and has extensive experience in business improvement, acquisitions, tax advice and planning, strategic planning and estate planning.  He specialises in providing guidance in all areas of taxation including income tax, GST and CGT, as well as financial services including budgeting and cash flow forecasts.

Graham is the regional chair for the Australian Institute of Management and a Director of Fortis One, Ecobiotics and Qbiotics.  Graham holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting), is a Member of CPA Australia, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, Associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Fellow of the Taxation Institute of Australia and is Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. 

As an integral constituent of the Cairns business community for over 20 years, Graham has forged a solid reputation among his peers as a dynamic, passionate individual, dedicated to supporting and encouraging local business and industry.

Cr Bill Shannon

Director – Appointed 2010

Mayor of the Cassowary Coast Regional Council

Cr Bill Shannon is an economist and chartered accountant. He is currently serving as the Mayor of the Cassowary Coast Regional Council and until November, 2009, was an Industry Director of Terrain Natural Resource Management. 

He operates a beef and cane farming enterprise near Tully and is a Director of the Droughtmaster Stud Breeders’ Society Limited and Chairman of its Far North Zone and Chair of the Cassowary Coast Marine Advisory Committee to Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GRMPA). 

Until recently he was also Chair of the Cardwell Shire CMA and Tully Floodplain Steering Committee.  Until retiring in July 2006 Bill was the Company Secretary at Tully Sugar Limited.  He lives in Mission Beach and Bilyana with his wife Sue.