Our People

Russell Beer

Chairman

Independent Director
Chairman of Partners, MacDonnells Solicitors
LLB; Grad Dip. Legal Practice
Appointed October 2001

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

Clive Skarott

Director

Cairns Ports, Chairman
Electricity Credit Union, CEO
Diploma of Financial Services
Appointed February 2007

Clive Skarott is the Chief Executive Officer and Company Secretary of Electricity Credit Union Australia; Chairman of Cairns Ports; 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

Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Tropical North Queensland
Appointed November 2005
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

Chairman, Cairns Chamber of Commerce
Director, The 20/20 Group
Appointed May 2007

Jeremy is a director and co-founder of The 20/20 Group and has been working in economics related fields in North Queensland for 19 years, the last five years of which has been with The 20/20 Group.

For ten years he was in the corporate government sector, working with Cairns Ports (CPA), including three years as corporate services manager; four years as assistant to the CEO; and three years as market analyst, handling research and economic analysis. Prior to CPA, Jeremy was with economics consultancy, Cummings Economic Research Services, providing economic and market research services to clients.

Jeremy holds a Bachelor of Science (Economics). He is President of the Cairns Chamber of Commerce and a Director of Trinity Anglican School, Cairns.

Clive Abbott

Director

Director & Treasurer, Far North Queensland Area Consultative Committee
Agency Principal, Betta Real Estate
Director, Trinity Anglican School
Licensed Real Estate Agent
Commissioner for Declarations
Appointed May 2007

Clive Abbott has been a Real Estate Agent in Cairns since 1991. Clive was a partner in the compilation & publication of the ‘Cairns 2020-2050 Business Research Manual’ in 2005. Prior to 1991, Clive spent more than 20 years in aviation & tourism with Ansett Airlines, holding positions as North Qld Manager, Victorian Marketing Manager and Sydney Airport Manager. Apart from 8 years in the 1980’s, he has lived in Cairns since 1969.

Cam Charlton

Independant Director

Director, Kleinhardt FGI
B.Comm; LLB; MMIC
Appointed July 2005

Cam is Managing Director of corporate advisory firm Kleinhardt Pty Ltd,

Cam is a member of the Council of James Cook University, a member of the Judging Panel of the Australian Tourism Awards and Chairman of the Judging panel of the Queensland Tourism Awards. He is a former Chairman of both Tourism Tropical North Queensland and of the Cairns Regional Economic Development Corporation.

Cam has extensive commercial experience throughout Australia, the United Kingdom, Papua New Guinea, Asia and Russia.

Cam holds degrees as a Bachelor of Commerce and as a Bachelor of Laws. He is a retired fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, a member of the Institute of Management Consultants in Australia, a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and an accredited consultant with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation.

Ron Tong

Independant Director

Managing Director, Tong Sing
Bbus, MBA, MAICD, DipEd
Appointed September 2005

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

Independant Director

Director & Chief Executive Officer, HS Vision Group
B.Comm; Registered Tax Agent; Justice of the Peace
Appointed November 2006

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

Vice-Chancellor & President, James Cook University
BSc (Hons) ANU , M.Pub.Admin UQ , PhD NCSU , FAICD, FAIM
Appointed October 2007

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

Mayor of Cairns, Cairns Regional Council
Appointed April 2008

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.

Ross Contarino

Chief Executive Officer

Appointed July 2008

Ross Contarino is a born and bred North Queenslander having started his days in the Herbert Valley just east of Ingham. Ross followed his family into the sugar cane industry and became heavily involved in not only the industry but in the local community. After a term as a Councillor with Hinchinbrook Shire he left farming to become involved in regional development and held management positions with the Development Bureau of Hinchinbrook and Cardwell Shires, the North Queensland Economic Development Board and The North Queensland Area Consultative Committee. Through these positions he gained a strong appreciation of many of the industries across the region and made many lasting contacts. Before assuming the CEO role with Advance Cairns, Ross was previously the North Queensland Regional Manager for AusIndustry.

Ross has an MBA from James Cook University and is heavily involved in Sport, particularly with his position as an executive member of the North Queensland Sports Foundation. He is a keen Squash Player and avid motorcyclist.

Ross has been very involved in community associations such as:

• Townsville Branch of the Australian Institute of Management
• The Outback Players Theatre Group
• President of the Townsville & District Motorcycle Riders Association & Charity Toy Run Convener
• A Board Member of the Catholic Education Finance Committee
• A Life Member of the North Queensland Sports Foundation.

Dianne Vogel

Communications and Industry Development Manager

Appointed May 2007

Amanda Farinola

Administration & Research Manager

Appointed August 2005

Cairns Regional Council was created in 1995 through an amalgamation of the former Cairns Regional Council and Mulgrave Shire Council. The Cairns local government area has an estimated resident population of 130,594 and the seeks to fulfill its mandate of providing for today and planning for the future through three main strategies:

• By delivering quality, affordable services and public infrastructure to Cairns, in partnership with the community, governments and the private sector;
• By encouraging and facilitating environmentally sustainable economic, social and cultural development and prosperity for Cairns; and
• By ensuring Council's operations are environmentally, socially, culturally and economically sustainable.

Amalgamations of regional councils are taking place across Queensland. Cairns Regional Council district will expand and new council boundaries will take effect after council elections on 15 March 2008.

The Cairns Ports is a statutory Queensland Government Owned Corporation with two Shareholding Ministers, the Minister for Transport and Main Roads and the Minister for Infrastructure.

The Cairns Ports maintains responsibility for the management and operation of:

• Cairns International Airport, the fifth busiest airport in the country and the largest government owned airport
• Port of Cairns, a multi-purpose regional seaport that caters to a diverse range of industries
• Over 1,100 hectares of strategic port land and property
• Cityport, an urban-waterfront development project adjacent to the Central Business District.

CPA is actively involved in the cooperative marketing and promotion of Cairns and Tropical North Queensland as a tourist destination and the facilitation of trade opportunities.