Governance-Queensland Section
Mr Mark Gray, Chairman, BEcon (Hons), SF Fin, FAIM, MAICD
Mark Gray joined the Board in 2000 and is a Member of the Finance and Audit Committee. Mark is an Executive Director with BDO Kendalls, specialising in corporate finance and investment banking issues. Previously, Mark was the Office Head for the Macquarie Group in Brisbane and also a Divisional Director with Macquarie Capital Advisors for eight years. Mark has also formerly worked in government, holding senior positions in the Queensland Treasury and earlier appointments with the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, as well as the Industries Assistance Commission and the Australian Bureau of Statistics for the Commonwealth Government in Canberra. Mark has vast experience across all areas of finance and financial management. He has several other corporate directorships, and is also a Trustee on the Board of the Queensland Art Gallery, a member of the Griffith University Council and an Adjunct Professor of Economics at the University of Queensland.
Dr Julia Leeds, MBBS (Qld) GAICD
Dr Julia Leeds joined the Board in 2003 and serves as Chairperson and is a member of the Remuneration and Appointments Committee and the Risk and Compliance Committee. Julia worked for many years as a medical practitioner in Charleville, including 18 months as a medical officer for the Royal Flying Doctor Service and then in general practice. Julia is a Queensland representative on the Rural and Remote working party of Breast Cancer Network, Australia. Julia is now retired from medical practice and lives on a cattle property in South-West Queensland and continues to represent the health care consumers of the RFDS in the region.
Mr Frank Dorrstein
Frank Dorrstein joined the Board in 1999 and was appointed Chairman from 2007 until 2009. Frank is also Chairman of the Remuneration and Appointments Committee. Frank founded Driveline Services in 1982 to service the needs of the local trucking community. The company has now grown to employ over 80 staff in seven branches, covering the eastern seaboard of Australia from Melbourne to Mackay and is recognised as a market leader in the driveline automotive industry. Frank has always maintained a keen interest in aviation and currently holds a pilot’s licence. He has been a member of Rotary for over 25 years.
Mr Richard (Dick) Conder, A.P.M., Grad Cert. Legal & Justice, FAIM
Dick Conder joined the Board in 2008 and is currently a member of the Risk and Compliance Committee. Dick recently retired from the Queensland Police Service as deputy Commissioner after 40 years. During this time he served right across Queensland. For the past 10 years he occupied senior positions involved in operation delivery and performance, major project management and leadership, strategic planning, best practice and corporate governance.
Mr Peter Gartshore, BCom (Qld)
Peter Gartshore joined the Board in October 2008 and is a member of the Remuneration and Appointments Committee. Peter, is a company director with 34 years of experience in private enterprise covering the building and construction, property development, automotive and agricultural industries. Peter co-founded Big Country Buildings producing small scale pre-engineered products. In 2006, the company was rebranded IDEC, an anagram from Ideas, Design, Engineering and Construction where Peter remains a Managing Director today. In 2005 Peter formed DGS Property Group , DGS is a property development and investment company that is active in the retail, industrial and commercial sectors across Queensland. Peter has a strong interest in rural areas and has a private pilot’s licence.
Mrs Pip Hacon, RN
Pip Hacon joined the Board in 1993 and is currently a member of the Remuneration and Appointments Committee. Pip is a voice from the bush at board level representing the clients of the RFDS Qld Section - Mt Isa Region. Pip has lived on an isolated cattle station for 30 years and greatly appreciates the services that the RFDS Qld Section offers their remote clients and is therefore passionate about securing a positive future for the RFDS Qld Section. Pip enjoys actively participating in the monthly board meetings, assisting in the determination of the direction and future of the RFDS (Queensland Section).
Mr Ian Lovegrove
Ian Lovegrove joined the Board in 2000 and is currently a member of the Remuneration and Appointments Committee. Ian has been company secretary with the Woorabinda Pastoral Company for the last 14 years. Woorabinda is an aboriginal organisation with six properties. Ian finished his service there on 30 June 2009. Ian is also the Secretary of the Saleyards Association of Queensland. Ian has previously worked for Dalgety Stock and Station Agents serving in nine country branches as well as Brisbane; had 12 months with the Lands Department as a Rural Valuer; worked as a rural veterinary supplies representative for five years; owned a charter boat and operated out of Cairns for two years; sold rural properties for 16 years with Savage Barker and Backhouse and had five years as Stud Stock Manager in central and northern Queensland with Primac. Ian also served for six months in the navy for National Service. Ian commenced with the Acton Land and Cattle Company on 1 st April 2009, as Events Coordinator for the Paradise Lagoons Camp Draft facility on a part time basis.
Mr William Mellor, DSC, AM, BA (Qld), Grad Dip Strat Studies, Dip App Sc, GAICD
Bill Mellor joined the Board in 2005 and is currently a member of the Finance and Audit Committee and the Risk and Compliance Committee. Bill retired from the military following a 35 year career in Army Aviation. He is now the Principal of Due Vigilance Pty Ltd, offering consulting services predominantly in the aerospace sector, and a director of IPS Securex Pty Ltd which markets security technologies to industry and government. He is also President of the Australian Army Aviation Association Inc., and a trustee of The General Douglas MacArthur Brisbane Memorial Trust.
Mr Russell Postle, CA, FTIA
Russell Postle served on the Board from 1987 to 1990 and was re-appointed to the Board in 1994 and is currently Chairman of the Finance and Audit Committee. Russell is a Partner at BDO Kendalls and has experience providing audit, business advisory and specialist taxation consulting services to a wide range of clients and industries.
Dr Desley Marshall
Dr Desley Marshall joins the RFDS (Queensland Section) Board and the Health and Advisory Committee with 30 years rural general practitioner experience. Desley has a passion for rural health issues and has been a member of the Rural Doctors Association of Queensland and a number of its committees since it was formed in 1988, an examiner with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, and also belongs to the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM). Desley has a practice located at the St George Hospital where she is a private GP and works on-call for the St George Hospital. For 13 years, Desley was involved with the Flying Obstetric and Gynaecology Service providing anesthetics. Desley is also a keen aviator, having held a private pilot licence from 1984 until 1997. Desley brings her skills, knowledge and expertise on rural health to the Board and will help shape the future of health services provided by the RFDS.
Sally-Anne Witherspoon
Sally-Anne Witherspoon joins the RFDS (Queensland Section) Board of Directors as a self-employed grazier from a remote area of north Queensland, with direct experience of the services that the RFDS provides. As a mother of three children who have been recipients of both RFDS primary and emergency care, Sally-Anne is well positioned to provide insight into living and raising a family in extremely remote and isolated areas. Sally-Anne and her husband operate properties in Queensland ranging from Weipa on Cape York to Richmond and Charters Towers. For over 30 years Sally-Anne has lived and worked alongside people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, gathering an understanding of issues and concerns, especially on Cape York. She and her husband have also worked in the mining industry in earthmoving operations. Sally-Anne also has a Multi Combination Licence and is an experienced road-train driver. Last year, Sally-Anne became a fixed wing pilot and continues to work towards gaining experience in this area.
Michael Burnett
Michael joined the Board in September 2010. Michael is a judicial officer having previously practised as a barrister in Brisbane for 23 years. His practice areas principally included commercial, administrative and construction law. He also worked as an accredited mediator, registered as a BCIPA adjudicator and was a graded arbitrator with the IAMA. Following admission as a solicitor in 1982 and prior to practicing as a barrister he was employed as a solicitor and in government in regional Queensland. He has been a member of the reserve forces for over 25 years and is presently the Deputy Judge Advocate General (Air Force) for the Australian Defence Force. He maintains an active involvement in the RAAF Reserve and is an enthusiastic private pilot.