Terry Snow

Terry Snow and his Blue Heeler, Chilli. Snow is holding the book "Canberra Airport: A Pictorial History" (2009) by his wife, Ginette Snow. He is standing beside the model of Brindabella Business Park.

Terry Snow AM (b. 1943 in Canberra) is an Australian businessman (trained accountant), entrepreneur, and philanthropist based in Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory.

Business and professional history

Snow is Executive Chairman of the Capital Airport Group,[1] the company which owns the lease for the land which contains Brindabella Business Park,[2] Fairbairn Business Park, formerly a Royal Australian Air Force base as well as the Majura Business Park and the Majura Park Shopping Centre.

Snow has been responsible for a $250 million development of a new terminal for Canberra Airport including an “extravagant” international terminal which won an interior design award and welcomed the first two international air carriers to Canberra; Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

Snow also developed Brindabella Business Park. One of these landmark buildings is 8 Brindabella Circuit, which was awarded 5 stars under the Green Star rating system of the Green Building Council of Australia – the first and highest rating ever awarded in Australia at the time. Snow's attempt to develop land around the Canberra Airport has been described by Patrick Troy as controversial. Specific criticisms include that it removes jobs from Civic, diminishes Canberra's town centre, and causes unnecessary congestion on roads originally designed exclusively for airport traffic .[4] However, the development of Brindabella Business Park has attracted international corporates including KPMG, Deloitte and Raytheon as well as the Department of Home Affairs and has been recognised as an emerging aerotropolis that has helped to grow the Canberra workforce.

Snow’s nearby Majura Park Shopping Centre has attracted international retailers Costco, Aldi and Ikea along with nationwide retailers Bunnings, Woolworths and Dan Murphy.

Snow is also the owner of Capital Property Group which is responsible for the development of Denman Prospect, a master-planned community in the Molonglo Valley and the first suburb in Australia to have a minimum requirement for solar on every home and the first suburb in Australia to commit to the Homes for Homes initiative which donates 0.1 per cent of the sale price of all properties to projects that address the shortage of social and affordable housing in the ACT.

Capital Property Group is also building Constitution Place, a site adjacent to the Canberra Theatre and the ACT Legislative Assembly in Civic, ACT which will house a five-storey government office building and a 12-level commercial building that aims to be Canberra’s first WELL-rated building in Canberra with a hotel and dining spaces.

In 2017, he opened Willinga Park, an award-winning, 2,000-acre, equine facility in Bawley Point, NSW. Willinga Park has been developed to include an equestrian centre with three Olympic-sized dressage arenas, showjumping fields and a campdrafting arena.

In 2018, Snow sponsored the largest campdrafting purse in Australian history at the World Championship Gold Buckle Campdraft centre. Pete Comiskey, a Queensland campdrafting rider won the $100,000 purse after only four rounds lasting four minutes. Willinga Park also includes native gardens and a sculpture walk. It has been referred to “Jurassic Park with horses.” In June 2018, it was announced that Sculpture on the Clyde, an outdoor art exhibition usually held on the Clyde River in Bateman’s Bay would be moved to Willinga Park to avoid being cancelled after the Eurobodalla Shire Council and event organisers were unable to come to an agreement on event logistics, insurance and security.

Snow established the Snow Foundation in 1990 along with his brother, George. Now valued at over A$40 million, it donates to regional charities and organisations helping needy people.[3][4] Snow has predicted the Snow Foundation endowment will “be over $100 million and that will let us do three times what we're doing now" in the next 10–15 years.

In 2013, Snow was ranked by Forbes as Australia's 39th richest person, with a net worth of $755 million.[5]

In 2005 he published the "Living City" proposal for the redevelopment of Canberra.[6][7] This caused some controversy, especially after the proposal's rebuff by the ACT Government and combined with his provocative assertion that Canberra is a "dead-set boring" city that had been "going backwards since self-government".[8]

In 2017, the National Portrait Gallery commissioned his portrait in recognition of the contribution Snow has made to the growth of Canberra and his work as a philanthropist. In a media interview, Snow said he was proud to call Canberra home: "I was born in Canberra, that's quite something for someone who is 74. I love the place; it's been a big part of my life, a very happy life. I had a wonderful time growing up in Canberra, raising a family here, developing a business career. Some people say Canberra is an economic backwater but I've proven that wrong. It's a great little city."

Snow was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2006 Australia Day Honours for "service to the building and construction industry, particularly the redevelopment of the Canberra International Airport precinct, and to the community through support for a range of charitable organisations".[9]

Terry Snow attended Canberra Grammar School and endowed The Snow Centre for Education in the Asian Century to focus on the advancement of Asian Studies at primary and secondary school levels. The centre was established in 2015 and aims to provide “world-class facilities for the study of Asian languages, history and culture.” Canberra Grammar School also offers the Terry Snow Scholarship for Global Studies for a student who demonstrates excellent academic potential and a commitment to a global outlook who wishes to take the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.

The Snow family is a strong supporter of, and has provided in-kind contributors to, the Marriage Equality lobby group Australians for Equality.[10][11] Terry Snow's son Tom[12][13] is the executive Co-Chair, with Tiernan Brady as the Director of Australians for Equality.[11]

Snow holds a commercial pilot license for fixed wing aircraft and rotary wing aircraft and has a command instrument rating.[14]

Family

Terry is married to Ginette, and they have four children: Georgina, Stephen, Tom, Scarlet.[4]

Snow's step-son, Stephen Byron,[1][15] is managing director of Canberra Airport Group.

Snow is often seen with his blue heeler dog, Chilli, which attends meetings with him at his airport offices.

References

  1. 1 2 Board of Directors Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine., Canberra Airport Group. Retrieved 23 August 2009
  2. ↑ Brindabella Park, Kathleen Hyland interview with Terry Snow, ABC TV, 2004-04-02. Retrieved 24 August 2009
  3. ↑ Snow Foundation. Retrieved 23 August 2009
  4. 1 2 Listening to Fresh Voices: new foundations, younger generations, Georgina Byron, Philanthropy Australia conference, October 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2009
  5. ↑ "Forbes Profile Terry Snow".
  6. ↑ High Powered Members appointed to Canberra Central Taskforce, ACT Government, 2005-05-05. Retrieved 24 August 2009
  7. ↑ Minutes of Proceedings, ACT Legislative Assembly, 2005-05-04. Retrieved 24 August 2009
  8. ↑ Govt fights back over 'boring' claims, The Canberra Times, 2005-07-29. Retrieved 24 August 2009
  9. ↑ "SNOW, Terrence Mark". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
  10. ↑ Taylor, Josh (2 August 2016). "Snowed under: Australian Marriage Equality offshoot focuses on plebiscite". Crikey. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  11. 1 2 Massola, James (4 February 2017). "Government MPs working to bring same-sex marriage policy to a head over next fortnight". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  12. ↑ Thistleton, John (14 May 2012). "Doting dads get in the frame". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  13. ↑ "dad daddy sybilla and angus".
  14. ↑ "Board of Directors". Canberra Airport. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011.
  15. ↑ Stephen flies high on enthusiasm, Canberra City News, 6–12 August 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2009
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