Terry Snow

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

Terry Snow

AM
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.
Born
Terrence Mark Snow

1943 (age 76–77)
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
NationalityAustralian
EducationCanberra Grammar School
OccupationBusinessman; entrepreneur; philanthropist
Known forRedevelopment of Canberra International Airport and associated business parks
Net worthUS$1.2 bn (Forbes 2019)[1]

Background

The Snow family have a long history with Canberra and district. Terry Snow is the grandson of Canberra’s first general store owner.[2]

Snow attended Canberra Grammar School; and he has subsequently supported the school through a number of philanthropic gifts.[2][3][4]

Career

Commercial development

Snow is Executive Chairman of the Capital Airport Group,[5] the company which owns the lease for the land which contains Canberra Airport, Brindabella Business Park,[6] Snow's Capital Airport Group acquired the 99-lease from the Australian Government, paying $40 million in 1998.[1] 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[7] which won an interior design award[8] and welcomed the first two international air carriers to Canberra; Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways, in 2017 and 2018 respectively.[9]

Snow 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.[10] Snow's attempt to develop land around the Canberra Airport was 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.[6] The development of Brindabella Business Park has attracted international corporates including KPMG, Deloitte and Raytheon[11] as well as the Department of Home Affairs and has been recognised as an emerging aerotropolis[12] that has helped to grow the Canberra workforce.

Snow’s nearby Majura Park Shopping Centre attracted international retailers Costco, Aldi[13] and Ikea,[14] with nationwide retailers Bunnings Warehouse, Woolworths and Dan Murphy's.[15]

Capital Property Group is also building Constitution Place,[16] a site adjacent to the Canberra Theatre and the ACT Legislative Assembly in Civic, 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,[17] an award-winning, 810-hectare (2,000-acre), equine facility in Bawley Point. Willinga Park was developed to include an equestrian centre with three Olympic-sized dressage arenas, showjumping fields and a campdrafting arena.[18] 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.[18] Willinga Park also includes native gardens and a sculpture walk. It has been referred to “Jurassic Park with horses.”[19] In June 2018, it was announced that Sculpture on the Clyde, an outdoor art exhibition usually held on the Clyde River in Batemans 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.[20] During the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, Willinga Park and its well constructed and defended fire breaks was credited as providing a needed fire break that saved Bawley Point from destructive fires.[21]

Residential development

Snow is also the owner of Capital Property Group which is responsible for the development of Denman Prospect,[22] a master-planned community in the Molonglo Valley and the first Australian suburb to have a minimum requirement for solar power generation on every home[23] 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.[24]

Philanthropy

Snow established the Snow Foundation in 1991[25] along with his brother, George. Now valued at over A$40 million,[26] it donates to regional charities and organisations helping needy people.[27][28] 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.[26]

In 2013, Snow was ranked by Forbes Asia as Australia's 39th richest person, with a net worth of US$755 million.[29] By 2019, his wealth was estimated by Forbes Asia at US$1.2 billion.[1]

In 2005 he published the "Living City" proposal for the redevelopment of Canberra.[30][31] 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".[32]

In 2017, the Australian National Portrait Gallery commissioned Snow's portrait in recognition of the contribution he has made to the growth of Canberra and his work as a philanthropist.[33] 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."[34]

The Snow family is a strong supporter of, and has provided in-kind contributors to, the Marriage Equality lobby group Australians for Equality.[35][36] Snow's son, Tom,[37][38] is the executive Co-Chair, with Tiernan Brady as the Director of Australians for Equality.[36]

Snow holds a commercial pilot license for fixed wing aircraft and rotary wing aircraft and has a command instrument rating.[39]

Through a gift of A$8 million in 2013 to Canberra Grammar School,[2] he 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.”[40] 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.[3] In October 2019 Snow donated A$20 million to Canberra Grammar School with the plan to rebuild the school's breezeway and to pave a way for students' extended and enriched education. The gift was reported as the largest philanthropic gift to an Australian school.[4]

Honours and awards

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.[41]

Snow has a large equestrian property, Willinga, near Bawley Point in New South Wales. In December 2019 and January 2020, massive fires swept through the area and Snow's "intricate fire plan [is] credited as part of the reason the nearby coastal town of Bawley Point escaped annihilation in the firestorm that swept through the region" The billionaire whose plan helped save a town from bushfire.

Family

Snow is married to Ginette, and they have four children: Georgina, Stephen, Tom, Scarlet.[28] Stephen Byron, Snow's stepson,[42] is managing director of Canberra Airport Corporation.[5][43]

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

References
  1. "#1818 Terry Snow". Billionaires 2019. Forbes. 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  2. Gibbs, Sam (1 August 2013). "Garden chat cultivates $8 million for Canberra Grammar". Fundraising & Philanthropy Magazine. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  3. "Year 11 Scholarships". cgs.act.edu.au.
  4. Groch, Sherryn (14 October 2019). "Canberra Grammar School gifted record-breaking $20 million from businessman". ABC News. Australia. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  5. Board of Directors Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Canberra Airport Group. Retrieved 23 August 2009
  6. Troy, Patrick (2 April 2004). "Brindabella Park". Stateline, New South Wales (Interview). Interviewed by Kathleen Hyland. Australia: ABC TV. Retrieved 24 August 2009.
  7. Sibthorpe, Clare (16 September 2016). "Canberra Airport opens 'extravagant' international terminal ahead of Singapore Airlines flights". Traveller.
  8. "Canberra Airport wins interior design award". The Canberra Times. 15 June 2018.
  9. Groch, Sherryn (12 February 2018). "First Qatar Airways flight from Doha lands at Canberra Airport". The Canberra Times.
  10. "Environmental Commitment". Airport Business Parks.
  11. "Tenant Directory". Airport Business Parks.
  12. Thistleton, John (17 March 2014). "Canberra Airport's workforce predicted to take off". The Canberra Times.
  13. Nguyen, Han (18 April 2018). "Bunnings Warehouse Canberra Airport to open next month". The Canberra Times.
  14. Colley, Clare (19 January 2015). "IKEA helps build case for international flights for Canberra Airport". The Canberra Times.
  15. Nguyen, Han (23 May 2018). "Canberra Airport's Bunnings Warehouse opens its doors". The Canberra Times.
  16. "Constitution Place Canberra". constitutionplace.com.au.
  17. "Facilities Archive".
  18. Hardy, Karen (2 June 2018). "Terry Snow's Willinga Park a 'game changer' for campdrafting". The Canberra Times.
  19. "Why Terry Snow, billionaire and yachtie, put $100 million into a horse park". Australian Financial Review. 23 May 2017.
  20. Lockley, Kate (21 June 2018). "Sculpture on Clyde bolts to Bawley Point". Bay Post-Moruya Examiner.
  21. The billionaire whose plan helped save a town from bushfire, Amelia McGuire, Sydney Morning Herald, 2020-01-08
  22. "Denman Prospect | Canberra's Most Remarkable New Suburb | Land For Sale". denmanprospect.com.au.
  23. "Fact sheet" (PDF). denmanprospect.com.au. 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  25. "The Snow Foundation Annual Report 2018". The Snow Foundation. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  26. Doherty, Megan (13 October 2016). "The Snow Foundation celebrates 25 years of helping those in need". The Canberra Times.
  27. Snow Foundation. Retrieved 23 August 2009
  28. Byron, Georgina (October 2008). Listening to Fresh Voices: new foundations, younger generations (PDF) (Speech). Philanthropy Australia conference. Philanthropy Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 October 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2009.
  29. "Forbes Profile Terry Snow". 2013.
  30. High Powered Members appointed to Canberra Central Taskforce, ACT Government, 2005-05-05. Retrieved 24 August 2009
  31. Minutes of Proceedings, ACT Legislative Assembly, 2005-05-04. Retrieved 24 August 2009
  32. Govt fights back over 'boring' claims, The Canberra Times, 2005-07-29. Retrieved 24 August 2009
  33. "Terry Snow, National Portrait Gallery". www.portrait.gov.au.
  34. Hardy, Karen (1 December 2017). "Terry Snow: I've loved building a life in this 'great little city'". The Canberra Times.
  35. Taylor, Josh (2 August 2016). "Snowed under: Australian Marriage Equality offshoot focuses on plebiscite". Crikey. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  36. 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.
  37. Thistleton, John (14 May 2012). "Doting dads get in the frame". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  38. "Dad, Daddy, Sybilla and Angus". The Canberra Times. 30 June 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  39. "Board of Directors". Canberra Airport. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011.
  40. "The Snow Centre for Education in the Asian Century". cgs.act.edu.au.
  41. "Member of the Order of Australia (AM) entry for SNOW, Terrence Mark". It's an Honour, Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 26 January 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2019. 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.
  42. Aston, Joe (24 January 2018). "Qantas, Virgin cancellation blues for Canberra Airport's Stephen Byron". Financial Review. Australia. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  43. "Stephen flies high on enthusiasm". Canberra City News. 6–12 August 2009. p. 6. Retrieved 24 August 2009.
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