Business

MICHAEL ALLEN 

Michael Allen will forever be grateful for the life lessons he learnt from his mum and dad.  His mother, Margaret, taught him to be positive and optimistic, to believe that anything is possible – and pushed him into public speaking and debating to “burn off any shyness”.  And his father, Theo, a reserved, good man, taught...

Business

RAY PRATT

Ray Pratt has never been one to take the easy path. The proud Western Arrernte man founded Dice not to chase incentives, but to challenge himself and prove what could be built through conviction and hard work. That determination has since grown into a broader vision — showing that Aboriginal businesses can and should lead from the front, and...

Business

PHOEBE BARDSLEY

Phoebe Bardsley had one of those lightbulb moments while studying health service data. The bare statistics clearly showed that the Australian health industry has a growing problem – the maldistribution of skilled medical staff. Phoebe decided that rather than just analyse the challenge, she would do something about it. Go Locum was...

Business

JAKE EGGLETON

Success in business isn’t about luck — it’s about risk, resilience and execution. Jake Eggleton built Fuel Drop and Darwin Logistics from the ground up. But it wasn’t easy – and it certainly wasn’t handed to him. Today, his companies supply fuel and road train transport to some of the Northern Territory’s biggest industries,...

Business

NEVILLE PANTAZIS CYCLONE TRACY SURVIVOR

Neville Pantazis was 15 when Cyclone Tracy came to town. The family was living on Ross Smith Avenue – Paul (Napoleon in Cypriot) and mum Irene, nee Kanaris, sister Paula, with cousin Angelo Angeli, a relative from Cyprus, and his pregnant wife Hariklia. During the “eye” of the cyclone, Paul, who is now 93, and Angelo went to his...

Business

Emil Tastula A Territory innovator

Emil Tastula, a big-thinking entrepreneur who began doing work experience on cattle stations when he was still in primary school, has just joined the illustrious list. Following New Zealand’s 2010 Pike River disaster, when 29 coal miners were killed in an underground methane gas explosion, he questioned why a mine’s control room could not...

Anthony Waller Cover Story

ANTHONY WALLER

The entrepreneur, bookie, lawyer, accountant and former full-time professional punter lives by the motto of his old primary school: Perseverance Conquers. He has other qualities than being a hard worker – intelligence, an innovative spirit and a joy in building a business. But it’s sticking at it, having a never-say-die attitude to...

Sprout - Cover Page Business

CARLEY SCOTT REACHING FOR THE STARS

So, it’s appropriate that the future of Australia’s space industry lies on Aboriginal land. And it’s doubly appropriate that a dynamic woman who spent several happy years living and working in Nhulunbuy should be heading one of the most exciting ventures in the country. Carley Scott is chief executive officer of Equatorial Launch...

VAL DYER Cover Story

VAL DYER – A CATTLE QUEEN

She was a controversial head of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association and is now at the forefront of negotiating exploration and fracking rights with the onshore oil and gas industry. The leading pastoralist offers no apologies for doing what she thinks is right. Not surprisingly, the former Rural Woman of the Year is saluted in the...

Paspaley Cover Story

SOPHIA ACHIEVING BY DESIGN

It’s part of the family philosophy that everyone stays grounded by learning as many aspects of the business as possible. Her father Nick Paspaley is the executive chairman of Paspaley Pearls, which is based in Darwin and has 20 pearl farms strung along the north-west coast. Sophia is the youngest of Nick’s four children. The eldest sibling...

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JIMMY SHU – Putting fun into food

Jimmy Shu’s flagship Hanuman in Darwin has been going for 30 years. The likeable bloke who arrived in Australia with just $50 in his pocket as a young man is clearly doing something right. Jimmy, whose recipe for success in the restaurant business is simply “good food, good service and fair price”, has long been respected in the Northern...

Danny Skewes Cover Story

DANNY TAKES THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

Neville and Helen Skewes never imagined when they moved to Darwin nearly 70 years ago that they would one day be honoured as the founders of a Territory dynasty. Their children and grandchildren continue to play key roles in the NT and beyond. And one of their eccentricities lives on. Helen was fascinated by astronomy and astrology, so...