Kidston to head QMines

Copper and gold company QMines has shuffled its leadership and brought in Simon Kidston as chair and moved Andrew Sparke to managing director.

Kidston was co-founder of Genex, which is building renewable energy projects in north Queensland, including the pumped hydro project named after one of his ancestors William Kidston, who was also a two-time premier of Queensland.

Simon Kidston would earn $90,000 a year, plus superannuation and performance rights, in the role.

He said he felt privileged to take on the role.

Fraser takes on property role

Howard Smith Wharves chief executive Luke Fraser has been elected as Queensland president of the Property Council.

Fraser has been involved in the property sector for more than 24 years and was most recently on the Queensland division council.

He takes over from Andrew Hay and said his priorities would be to work with the Government in tackling the housing crisis and leveraging the investment for the Olympics as well as identifying how city centres can become the most vibrant and dynamic in the world.

Virgin adds two directors

Brisbane based airline Virgin has appointed former Macquarie Group chair Peter Warne to its board ahead of an expected float this year.

Former Goldman Sachs executive Pippa Downes would also join the board.

New Hope adds Stocker to board

Coal producer New Hope has appointed Lucia Stocker to its board as an independent, non-executive director.

Stocker is currently a consultant but had previously been on the board of Perth NRM.

She has 25 years of experience in mining, engineering and strategic planning.

Multicap adds senior exec

Multicap Group has appointed Andrew Hanson as services and operations chief executive.

Hanson has about 30 years of experience in the sector. He joins from disability services provider Scope where he was CEO.

TIQ snares DFAT exec

Trade and Investment Queensland has appointed Justin McGowan as its chief executive.

McGowan comes from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He was previously Australia’s commissioner-general to the World Expo in Dubai for four years.

BoQ changes counsel

The Bank of Queensland has restructured its role of group general counsel and company secretary.

Under the restructure, Nicholas Allton would leave the company and Fiona Daly would assume the role of general counsel and remain as company secretary.

RFG lures EML exec

Retail Food Group has appointed Rob Shore as its chief financial officer.

Shore begins the role in April. He joins from the troubled EML Payments where he was involved in the development and execution of that company’s strategy and transformation of its global finance function.

Sweeping changes at Fiji

Fiji Kava has appointed two new directors and announced the retirement of its chair and his replacement.

The changes were made to reflect a new focus on the US market and on its broadening shareholder base, the company said.

James Tonkin and Griffon Emrose are the two new directors. Chair Andrew Kelly would retire from March 31 and James Durack would become chair.

Anthony Noble remains group chief executive.

Elbit’s new director

Israel-owned defence company Elbit Systems has appointed retired Air Vice Marshal Kim Osley to the board of its Australian company.

The retired officer has more than 30 years of service in senior positions within the RAAF. He was also on the board of Quickstep Technologies and was a member of LEOLabs Australia’s strategic advisory board.

Elbit was also searching for a chief executive after the departure of Paul McLachlan in December.

Mead packs down with Bronco’s

NRL team the Brisbane Broncos have a new business development executive, David Mead.

He was previously self-employed and has almost 14 years of experience as a professional rugby league player.

ART gets a test lead

Simon Davis has started as test lead and senior test analyst with superannuation fund Australian Retirement Trust.

Davis had previously worked for Services Australia, Bank of Queensland and CUA.

Longreach gets a CEO

Longreach Regional Council has appointed Brett Walsh as its chief executive.

Walsh has been acting in the role since October and mayor Tony Rayner said the council had been impressed with his leadership.

Walsh had previously held senior roles at Barcaldine.

VC firm picks lead analyst

Venture capital fund Beaten Zone said Max Quinlan-Ward had been appointed as lead analyst.

He was previously a corporate development manager at SRO Technology.

Beaten Zone invests in early stage, Australian sovereign, lethal or near lethal defence technology.

It said Quinlan-Ward brought years of experience in identifying and analyzing potential investment opportunities with a specific focus on Australian-based SMEs in the resources and materials handling industries.

QIC selects Doneley for new role

Queensland Investment Corporation said James Doneley had started as director of real estate capital markets.

In the newly created role, Doneley would be responsible for the orgination and connection of capital markets to real estate acquisitions across QIC funds and mandates. He also leads QIC Real Estate’s capital transactions and investor relationships.

He joins from LendLease where he held a similar role.

Mah heads north for Mater role

Infant and perinatal psychiatrist Dr Beth Mah has moved to Brisbane from NSW to take on the inaugural role of director of Catherine’s House for Mothers, Babies and Families at Mater Hill.

Catherine’s House, to open early this year in the former convent, is Queensland’s first integrated perinatal mental health service where parents experiencing serious depression, anxiety and other mental health issues around the birth of their baby can stay with their infants while receiving treatment.

Mah was previously the Saint John of God Healthcare clinical lead psychiatrist.

The appointments column will not appear for the next two weeks.