The Interview Australia

Joining our series for his first exclusive, in-depth profile is self-made businessman & healthcare entrepreneur Dennis Bastas - Executive Chairman & CEO of DBG Health, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Arrotex Pharmaceuticals and Chairman of burgeoning consumer health enterprise, VidaCorp.

In this exclusive interview, Dennis takes us on a journey throughout his remarkable career, from the pivotal moments that led him into the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, to the growth and evolution of DBG Health - along the way, exploring the key lessons, achievements, challenges, and successes that have led him to become one of Australia’s preeminent businesspeople.

Founder & Host | Rob Langton

Proudly produced & distributed exclusively via Ready Media Group.

Further Information:

https://readymedia.com.au/

https://dbghealth.com.au/

Joining our program in this exclusive feature profile is Tony Quinn - Founder of Quinn Family Office.

A visionary, pioneer & the man with the Midas touch, Tony’s remarkable business success is a journey across three Countries, wherein his innate corporate nous combined with a relentless work ethic has enabled him to scale to the top of a diverse range of industry sectors including fresh pet food, confectionary, motorsport & commercial real estate investment.

Though perhaps best known for his early success as the founder & driving force behind global market leader VIP Petfoods, the business he established from the ground up in 1994 before selling a majority stake to Quadrant Private Equity in a $410m transaction in 2015, Tony’s business achievements extend far beyond the VIP deal & incorporate a number of other triumphs; not least of which being the rapid turnaround & re-structuring of the infamous Darrell Lea Confectionary business, a company he acquired in 2012 for $25m before selling six years later in a $200m deal.

Alongside his well popularised feats with both VIP & Darrell Lea Confectionary,

The culmination of this financial success over a long period of time led to Tony establishing his own private investment vehicle Quinn Family Office (Quinnfinity Group) in 2015, a company through which he channels his considerable resources & expertise to invest in a broad spectrum of domestic and international businesses, commercial property assets throughout the World & venture opportunities.

In this rare & exclusive profile produced and distributed by Ready Media Group, Tony Quinn details his extraordinary life, from growing up in a caravan in Aberdeen, Scotland to becoming one of the World’s most successful self-made business owners & investors - this is Tony Quinn, in his own words, filmed in his adopted hometown on Queensland’s Gold Coast, Australia.

Founder & Host - Rob Langton.

Joining our program on this episode is prolific developer, agricultural investor & businessman Gerard O’Brien - Founder & Director of Silverleaf Investments, a privately held commercial real estate investment company.

For over three decades, Gerard has been an instrumental figure across Western Australia’s real estate & business communities, playing an integral role particularly throughout Fremantle wherein his award-winning retail, commercial and residential projects have significantly added too & boosted the appeal of the City.



Alongside his development / re-development projects in Fremantle, Gerard also has extensive commercial holdings throughout Perth & Hobart in addition to a number of private farming interests.

In this exclusive profile, Gerard walks us through his background, his approach to real estate investment & development, how the Cities of Fremantle, Perth and Hobart have evolved over recent decades & the types of opportunities he sees on the horizon for sophisticated investors.

Founder & Host - Rob Langton

Proudly produced & distributed exclusively via Ready Media Group.

https://readymedia.com.au/

Joining our program on this episode in what is a unique & exclusive profile is Dan White - a 4th generation, executive member of the venerable White family real estate dynasty who currently serves as Managing Director of Ray White Group & Chairman of White & Partners.

Established in 1902, the Ray White Group is Australia’s largest & most successful real estate agency business, encompassing some twelve thousand plus members working across over a thousand agency offices throughout Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong & the Middle East.

Now it’s fourth generation of family leadership, Dan White was appointed Managing Director of the Ray White Group in 2015 wherein he leads the businesses diverse global operations, managing turnover that exceeds $35bn per annum, as well as serving as Founder & Chairman of the family’s private investment office, Ray White Capital, a business he established in 2001.



In this exclusive interview, Dan discusses the remarkable journey & success behind the Ray White Group, his personal career trajectory & learnings from his time at Arthur Anderson and Macquarie Bank, the opportunities and challenges involved in running a 12,000 person international business and the importance of legacy in maintaining the sustainability of the Ray White Group business for its future custodians.

Founder & Host - Rob Langton

https://readymedia.com.au/

https://www.raywhite.com/people/dan-white

Joining our program on this episode is Denis Wagner, Co-Founder & Non Executive Chairman of Wagners and Director of Wagner Corporation.

With a family association to Queensland’s Darling Downs region that predates an astonishing one-hundred-and-fifty years, Wagners & Wagner Corporation are unquestionably two of Australia’s largest and most successful businesses, with operations across manufacturing, construction, commercial property, aviation and mining services.

Tracing its roots back to 1896 when your great grandfather started business in this region, Wagners was officially established in 1989 as a partnership between Denis, his father Henry & siblings John and Neill Wagner.

The firm launched with a single concrete plant, added a second in 1996 and by 2010 was operating 19 concrete plants in fixed locations throughout Queensland in addition to expanding it’s construction materials operations both domestically and globally including in composite fibre technologies, bulk haulage, aggregates & earth-friendly concrete.

Over the course of the past three decades, Wagners has solidified its reputation with the firm being selected by blue-chip companies throughout Australia to deliver an enviable list of landmark projects - in 2012, Wagners undertook its own Nation-changing project with the construction of the circa $200m Wellcamp Airport, the first commercial airport to be built in Australia since the 1960’s.

In less than two years, construction of Toowoomba’s Wellcamp Airport was complete, with seventy-five scheduled flights a week including direct cargo flights into Asia - the precinct now also includes Wellcamp Business Park, a 500 hectare estate that incorporates aviation maintenance & training, manufacturing, factory outlets, transport logistics, warehousing & distribution and commodity processing.

Across both the listed entity, Wagners, and the private family business, Wagner Corporation, the Wagner Family now employ some 1,100 personnel with revenues exceeding $500m per annum.

In this rare and exclusive profile, Denis discusses the family’s long-held ties to Toowoomba, the launch and evolution of both Wagners and Wagner Corporation, the fundamental lessons & skills required for success that he’s learnt across his career & what the next chapter in the remarkable Wagner family story will look like over the years ahead.

Host - Rob Langton

Proudly produced by Ready Media Group.

Joining our program on this episode is prolific entrepreneur Jamie Pherous - Founder & Managing Director of Corporate Travel Management.

Launched in 1994 as a start-up with just two personnel, Corporate Travel Management (CTM) has since grown to become one of Australia’s largest home-grown business success stories.

As of May 2024, the firm boasts a market capitalisation in excess of $2.2bn, revenues exceeding $500m per year and some 3,000 staff stationed across the World including in Europe, North America & Asia.

In this exclusive interview, Jamie unpacks his background, the launch and evolution of CTM, the fundamentals required for delivering sustained success & the opportunities and challenges he’s encountered across a corporate career spanning more than three decades.

Proudly produced and distributed exclusively by Ready Media Group.

Hosted by Rob Langton.

Joining our program on this episode to share what is undoubtedly one of Australia’s most remarkable self-made business success stories is Billionaire Trevor Lee, Founder & Principal of Australian Country Choice Group- the largest & most successful, privately-owned, vertically integrated beef processing company in Australia.

In this rare & exclusive profile of one of Australia’s most successful yet private businessman, Trevor charts his incredibly journey, from being told his academic future was limited whilst a student at Brisbane’s Anglican Church Grammar School, to working the harsh lands of Queensland’s rugged, remote environments, ultimately culminating in the decision to follow his instincts & launch his own a business - a business which has changed not just an industry, but a Nation too, all the while cementing his legacy & the legacy of future generations of the Lee Family for decades to come.

Joining our series on this episode is Co-Founder & Managing Director of ACFS Port Logistics, Arthur Tzaneros.

Alongside his father Terry, Arthur launched ACFS in 2005, growing the business over the course of the past two decades to become Australia’s largest private owned container logistics operator.

With National operations across transport, warehousing and freight logistics, ACFS has some 1,500 personnel working across company-owned facilities in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane & Auckland, providing a diverse

range of services to its blue-chip customers including Bunnings, Coles, Nestle, Kmart & Super Retail Group.

Arthur was born in Sydney & attended The Scots College, graduating in 1995 before working across the logistics sector in New South Wales including as General Manager, NSW for Smith Brothers Trade & Transport and NSW Landside Logistics Manager for P&O Transport Australia.

In this exclusive interview, Arthur shares the extraordinary journey of ACFS, the opportunities & challenges he’s encountered throughout his business career & the key learnings that have driven his success.

Joining our series for an exclusive feature profile is Jack Hutchinson - Director & Board Member of Australia's oldest & most successful privately-owned construction firm, Hutchinson Builders.

Established in 1912, Hutchinson Builders is one of Australia's preeminent construction firms, having completed a remarkable 7,500 projects with an end value in excess of $35bn.

Jack is a qualified quantity surveyor and a licenced builder. He holds an MBA from the London Business School and a Bachelor of Property (QS & CM) from Bond University.

Before being appointed as a Director in 2022, Jack worked across various project and operational roles within Hutchies, as well as within other property, construction, and financial firms in both Australia and the United Kingdom.

Proudly produced by Ready Media Group.

https://readymedia.com.au/

https://www.hutchinsonbuilders.com.au/

Our special guest on this episode is prolific hospitality entrepreneur & commercial property investor, Graham Hardie - Chairman & Founder of Hardie Finance Corporation & principal of Entertainment Enterprises.

A stalwart of Perth’s business scene for over four decades, Graham established and led more than thirty venues across the City including renowned names such as Paramount, Arcadia, Underground, Bill’s, Empire Bar, Havana & Tiger Lil’s.

Graduating from Wesley College, Graham studied accounting, later attaining his Chartered Accountancy qualification and rising to become a Partner at a leading firm before launching his first hospitality venture, Knightsbridge’s Eagle One Nightclub in 1979. 


Whilst continuing to pursue his hospitality interests via Entertainment Enterprises, Graham also diversified into commercial property investment, acquiring & developing a number of significant assets across Northbridge, South Perth, Perth City and Lathlain. 

In addition to his commercial property & hospitality interests, Graham has also sat on the board of a number of public and private companies and currently serves as a Non Executive Director of Peel Mining.

In the first & only interview of his extensive career, Graham takes us through his background, his professional accounting career, his pivot into hospitality & property and the key lessons he’s learnt in both life & business along the journey.