Paul Fennelly

Paul Fennelly

Biography

Paul Fennelly entered the upper ranks of Queensland’s public service in 2002 after a decade as a senior executive with peak industry organisations in three states. He was Director General of the Department of State Development for more than four years during the Beattie Government period, and helped implement elements of the government’s Smart State strategy. For most of this time he was also Queensland’s Coordinator General, overseeing several major economic initiatives and development projects.

Born in Brisbane on 29 February 1960, Paul Fennelly attended St Columban’s College before completing degrees in Arts, Law and Industrial Relations at the University of Queensland, QUT and the University of Melbourne respectively. After accepting an Industrial Officer position in the mid-1980s with the Queensland Metal Trades Industry Association, he spent over a decade as a senior advocate and then a Director of that peak body as well as its successor organisation, the Australian Industry Group. He occupied executive roles in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria throughout the 1990s and into this century, dealing on behalf of industry members with state governments on both sides of politics.

Early in the second term of the Beattie Government, and while still a Director with the Australian Industry Group in Victoria, Fennelly was approached about a role as head of one of Queensland’s central government agencies. He attained the position of Director General of the Department of State Development in early 2002, and remained as the department’s leader until 2006 as it expanded to become State Development & Innovation and later State Development, Trade & Innovation. Upon his initial appointment he was also designated as Queensland’s Coordinator General, holding this key decision-making position until 2005. In 2006 he was made CEO of the newly established government-owned corporation, Forestry Plantations Queensland, but left government in early 2007 when he joined the financial sector as a Director with Westpac and then Hastings Funds Management. In late 2013 he was appointed Chief Operating Officer for Eastern Australia of the peak resources body, Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association.

During his time in the Queensland public service Fennelly was involved in several significant economic developments, including securing the relocation of many prominent national and international businesses to Queensland; facilitating extensive private sector investment into key resources sector projects, increasingly in public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements; and designing and delivering new industry strategies and public infrastructure plans for the state government. As Coordinator General he was responsible for overseeing the approvals and assessment processes for several major development projects across Queensland, including Brisbane’s cruise ship terminal, the Burnett River dam, the expansion of Gladstone Port’s coal terminal, the Moranbah coal seam gas project and Qantas’ heavy maintenance facility near Brisbane’s airport precinct.