Leslie Thiess

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Leslie Thiess
BornLeslie Charles Thiess Edit this on Wikidata
8 April 1909 Edit this on Wikidata
Drayton Edit this on Wikidata
Died25 November 1992 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 83)
Brisbane Edit this on Wikidata
Awards

Sir Leslie Charles Thiess CBE (8 April 1909 – 25 November 1992) was a construction and mining industry entrepreneur, based in Queensland, Australia. He was one of the founders of Thiess Bros, which later became Thiess Pty Ltd.[1]

With a humble background, and one of eleven children, Thiess founded a contracting firm in 1933, in partnership with Henry Horn.[1] Under his leadership, the company became a major contractor in Queensland and, when Horn retired in 1939, the firm became Thiess Bros. It prospered from a succession of military engineering contracts during World War II, and Thiess and his four brothers formed Thiess Holdings in 1950. The firm was floated on the Sydney and Brisbane stock exchanges in 1958.[1]

In 1968, Thiess was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)[2] and, in 1971, he was knighted.[3] After a hostile takeover by CSR in 1979, Thiess lost control of his company but, with assistance from two major backers, he bought back the construction division, continuing to develop coal mines and work on major Queensland government contracts, as well as being granted the licence for a casino in Townsville.[1]

In the 1980s, it was alleged on television that he had delivered a hangar to the property of Queensland premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, and had done private civil engineering works for Bjelke-Petersen that were written off as "Queensland Government Projects".[4][1] Thiess sued Channel 9 for defamation, and won a minimal $55,050 in damages, but the jury found many of the allegations to be true. Thiess's appeal to the High Court was dismissed, with costs. It was clear that he had increasingly made use of his closeness to politicians and officials to obtain contracts, sometimes using inducements.[1]

In 1999, he received posthumously the Distinguished Constructor Award from the Queensland University of Technology.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Bell, Peter (2016). "Thiess, Sir Leslie Charles (Les) (1909–1992)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  2. ^ "The Order of the British Empire - Commander (Civil) (Imperial) (CBE) entry for Mr Leslie Charles THIESS". Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 1 January 1968. Retrieved 13 June 2017. Civil engineering & mining
  3. ^ "Knight Bachelor (Imperial) entry for Mr Leslie Charles THIESS". Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 12 June 1971. Retrieved 13 June 2017. Services to coal exports
  4. ^ ACA - Jana Wendt and Premier Joh Bjelke Petersen 1989 (Television production). 1989.
  5. ^ Clur, Colleen Ryan (2000). "Construction giants receive top awards" (PDF). QUT Links. Queensland University of Technology. p. 10. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
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