A Chief Investment Officer has been appointed at City of Gold Coast, marking a new era for promoting and attracting investment for the city.
Mayor Tom Tate and Chief Executive Officer Tim Baker announced the appointment of Jeff McAlister – an investment and trade development leader who has worked for both state and national governments in Australia and New Zealand.
Mayor Tate said Mr McAlister brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge and will be key to securing new opportunities and investment across the city.
“This is a really exciting time for the Gold Coast and it’s vital we leverage the opportunities presented to our city as we emerge from the challenges of COVID-19 and head towards 2032.”
Mr Baker said Mr McAlister would hit the ground running in the new role.
“The creation of this role and the Chief Investment Office has been a priority of mine to ensure we are equipped to best respond to all investment opportunities available and make the Gold Coast a city people want to conduct business in,” CEO Tim Baker said.
“The Chief Investment Office will be the centralised point for the City to drive strategic, major private and council investments.”
The Chief investment Office is responsible for:
- promoting and attracting investment through a targeted investment opportunities portfolio
- facilitating major council investment opportunities
- case managing private sector investment projects or joint partnerships
- responding to unsolicited proposals and reducing red tape within council.
Mr McAlister will start his role on 10 October.
Jeff McAlister
Jeff has led investment attraction and trade development work for the Queensland, Northern Territory and New Zealand Governments, landing major projects and deals across multiple sectors including tourism, agribusiness, and manufacturing.
Since 2016, Jeff has been a Deputy Director General with the Queensland Government leading the tourism industry development portfolio, so is a big supporter of the Gold Coast’s visitor economy. Jeff is proud to have worked with industry to achieve record growth for Queensland tourism in 2019, created over 100 new attractions across the state, built and delivered a $14 billion investment pipeline, and helped the sector through COVID-19 by delivering over $1 billion of business support.
Previously, in the Northern Territory Jeff was Director-General for International Engagement, Trade and Investment, where he worked with the private sector to diversify the Territory’s export base, attract investors for major projects, and refocus strategic engagement with overseas partners. Earlier with the New Zealand Government, Jeff worked mostly in international trade and investment roles, lastly as the Ambassador to Brazil where he facilitated major two-way investments in agribusiness and gas, and trebled New Zealand’s exports.
