Mr Adam Twemlow

Chairman

BBus (Accounting) QUT, Member of Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA)

Mr Twemlow was appointed to the position of Chairman of School Council in 2024. Prior to this he has been a member of School Council since 2013 and has also held the position of Chairman of the Finance Committee.

Adam is the Lead Partner of KPMG’s Enterprise division in Queensland and has 25 years Audit and Advisory experience.

Adam’s skills and experience have been gained from advising public listed and unlisted companies, multinational companies, small and large proprietary companies, managed investment schemes, not for profit entities and local government.

He has also gained a wide range of international exposure and spent several years in London with the Royal Bank of Scotland plc in the role of Group Treasury Financial Controller. Adam also spent time in the US with KPMG where he advised several US clients.

In respect of his broader experience, Adam has completed a significant number of business performance reviews for a number of diverse organisations. Adam has also been involved in projects which have addressed Stakeholder Management, Risk, Governance, Strategy and Due Diligence. His role has required team leadership, project management and strong communication skills within all levels of an organisation.

In addition to Adam’s role at KPMG and The Southport School, he has significant experience in not-for-profit and community board roles, including:

• Experience Gold Coast – Deputy Chairman
• Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards – Chair of Awards Committee
• Bond University – Chair of Audit Safety and Risk Committee
• Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation Limited – Member (ex-Director 2010 – 2021
  

Adam values the role TSS has in shaping the lives of the young men in our community. He is married with two children; his son attends the school and his daughter is a student at St Hilda’s School.

Mr Andrew Hawkins

Headmaster

BAAppSc (HMS), BEd(UQ) M.Ed. Guidance and Counselling (UQ)

Mr Hawkins was appointed to Council at the same time as his appointment as Headmaster to The Southport School in 2021.

Andrew Hawkins is the first Old Boy Headmaster of The Southport School. Mr Hawkins came to TSS as a boarder in McKinley House from Emerald. After graduating from TSS in 1995 as Vice-School Captain, Mr Hawkins ventured off on a Gap Year to the UK and it was here that he fell in love with teaching. After returning to Australia he studied a combined Bachelor of Applied Science (Human Movement Studies) and Education degree at The University of Queensland with the sole purpose of becoming a PE Teacher. After a number of years teaching at state high schools in Brisbane and a Boarding Master at Brisbane Grammar School, Mr Hawkins took up a full-time PE teaching position at TSS in 2004. While at TSS, Mr Hawkins has held the roles of Physical Education Head of Department, Dean of Students Years 8 & 9, Dean of Students Years 10-12, Biddle Boarding Housemaster and Deputy Headmaster – Head of Senior School.

Ms Leith McColl

BSocWk/Business Owner

Ms McColl owns and manages a sheep and cattle property 50 km East of Goondiwindi on the Dumeresq River, producing fat lambs, merino wool and Shorthorn cattle for the domestic market.

Leith was educated at Clayfield College and University of Queensland. She has a Bachelor of Social Work, majoring in Rural and Economic Development and worked in North Western Queensland and the Northern Territory in Aboriginal, Mining and Pastoral communities, before returning to Goondiwindi to work on the family Merino Stud.

Leith traveled extensively when her family were young, living overseas firstly outside Karachi, Pakistan (1993-95), Bangladesh 1995 and later in Nairobi, Kenya (2000-2003).

Leith has been involved with the Boarding community at TSS since 2005. She has three sons, Hadley Hickson (BID09) and currently Rowan, Year 12 and Sandy, Year 8 Biddle House.

Mr Nathan Quartermaine

BArch(Hons) MUrb Plan RAIA

Mr Quartermaine was appointed to School Council and the Building & Grounds Committee in 2015. On graduating from The Southport School, Nathan was accepted into a Part-time Architecture degree at QUT. The part-time nature allowed him the flexibility to work while completing his studies. During this time he worked for Burling Brown and Partners. Nathan was fortunate to work in Asia and spent time as a Project Designer in Hong Kong. Once he completed his studies he left for a year to work in North America. As a Project Leader on works in Vancouver, Seattle, Chicago and Victoria he was able to travel extensively and this provided him with an understanding of Architecture and Urban planning. Nathan developed his portfolio with key commissions across various companies and cultures. A passion for Ecologically Sustainable Urban Development and innovative design is evident across his portfolio of large-scale and educational projects. In 2006 upon returning to Australia, Nathan became a Director of Burling Brown and Partners. In obtaining a Masters of Urban Planning, at the Bond School of Sustainability in 2010, he completed a range of Urban Development studies, developing an intimate understanding of the planning process.

Mr Bentleigh Latimer

Mr Latimer was appointed to the School Council and the Building & Grounds Committee in 2020 and is currently Director of LJ Hooker Southport. He graduated from Knox Grammar School in Sydney in 1995, before heading to Emerald Agriculture Collage the following year. Ben's father Neill Latimer, a former Wallaby, was a TSS Old Boy and Mr Latimer’s son is a current student of the School.

Before moving to the Gold Coast in 2014, Ben owned and managed a large agricultural holding for over a decade, which provided him with valuable hands-on knowledge of how to run a multi-million dollar enterprise. In that time, he doubled the productivity of the business and helped to negotiate the successful sale of its two large cattle properties in 2013.

His superior negotiation and communication skills along with his experience in property management, residential and rural sales, livestock and grain marketing, has seen Ben achieve great results with LJ Hooker Southport.

Mr Latimer is extremely motivated and prides himself on honesty and integrity. His genuine, friendly nature is appreciated among his peers and those he deals with.

Mr Ross Cardiff

TSS CFO and Secretary to the School Council

BCom (Grif) PGDipFinMan (UQ) FCPA

Mr Cardiff is the Chief Financial Officer of the School and also the Secretary to the School Council and Foundation.

Educated at Brisbane Boys’ College, Ross had an early career in the Royal Australian Navy after which he studied Commerce at University majoring in Marketing and Information Technology. Postgraduate study in Accounting followed along with study and membership of CPA.

Ross has been involved in executive management in education at both Griffith University and the University of Queensland before moving to the secondary sector at Mt St Michael’s College in Brisbane where he was the Business Manager from 2004 to 2009 before taking up the appointment at The Southport School in March of 2009. He also has a career long interest in Superannuation which has included positions as a Consultative Committee member of Unisuper and as Trustee Director of the Catholic Superannuation and Retirement Fund. Ross is married with two children.

Mr James Finucan

Chair of Audit & Risk Committee

LLB, BBus(Accountancy) Griffith University

Mr Finucan was appointed to School Council in 2023 and also to the position of Chairman of the Audit & Risk Committee. He attended Toowoomba Grammar School as a boarder and graduated in 1991. He was a member of the Toowoomba Grammar School First XV.

James has practiced as a solicitor for over 20 years and is the Managing Director of Finucan Lawyers, a boutique corporate and commercial practice. He has undertaken the role of lead lawyer on several ASX listings and private equity transactions.

He is the current Chairman of Vets Central, a privately-owned veterinary business with over 36 clinics and 500 employees. In this role, James provides leadership and support to the executive management team.

James is married with three children. His two sons attend TSS and his daughter attends St Hilda’s School.

Mr Adam Lacey

Chair Building & Grounds Committee

BBus(Marketing)

Mr Lacey was appointed to the School Council in 2022 and to the position of Chairman of the Building & Grounds Committee in 2023. He graduated from The Southport School in 1996.

Adam has a long career in property, having launched his career at Sunland Group before co-founding Onyx Property Group, which quickly appeared on the prestigious BRW Fast 100 list in 2014.

A finalist in the 2013 and 2014 Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur Awards and Member of the Urban Development Institute of Australia Executive Committee (Gold Coast and Logan Branch) in 2015, Adam’s strong credentials in design, construction and development paved the way for the establishment of Lacey Group in 2015.

Adam is married with three young children one of which is enrolled to start at TSS from 2024.

Ms Pauline Armstrong

Ms Armstrong was appointed to the School Council in June 2023. She was born in Queensland and attended a small country school until she left to board at St Margaret’s School, Brisbane for four years. She then attended the University of Queensland for 2 years.

After working for the Department of Labour Pauline left to go to the UK where she lived for three years. She worked in hospitality and then obtained a position with a fellow Australian, Robert Stigwood, who managed high profile entertainers.

On returning home she was appointed as an Employment Officer with the Commonwealth Employment Service, and eventually became a manager.

Pauline has two sons, Daniel and Matthew and seven grandchildren and, as a former TSS parent, has had a longstanding connection to the TSS community.

The Gold Coast has been her home for over 40 years.

Mr Robert Kelly

BCom, MBA

Mr Kelly was appointed to the School Council in June 2023. He graduated from The King’s School in Sydney in1995 and then completed a Bachelor of Commerce and an MBA from Bond University.

Robert has 27 years’ experience in the property industry and his family own rural properties on the South West Slopes of NSW where they are involved in thoroughbred breeding and mixed farming, including a focus on the production of fat lambs and merino wool.

He has been a Director of the Wentworth Group since 1996. Robert’s brother Patrick attended The Southport School in the 1990s and his nephew and niece previously attended The Southport School and St Hilda’s School. Robert is a member of the Council for the Anglican Parish of Surfers Paradise.