Justin Hickey

Sir Justin Hickey JP (5 April 1920 – 21 August 2005) was an Australian businessman, insurance executive and philanthropist.

His father Simon Hickey was a New South Wales Labor politician.

Early life and education

Hickey was born in a working class suburb of Sydney, where he attended De La Salle College. He reportedly left school at the age of 14 to work in a factory.[1]

Career

He became wealthy by founding Accident Insurance Mutual, which became Australia's largest privately owned insurer.[1]

Lifestyle

He and his wife, Lady Barbara Hickey, owned Lady Barbara, a 35 m (115 ft) superyacht built in 1983, now known as Emerald Lady. Their home was Bartinon, a mansion standing on 2,325 m2 (0.575 acres) of land, once Queensland's most expensive home, located on Marseille Court in the exclusive Sorrento area of Australia's Gold Coast. It was built for about $8 million in the 1980s and sold in 1998.[2]

Hickey, a sailor and raconteur who staunchly supported the Australian National Party, told an ABC Four Corners program in 1982 that he was knighted after giving $100,000 towards the construction of a senior citizens' hospice in Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen's electorate. Hickey replied to a question regarding the confluence of the contribution and the knighthood by saying "I paid the hundred thousand before I received the knighthood."[3]

References
  1. "Sir Justin Hickey". Burke's Peerage. Archived from the original on 27 August 2012.
  2. "Beautiful lady woos the stars Gold Coast Boating". goldcoast.com.au. 24 March 2012. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012.
  3. "How The Old Mates Rule Joh Country". investmentadvisor.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011.
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