Maha Sinnathamby

In 1992 with business partner Bob Sharpless, Sinnathamby bought a 2,860 hectare (approx 7067 acre) area of land in Ipswich, south-west of Brisbane, for $7.9 million. He then lobbied for basic education and transport infrastructure to be built in the area, which required a rezoning bill to be passed. On 24 January 1997, Queensland Parliament unanimously voted in favour of the legislation.[7]

The Greater Springfield area was designed as Australia's largest master-planned community (10th largest globally), and is focused on interconnected pillars of health, education, and information technology:

• Education City: the educational core of Greater Springfield located in Springfield Central. It contains a University of Southern Queensland campus, 10 public and private schools, student accommodation, and a technical college.[8] It is currently home to approximately 14,000 students.[9]
• Health City: A 52 hectare (128.5 acre) health precinct currently under construction, the area will offer Springfield residents and the wider region access to a range of professional health services. It currently contains the Mater Private Hospital.[10] Aveo Group has been appointed exclusive developer for 2,500 new senior housing units and other health integrated facilities.[11]
• Idea City: The IT hub of Greater Springfield features Australia's leading Polaris Data Centre,[12] and has a strong research focus on commercialising innovation in partnership with government and business.[13]

Currently, more than $15 billion has been invested by public and private stakeholders into the project.[14] A$1.2 billion dual track major rail line and transit hub was established in 2013 and connected Greater Springfield to the wider South East Queensland area.[15] Greater Springfield's current population is approximately 35,000, with a predicted growth to 105,000 by 2030.[16] Greater Springfield's masterplan also retains 30 per cent of the land holding for open, green space.

Sinnathamby established Springfield City Group (formerly Springfield Land Corporation), of which he is the chairman, in conjunction with the purchase of the plot that would become Greater Springfield. The company is responsible for overseeing the development of the Greater Springfield area.[7]

In 2017, The Australian Financial Review added Sinnathamby to its list of Australian billionaires Rich List at 57th position with a net worth of A$1.02 billion.[18]

Year	Financial Review Rich List		Forbes Australia's 50 Richest
	Rank	Net worth (A$)	Rank	Net worth (US$)
2015[19]			40	$740 million
2016[20]			41	$650 million
2017[21][22][18]	57	$1.02 billion
2018[23][24]	64	$1.21 billion
2019[25][26]	72	$1.27 billion	39	$980 million
2020[27]	76	$1.35 billion
2021[28]	64	$1.78 billion
2022	68	$1.80 billion
2023[29]	77	$1.82 billion

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Sinnathamby has donated more than A$200 million of land and funds for vital social infrastructure, and established a program of scholarships within Greater Springfield to assist people with limited access to education. Sinnathamby also mentors a select group of young professionals, helping them to achieve personal excellence.

In 2019, Sinnathamby received an appointment as a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia (General Division) as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours List for his significant service to the community and the construction sector. [2]