TRISTAN ANTICO, PIONEERING INDUSTRIALIST
Grant Phillips, Yarra Valley Quarries/CMPA Chairperson
Tristano Venus Antico, who died at age 81, arrived in Australia at the age of seven with just three words of English – “yes, no, toilet”.
From such an unpromising beginning, he would become a Companion of the Order of Australia, three times a knight, and one of the most dynamic entrepreneurs in post war Australia.
Born in Piovene, north-west of Venice, Antico was the second child and only son of Ermina and Terribile Antico. Not long after his son’s birth, Terribile left Mussolini’s Italy, and his family, for Australia. His brother Beppi emigrated with him. For six years he toiled to save enough to allow his family to join him.
Young Antico attended local schools then Sydney Boys High School. On leaving school he joined a small manufacturer, Malleable Castings, as a clerk and studied accountancy at night. Seven years later he was wooed by the marble contractor Melocco Brothers.
In 1950 he linked up with another Melocco colleague, Kelvin Conley, borrowed £500 from uncle Beppi, bought a 1927 Oldsmobile, two picks, two wheelbarrows, two shovels and two brooms, and the two drove about offering their services to Sydney building sites. Within 12 months they were employing a staff of more than 12 in a business turning over £40,000.
In October 1950 Antico married Dorothy Shields, the daughter of a successful baker. Within a few months he had bought a rambling federation house of stone in Mosman, Tregoyd.
In 1954 he bought Pioneer Readymix, a company that had begun four years earlier. With a cadre of loyal and able lieutenants, Pioneer rode the post war building boom; its quarries and plants sprang up around the country and its trucks poured concrete into building sites around the country and overseas.
Antico’s enthusiasm and reach seemed boundless. Pioneer became a public company in 1959 and evolved into a sprawling multinational, with 600 concrete plants and 120 quarries in 16 countries. In 1980 Pioneer gained control of Ampol, and Antico became its Chairman.
By the ‘70s he was acknowledged as one of Australia’s leading businessmen. Both Italy and Australia recognised his contributions. He became Knight Batchelor in 1973 and a decade later a Companion of the Order of Australia.
A devout Catholic, his church also honoured him with two knighthoods. A recurring theme during his rise was “What can I do for Australia?” The vision and expertise he had brought to business he also applied to the community; in both he provided a sure foundation.
He was Chairman of Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital, member of the advisory boards of his children’s schools. He was also an influential, founding member of the Art Gallery of NSW Foundation. He gave these institutions a momentum, structure and strategy that have outlived him.
The ‘80s were a heady time for titans. A charismatic personality was complemented by his commanding height and an enduring vitality. He was something of a connoisseur, collecting the work of Rodin and the English painter Walter Sickert. Pioneer sponsored the first opera at the opening of the Sydney Opera House and created scholarships to La Scala.
In 1967 Antico fell, perhaps inevitably, under the spell of the sport of kings. In 1971 he first caught sight of Baramul Stud, the home of Star Kingdom and other champions. Antico was instantly smitten but had to wait until 1984 to buy it.
He launched Tristan Antico Thoroughbreds, and two years later he also bought the adjoining Oakleigh Stud. “The place had majesty, presence and feeling,” he said. He devoted increasing time, money and formidable energy to Baramul. Horse prices continued to rise throughout the ‘80s. Antico adopted an iconic corporate vehicle, Bernborough Breeding and Racing Ltd, and it topped sales at the Sydney Yearling Sales during that time.
When the business that he had built in 1950 with a few wheel barrows changed hands half a century later, it did so for $4 billion. He remained in the honorary capacity of President until Pioneer was consumed by Lord Hanson’s group in 2000.
Antico died only five months after Hanson announced that the name Pioneer, a name that had become all but synonymous with him, was to vanish and be replaced by Hanson.
It is indeed true that his beginnings were unaspiring, but he challenged all to reach heights thought by most to be unlikely. The same applies today; we can all aspire to achieve excellence and recognition through hard work and vision.
REFERENCE:
Thank you to the AGE for supplying the above information, as printed on Wednesday, January 26, 2005.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login