Bruce Elliot – CEO
Bruce has a background in government and protected area management and was a General Manager at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority for 12 years. During this time, he worked across all areas of park management and service delivery including leading permitting, biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, engagement and corporate services. He also led the Authority’s commercial edu-tourism operation, ReefHQ Aquarium.
Bruce started his career with the Australian Army, retiring as a senior officer before joining the Australian Public Service, initially with the Tax Office in Melbourne where he was an Assistant Commissioner for risk and intelligence.
Wayne Coots – Business and Finance Manager
Wayne has a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting & IT) and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. He has over thirty years’ experience in the not-for-profit sector within Australia and overseas.
In his most recent role, Wayne was the Finance Manager for the Give Where You Live Foundation in Geelong. Wayne held this position from 2012 to 2019. Prior to this Wayne has worked at the Marine & Freshwater Discovery Centre in Queenscliff. His overseas experience included nearly nine years with Plan International in the UK and West Africa. In his last posting he was based in Senegal for three years as the Regional Administrator for West Africa. Originally from Geelong and educated at Deakin University, Wayne has a strong affinity for the Bellarine Peninsula.
Scott Crabtree – Planning and Environment Manager
Scott has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Environmental Horticulture with over 25 years’ experience working in conservation, visitor, sport and recreation management in operational, project management and strategic planning roles.
Scott started with Parks Victoria leading conservation programs across the Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Valley before moving to Warnambool to lead the planning and development of the iconic Great Ocean Walk. Over the next decade, he held several specialist and management roles leading key strategies, projects and initiatives including the development of Parks Victoria’s statewide Visitor Experience Framework. Through this work he contributed to multiple park and landscape management plans across the state. He also worked across Western Victoria managing regional delivery teams and commercial operations in the Grampians.
More recently Scott worked for the City of Greater Geelong coordinating and leading several place-based master-planning projects and the City’s Shared trail portfolio.
David Goldie – Operations Manager
David has over 20 years’ experience in Operations Management in horticultural and civil environments. He started his career in the golf course industry, maintaining and building world-renowned links-style golf courses at Barwon Heads, Thirteenth Beach Golf Links, The Dunes, Harbour Town Golf Links USA and St Andrews Scotland.
A move to Barwon Heads with his family allowed David to shift careers to local government at the City of Greater Geelong where he held several roles over 12 years including Capital Projects Manager and Manager Infrastructure Operations. Two award-winning projects managed by him were the reconstruction of the arena at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong and the Eastern Park Stormwater Harvesting Lake. David has Diplomas in Horticulture and Project Management and further training in Business Management, Leadership, LEAN 6 Sigma, Design Thinking and Workplace Law.
Paul McConachy – Holiday Parks Manager
Paul has a combined total of 25 years’ experience in the Leisure, Tourism and Entertainment industries in Victoria at a senior management level with a strong background in safety management, strategic leadership, innovation and people management. Most recently, he held the position of General Manager, Adventure Park covering a broad range of operational roles across a 10-year period where he played an integral role in the parks daily management and recent $8 million expansion.
Prior to this, Paul was the State Operations Manager for Village Cinemas Australia, having worked throughout the Melbourne and regional circuit over 15 years. During his time he was responsible for a budget of over $100 million circuit wide with a workforce of 1500, managed the 50th International Melbourne Film Festival based in central Melbourne’s Bourke Street City Centre and led the structural change of the Village Cinemas organisation in 2009 resulting in a number of significant business efficiencies.
