Page 38 - Port Douglas Magazine 47

There are many things visitors love about Port Douglas, from its idyllic beach and
proximity to the rainforest and the reef, to its colourful shops and award-winning
cafes and restaurants. But the first — and last — impression of the town is often forged
by the iconic avenue of palm trees that line the main road as you veer off the Captain
Cook Highway on your way into town. And we have one man to thank for that:
Christopher Charles Skase.

WORDS by Sara Mulcahy
As part of his ultra-luxe Sheraton Mirage hotel development in the 1980s, Skase By the early 1980s, Skase had relocated from his hometown of Melbourne to the
wanted a grand, tropical entrance to Port Douglas. To achieve that goal, he spent Queensland capital, Brisbane, and was an intermittent visitor to Port Douglas,
millions of dollars buying a palm tree plantation up in the Daintree Rainforest popping by on his yacht on fishing trips out of Cairns. He was now a fantastically
and bringing in 1400 mature African oil palms (Elaeis guineensis) by ferry, road successful businessman, running his financial services and investment company,
and helicopter. A 2021 Douglas Shire council audit found 608 of the original Qintex, and married to his glamorous socialite wife, Pixie. His idea to build a
trees remaining, which are now maintained and protected as a key part of the luxury resort on Four Mile Beach was finally within his grasp, but for a few pesky
area’s tourist appeal. problems.
Skase may have been a liar, a cheat and a crook, but there’s no denying the man First, he needed to raise even more money to finance his ambitious project, which
had vision. Sheraton was contracted to manage. Luckily, he wasn’t one to lose sleep over
embellishing the truth. The investment manager tasked with that job reportedly
confessed to sending a photographer to Hawaii, and passing off the pictures as
THE BEGINNING Four Mile Beach, to persuade investors to part with their cash.
Skase first visited Port Douglas as a 21-year-old traveller in 1969. At that time, Second, the tranche of land Skase wanted to build on was Crown Land, owned by
the town was all but abandoned. The gold rush was long over, a new railway the state government. But he knew how to grease palms, and the National Party
had bypassed the once bustling port, and the population had sunk to just a few Premier at the time, one Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, wasn’t known for his adherence
hundred people seeking a life away from the rat race. But the image of a wild and to the rulebook. (He’s reported as saying, “I don’t care what you blokes do, as
beautiful Four Mile Beach sparked an idea in the would-be entrepreneur’s mind, long as you bring your money to Queensland.”)
one that would take another two decades to bring to fruition.

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