Far North Queensland’s Dunk Island finds new owners

Annie Cannon-Brookes, the wife of technology billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, is being reported as having purchased Dunk Island in Far North Queensland with the aim of resurrecting the neglected island resort.

Annie Cannon-Brookes’ purchase of the 147 hectare freehold Island for around $25 million will mark a new era for the resort, with the couple also planning to maintain the island’s natural beauty.

The former Dunk Island Resort, owned by Qantas and international cruise line company P&O, was severely damaged by cyclone Yasi in early 2011.

Since then, the Island - which sits 4 kilometres off Mission Beach and has an existing 160-room hotel, a 9-hole golf course and a day spa - has seen a number of failed attempts to bring the resort back to life.

Its sale by Peter Bond, owner of Linc Energy, follows a deal to sell it to entrepreneur James Mawhinney in 2020 for a reported $31 million. However, Mawhinney’s Mayfair 101 Group was placed into provisional liquidation and the transaction was scrapped.

In December last year Mayfair 101 was ordered to pay a combined penalty of $30 million by the Federal Court for misleading advertising of financial products relating to its planned purchase.

In July last year another deal fell through when the private equity fund Upsense Media Capital, co-founded by Mark Spillane and RJ Bucaria made an offer of around $25 million, but failed to get financing.

A spokesperson for Annie Cannon-Brookes advised “Annie has purchased the land with the intent to preserve its natural beauty for years to come”.

Cannon-Brookes, known as for his anti-fossil fuel advocacy, is co-founder of the Atlassian tech empire and is also a part owner of the Utah jazz basketball team.

The sale follows the November 2021 purchase by Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest and his wife Nicola’s private investment company Tattarang of Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef for $42 million.

In May, rising developer Glenn Piper paid around $10 million for the leasehold of Hook Island in the southern Whitsundays’ area where he plans to open an eco-lodge.

However, many other Queensland island resorts sit empty and are in dire straits having been hit by bad weather and the global pandemic.

Billionaire Gina Rinehart was reported as being interested in the former popular hot spot of the 1980s Great Keppel Island, also in the Whitsundays, but a deal did not eventuate.

Images: Dunk Island resort in the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland has been sold for a reported $25 million.