About John Thistleton
John Thistleton’s 30-plus years in the print media began at Cowra, and includes stints in Young, Wellington, Leeton, Crookwell, Queanbeyan, Goulburn, and, over 12 years, the Canberra Times.
As a reporter and managing editor John has watched the media fragment into numerous new opportunities.
A highlight for him at Goulburn was switching off a national wire service and relying on local staff and news to refresh content and see the paper flourish.
Moving to property and planning rounds in Canberra, John covered battles east and west of the city when retailing, residential and rural landscapes swiftly changed to accommodate a fast-growing population.
After leaving for a brief stint at the National Capital Authority as media manager he returned to the Canberra Times as the business editor, then a reporter covering the broader ACT region.
All Articles
News
Canberra’s Viva Leisure, a leading Australian health club owner and operator, has recorded more than $33 million in revenue in the last financial year. This is Viva Leisure’s first financial results release following a successful listing on the Australian Stock Exchange in June 2019. The fast-growing fitness provider had net profit after tax (NPAT) of $3.2 million, an 8.2 per...
Local Leaders
Damien Holder is excited how tradies of the future are being developed. Over the next 10 years, they will be stronger, plumbing designs will maximise efficiencies and have the ability to be remotely monitored and a plumber will be notified and dispatched before issues become problems. “This is all exciting stuff and we need people to develop,” he says enthusiastically....
Local Leaders
Whether achieving an outstanding price for a plush new apartment in a multi-unit complex, or listing a 40-year-old, three-bedroom home tucked away in a cul-de-sac in the Tuggeranong valley, Will Honey is blazing a new trail in property with technology and teamwork. Born in Bega and having completed high school at Erindale College, Will entered real estate as a personal...
News
She was raised in Canberra’s south, he was from the north side. They teamed up at ANU and created a software platform now used every minute of the day around the world. Intelledox is the quintessential Canberra start-up story. If you have applied online to renew your passport, or a new insurance policy, or enrolled to go to hospital or...
News
Canberra-based health clubs and aquatic facilities operator Viva Leisure has acquired the territory’s Project Fitness Group and will operate the boutique functional training studio under its highly successful Hiit Republic brand. Viva leisure, the owner of Club Lime in the ACT, which listed on the Australian Stock Exchange earlier this year, revealed the purchase for the high-performance training facility in...
Local Leaders
Nine years into an outstanding real estate career that began when she was 21, Jess Smith has invaluable advice for young people: Don’t wait until you are 40 to become a leading figure in this business. If you’re about to leave school, you can learn on the job and flourish up the front of the residential property market in Canberra....
News
Canberra independent legal firm Meyer Vandenberg (MV) continues to engage with a growing cross-section of the community in its support for ACT charities. Each year Meyer Vandenberg staff choose a new charity to support. The firm’s community engagement committee approves pro bono work and organises and coordinates events for their chosen charity, which will be the Stella Bella Little Stars...
Events
A public meeting in Fyshwick on Tuesday will consider forming a new business group to guide the ongoing growth and identity of Canberra’s dynamic light-industrial suburb. Over the past 15 years Fyshwick has become trendier, with cutting-edge work spaces, a wider choice of cafes and eateries in a transformation like old industrial suburbs in inner Sydney, Melbourne, London and New...
Family Law
Nearly every Australian adult now carries a smartphone in their pocket. And while we use our phones for everything from ordering dinner, to hailing a ride or paying bills, few people are aware of the technology available to separating couples. DDCS Lawyers partner Alison Osmand says new technology like apps can help former spouses navigate the financial and shared care...
Local Leaders
Good butchers tell great stories. Before he was a real estate agent, Col McIntyre was a butcher who managed a shop in South Dunedin, New Zealand, called the Bashful Butcher. A chirpy young bloke who was a real estate agent named James Stewart called in regularly for Col’s chops or sausages and always told the butcher what he was doing...
News
When former Canberra business and marketing executive Belinda Head grew tired of the twice-daily bus journey from and to Murrumbateman on the Barton Highway, she created a healthy alternative for herself – and the village. Belinda is one of three winners from Murrumbateman of the annual Yass Valley Business Chamber awards. Her new business, Physical-Ease Recovery Clinic, was judged start-up...
News
Corporate conferences these days entertain and uplift their audiences, yet only a few will ever touch a person’s psyche for life. The Fireside Conference Ray White Canberra staged for its team was one such conference. In the aftermath is a resounding message – a rewarding career in real estate starts here. “What we set out to deliver was a far...
What's On
In the chilling aftermath of violent attacks against women across Australia, comes the all-too-familiar despair from a chorus of voices on talkback radio and on social media. What can be done to make people safe? Prayer vigils, mountains of floral tributes for the deceased, extra policing and warnings peak and subside until the next attack. A Canberra woman with a...
News
Investors have given Canberra-based Viva Leisure an emphatic endorsement after it successfully listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on Friday 7 June. Viva Leisure Chief Executive and Managing Director Harry Konstantinou says the $20 million capital raising hit the target date June 7 on schedule. “We had opened the book build about three or four weeks ago and we...
News
Australian agricultural exporters now have access to new award-winning technology from Canberra to protect their goods from worldwide counterfeiting. The Smart Trade Mark technology will use the Australian Government's digital stamp of authenticity and include transparent information on a product’s provenance to safeguard export goods. The new technology comes from IP Australia, which issues intellectual property rights, and partner, software...
News
Canberra’s apprentice plumber of the year Aaron Keen left the gleaming world of retailing for a career in plumbing and could not be happier. Aaron won the top award at the Master Plumbers ACT prize-giving which celebrates the excellence of the off-the-job training conducted by Canberra Institute of Technology for plumbing apprentices and tradespeople in the ACT. Aaron won the...