Stefan Ackerie (born 1941), usually known by the mononym Stefan, is a businessman who owns a chain of hairdressing salons in Brisbane, Australia.
Stefan Ackerie (born 1941), usually known by the mononym Stefan, is a businessman who owns a chain of hairdressing salons in Brisbane, Australia.
He was born in 1941 in Batroun, Lebanon. His family migrated when he was 15 to Adelaide, South Australia, where he trained as a hairdresser and learned to speak English at nightschool. [1]
He owns a chain of approximately 50 hairdressing salons throughout Queensland and New South Wales as well as the Brisbane restaurant Jo Jo's, a bar and restaurant originally opened above the Queen Street Mall in the 1970s and now on Melbourne Street, South Brisbane. [2] [3] He also owns Stefan's Boating World in Coomera on the Gold Coast, Queensland. [4]
Stefan's Brisbane headquarters is located in South Brisbane, underneath the Skyneedle, a landmark which Stefan bought to prevent it being moved overseas after World Expo '88. [5] When the Milton Tennis Centre was demolished circa 1999, Stefan rescued the 7-metre (23 ft) tennis racquet icon (based on the Aldila brand) erected there (he had sponsored the Queensland Tennis Open competition at that site). In June 2014, it was re-erected over the Frew Park tennis facility, which replaced the Milton Tennis Centre. [6]
In 2013, Stefan was presented a Queensland Greats Award from the Queensland Government. [7]
Stefan was a finalist in the 2004 Australian of the Year awards. [8] He is also a keen power boat racer and holds the records for the fastest crossing of Bass Strait [9] and the fastest crossing of the Straits of Malacca. [1]
Stefan lives in Brisbane. He has two sons, Mike and Steven Ackerie. In the 1980s, he had a highly publicised relationship with Australian journalist Liz Hayes. In 2009, he began a relationship with his long-time personal assistant, Rose King, who now manages Ackerie’s furniture store “the bach living”. During the management of Ackerie’s Jojo’s restaurant, King was said to be a “racist, discriminative and belittling boss” by former staff members. Staff have recalled incidents where some employees were “bullied, ridiculed and humiliated by her in front of customers and other workers”. [10]
The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Thomas Brisbane in 1823. The penal colony of Moreton Bay later adopted the same name, eventually becoming the present city of Brisbane. The river is a tidal estuary and the water is brackish from its mouth through the majority of the Brisbane metropolitan area westward to the Mount Crosby Weir. The river is wide and navigable throughout the Brisbane metropolitan area.
The Victoria Bridge is a bus and pedestrian bridge over the Brisbane River. The current bridge, opened in 1969, is the third permanent crossing erected at this location. Since 24 January 2021, the bridge has been closed to general traffic, and now carries buses, pedestrians and cyclists only.
The Merivale Bridge is a double track railway bridge crossing the Brisbane River. It crosses the Milton Reach of the river, located in between the Go Between Bridge and the William Jolly Bridge. Exclusively a railway crossing, it is located between the stations of South Brisbane and Roma Street, linking the northern and southern elements of the Queensland Rail City network. The Merivale Bridge is the only inner-city rail crossing in Brisbane. By 2016 it was expected to be over capacity, leading the Queensland Government to announce the Cross River Rail project.
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city of Queensland and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of South East Queensland, which includes several other regional centres and cities. The central business district is situated within a peninsula of the Brisbane River about 15 km (9 mi) from its mouth at Moreton Bay. Brisbane is located in the hilly floodplain of the Brisbane River Valley between Moreton Bay and the Taylor and D'Aguilar mountain ranges. It sprawls across several local government areas, most centrally the City of Brisbane. The demonym of Brisbane is Brisbanite.
Milton is a riverside inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, the population of Milton was 2,274 people.
World Expo 88, also known as Expo 88, was a specialised Expo held in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia, during a six-month period between Saturday, 30 April 1988 and Sunday, 30 October 1988, inclusive. The theme of the Expo was "Leisure in the Age of Technology", and the mascot for the Expo was an Australian platypus named Expo Oz.
Harold Parker was a British-born sculptor, raised in Queensland, Australia, and subsequently worked in the United Kingdom.
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The Skyneedle is a prominent feature of the Brisbane skyline which was constructed specially for World Expo 88.
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Manly is an eastern bayside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Manly had a population of 4,064 people.
Paddington is an inner suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Paddington had a population of 8,562 people.
Hope Island is a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Hope Island had a population of 11,186 people.
Hamilton is an affluent riverside mixed-use suburb in the north-east of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Hamilton is located along the north bank of the Brisbane River. In the 2021 census, Hamilton had a population of 8,922 people.
Riverhills is a south-western suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the Centenary suburbs. In the 2016 census, Riverhills had a population of 4,042 people.
Bushland Beach is a coastal suburb in the northern beaches area of Townsville in the City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census Bushland Beach had a population of 6,181 people.
The City of Ipswich is a local government area in Queensland, Australia, located within the southwest of the Brisbane metropolitan area, including the urban area surrounding the city of Ipswich and surrounding rural areas.
Milton Courts was a tennis venue located in Milton, Brisbane, Australia. The complex consisted of 19 hard courts and four grass courts. The main arena seated 7,000 people and opened in 1915. Robert Dickson Alison Frew was the president of the Queensland Lawn Tennis Association from 1910 to 1930. He was the driving force behind the creation of the tennis centre.
Mowbray Park and East Brisbane War Memorial are a heritage-listed park and monument within the park on Lytton Road, East Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1904 to 1974. It is also known as East Brisbane War Memorial and Riversdale. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
Drew Pavlou is an Australian political activist best known for his criticism of the Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party. Pavlou is also known for organising protests on-campus in support of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.
