Peter Mackay (1971)
Pathway since school
After leaving school, I studied Architecture at RMIT and worked as an architect in practice with two of my friends before deciding to move back to Ballarat after over 20 years in Melbourne. I wanted my children to experience the enjoyment of growing up in the country as I had done. I had a great friendship with my father, and he had always been a fantastic business mentor to me. Drawn to work with and learn more from him, I started working with Field Air in 1993. My father passed away a little over a year later, leaving me to run what was a diverse, complex and seasonally fluctuating business, made possible by the strong support I had from all of the staff. My enjoyment of working at Field Air continues to grow every day.
Grammar connections
Peter started in Grade 5 at Grammar in 1963. His three children, Andrew (2005), Jemma (2006) and Paige (2010) have all attended the School. He also served for 18 years on the School Board, mainly as Chairman of the Building Subcommittee, working closely with Stephen Higgs and Peter Hunt on building projects during a period of significant expansion. I have happy memories of a very small school community of approximately 300 students. I knew the names of all the teachers and students. My teacher Bob Northey was a part of these early memories in a class of about 10 others, including Mark Gingell, John Nevett and David Flecknoe. There was a strong sense of family at the School. My parents were both very involved in the Parents and Friends Association, and my father was on the School Boards of both Queen’s and Ballarat Grammar. We often had boarders to stay on the weekends and would head off to farm school holidays with the Kaye family at Elmhurst. I will always be grateful for my years at Ballarat Grammar and the influence of the school community that has helped shape my life and the enjoyment I have living in a regional environment. I delight to see the ongoing connection my children all have with their school friends years after leaving school.
Field Air
Peter’s father started Field Air in Ballarat in 1963 with two small aircraft spreading fertilisers and spraying crops in the Western District, Mallee and Wimmera regions. Over time the business has continued to innovate and grow. Today, Field Air provides diverse aerial agricultural services directly to farmers throughout Victoria, southern New South Wales and eastern South Australia, operating out of its Ballarat, Deniliquin and Finley bases.
“In 1978 we became sole dealers for Air Tractor in Australia. Over the past 30 years the Field Air dealership has extended to include the Australasian region, with aircraft sales into China, Malaysia and Indonesia. The opportunity for our staff and myself to travel into these countries has given us all a great range of cultural experiences.” “Following the 2010 drought Field Air moved into aerial firefighting as a back-up to our ag operations. Today, in addition to our fleet of dedicated fire aircraft, we also bring larger airtankers from Canada to provide fire protection. During the Australian fire season, we maintain contracts for aircraft based in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania. During the Australian winter, some of our water scooping aircraft head off to Greece where they are based on the island of Rhodes.” “Technology in our industry has given us a good opportunity to improve the accuracy of aerial application and maximise cost effective productivity in farming. We were the first ag operator in Australia to adopt GPS guidance in ag aircraft and to adopt variable rate application.” “We continue to embrace the latest technologies with application job management software. Our system enables our operations staff to plan jobs and send this information out to the aircraft in the field, which means we can track these jobs in real time. It includes features that allow us to overlay a range of critical information that enhances safety and efficiencies in our operations, and to monitor in-flight engine parameters and alert us to issues, similar to airline aircraft.”
Acknowledgement of Country
Ballarat and Queen’s Anglican Grammar School acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we learn, live and work, the Wadawurrung People, and recognises their continuing connection to the land and waterways. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend this to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.
Commitment to Child Safety
Ballarat Grammar maintains a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of child abuse and actively implements measures to identify and manage any risks of harm to students within our school environment. The care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people are central and fundamental responsibilities of the School. We are firmly committed to fostering a child-safe culture that provides an environment where students are safe and feel safe, where their participation is valued, their views respected, and their voices heard in decisions that affect their lives. Ballarat Grammar values diversity and strictly prohibits any racist or discriminatory practices. All members of our school community share the responsibility to care for children and young people by promptly raising any concerns regarding their safety, promoting their wellbeing, and protecting them from all forms of harm or abuse.
