John Bennison AM OBE (3 July 1924 – 6 May 2017) was an Australian businessman known for his long involvement with

Wesfarmers Wesfarmers Limited is an Australian conglomerate, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It has interests predominantly in Australia and New Zealand, operating in retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety products. With revenue o ...

. He began work at the company in 1954, and as managing director from 1974 to 1984 oversaw its transition from a farmers'

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

to a publicly listed industrial conglomerate.

Early life

Bennison was born in

Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, to Arthur and Doris Bennison. He lived in Burma until he was a teenager, when he was sent to

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, to board at Hale School. Bennison completed his secondary education in 1941, and then went on to Perth Technical College. In 1943, however, he enlisted in the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

(RAAF). He trained as a pilot at the No. 4 Service Flying Training School in

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri language, Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu language, Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West region of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. As of the , Geraldt ...

, and during the war flew

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster, commonly known as the Lancaster Bomber, is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to ...

s. At his discharge in 1946, he held the rank of

flying officer Flying officer (Fg Offr or F/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Flying officer is immediately ...

Business career

After the war's end, Bennison and his new wife initially settled in

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 23,967 as of the 2021 census. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands reg ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, where he studied agriculture at the New England University College. They later moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, where he got a job with

Wrigley's Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, also known as Wrigley Company or simply Wrigley's, is an American multinational candy and chewing gum company, based in the Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Goose Island, Chicago, Illinois. Wrigley's is a subsidiary ...

, the chewing gum manufacturer. In 1953, Bennison returned to Perth to work for

Kraft Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...

Wesfarmers

In 1954, at the suggestion of his father-in-law, Bennison placed an advertisement in ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'' offering his services to "any suitable employer". Keith Edwards, the assistant general manager of Wesfarmers, saw his notice, and after a brief interview offered him a job as a "one-man budgetary control department". Bennison's contributions impressed the company's management, and in 1958 he was put in charge of the company's new Kleenheat Gas division. In that capacity, he helped negotiate a partnership with

Air Liquide Air Liquide S.A. ( , ; literally " liquid air") is a French multinational company which supplies industrial gases and services to various industries including medical, chemical and electronic manufacturers. Founded in 1902, after Linde it is ...

.Innate business sense
''

'', 26 May 2017. After heading up Kleenheat, Bennison spent periods as head of the industrials division and as assistant general manager. On 1 January 1974, he succeeded Keith Edwards, the man who had first hired him, as Wesfarmers' general manager. Bennison was only the fourth chief executive since the company's foundation in 1917. When he took over, Wesfarmers was still organised along the lines of a farmers' cooperative. It had highly diversified interests, but had weak

cash flow Cash flow, in general, refers to payments made into or out of a business, project, or financial product. It can also refer more specifically to a real or virtual movement of money. *Cash flow, in its narrow sense, is a payment (in a currency), es ...

s and lacked the capital reserves needed for growth.The man who made Wesfarmers
''The West Australian'', 2 March 2014. In 1977, Bennison had Wesfarmers make a takeover bid for

CSBP CSBP Limited is an Australian fertiliser and chemical company based in Kwinana, Western Australia. It is a subsidiary of WesCEF, which in turn is part of the industrials division of the Wesfarmers conglomerate. Current operations CSBP produce ...

, a large fertiliser company. When the sale finally went through in 1979, it was the largest corporate takeover in Australian history. CSBP was sold for $60 million, which was three times the official value of Wesfarmers itself. According to Bennison, "They had great cash flow and we were shrinking. That was the crux of it. The combination of CSBP and Wesfarmers was magic. You had something you never had – money around the clock". In the last years of tenure, Bennison determined that it was in Wesfarmers' best interests to float as a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...

. He met strong opposition from the board of directors, but eventually had his way, and an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

was made in November 1984. Bennison retired five months earlier, in June 1984, and was replaced by Trevor Eastwood, whom he had hired as a cadet engineer in 1963. He was also responsible for hiring Eastwood's successor,

Michael Chaney Michael Alfred Chaney (born 15 April 1950) is an Australian businessman and former Chancellor (education), chancellor of the University of Western Australia. Early life Chaney was born in Perth on 15 April 1950. He was the third-youngest of s ...

Personal life

During the war, Bennison met Joyce Brearley, the daughter of the famous aviation pioneer Sir Norman Brearley. The two were married in 1946, and had four children together. Bennison enjoyed trout fishing, and had a collection of vintage cars. He was keenly interested in art, and initiated the Wesfarmers Collection, which is now one of the largest private collections of Australian art. Bennison was created an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in 1981, for "service to primary industry", and was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) in 2008, for "service to business, particularly in the primary industry sector through the promotion and development of commercial opportunities for farmers, and to the arts".It's An Honour

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennison, John 1924 births 2017 deaths Australian chief executives Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Australian World War II pilots Burmese emigrants to Australia Members of the Order of Australia People educated at Hale School People from Mandalay Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Wesfarmers people Royal Australian Air Force officers Australian World War II bomber pilots