Where is Jann Stuckey Now? | Member Spotlight

Janet Anne Stuckey, or as we know and love her as Jann Stuckey, first joined the chamber 25 years ago when it was the Palm Beach chamber. Jann's husband, Richard, was a local GP and had joined the Coolangatta Chamber where they both attended events and used the opportunity to network and build Jann's communications consultancy firm. Her contributions to the chamber in later years would award her the title of the coveted 'Life Member' and Jann recalls that the humbling feeling she felt the day she received it still exists with her today.

In 2004, Jann ran for Currumbin and succeeded in unseating Rose with over a 17-point swing. She continued to serve the Southern Gold Coast community for 16 years, subsequently serving as spokesperson for Tourism, Fair Trading and Wine Industry Development, Child Safety, Communities and Disability Services, Employment, Training and Industrial Relations, and Women's Issues. After the National and Liberal Parties formed a coalition in 2005, Jann was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Tourism, Fair Trading and Wine Industry Development. In 2012, after Premier Campbell Newman won Government, Jann was appointed Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and Commonwealth Games. In January 2020, Stuckey announced that she would resign from parliament at the start of February, citing an ongoing battle with depression, having previously said she would not re-contest her seat at the next election. So where is Jann now? The chamber reached out to Jann to ask her a few questions and got the following responses:

What have you been up to since retiring from politics?

Being forced to retire 9 months earlier than I anticipated due to burn-out and depression meant that most of 2020 was spent trying to recharge my empty batteries and focus on getting well. For someone used to being very active this was devastating, but the care and support from family, friends and chamber members has seen my recovery hasten and I am feeling great.

I gained enormous experience during my 16 years as the member for Currumbin and also as the minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and 2018 GC Commonwealth Games. I truly love ‘our patch’ and the people in it, and I’m keen to get involved in local projects or chamber initiatives. I hope members will approach me for a chat or to pick my brain about small business issues. Mentoring is something I believe in firmly and it seems to be a missing link.

What is something no one knows about you? Or a Fun Fact about you?

As a former politician, I learned to be guarded about my personal life as aspects can be used to discredit or humiliate you by opponents and media. It was incredibly difficult to open up about my depression and then crushing to see individuals in the LNP run for cover and twist it into me having a mental illness.

I am so glad I haven’t lost my wicked sense of humor, my dislike of political correctness, and everlasting loyalty to those close to me.

Looking back on your career, what are you most proud of?

And given the chance what would you ‘do over’ if you had the chance?

From a local perspective, it would have to be seeing the M1 upgrade to Tugun finally happening. I’d been fighting for it since 2004. Now we need heavy rail to the airport. As minister there are tourism initiatives I started that Labor have continued which is most unusual and a real compliment. And, of course speaking to 1.4 billion people at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games Glasgow still sends tingles down my spine.

I’m always reluctant to muse over what I’d do differently as I cannot change my past, however I do get a bit angry with myself that I didn’t pull up stumps in 2017. I was worn out, was facing a hip operation and knew that we couldn’t win with Tim Nicholls as leader. My gut instinct said retire then and I wish I’d listened to it.

As the former Queensland Government Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business, and Commonwealth Games, what advice would you have for small business members who are struggling to survive POST-pandemic?

It’s critical to have short, medium, and long term goals or at least a Strategic Plan that covers the next 5-6 years or more.

For those involved in tourism, which is most of us in some way, it’s even more critical to have these plans as it’s a highly volatile industry and exposed to all manner of outside influences. As tourism minister I asked each region in Qld to develop 20 year plans which highlighted their unique characteristics and identified necessary infrastructure to realise those plans and to add a bit of insurance when times were tough. This proved to be a productive and positive exercise all round and could easily be adapted in some form for local businesses on the southern GC.

As small business minister I actively promoted the Mentoring for Growth program and actually sat in on a couple of sessions which I enjoyed immensely. This concept of mentoring is really beneficial and I’d love to champion it here.

So often its layers of red tape and multiple regulations that cripple businesses. Therefore, it’s imperative that businesses can clearly identify those specific items that are holding them back. I’m proud that in my 3 years as minister I oversaw the axing of 500 regulations across various industries.

Businesses need to have the capacity to change parts of their model and evolve with the times and keep up to date with new legislation. That’s where chambers can play a key role and make sure to invite state ministers and council representatives to speak at events and to share information about tapping into online government programs and resources. I recall holding a very well attended small business forum in Currumbin with senior staff from my department to explain how to best facilitate our Business Industry Portal.

Staying connected with one another and sharing educational material has never been more important.