Jim Service AO and Dr Seek Ngee Huat inducted into the Australian Property Hall of Fame
[07 June 2022]
Property pioneers, the late Jim Service AO and Dr Seek Ngee Huat, will tonight be inducted into the Australian Property Hall of Fame.
The property industry's most influential figures will tonight attend the Property Council's Australian Property Hall of Fame Gala Dinner at the Great Hall in Parliament House in Canberra to recognise the contribution both leaders made to the industry.
Property Council Chief Executive Ken Morrison said Mr Service and Dr Seek's induction into the Australian Property Hall of Fame recognised the pioneering contributions and remarkable legacies of both leaders.
"The Australian Property Hall of Fame celebrates those individuals who have left a lasting legacy to the industry and the community, and both Jim Service and Dr Seek can sit proudly among this group," he said.
Mr Morrison said Mr Service was an exceptional person who played a major role in the property industry and had a positive impact in shaping the nation's capital.
"Jim was known as 'Mr Canberra' and he was tremendously influential in the evolution of the nation's capital for more than two decades," he said.
"He also left a legacy across the industry, overseeing the transformation of the Property Council in 1996 with a fresh focus on our industry's role in working with governments to help solve the public policy challenges facing the country."
Jim Service's son James will attend the ceremony tonight along with Jim's widow Dorothy, sons Adrian and Robert and daughter Cathy and daughters in law Sue and Julie.
"This is an extraordinary honour for Dad and the family, and we know he would be very humbled to be recognised in this way," James Service AM said. "We miss him of course, but his legacy very much lives on in the city we call home - one he would say he played a small role in helping to shape," he added.
Mr Morrison said the induction of Dr Seek Ngee Haut recognised his role in laying the foundations for Australia's institutional property sector and his global career in Australia, Singapore and across the world.
"Australia is renowned for having one of the world's most transparent and professional property industries, and for this we owe a debt of gratitude to Australia's first property PhD," Mr Morrison said.
"Dr Seek helped create the research base that has proven to be a lasting advantage to this country and then built a global real estate portfolio at GIC, including many iconic assets across Australia.
"Transparency and global capital partnerships are two defining characteristics of the Australian property industry and Dr Seek created legacies in both," he said.
Dr Seek said it was an honour to be inducted into the Australian Property Hall of Fame.
"It is a pleasure to be inducted into the Property Hall of Fame; joining such a prodigious list of inductees is an immense honour," he said.
The Property Council would like to thank the Hall of Fame selection committee, chaired by Darren Steinberg, for their contribution to this year's Hall of Fame induction.
The Property Council's Hall of Fame was established in 2012. Other inductees have included Frank Lowy AC, Carol Schwartz AO, Sir John Pidgeon, Sir Keith Campbell, and Sir Albert Jennings.
