Man With a Mission

The rich and famous come to the luxury hideaway in John Sax’s beloved bush.  But this man who has clearly missed out on the “can’t” gene feels his best work is helping the young and disadvantaged.

Words: Sue Hoffart   Photographs: Mark Smith

IN A LUSH PRIVATE valley south-west of Rotorua, John Sax (right) stoops to admire young tawa poking through the native forest floor. The leafy carpet is proof that another of his outrageously, impossibly large dreams has become reality.

It took more than a decade to pull off the creation of Treetops, where visiting Hollywood movie stars and billionaires stay in one of New Zealand’s most exclusive and luxurious lodges. Schist pillars and hand-carved timber beams support buildings set among 1000 hectares of wetlands, waterfalls and ancient stands of rimu.

To achieve this grand vision John ignored everyone who questioned his sanity, favouring instead those who could translate his visions into reality…the particular scale and ambience of a room, a certain shade of paint on a wall, a trout stream that would run directly under the main building. He spent weekends in gumboots helping to plant 175,000 trees and carve hiking trails and boardwalks through the bush. He scrambled up banks and through streams to find the perfect site for the lodge, designed and built the micro hydro scheme that will power it from the middle of next year and even sketched the furniture he wanted.

Apply this single-mindedness to the business world and the result is John’s Southpark Corporation which, together with its associated group of companies, is one of Auckland City’s largest industrial landowners. His financial interests extend to sole ownership of more than 20 companies in New Zealand and overseas.

Not everything he touches turns to gold. In the past there have been bad investments – some spectacularly so, he says – and business failures. But tripping and falling have taught him to assess risks and also that vision is most valuable when it is teamed with wisdom.

“I’ve never been motivated by making money. In the early days I was driven by creativity…the satisfaction of seeing a dream come to fruition. The second phase of my life is very much for people, particularly our youth.” Which is why, every Monday afternoon, the big-shot chief executive meets two 17-year-old boys at Auckland’s Penrose High School to discuss the importance of dreaming big. He has roped in Rotary Club friends and others to help with a one-to-one mentoring programme that, he says, is about inspiring students to reach their potential, to find out what they want to be and work out how to get there.

“It’s about people giving of themselves in the hope it’ll make a difference in a life. It’s encouraging someone to dream a dream. We have to give back to the community if we want to have a civilized society for our kids. We can’t turn round and say it’s not our responsibility. The thing that makes a difference is when a person has love, care and concern for another human being. People who consider life is hopeless need a sense of hope, [to know] that someone believes in them.” John’s next ambition is to witness – and quietly contribute to – a major overhaul of social policy in New Zealand.

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