15/09/2026
What a great idea
Mike Gregg made his fortune as an early investor in the Australian software company WiseTech Global. Rather than spending it on the usual trappings of wealth, he and his wife Sue decided to buy land specifically to give it back to the animals living on it.
The couple donated $10 million to purchase six adjoining properties within the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales, spanning approximately 7,000 hectares, roughly 17,000 acres, near Port Macquarie. The land had previously been used for cattle grazing and logging.
The properties are now home to koalas, greater gliders, glossy black cockatoos, spotted-tail quolls, frogs, wallabies, and turtles, among many other species. By linking six separate properties into one continuous protected area, the project creates a connected wildlife corridor rather than isolated pockets of habitat, which is significantly more valuable for species that need room to roam and breed across larger territories.
The land is now managed by the Great Southern Land Conservancy, a nonprofit conservation charity the Greggs co-founded in October 2025. The organization's work will focus on restoring previously cleared and degraded land, controlling invasive weeds and feral animals, and improving fire resilience across the property. An intensive koala survey is underway and expected to confirm that the reserve hosts the largest koala population found on any privately owned land in New South Wales.
"We found ourselves in the very fortunate position to do some good," Sue Gregg told the Sydney Morning Herald. "We love nature and wildlife. So we thought preserving and restoring land was the best thing we could do with our money."
Mike Gregg was equally direct about the choice behind the decision. "We've got to think about how we're going to do something with this," he said, "and it's not buying a big yacht."
Conservation leaders in Australia believe the donation is among the largest private gifts ever made for land conservation in New South Wales history.
