I have known Matthew for many years having grown up with him at the beachside mecca of Peterborough. With a great sence of humour and a happy outlook on life we had a lot of fun. It is hard to imagine he is in this situation. I wish him well.
Paddy Moore
I have known Matthew Joyce since we were kids and he is a person that I love and respect. Matthew Joyce is a man that I can rely on and is married to the lovely Ange and they have three wonderful kids. I find the uncertainty of Matthew’s current situation hard to believe. All efforts must be made to ensure he clears his name and can return home to his country.
David Rogers
1978 was the first time I met Matthew. For the next 15 years he was what I would describe as one of those ‘stalwart’ friends. One of a group of 3-4 that shepherd each other through the vagaries of adolescence and young adulthood. We worked together, lived together, played sport together and took holidays together. They were formative years and for my part it was a privilege to have someone like Matthew alongside me.
We had our disagreements but they didn’t last long. Most of the time we were a consolidated force working together chasing similar dreams – as one has in youth. While the outcomes of this effort were rarely as planned it was mostly extremely positive and often a great experience. Through this extended period and since I have never once had cause to question Matthew’s loyalty, integrity or character at any level. He is one of those people that exude stability and surety – one whose example it was always worth following. Often providing support to those less sure or less able to deal with various ‘life’ situations.
He was reliable – almost to a robotic level. I think back over the years and remember running around the bush in the 1980’s – three times a week, two short runs and one long run. I also remember that one bloke won every week and that Matthew, without fail came second in every single race – time after time, like a machine – just kept fronting up. It was admirable stuff. Then there was that one race, just one where Matthew won – it was such a turn up it still ranks as one of my fondest memories from that period. Matthew’s reliability and honesty was broadly recognised. He was one of a small group hand picked out of 300 possibles to go searching for lost hikers – and ultimately was in the group that found them.
Into adulthood we went our separate ways, different industries, different and expanded groups of friends. When possible we kept in touch but things drifted to a point I found myself watching Matthew’s career from the outside. It was no surprise to me to see him have such success in work and with family – he basically has admirable core values that are recognizable, highly prized and readily transferable.
His current situation is gut-wrenching to watch. However, it is important that ‘distance challenged’ but highly skilled Australian’s like Matthew have the courage to take themselves and their families into totally different environments and cultures. Working with other cultures and nations is a fundamental pre-requisite for the future of a ‘cooperative global community’ – there is much to be said for it and for those that undertake it. In Matthew’s case he has always had a desire to contribute – always keen to produce something and make a difference. I never felt it was much about chasing personal success but more about contributing in the best way he could.
Individuals like this often find themselves having a level of success. My distant observations on this point suggest success does bring with it greater rewards but also greater risks. Simple decisions of early career escalate in later life to become future defining – either for good or bad. Success involves informed risks and the ability to make hard and very hard decisions. Such environments are double edged fostering both winners and losers, envy and adulation, leaders and scapegoats. It would appear to me that few at the top work a full life immune from a perceived social, financial or emotional glitch in the eyes of others at some point.
Matthew has courage, resilience and an open honest character. I would happily extol his virtues at any given opportunity. I remain optimistic and confident of his long term future – and will do whatever I can to support he and family.
Cullen Gunn
We have followed the life of Matthew Joyce with great interest. Not only have we been close friends with Matthew’s parents, Rob and Janet, our own son’s have gone through school together and remain close friends. This friendship extended to the coincidence that the three boys were all living in the UAE at the same time. Having known Matthew from a very young age, we have found him to be a quiet, sensible and reliable person with many loyal friends. He is a caring father and husband.
We have watched Mathew’s professional progress with interest and admire the success he has achieved. During our long association we have never had any cause to question his honesty or integrity.
We are saddened by his present predicament and we give our full support to him clearing his name and returning to Australia.
I first met Matthew Joyce when he worked with Australand with whom Landcom had a number of partnering arrangements.We at Landcom were pleased to work with Matthew because, of all our private sector partners at the time, he demonstrated the most genuine commitment to the principles of sustainability. On a business level I found Matthew to be a man of the highest integrity, a man on whom you could rely and trust.
Personally, Matthew is a delightful human being, well liked and respected by all who know him. On behalf of my colleagues we send our support and want Matthew to know that he enjoys our utmost confidence.
Sean O’Toole
I was telling my family this week about the time that Matt saved Lisa and I from certain death at Peterborough many years ago. We drove to a fishing spot near London Bridge to look at the Ocean on a day that the sea was raging. I took Matt and Lisa down some limestone steps to my favorite fishing spot about 10 meters above the water at the end of a narrow ledge. Had we all gone in it would have been my fault for leading my two friends into this death trap.
We stood on the ledge in the side of the cliff watching the awesome waves from above and listening to their mighty roar. Sure enough there was a wave so big that it came up the side of the cliff and hit us. We were knocked over and very nearly went in but not quite. I got to my feet and headed for home along the narrow ledge and beckoned the others to follow. It was Matt’s cool head that looked out to sea and spotted the next the wave that was seconds away and would have met me half way along the ledge. He instructed us to huddle against the cliff while we got pounded by the set of waves before carefully following the ledge out to safety.
I cant imagine that he has been this cool for all of the past 7 months but I do think that he is up for this challenge more than almost anyone I know. I believe deep down that as tough as it must be, he is tough enough to overcome the stress that he must be under.
Charlie Gubbins
My wife Ellenor and I first met Matt through Ange Higgins in 1999. We were producing a documentary for Channel 7 about a tall ship that was located in Perth. Ange was always very generous, providing us with a place to stay, loans of her car and great meals. They moved to Sydney not long after this.
We got to know Matt better once they arrived in Sydney. We would often enjoy barbeques and long dinners through summer and in winter we managed to get a regular tennis game going. We soon realised that Ange was about to marry one of the most generous, intelligent and genuine people we know. Matt has that rare quality where he is truly interested in understanding your interests, what you do and what your passions are.
We both had our first children around the same time. Their son Jack and our daughter Elsie soon became best mates and we spent a lot of time together.
It was around this time that I was given an incredible opportunity by Matt to work on assisting with a tender to design and develop “the greenest suburb ever” in the north west of Sydney. As a filmmaker, this was a rare opportunity to work outside my normal environment, yet have the chance to apply my knowledge and skills on a relatively large scale. During this project, I came to realise that Matt was determined to try and make a difference with the way that our cities, suburbs and lives could be shaped by introducing simple but highly effective changes to way we created communities. The tender was successful and the legacy of this project is being borne out as I write.
Both our families also had a great holiday together in Crescent Head one summer. During our stay, bush fires raged through to the south of the small village and tragically Elle’s brothers home was destroyed, along with most of the family’s possessions. Ange and Matt didn’t hesitate when they got back to Sydney to pack a box of clothes, toys and other goods to send up to Elle’s brother and his kids.
When Matt and Ange told us they were heading to Dubai, we were at once excited for them, but also very sad that our good friends were leaving for several years. Our daughter Elsie was still quite young, but we also knew that her and Jack that wouldn’t get to meet again until later in life. I did manage to visit Matt and Ange in Dubai and was impressed once again that, despite the scale and pace of development in Dubai, Matt was still intent on trying to make a difference with the way that the developments were being created to ensure that they took in to account the environmental needs of our future.
Matt is one of those rare people who actually does what he believes. He is, without doubt, one of the most honest and real people we know.
Marcus Gillezeau
www.firelight.com.au
I had the privilege of working with Matthew over a number of years until he decided to go to UAE. I am a person who works on large land development and infrastructure projects, particularly in there planning phases. I worked with Matthew on more than 10 of these such projects. In most of these cases my contribution was to bring the sustainability overlay to the project with Matt playing the project director role.
It was in this area that Matthew really excelled and to this day is unquestionably one of the best clients I have ever had in a career spanning 30 years. Matthew’s drive a culture of innovation and industry best practice and was a pioneer in Sydney in water conservation, urban design and broader sustainability outcomes. The one particular project that stands out for me is the Landcom Second Ponds Creek project where, as a team led by Matthew, we really did produce internationally significant outcomes. This project was significant not just because of the outcomes we achieved as a team but because this was an incubator project in the true sense of the word. The ideas that were developed on this project have been further refined by the project team on a number of other large land development projects since this time.
Matthew is all about teams achieving great outcomes, he has a personal style of setting outcomes and letting his advisors determine the best way of achieving these. He is a motivator with a trusting personality and a commitment to excellence.
I wish him well.
Geoff Roberts
www.manidisroberts.com.au
I have known Matthew Joyce for a period of 14 years. During this period he has been my line manager both in Australia and the UAE. Matthew had the attributes as a leader and was highly respected by corporate Australia for his ability and skills in all facets of property development. As I am aware he was also highly respected in the UAE in his capacity as Managing Director, Waterfront, a subsidiary company of Nakheel.
As a colleague and as my line manager I have always found Matthew to be diligent, honest, loyal and above all he had the necessary people skills as well as people management skills to command the post and mandate of Managing Director.
I have always found Matthew to be personable and caring from a business and personal point of view. I consider him to be an excellent corporate and civil citizen, in my humble opinion, Matthew is an outstanding husband and father, highly respected in corporate life and would not jeopardise his family and reputation in acting inappropriately.
David Lawrence
Matthew Joyce is an exceptional leader in our industry in Australia who has established an enviable reputation through promoting the highest community ideals and business integrity. Matthew has been a passionate champion of contemporary community development and has pioneered many property industry innovations in Australia and Dubai.
The fact that Matthew was approached by Egon Zehnder, on behalf of the Dubai Government’s premier property development entity, Nakheel, to assume the role of Managing Director of the emirate’s signature 12,000 hectare Waterfront City project attests to Matt’s standing within the international urban development fraternity. During the three years Matthew held the role at Nakheel he gained considerable respect from the Emirati community for what he publicly acknowledged as the privileged position he held in laying the foundation for future communities to evolve and to reflect and respect the local Arab culture, rather than simply creating real estate.
Matthew was often asked to assume additional responsibilities for the Chairman of Dubai World, including representing Nakheel internationally on a number of the Company’s global property portfolio responsibilities and in mid 2008 received a personal commendation from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for the ethos, erudition and financial success Matthew brought to Waterfront City and Nakheel.
Mike Day
www.robertsday.com.au
