Our People

SHARON DAWSON

DEPUTY CHAIR/CHAIR OF REM & HR COMMITTEE

Sharon Dawson is the CEO of the Dawsons Group, a diversified heavy engineering and services company operating nationally from workshops in Cairns, Townsville and Charters Towers.

A North Queensland local, Sharon is committed to regional economic development and is the immediate past Deputy Chair of Ports North as well as previous roles with Advance Cairns, Cairns Chamber of Commerce and TAFE North Queensland.

Sharon has a strong knowledge of country and regional racing.

DALE CARTWRIGHT

MEMBER

Dale Cartwright is the Managing Director and Principal of the Cartwright Property Group, a highly recognised and accredited member of the Queensland real estate industry he established in 2003.

Dale enjoys all aspects of the three codes of racing, he has a long-standing personal interest in the greyhound industry.

His deep understanding of the greyhound industry and its heritage is valuable in informing his views of the future of the sector.

Dale is Deputy Chair of Greyhounds Australasia, and chairs the Greyhound Industry Advisory Panel meetings.

He is also a former President of the Brisbane Greyhound Racing Club.

JANE SEAWRIGHT

MEMBER

Jane Seawright is an experienced corporate and commercial lawyer and governance advisor, with broad sector experience in health, resources, technology, sport, infrastructure and the arts.

Based in Townsville, she runs a successful legal consultancy, and brings to Racing Queensland extensive board and professional experience and expertise in strengthening and guiding organisations through periods of change and growth.

Jane is currently Chair of TAFE Queensland, and is a non-executive director of Netball Australia, following a successful five-year term as Chair of Netball Queensland. 

She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a non-executive director of The Australian Festival of Chamber Music, a non-executive director of QCN Fibre Pty Ltd (a State Government-owned joint venture between Powerlink and Energy Queensland), and an inaugural Member of the National Sports Tribunal.

In 2018, she was honoured with the QSport Volunteer of the Year Award.

GRAHAM QUIRK

MEMBER

Following 34 years in public life including three years as Deputy Mayor and eight years as Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Graham Quirk handed over the reins of City Hall to pursue his passion for breeding racehorses and Auctioneering.

During his time as Lord Mayor , Graham oversaw the development of the Prefeasibility and Full Feasibility studies for the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2032 bid in his role as Chairman of the Council of Mayors of South East Queensland.

Graham is a member of the Board of Racing Australia, and serves on the Board of Infrastructure Australia. He is also Chair of the Lockyer Valley and Somerset Water Collaborative.

Graham grew up at Doomben and fondly recounts how the champion Gunsynd (The Goondiwindi Grey) walked up and down his street every day before heading to Tommy Smith’s stables in Sydney.

Although appointed as the Thoroughbred representative, Graham has held an interest in all racing codes and became a licensee in Queensland at 17 years of age.

JODIE JONES

MEMBER

Jodie Jones has extensive experience as a Principal and Deputy Principal of State Primary Schools in the Central Queensland and metropolitan Brisbane areas, and therefore has a passion for education and training.

Having been involved in the harness racing industry as an owner and breeder for more than 30 years, she is the wife to a trainer/driver, and also boasts a daughter who has become a successful trainer/driver in her own right. 

Jodie has been a committee member for a variety of racing clubs and associations in Central Queensland and Brisbane.  She is a life member of the Queensland Junior Harness Racing Association Inc. and has previously held a stablehand’s licence. 

While appointed as the harness representative, she has a keen interest in the other two codes of racing, and is current and past owner of thoroughbreds.

Jodie is a Board member of Harness Racing Australia and chairs the Industry Advisory Panel meetings for harness racing.

Her knowledge of the racing industry, and strong leadership skills, will enable the next exciting phase of harness racing to project into the future with many exciting projects on the horizon.

CHRIS EDWARDS

MEMBER

Christopher Edwards is an infrastructure delivery specialist working with RPS Group,  a global professional services firm that defines, designs and manages projects across various sectors and government nationally and internationally.   

He currently serves on the regulatory Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland where he is also the Chair of the Risk and Audit Committee and Metro South Health and Hospitals Board Capital Assets Committee.  He is a Committee Member of the Queensland Government’s Ministerial Construction Council Committee and is the Chair of Racing Queensland’s Capital Works Committee.  

A graduate of both the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Project Management Institute (PMP, PMI-RMP, PMI-PBA), and Queensland University of Technology Master of Business Administration (MBA). 

Chris has been a member of AICD since 2008 and in 2010 he was awarded the status of Fellow of AICD as recognition of his prior commitment to non-executive directorships.

With more than 25 years of capital project leadership Christopher brings to Racing Queensland strong governance, project and program leadership from both an operational and consulting perspective on large complex programs of work.