Star Weekly owner and managing director Paul Thomas has been made a life member of both the Victorian Country Press Association and Country Press Australia.
The joint honour was presented “for his significant and unrelenting contribution to the newspaper industry over the past 20 years” at the VCPA conference in Melbourne on Friday 11 November.
Paul is a fourth-generation newspaper man, following in the footsteps of his father Ian, grandfather Herb and great grandfather Albert who started his newspaper proprietorship in 1894 when he established the Violet Town Sentinel.
In July 1992, in his early 20s, Paul joined the family business and later became managing director and chairman in January 2000.
Paul joined the VCPA board on 23 November 2001 and served as president from 2010-12.
Paul joined the Country Press Australia (CPA) board on 1 July 2006 and served as president from 2015-17. He remains a director of both organisations.
Long-time friend and colleague Bruce Ellen said that in his time at VCPA and CPA, Paul had grown his empire of newspapers which started in South East Melbourne to other areas in Melbourne, including the west, as well as South Australia and Queensland.
Paul has fronted many inquiries and heavily lobbied the Federal Government leading to the release of the Regional and Small Publishers Innovation Fund, the $50M PING Fund and most recently the $15m Regional and Local Newspaper Publishers Program.
Bruce said Paul’s lobbying work with the Federal Government to secure advertising during the Covid pandemic unquestionably saved some publishers from closure.
“Paul’s contribution to the industry is outstanding. His passion and drive are infectious and without Paul the industry would not be where it is today,” Mr Ellen said.
