Fred Rae

Fred Rae was a prominent Perth businessman best known for building Gull Petroleum into a major operation. Born in 1931, he trained as a carpenter and became a registered builder, later becoming a preferred contractor to grain handler CBH. Mr Rae bought into the fledgling Gull Petroleum in 1978 for a reported $30,000. Over three decades, Gull expanded to more than 100 petrol station across Western Australia. In 1993, Gull began importing fuel from Singapore, after building its own terminal at Kwinana. This provided a price advantage over its competitors and accelerated its growth. In 1998 Gull expanded into New Zealand. The Australian operation was sold for an estimated $A500 million in 2010 and the New Zealand business was sold for $NZ340 million (about $A300 million) in 2016. Mr Rae was a councillor for the City of Belmont for sixteen years and mayor from 1979 to 1987. He died on 17 January 2019, aged 87.