Speakers

Estelle Cornell

Darwin Container Services

Estelle came to Darwin in 1980 for a holiday – and never left. Her first job was working at the telephone exchange for Telecom, as a telephonist and supervisor. She was excited meet new people and to explore everything Darwin had to offer.

After meeting her husband Peter in Darwin and marrying in 1983, she soon realised that everything that she had learnt as a child was going to come into use. Her husband fell ill, and Estelle was thrust into the position of operating a transport and logistics company, Porky's Pickups. By her mid-20s she had secured her HR licence and escort/pilot licence to escort wide loads throughout the Territory.

Originally from Queensland, where her parents owned Mundubbera Livestock and General Transport, Estelle’s upbringing prepared her for the big tasks and challenges ahead. She remembers her mother always telling her: "Get up, dress up, show up and never give up" – words that she lives by still to this day.
"I had amazing parents," she says. "They were my heroes." Estelle remembers jumping up into the truck with her dad and going with him to work because she would rather do that than go to school. "I remember my father and grandfather teaching me how to drive a truck on the Bruce Highway when I was just a kid. They were definitely different times back then."