FRIENDS and colleagues of Alistair Thomson have expressed their shock at the former Strathbogie Shire councillor’s passing on a hike near Alice Springs, after police found his body at the conclusion of an extensive search last week.
The 64-year-old was a Strathbogie Shire councillor from 2016 to 2020 and a member of council’s independent audit and risk committee from 2020 until the time of his passing.
A member of Strathbogie Golf Club, Mr Thomson previously lived on a farm in Strathbogie and more recently lived in Melbourne.
He is survived by his wife Glenna, two sons, Matthew and Ben, and two grandchildren, Quinn and Everett.
Police began searching for Mr Thomson on the Larapinta Trail, a well-known hiking trail in Central Australia, on Wednesday morning last week, and released a statement on Sunday night to say his body had been found.
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The NT Police statement said: "For the privacy of the family, no further information will be provided. A report will be prepared for the coroner."
Acting Superintendent Michael Budge told ABC Radio Alice Springs he was found near a waterhole at Hugh Gorge not far outside of Alice Springs, and it was too early to comment on the circumstances of what occurred or how he died.
Mr Thomson last contacted his family by text message over a week before the search began, on Tuesday, May 21, saying he planned to be at Hugh Gorge the following day, according to NT Police.
But he did not contact his family as expected on Wednesday, May 22, and did not check back into his hotel.
The experienced hiker – who friends described as well-organised and meticulously prepared when it came to his regular hiking trips – set off alone on the Larapinta Trail on May 13.
NT Police said he had carried adequate food and water.
NT Police was joined by other organisations and volunteers in a largescale search operation which included searches by foot, car, motorbike and helicopter, before Mr Thomson’s body was found.
Mr Thomson was qualified as an accountant and held management and director positions at manufacturing companies and financial institutions throughout his career, before founding his own financial services company, according to a Strathbogie Shire Council biography.
He was also a partner in a beef and horticultural property in Strathbogie for 17 years.
Mr Thomson’s good friend, Strathbogie’s David Kennett, said his death was a tragedy.
“If anybody could have been more prepared than Alistair, I can't imagine it because he was a very meticulous, careful, considered person,” Mr Kennett said.
“We see [Alistair and Glenna] socially and he's made himself so physically strong and so ready to take on lovely challenges for himself, that I can't imagine anybody being better prepared – so, that adds to the shock.”
He said he met Mr Thomson 25 years ago, before either of them lived in Strathbogie, and it was Mr Thomson’s wife Glenna that introduced him to his own wife, Helen.
Asked what type of person his friend was, Mr Kennett said: “I can't remember ever hearing him speak ill of anybody.”
“Even if they were doing the wrong thing, I only once ever heard him say something very negative about someone, and I immediately thought, ‘well that must have been a very bad person for Alistair to actually come out with it privately to me’,” he said.
Violet Town’s Kate Stothers was another friend of Mr Thomson’s, as well as a former colleague, having served as councillors during the same term.
“I feel like we've lost a really good person and someone who I was completely privileged to know and work with,” she said.
“I had dinner with him and Glenna recently, a couple of weeks ago, I went to their place.
“They now live in Melbourne… and I feel totally blessed that I was able to spend that time with them together.
“We talked about his trip to Larrapinta. He was heading off in the next couple of days to do a sort of practice run on the Grampians.
“He just loved hiking; he loved the big open skies.
“I only hope it was a sudden death and he was doing something that he completely loved, and that's his last memories.”
She and Mr Thomson shared similar values, having both been among the founding members of an environmental and community advocacy group, Strathbogie Voices.
“My experience with him on council was that he brought this unique characteristic of his extensive, high-level corporate skills and experience and combined that with a real sense of community and justice and fairness,” Ms Stothers said.
“It was those two kind of parallel worlds that he operated in that was just so valuable, in what he did on council and how he contributed.
“I think he was a man that had a generous mind and a generous heart.”
Euroa GP Dr Malcolm Altson was another good friend of Mr Thomson.
“Alistair was a good friend and his untimely death will leave a big hole in my life,” he said.
The two recently travelled in Papua New Guinea together and had planned future hiking trips.
“I will miss his quiet intelligence and enthusiasm… I will also miss his wry sense of humour.
“My thoughts are of course with Glenna and the rest of the family.”
Alister Purbrick, a director and former CEO at winemaking giant Tahbilk Group, was a colleague of Mr Thomson’s, as a fellow member of council’s independent audit and risk committee.
“The impact that he's had, both in the community as well as on the Shire, through his term as a councillor and then after that, on the audit and risk committee, I don't think can be understated,” he said.
“He was a good thinker; he had a very good strategic mind.
“He always had the community at heart… it's just a terrible, awful loss.”
This was echoed by Strathbogie Shire Council administrator Peter Stephenson, who said in a statement: “[Mr Thomson’s] knowledge, experience and dedication have made a significant and lasting impact on the Strathbogie community.”
“Working alongside Alistair on the audit and risk committee was a privilege,” Mr Stephenson said.
“His contributions, expertise, kindness and unwavering commitment to good governance and to putting the interests of the community first have left a lasting legacy for Strathbogie.
“He will be greatly missed.”
Strathbogie Golf Club president Grant Pearce said Mr Thomson was widely liked by his fellow golfers and had worked hard as a volunteer for the club.
He was a club treasurer for three years and board member for six years.
“He loved his golf… We always had a bit of a giggle because he would he would come along with a new technique that he'd learned from reading golf books, and we jokingly used to say to him, ‘you're reading too much, just hit the ball’,” Mr Pearce remembered.
Mr Thomson continued to play quarterly at Strathbogie Golf Club even after moving to Melbourne, Mr Pearce said.
